Chris Stefanick, responding to a Catechism teacher with ambivalent students, encourages us to “get excited” about the opportunity to have students right in front of us even if they don’t care.
Transcript:
Host: Teresa in Fresno, California listening on the Immaculate Heart Radio app, you are on with Chris Stefanick, what’s your question?
Caller: Good afternoon, thank you for taking my call. My question: I am a Catechism teacher preparing children for their First Communion, and I have a class right now of 13 children that are fourth grade and above, so they haven’t had their First Communion when they normally should have. So my problem is not that I’m not evangelizing as well as I can, but their parents are doing nothing. They don’t go to Mass, they don’t know how to pray their prayers, they don’t know how– they don’t even know how to hold a rosary. And I’m getting frustrated. I’m–one student, I gave them a Mass journal and I said, “This is for you to take to Mass, when you go to Mass,” and because I went to a dynamic Catholic event, and, you know, just see if God’s talking to you and what God’s saying. “Oh, I don’t go to Mass. No, I’ll never go to Mass.” And I’m like, “Well why are you here then?” “I’ll never go to Mass.”
Chris: Yeah. First I want to thank you for your patience. You know, because it takes patience. But listen, I’ve worked with Confirmation students for years, I actually wrote a confirmation program called “Chosen,” and, you know, after years of working with Confirmation kids, you see tons of these people who show up, drop their kids off, and could care less about the faith. I brought up the example of Catholic schools, and there’s some parents who want to fight to make sure their administration cares more about God, but there’s some administrations that’s very holy and would say, “Yeah, but Chris, 99% of the parents dropping their kids off could care less,” right?
Here’s a key thing we gotta hold on to. Catechists, administrators, teachers, don’t lose hope. You know, when you see a group of people in front of you who don’t have faith, who could care less, please don’t get frustrated, please get excited. Go to the Acts of the Apostles. I mean, think of Acts chapter 2, and how they’re in front of this group of people who don’t know Jesus. Their first response wasn’t frustration, it was excitement.
Now we have a very unique situation nowadays, see, because those people, obviously the Apostles didn’t expect them to know Jesus Christ and didn’t expect them to have a relationship with Jesus. We have people showing up for Catechism classes, and sitting in Catholic schools, and sometimes even showing up for Mass who could care less, it’s very strange. But we should–and as strange as that is, let’s never get frustrated. God give us the grace to get excited.
You know, Pope Francis says to go to the fringes, right? Well shoot, after years of working in youth ministry and in Confirmation classes I’m thinking, “I don’t have to go out and look outside the doors of my church to find the fringes.” Shoot, I don’t have to go outside the Church very far to maybe get martyred. I’ll have kids sitting in front of me who can’t stand me just because I’m calling them to follow Jesus Christ, you know? But that’s also an opportunity, like we might never have again. If they’re coming out of nostalgia now, again in 20, 30 years they might not be.
So we have a prime opportunity to evangelize. We will see a certain percentage of these people who could care less stay Catholic for life if we don’t blow that opportunity. You know, but we have to stay patient, we have to keep showing our joy, we have to form relationships with these people and with their parents. You know, often relationships are the most time-consuming, painful ways that conversions happen, because we prefer to just hang out with people who think exactly like us. But try to befriend these families. Try to befriend the parents of kids, school administrators who are dropping their kids off at school, and engage the long painful road to conversion.
You know, I’d also say when it comes to–whether schools or or Catechism classes, make sure there’s evangelistic components like retreats that you bring these people on. I know with third and fourth graders it’s difficult, but in high schools, you know, there’s great speakers you can bring in, there’s retreats you can put on, there’s Steubenville conferences, if you Google that I think it’s one of the most effective evangelistic outreach tools out there today for for three-day retreats for young people. And often kids show up–they had to go, they didn’t want to be there. But hey, I love those kinds of kids sitting out there, right? That’s my target audience: “I have to be here.” “Yes! Awesome.”
Host: And you know Chris, I–Theresa thanks so much for that call, I think that’s a really important point, actually, we gotta hit that side of it too.