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April 9, 2008
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Easter greetings from Faith
Formation Update, a free monthly e-newsletter for catechetical leaders with a
focus on parish catechesis beyond textbooks and classrooms. I’m Jeanne Hunt. In
each issue, I offer a brief starter and my “Every
Family” column. My co-worker and fellow religious educator Joan
McKamey offers media resources and ideas in her “Seen
and Heard” column. Our co-worker Chuck
Blankenship suggests other faith formation resources for adults from St. Anthony
Messenger Press in his column, “Sowing Sampler.” Finally,
we encourage YOU to share views and program ideas about this month's topic on our online
bulletin board, “Faith Formation Forum.” Catechists
are in the home stretch in these days of Easter season. Yet, it is vitally important
to maintain the momentum as we celebrate the beauty of spring and May, the month of the
Mother of Jesus. This issue helps draw us into the Marian teachings of our faith.
—Jeanne Hunt
P.S. You're receiving this either because you signed
up, or because you're a loyal customer of St. Anthony Messenger Press. We will never send
you unwanted e-mail. There is an unsubscribe link at the bottom of this page. |
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The month of May has traditionally been the catechetical
moment to introduce students to the Church’s Marian theology. This task becomes more
of a challenge in these days. Devotion to Mary has not always been well explained, leaving
room for superstition and misplaced emphasis on Mary as the object of adoration rather
than as the advocate to her son. It is the challenge of the catechist to correct any misunderstandings
and to refocus our Marian lenses on the Church’s teaching and celebration of Marian
devotion.
The grace of this challenge is that we can encourage our students
to see Mary as the one who teaches the gospel story. Even the traditional names we have
given Mary highlight her relationship with us and with God’s grace. Images
of Mary by Father Alfred McBride, O.Praem., is a resource for the catechist in
this regard. Father McBride offers 10 images of Mary that provide a clear explanation of
the Church’s teaching on Mary and why she is so important to Catholic doctrine. This
book encourages the catechist to see Mary as a companion on a spiritual journey. Mary guides
us toward Jesus. Every image, name and devotion of Mary is meant to lead us to her son.
With that objective, we begin to see Mary’s role in a new light. She accompanies
us into the mysteries of faith. She is everything a mother should be on this walk: She
supports us in understanding, listens in our moments of doubt, intercedes for us and allows
us to encounter Jesus with her through daily prayer.
While this walk is the ideal, it is not an easy habit to develop.
Reading Father McBride’s book is a good start. Then, we must put this knowledge into
practice. We should look carefully at the Church’s devotions to Mary. We can ask
questions concerning these devotions: How did they begin? What are their meaning and purpose?
How can I make this a faith moment for my students? The rosary, May crowning and May altars
can be wonderful opportunities to do some hands-on catechesis.
The rosary is a good place to begin. Have rosaries available for your
students. Explain how the beads are prayed. Then ask the students to choose a mystery of
the rosary and write a meditation based on Mary’s memory of that event. The students
should write as if Mary is recalling that mystery. Use these meditations each day of May
and pray only one decade per day.
May altars can be way of walking with Mary during the month of May.
We can encourage our students to create a Mary altar in their homes by having a traveling
Mary for the class. Find a statue of Mary that fits in a small box. Add a white cloth,
a small vigil candle and a Marian prayer card. Each day, invite a student to take Mary
home and create a May altar with the family. The family can add flowers to the prayer table
and say the prayer together. The next day, the box is returned and another student gets
to take Mary for a “home visit.”
A garden to honor Mary is another way to walk with her as spring begins. “Mary
gardens” are made up of herbs and flowers which ascribe through legend a connection
with Mary’s love and care for us. In this garden, the statue of Mary takes a place
of honor. Some of the more familiar plants of the many that belong in a typical Mary garden
are: columbine (Mary’s slipper), marigold, lily of the valley (Mary’s
tears), foxglove (Mary’s thimbles), snowdrops (Mary’s purity),
lily (resurrection), rosemary (Mary’s color), violets (Mary’s
humility), roses (the rosary). Older students will enjoy finding out about how
these herbs and flowers are connected with Mary’s story.
Whatever path we take with Mary this May, let it be a reawakening
of the Church’s love for our mother. She is awaiting our answer to her invitation
to walk with us, her children.
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The question of Catholics’ relationship
with Mary comes up every year in our parish RCIA. And there are parishioners who have such
a great devotion to our Blessed Mother that it can appear to overshadow their worship of
God. May, the month in which we honor Mary with May crownings and special Marian prayers
and hymns, is a good time to help all those connected to our faith community—inquirers,
catechumens, neophytes and long-practicing Catholics—to come to a better understanding
of our relationship with Mary and the special role she plays in our redemption.
Mary is special because she said “yes”—modeling
for us the posture of surrender and trust that we too must take before God. Through her fiat (so
be it, let it be), she bore Christ into the world—modeling for us our role as Christ-bearers
to the world. In her book, The Reed of God, Caryll Houselander describes Mary as “a
reed through which the Eternal Love was to be piped as a shepherd’s song.” I’ve
selected a clip from this audiobook to
share with you. Click here (RealMedia | Windows
Media) to listen to this sample.
Use this book for your own reflection this May. Share it with small
groups of people who have a special devotion to Mary or who may want to explore her role
in our faith. Use its profound theological teachings and appealing imagery to inspire your
own sharing about the role of Mary in our Church. Turn to it for help answering the question, “Are we reed
pipes? Is he waiting to live lyrically through us?” |
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Fascination with the saints is a uniquely Catholic
experience, I’ve found. Many of my not-so-religious friends have asked me, “What’s
the big deal with saints—and especially with Mary?” For my part, I look at
my own bookshelves and find volume after volume of stories about the lives of these people
the Church calls saints. Frankly, I’m fascinated with their stories, their lives
and the ways they have affected believers over the centuries. Why? Because they have made
a difference by their witness.
Two new books from St. Anthony Messenger Press illustrate this point. Saints
Off the Pedestal: Real Saints for Real People takes a look at the “real” stories
of 10 familiar saints—from Peter the Apostle to Teresa of Avila and Elizabeth
Ann Seton. Author Amanda Roberts shares stories of how these saints struggled with
real life issues, turning those struggles and issues into a closer relationship with
God.
For many Catholics, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a saint with whom
they share a special relationship. Ginny Moyer, in her book Mary
and Me: Catholic Women Reflect on the Mother of God, set out to discover how Catholic
women relate to Mary. What does Mary mean to Catholic women today? What titles or images
of Mary resonate with Catholic women today? What meaning does Mary bring to their faith
experience? What began as an article for the Web site BustedHalo.com yields a fascinating
picture of the difference that Mary makes in the lives of Catholic women. |
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