This weekend has been a test of my faith. I am praying that I listen to the Lord, and to my husband in these matters.
I am a proud parent of a first reconciliation candidate. Elani makes her first reconciliation next weekend. This weekend, she attended her retreat. During the retreat, the catechist continually pointed to herself, kept using herself as an example of proud/pride/etc. I was consistently bothered throughout the entire retreat, listening to this. Never did she talk about how leaving a legacy for your children grounded in God's forgiveness. She continued to talk about how leaving a legacy for your children so they remember you when you are gone is the most important thing. UGH...so that started off my weekend.
My second retreat of the weekend was the Confirmation retreat. I sponsor one of the candidates. She is an excellent teen-ager, actively growing in her faith. She is a teen that my daughter looks at as a role model, and I am happy to have her do so.
There was so much propaganda during this retreat that I almost walked out of the retreat. I am praying right now about whether or not to talk to my priest about it. I am concerned for the candidates, but I am honestly very concerned about my daughter being catechized. Things were spoken of during the retreat that really sounded like moral relativism. This bothered me quite a bit. Additionally, during Mass, the youth were very out of it, not responding to prayers, not listening to the homily, chewing gum, etc. HOW DISAPPOINTING!!
Everyone tells me that the future of the Church is in the youth. This scares me. Though there are some very good examples of young faithful Christianity, I am honestly seeing examples I fear as role modeling. I know as a parent, I am most responsible for my children's faith formation. However, after this weekend, I can see the influence the catechist have on the kids, and I see the misinformation that is out there.
Some may think, "Well, do you teach CCD?" The answer is that I currently do not because of a recent discernment. But, maybe the Lord is leading me back. I am only one person, though, what can I do? What happens when my daughter gets to the Confirmation class and gets misinformation? My daughter talks to me plenty, but she may not mention everything. I can't correct things I don't know she is learning.
I asked my husband to please pray about us staying in this church parish. I am not sure what else to do.
Happy Epiphany!
MFW
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
We must remember that every person we contact is at a different point on their faith journey. there are absolutes in our faith, there has to be!
Unfortunately what may be offensive to you or me probably went over most peoples head at that retreat if they were as disintersted as you observed.
If this is really bothering you, I would talk to the priest. He needs to get feedback on the parishes religious education program from all involved.
Post a Comment