The other evening I went to a mandatory parent meeting at my local parish.

This
meeting was for parents of 10th graders and as part of their faith formation parents are
required to attend a number of meetings held throughout the school year. I hadnt
been to one yet so I was somewhat excited to experience it.
My husband and I joined about 30 other parents, most who had their 10 th graders
with them. We did not bring our daughter only because we were not aware that we
were expected to.
There were two college aged young adults clearly preparing to lead the gathering, one a
male and the other a female. The young man came into the center of those gathered
and began talking about the meaning of the Triduum. If he introduced himself, I
missed that. It became evident very quickly that he was giving a lecture on aspects of
the Triduum. This was not a problem for my husband and myself, that is, until he
began to talk about the priesthood, the lives of a few of the saints, the virgin Mary, etc.
and some of what he was stating as fact was not theologically sound belief within the
Catholic Church. My husband looked at me, the theologian, to see if I was having a
problem with this. I looked at him with surprise that we were encountering a personal
apologetics speech at a gathering such as this. I looked around the room to see if
others were having difficulty with this meeting and what I saw saddened me. Some of
the parents were on their cell phones, some of the youth were yawning and rubbing
their hands over their heads and faces reminding me of my overly tired homeless
clients of years before. Some were listening to this young man as he rambled on about
what appeared to be the dogma of the faith and probably taking in as truth his
uneducated presentation. I thought about interrupting him but I would have had to
actually stand up and call out for he was on a role. He was not interacting with us
gathered nor was he engaging anyone with eye contact. What I realized very quickly
was that 1) I was leaving, 2) I needed to write a letter of protest, and 3) my daughter
would not be attending any of these meetings without us.
When we got home, my husband and I did sit down and formulate an email to the faith
formation director whom we have not heard from as of yet.
I have taught theology to a number of young adults. I try hard to encourage their
desire to look more deeply into their faith. With that I invite them into the real life
experiences and wisdom writings of the Doctors of the Church, the Fathers of the
Church, the Catechism, ongoing Papal documents, and writings of faithful Christians
that have stood the clarifying criticism of time and review. Many do not want to go
down that educational path. Their opinions are formed, they have surrounded
themselves with others who think in similar ways to them, and they are very busy

with lives filled with informational experiences, mostly useless as social scientists are
currently pointing out. So, I do not relish this young man, who is clearly giving of his
time and energy to the parish, to be embarrassed or feel put down for his efforts. I do,
however, want him to know that he could benefit from spiritual discernment, where he
could determine whether or not teaching or knowledge is a spiritual gift of his, and he
could take the time to pursue theological education. All of this would invite him into a
state of humility, an opportunity to pursue more theological education, and help him
to grow spiritually to be a more effective evangelizer on behalf of the faith. Until then,
he clearly needs to back away from opportunities to practice juvenile apologetics before
an unwitting crowd. Now, the responsibility of the other parents to be present and
expecting engagement on behalf of their sons or daughters is a whole other writing
which I will come back to soon.
Wisdom, Teaching, Prophecy, Administration, Discerning of Spirits, Writing,
Knowledge, etc. are all special graces given by the Holy Spirit to the spirit of an
individual on behalf of the church to be used in the uplifting of the church or to be
used in the world. If we, as Christians, want to be as informed as we can be and we
want to be treated in a way that affirms our individual and communal dignity, then we
need to have an expectation out of the church that individuals with these graces be
sought out. We know, through Holy Scripture and through the ongoing Holy Tradition
of the Church that individuals continue today to be called by the Spirit of God to use
these graces in an active and engaging way. It is their responsibility as daughters and
sons of God. It is their created right to be seen in their individual spiritual entirety. It
is the demand of their lives to be steadfast and to go forth with praise to God for the
blessings He has showered upon them through the distribution of these graces,
undeserved, and yet given as gift of grace to give truthful light, as Gods compassion
and mercy, to the world.
May the Holy Spirit tug at this young mans heart to move him into seeking out those
around him who have these special graces so that they may teach him what it is that
he needs to know. Be with him on this journey. Be curious about one anothers
spirits. Be seekers of how the Holy Spirit continues to engage the Church and the
world. Be the Body of Christ by being willing to acknowledge the existence of hands
and feet and arms and legs and eyes and earsWith this we will truly go out into the
world with truth upon our lips giving voice to the joy of the Gospel of God impressed
upon our hearts. Blessings