Monastic Theology and the Search for Effective Adolescent Catechesis

Monastic Theology and the Search for Effective Adolescent Catechesis Robert Feduccia (bio) INTRODUCTION In the late nineteenth century and well into the twentieth century, there was a return to the theological sources. This movement sought to uncover the authentic Christian tradition through scriptural scholarship, liturgical studies, and a deeper investigation into the writings from the Patristic era. This return to the sources impelled scholars toward deeper theological insights and it benefited the wider Church with a fresh articulation of the ancient faith. These new expressions of the faith better addressed the needs of modern humanity. In addition to the theological content, there is now a need to recover methodologies from the Church's history. Namely, the Church can look to the monastic theological method during this time when ministry leaders are looking for more effective means for raising up a new generation of faith-filled young people. In the face of disaffiliation among young people from our churches, youth ministry and catechetical leaders are searching for more effective methods. Just as a return to the sources provided new enthusiasm for theological inquiry, a return to studying the monastic theological method can inspire effective adolescent catechesis. THE STATE OF THE SEARCH FOR A MORE EFFECTIVE CATECHESIS Among many of the Catholic religious education publishers and religious educators, Thomas H. Groome's "shared Christian praxis" has enjoyed a particular pride of place as a methodology for catechesis and faith formation. It has been viewed as a method through which the Christian faith is not merely engaged cognitively, but behaviorally and affectively as well. The five movements, which will be described later, offered an innovation in the faith formation of young Catholics of catechetical age (1st–12th grades) that had been absent in the years End Page 134 prior to the Second Vatican Council. With the advent of the Council, changes were afoot in every aspect of Church life. It is often stated, but rarely overstated, that the Second Vatican Council provided the Catholic Church with a radical shift. While the tremors caused by the Council are a frequent cause for ink to be spilled, the overall purpose of the Council tends to be a less common topic of conversation. Perhaps this purpose is expressed best in the opening message of the Council from the Council Fathers. In this assembly, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we wish to inquire how we ought to renew ourselves, so that we may be found increasingly faithful to the gospel of Christ. We shall take pains so to present to the men of this age God's truth in its integrity and purity that they may understand it and gladly assent to it.1 It is in this spirit and to this end that Groome wrote Sharing Faith: A Comprehensive Approach to Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry: The Way of Shared Praxis.2 It is also in this spirit that it was enthusiastically embraced upon its first introduction in 1980. Religious educators were seeking a methodology that would move beyond that of the famous, or perhaps infamous, Baltimore Catechism.3 This methodology is primarily cognitive and is not at all dissimilar to the dialectical approach of the medieval period's scholastic theology, especially that of Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica. The Baltimore Catechism was typified by the posing of a question that fell outside the subject's lived experience. The answer provided to this question would be succinct, memorable, and would convey the Catholic teaching on a topic that would appear to be definitive, final, and without dialogue. This methodology provided clarity; however, it was heavily cognitive and rarely engaged the affect and the behavioral part of the human person, unless the behavioral learning was meant to direct the subject in an area of morality. End Page 135 It is within this context that shared Christian praxis emerged. There was a desire by Church leaders of the 1960s and 1970s for members of the Church to have a living faith, a faith that permeated all areas of life. In the statement above from the Second Vatican Council, there was to be renewal, faithfulness to the Gospel, gladness, integrity, and purity. In light of this call...