By Dc. Tom Cuskey
Editor
When one wants improved results, they have to find an improved way to do what they do.
In that spirit, the Diocese of Syracuse’s Office of Child and Family Catechesis recently sponsored a catechetical convocation held at the DoubleTree Hotel in East Syracuse. The program was open to parish faith formation leaders, teachers, pastors and anyone who desires to give our young people the most compelling experience of faith possible.
Keynote presenter for the day was Dr. James Pauley, professor of Theology and Catechetics at Franciscan University in Ohio. Dr. Pauley is the author of “An Evangelizing Catechesis.” The book blends lessons on building blocks of evangelization, catechesis and discipleship among our young people.
From left, Len Gass, Daryl Hall and Dr. Amy Sansone – each representing a different element of catechetical leadership – were among the attendees.
“Your beautiful diocese has developed a framework, a new framework, a new direction for the catechesis of children and young people in the diocese that is centered on the proclamation of the Gospel message,” he told the Sun. “This is a real movement of the Holy Spirit, I think, in this diocese, and more broadly in the church.”
Pauley explained that the church has experienced a gap in catechesis, where teaching was done in an explanatory manner, separated from proclamation of the message. He believes that programs were “teaching children lots of different doctrinal formulas, but without a sense of the good news of our salvation, which is really at the center and at the heart of what the church proclaims in the world.”
Pauley knows the process through his education but also through his hands-on experience.
“Well, I started working in the church as a catechetical leader right out of high school at the ripe age of 18 with no experience at all and no real understanding of what I was doing,” he recalled. College led to a master’s degree in catechetics and eventually a doctoral degree in Sacred Theology. It was his focus on the kerygma, or proclamation of the Gospel, that inspired Andrea Slaven to bring Dr. Pauley to the diocese for this event.
These four parish catechetical leaders made the trip from the Southern Tier to hear about new approaches to faith formation. From left: Salley Herceg and Connie Thurston from St. Anthony-
St. Joseph parishes in Endicott, and Edie Blabac and Maria Kirk from St. Francis of Assisi in Binghamton.
“Our diocesan vision is all about refocusing on what evangelization is,” Slaven shared. “And a couple years ago, I read his book ‘Evangelizing Catechesis, Teaching from the Encounter with Christ,’ and it really helped us understand what we needed to do.”
As director of the diocesan office for Child and Family Catechesis, Slaven is responsible for inspiring parish youth faith formation programs to implement a curriculum that energizes and inspires.
“We need to be able to present materials to and give the encounter with Christ,” she said. “We have to help people bring from head to heart. The book really was very inspiring.”
About 80 people from different parishes and programs around the diocese registered to attend the convocation. Among them — and seated at the same table — were a diocesan school principal, a parish coordinator and the superintendent of schools. The convocation offered something for each.
Something for everyone
Len Gass is new in his position with the linked communities of Pope John XXIII and Christ the King in Liverpool. He leads the catechetical effort in welcoming families planning an infant Baptism and up through pre-K to sixth grade.
“Being totally new to the coordinator position, I’m hoping to find materials and ways to collaborate with other people, maybe other people in my same situation,” he said.
Gass added that he hopes to form relationships among his peers at other parishes to learn and introduce new activities at each grade level. He’s also looking to support some of the unique features of his own parish program.
“Every month we have a family night,” he shared. “I’m hoping I can find some materials, some ideas for family night, and the different things to do.”
While a comprehensive parish program is going to encompass Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation as well as Reconciliation, in an elementary school, their sacramental focus is primarily on First Eucharist.
“Yes, the biggest thing in second grade. But it’s very special,” Daryl Hall said. As principal of Holy Family School in Fairmount, she understands the importance of collaboration with the parish formation program, too. “It really involves our parents tremendously. So, I think we have some commonalities that we can build on together.”
Hall and the school staff work closely with Holy Family Parish’s catechetical program directors to be sure all students get the instruction and guidance they need with as little overlap as necessary.
As superintendent of diocesan schools, Dr. Amy Sansone looked forward to the convocation as a path to increased collaborative efforts among all involved in teaching our youth.
“This is an opportunity to share the excitement. I’ve worked with Andrea’s team for three years, and it’s just been such an enjoyable labor of love to form the framework,” she said. “And it’s great that now parish instructors and faith formation catechists and the teachers in the schools will all have the same framework that will undergird the foundation of the faith that we’re passing on.”
Dr. Sansone felt the most important aspect of the day’s program was to focus on being intentional in formation and connecting the family to the efforts.
“Because the parents are the primary educators,” she added, “and that’s something that is completely shared in our church and in our schools and parishes.”
At the center of all these varied activities, though, must be the message of the Gospel according to Andrea Slaven.
“That proclamation has its own inherent power. That’s where disciples are made. That’s where saints are made, when we hear and respond to that proclamation.”
