“How can we be expected to get the faith from our teachers if they don’t have it or know it?” One of my students, a high school junior, asked this question in a class discussion recently and it caused my heart to break. My only answer was, “That’s a really good question…” … It is.
Great reflection, Father. It became much easier to teach the faith after we started going to the Traditional Latin Mass. of course, our boys, young at the time, would ask questions like “why do we kneel for Communion at our St. Louis church but not the Cape Church?” Or “why are there no girl alter servers?” Or “why are old churches beautiful and new ones aren’t?” Or “why do we hear different kinds of music?” This leads a parent (who wasn’t well catechized in the 80s) to have to actually look up the answers! The internet produces many evils, but one good is that the information is all there for anyone who is interested to discover.
I was shocked to here a Catholic high school student say, Martin Luther did the right thing! Catholic schooled all her life! Ignorance of our faith is what is destroying us. I’m shocked at all the Protestantism that has become so prominent....and it’s the Traditional Catholics that are the problem?
A very good reflection. I appreciated the insight that appeals to authority without an explication of how a decision is grounded in Tradition and the Magesterium are a dead end and even harmful to the growth of the Faith. The one slight disagreement I have is that I don’t see a lot a critical thinking ability in our young, or in our old either. I haven’t had much experience with Catholic High Schools, but in the people I have had experience with over the past 35 years, what I’ve seen more of is that people’s thinking comes from either their emotions, their perceived self-interest--critical thinking does require a good measure of disinterest, placing a priority on discovering the truth and not my personal likes and/or dislikes--or their preconceptions. Critical thinking means questioning my presuppositions that I bring to questions. We all, even those in the hierarchy, need a guide in our thinking, which forms how we will act, and we have one in the Teachings of Holy Church, which has been richly developed for centuries. I can never assume I’m right just because I thought it.
Great article Father! It continues to renew my love for the school my kids go to! St. Ambrose they faith lived out by the faculty and staff and taught so well! Working towards teaching the children to actually learn to think and reason too!
Great reflection, Father. It became much easier to teach the faith after we started going to the Traditional Latin Mass. of course, our boys, young at the time, would ask questions like “why do we kneel for Communion at our St. Louis church but not the Cape Church?” Or “why are there no girl alter servers?” Or “why are old churches beautiful and new ones aren’t?” Or “why do we hear different kinds of music?” This leads a parent (who wasn’t well catechized in the 80s) to have to actually look up the answers! The internet produces many evils, but one good is that the information is all there for anyone who is interested to discover.
I was shocked to here a Catholic high school student say, Martin Luther did the right thing! Catholic schooled all her life! Ignorance of our faith is what is destroying us. I’m shocked at all the Protestantism that has become so prominent....and it’s the Traditional Catholics that are the problem?
A very good reflection. I appreciated the insight that appeals to authority without an explication of how a decision is grounded in Tradition and the Magesterium are a dead end and even harmful to the growth of the Faith. The one slight disagreement I have is that I don’t see a lot a critical thinking ability in our young, or in our old either. I haven’t had much experience with Catholic High Schools, but in the people I have had experience with over the past 35 years, what I’ve seen more of is that people’s thinking comes from either their emotions, their perceived self-interest--critical thinking does require a good measure of disinterest, placing a priority on discovering the truth and not my personal likes and/or dislikes--or their preconceptions. Critical thinking means questioning my presuppositions that I bring to questions. We all, even those in the hierarchy, need a guide in our thinking, which forms how we will act, and we have one in the Teachings of Holy Church, which has been richly developed for centuries. I can never assume I’m right just because I thought it.
Great article Father! It continues to renew my love for the school my kids go to! St. Ambrose they faith lived out by the faculty and staff and taught so well! Working towards teaching the children to actually learn to think and reason too!
Wonderful piece Padre! Very thought provoking. It's great that The Rubric is here and offering everyone a platform to share these issues.