The sign we give” “” “

It’s a trend that has spread in the last fifteen to twenty years in England and Wales and has been encouraged by the Bishops’ Conference in various documents, of which the most important is “The Sign we Give” of 1995. Preparation for Communion is increasingly occurring in the parishes rather than in schools. Fifty years ago things were different. It was the Catholic schools, widespread and famous in Great Britain, that prepared children of “year three”, the third class in primary school in which pupils are aged between seven and eight, for the Sacrament of the Eucharist. FULL TIME CATECHISTS. At St. Mary’s, a Catholic church run by the Rosminians at Loughborough, a town with 50,000 inhabitants in the English Midlands, the transfer of preparation for Communion from the school to the parish is a recent experiment. Lessons are held on Saturday afternoon, before Saturday evening Mass, or on Sunday morning, between the Mass at nine o’clock and that at eleven. Annette Jones, headmistress of the nearby Catholic primary school, herself runs the courses, together with a teacher, Helen Reilly. Two parents, a mother and a father, attend the lessons. They in turn will become full-time catechists next year. “As a parent I like to be involved, and to share this special journey of my daughter. I consider it an important part of my vocation as a mother”, says Sue Davies, now in her early forties, the mother of seven-year-old Lucy and eight-year-old Beth. She is one of the first parent-catechists of the Catholic parish of St. Mary’s in Loughborough. This year Sue has taken part in two sessions of preparation for the Sacrament of Communion attended by her daughter. In the first lesson she spoke with the children of what is meant by belonging to a family, in the second of what is meant by belonging to the Christian family that is the Church. “It’s not so much a question of teaching, I think, as of sharing”, explains Sue, “I didn’t take any special course to become a catechist, but I have always been a practising Catholic and actively involved in the life of the Church. I am responsible for the liturgy of children during Sunday Mass and run a “housegroup”, a prayer group in my own home every two weeks”. PROS AND CONS. According to Father Philip Scanlan, parish priest of St. Mary’s, there are pros and cons in both approaches, the one in which the school is the protagonist, and the other that makes the parents responsible. “Let’s say that for parents it’s a continuation of a role that is already theirs, given that everyday their children take them as the model for learning how to cope with life. Mother and father are the first teachers of their children. When the preparation is left to the schools, the approach is more formal. But teachers have the advantage of having been trained for the job by special courses”, continues Father Philip, “Not all parishioners agree with this change. Many think that preparation ought to be left to the schools”. “We will have to see whether the parents involved in the sessions of catechism feel themselves able to continue with this great responsibility. It’s too early to say whether the experiment will prove successful. As one says in English, ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating'”, concludes Father Philip. A “MORE INTIMATE” preparaTION. “Preparation in the parish is more intimate, more personal, without the formalities of the school”, explains Annette Jones, headmistress of St. Mary’s, the local Catholic primary school attended by two hundred pupils. She is cooperating with the parish in this new experiment. Annette gives lessons on Saturday afternoon, before evening Mass. “The parish environment is more meditative, it’s a more reliable way of transmitting the witness of the faith to very young children”, she continues. “It makes sense to base the preparation for the Sacrament of the Eucharist in the parish, as has already been the case for the Sacrament of Confirmation for a decade or so, because in this way the whole spiritual life of a person is concentrated in a single place”. “For many parents who have not attended the Catholic Church for years the preparation of their children for Holy Communion may also become an occasion for the renewal of their faith. I’ve seen many mothers and fathers, who had dropped out of the Church but who have returned to the fold after having been involved in their children’s preparation for the Sacrament of the Eucharist”, concludes Annette.