Eight “Be Cs” for Effective Catechesis

By Sr. Marie Roccapriore, MPS

 

1.       To be Christ-centered is to reflect our own personal love for Christ and to reflect God’s love for the children.	5.  To be creative is to use one’s imagination and other personal gifts in one’s teaching and to draw on the imagination and personal gifts of the children.
2.       To be clear is to be to be simple and concise in our teaching. Simplicity comes from being prepared.  We need to be direct and to know our subject matter.	6.  To be compassionate is to care about each child, to allow for individual differences as well as class needs, to be patient.
3.       To be consistent, develop a general pattern for teaching so that most of the time children know what to expect.  Variety is important too, but so is repetition. In fact, repetition is essential to learning. So don’t be afraid to repeat.	7.  To be charitable is to be kind, to anticipate children’s needs, to give them the opportunity to grow in charity themselves by cultivating in them thoughtfulness of others.
4.       To be concrete is to use lots of examples, to relate whatever one is teaching to the world the child knows.	8.  To be catechetical is to be evangelistic. To catechize or evangelize is to reach out not only to the children, but through them to their families. Every lesson should incorporate prayer, Bible, liturgy, and doctrine.

Sr. Marie Roccapriore is DRE, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, Meriden, CT.