I have two classes left to teach in my parish’s faith formation program this year. We are set to tackle Pentecost/how the Holy Spirit lives in our own lives and of course, how and why we honor Mary in the month of May. I am honestly shocked that we are at the end of our yearly journey and these little souls will go on to the great and tender care of their 2nd grade Catechist and prepare for receiving their first Holy Communion.
If you had asked a few years ago, I would not have said I would become a catechist. I had four small children at home which kept me busy enough along with a full time job. I was dedicated to supporting their faith formation as their primary catechist, but didn’t see myself entering the role to the greater community. We lived in a large small city (approximately 120,000) and the path to breaking into parish ministry was a mystery. It seemed like everything was handled—the well established families at the parish took care of all the needs. I didn’t even know how to sign up to be a lector if I wanted to (I didn’t, my one year old would have had to be with me at the lectern). So we attended Mass every sunday, smiled, greeted those around us and left after the donuts. And then came the schooling years.
The public schools in our city weren’t…great. To be clear, I was raised in a public school, had great teachers and experiences in public schools, and (spoiler alert) my kids currently attend a public school. But at the time my oldest two were starting pre-school, we needed a different option. The parish we belonged to didn’t have an attached school, but we found another Catholic school in town and enrolled our kids there. And let me just say, it was the greatest experience we could have had. After six years there, my husband and I decided to move out of the city to rural northern Wisconsin. We were sad to leave our school family, and we actually return every year for the annual fundraiser. But more than anything, where we were headed, there was not a local Catholic school—the closest town has about 300 people. And so our children transitioned to public schooling.
The public school here is fantastic. It is exactly as you’d expect from a small town, tight knit community. Sure there are all sorts of families, cultures and religions represented, but they aren’t afraid to sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing at the Christmas concert. Still, this meant my kids needed to get their formation in the Catholic Faith outside of the school day.
I sat out teaching the first year of faith formation. My second oldest made her First Holy Communion and it was beautiful. I started to get to know the families, and as it is in small communities, the needs are much more obvious. Father was often saying Mass on Saturday without altar servers—my eldest quickly became the go-to Saturday server, with his sister joining him after her First Communion (literally only 6 days after in fact). I became an Extraordinary Minister of Communion (my now three year old doesn’t love it, but he allows me to go up there alone) and my husband started ushering. At one point I overheard a fellow parishioner say to another “Oh do you know the Mergeners? I don’t know how they got roped into it but they do everything at church now.”
Obviously this isn’t close to true. There are so many dedicated parishioners that help during the multiple Masses, that play the organ, that make the meals for faith formation for funerals, that sing in the choir, that wash the linens. But we were involved in a way I never was in the “big city” and I don’t even remember how it happened. There was a need. And as busy as we were, we filled it because it was a need.
Fast forward through the year and we’re coming up on the end of the summer. I don’t remember what I was looking for on the parish website, but I was there and I saw a notice: First Grade Catechist needed. We were only a few weeks away from the year starting and those kids needed a teacher. I moved on to whatever I was looking for. But the Holy Spirit didn’t move on. A few days later I was looking at our calendar of family commitments: serving at Mass, sports, music and back to school events. And I found myself looking at the dates for Catechist in-service and making sure those were clear. And looking at the class time for first grade…yep that’s still clear too. So I looked at my husband and said “they need a catechist, do you think I should volunteer?” And the ever supportive husband he is, he told me I was crazy, but if I wanted it, he was more than happy to make it happen.
So I did it. I sent the text to the DRE: “Do you still need a first grade catechist? I can do it if you need it.”
And the rest is history. Throughout the year I have felt incredibly inept, incredibly impatient and incredibly unprepared. But I have also felt incredibly grateful, incredibly blessed and incredible love for these little souls. We crafted, we read the Bible, we practiced our prayers, we toured the church and even through the hard questions and the antsy seats, we met Jesus and all of us—myself most of all—grew. After starting reluctantly, I am ending the year by filling out my catechist survey, committing to teaching again, being willing to teach any grade they need, and offering to join the Religious Education board, because these little souls are important. The family is the primary catechist of our children, but what a great religious education program can offer is the secondary support of a community to help grow our children’s relationships with Jesus and even our own.
If there’s a need in your parish and you feel unqualified or two busy, I encourage you to take a second look at it. You may in fact be too busy or be better suited to serve in another way even if that way is praying for ministries at your parish. And that is GREAT. Parishes need that too! But don’t dismiss that Holy Spirit nudge if it brings you to fill a need. Give Him the benefit of the doubt and see where He might take you.