My First Day Teaching Confirmation Class

St. Louis teaching his children

“So God is a stalker?” a boy commented after our reading of Psalm 139, “That’s kind of creepy.”

This was just one of many thought-provoking comments in the stimulating discussions that took place during the hour I had charge of my eighth grade Confirmation students. I tried to explain that God was there in a loving and protective way; but he stubbornly refused to understand and I had to move on by telling him he would have to wrap his head around the concept on his own.

I had to work outside the book today because I had been given the wrong book over the summer, and not enough time to prepare based on the new book that was given to me two days ago. I was upset at first but decided that we had a great deal to talk about to introduce the year anyway. So my plan was to have them introduce themselves, tell me why they want to be confirmed in the Catholic Church, and tell me one thing they really like to do. From there we would talk about Community Service and help them come up with ideas about what they could do that utilized their individual passions.

I played “Make My Life a Prayer to You” sung by Melodie Green (2nd Chapter of Acts, Mansion Builder) while inquiring in the office about getting Bibles for some of the kids. When I got back and asked why they thought I had played that selection, the answer I got back was, “To torture us?” which led on to a discussion of torture, warn, and injustice in the world. A boy mentioned his uncle was in prison for something he didn’t do. I talked about the injustices done to Joseph and Job, and the rewards they reaped in the end for remaining faithful to God.

We returned to the question of life as a prayer. I told them that “praying without ceasing” didn’t mean saying Hail Mary’s out loud all day. If you’re good at softball, I said, doing your best and going for those homeruns is giving glory to God by making the best use of your talents. Psalm 139 was read to start the discussion of how God had a plan for each of us before we were even born. That led to the stalker comment.

“What if I don’t want to go along with God’s plan?” asked one boy. Which made me happy that I had read the part of the Catechism that talks about free will. I talked about what happened to Jonah when he tried to thwart God’s plan for him. “You can be difficult with God,” I said, “but it will make your own life more difficult and He will find a way to use you for His purpose in the long run.”

The two girls in my class kept exchanging looks as the boys kept coming up with these “weird” questions. Actually, they were quite good ones, and I’m happy they were intellectually involved in talking about scripture and theology.

I was happy to hear that each of them did have something they were excited about doing, whether it was a sport or a hobby. (“No, hunting and skinning squirrels probably would not make a good community service project,” I had to explain to one boy.) Why they wanted to be confirmed varied.

“So I don’t have to go to religion class anymore.”

“Because it is important to me.”

“Because I believe in my faith.”

“Because my whole family is Catholic.”

“Because my dad couldn’t get married in the Catholic church because he wasn’t confirmed, and he never went to college, and I want to be able to do all the things my parents never got to do.”

And the last one, who never spoke a word, was spoken for by his cousin, “He doesn’t care about Confirmation and wants to go back to Brooklyn.”

So you can see I have quite the assortment of students to deal with here. There are more to come, as a third of the parish’s children have yet to register.

“But Mom, they’re going to hate you!” my daughter had exclaimed when I told her on the way over that I was going to assign homework. But no one seemed to have a problem when I told them to (1) buy a notebook; (2) write up a community service idea); and (3) thumb through the Bible and find a scripture they like.

I think I am going to enjoy this class, with all the challenges it brings.

Back onto the Volunteer Path

If you’ve been following my blog you might think I am down on volunteerism. I think if you have the calling, and you have enough time and energy AFTER fulfilling your duties to your family, it is a natural fulfillment of the “works” part of our faith. What I am down on is exhausting oneself in too many avenues so that there is not enough left for the family at home, as well as one’s own spiritual development.

Sometimes it is necessary to pull back in some of these areas. Maybe a child needs some extra attention, or you or a family member are ill. In the past, I have had the tendency to accept too many commitments, and I had to go cold turkey when my fourth child was born. It’s kind of like my obsession with books. I have way too many, and know I am incapable of walking into a book store without buying more – so I try to stay away from book sales of any kind, unless I have a real need for a specific book. For three years I have avoided any kind of sign-up sheet, knowing just one more thing could put me over the edge. (Read about the bake sale that almost broke this camel’s back.)

After the birth of each child, it takes me a bit longer to get used to all the extra responsibilities, before I feel like I’ve gotten into the swing of things and can take on more. Almost three years later, I am finally ready to take on the commitment of catechist once again. I really feel great about this, mostly because I get to be my own child’s teacher in preparation for her Confirmation.

When I taught the sixth grade religious education class, I found that I learned as much from the experience as my students did. I loved to hear what questions they had, even if I didn’t know the answer yet. I would write them down and eagerly research a response. In the preparation of my classes I would dig deep into scripture, the Church documents, and the lives of the saints, and found myself developing spiritually as well as in my knowledge of the Church.

The religious education director at my parish sees me quite often in a variety of capacities, especially now that I have a son ready to make his First Communion. She answered the bell today, asking how she could help me. Usually I have some kind of request for the pro-life group or a question about the Communion. I was here to help her, I replied. Relief washed over her face. I had thought I might have trouble with my request to teach my daughter’s eighth grade class, but she happily gave it to me.

It was with great excitement that I walked out of the religious education office with my hefty teacher’s manual, food for thought over the summer. I’m ready to order myself an official copy of The Catechism of the Catholic Church and give myself a good education. And I will be tuning in to EWTN as often as possible to see what those great teachers have to offer my soul.

Painting above: The Calling of St. Peter, Hans Suss von Kulmbach, 1514-16