tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12897315.post4126396987900584861..comments2024-03-28T09:54:55.115-05:00Comments on Dad29: Archdiocesan Planning: The Real ProblemDad29http://www.blogger.com/profile/08554276286736923821noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12897315.post-81154969863681948842009-01-05T17:32:00.000-06:002009-01-05T17:32:00.000-06:00I completely agree that a Catholic school is the i...I completely agree that a Catholic school is the ideal. However, we must deal with actual circumstances. In this day and age, private education is financially out of the reach of most middle-class parents, and there is no chance of expanding the choice program while Doyle is in office...Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01194200955033642204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12897315.post-86646257548799701762009-01-05T16:50:00.000-06:002009-01-05T16:50:00.000-06:00With regard to Fr. Sirba's dreams of "well designe...With regard to Fr. Sirba's dreams of "well designed religious education programs," I think the following from the Diocese of Tulsa will provide him with a much needed reality check.<BR/><BR/>I am in my 5th year as a junior high religious ed catechist and I can assure Fr. Sirba that, no matter how much he cares to tweak it, religious ed will always be a poor second to a well-run, full-time Catholic school.<BR/> <BR/><B>"CCD programs will never be enough</B><BR/>It must be conceded that this is a task beyond even the finest parish religious education programs. No Sunday school program, no matter how complete the content of its textbooks, how deep the commitment of its volunteers or joyful they are in their service, is capable of building the kind of social community which is founded in this kind of culture and which is capable of revealing in itself the interior life and mission of the Church.<BR/><BR/>"They cannot do this because they will always be secondary to the primary education of their students, which is secular and relativistic.<BR/><BR/>"CCD classes add an additional class to the secular curriculum, but this one class, this one hour a week, is not capable of revealing the dangerous deficiencies of secular assumptions, because by adding one class in religious studies on Sunday or on Wednesdays, we actually reinforce the secular presumption that religion has both its value and place, but separate and apart from the things of “the real world.” We accept implicitly the world’s judgment that the things of God are one of its many categories of inquiry and God Himself just one “thing” among all the rest to be studied.<BR/><BR/>"I think it is imperative that we acknowledge and accept that our first and foremost effort in religious education must be to revitalize our Catholic schools and do whatever is necessary to make certain that every family in the Diocese has the right to this kind of religious education for their children."<BR/><BR/>The entire article is <A HREF="http://www.dioceseoftulsa.org/section.asp?secID=181" REL="nofollow"> here</A>.Mike Sheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05152225895101756147noreply@blogger.com