by Joe Schleicher, Pastoral Associate for Youth & Children's Evangelization - St. Margaret of York Catholic Church
Ok, I'm not a cat person but recently this ridiculously cute kitten kept coming up to the porch of my house to hang out with my 3 kids (ages 8,6,3). I first saw it walk up to me on the sidewalk and follow me up to the door. I thought, "Oh no, this is how it all started." When I was a young boy, this lost cat followed my brother and I home. We gave it milk and then it wanted to stay with us forever. My dad came home and was not happy about this, he was allergic to cats. But then his heart melted. He gave in and let us keep the cat, he just had to take a lot of allergy pills. We called our new cat Tiger or Tigger because it had orange and white stripes. When we got a dog later...well that's another story.
So when my kids started getting attached to this little kitten, and the kitten was getting attached to them, I was concerned that we may end up with a new pet. As I would see this kitten wander over every day and as I would watch the joyful reaction my kids had playing with it, I began to open up to the idea of taking this kitten in. Even though I am not a cat person, and my family had been talking about getting a dog, I suppose I started to warm up to the idea the way my dad did. But we were all concerned about where this cat came from, who's was it? Is it one of our neighbors? We didn't want to steal this kitten away from it's home. Some of the other children in the neighborhood said that they just see this kitten wandering all over. We started calling it Neighborhood Kitty. Then we realized it would go in and out of the garage of one of our neighbors. We inquired and found out that it did belong to one of the daughters of our neighbor, but that she only lived there part of the time. She would come and go, and so it seemed the kitten did as well. She let us know the kids were free to play with the kitten if it wandered over. Then after a while, one day, we never saw the kitten again. We aren't sure if it went back to another home with it's owner, or if it wandered off and got lost like cats do, or if a coyote got it! We have no idea.
Why am I sharing this story? Well, today is Catechetical Sunday. I used to hear that word and think, "Cata what?" Still I think it is common to get that reaction to the words catechism, catechist, catechesis, catechetical, catechetics and catechize. That's a lot of Catas! We have definitions for the meaning of those words and that's great but to boil it down, they all have to do with instruction in the Christian faith. Therefore, Catechetical Sunday is a celebration and time to give thanks and blessing to all those catechists that do the work of passing on the faith. These catechists may be volunteers, Church or school staff, teachers, parents, coaches, clergy, religious, or any disciple of Jesus Christ witnessing to others. Passing on or instructing in the faith can be done in a formal or informal way. As I was putting the date for Catechetical Sunday in my calendar and notes, I started shortening it to Cat Sunday and finally just ended up with CATS! Hence my kitten story. CATS was really just an abbreviation for Catechetical Sunday all along. But my kitten story is a true story and this is the reason I shared it.
My kids received this kitten. They paid attention to it and the kitten attached itself to them. This kitten was lost and didn't quite know who it belonged to. It wandered around and didn't really know where to stay. It would see my kids come home and run right over to them for play time. It seemed comforted. And this reminded me of Jesus in today's gospel (Mark 9:30-37). Jesus sits down with his 12 disciples for an instructional "catechetical" moment. Jesus ends up embracing a child as he tells the disciples, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me."
What a great image for catechists, this is the essence of what God wants them to do. That is to welcome others to the God that lovingly receives them. The God that they belong to. The child, the kitten, the adult, all need to know where they belong. The lost need to know who is welcoming them, who is receiving them.
And so the simple message of receiving the lost kitten was a reminder of a crucial attitude to have when it comes to sharing Christian faith with others. That is to simply receive the person you are sharing your faith with. To be present with them, to receive them in Jesus's name. Surely there may be deep discussion, teaching and questions to answer as time goes on, but if the part of receiving is missed it seems the catechizing is not being done the way Jesus showed his 12 disciples how to do it. Jesus took this child, put his arm around the child and embraced the child. He made the child feel welcomed. And look at the beautiful promise he makes to those that do this.
So when my kids started getting attached to this little kitten, and the kitten was getting attached to them, I was concerned that we may end up with a new pet. As I would see this kitten wander over every day and as I would watch the joyful reaction my kids had playing with it, I began to open up to the idea of taking this kitten in. Even though I am not a cat person, and my family had been talking about getting a dog, I suppose I started to warm up to the idea the way my dad did. But we were all concerned about where this cat came from, who's was it? Is it one of our neighbors? We didn't want to steal this kitten away from it's home. Some of the other children in the neighborhood said that they just see this kitten wandering all over. We started calling it Neighborhood Kitty. Then we realized it would go in and out of the garage of one of our neighbors. We inquired and found out that it did belong to one of the daughters of our neighbor, but that she only lived there part of the time. She would come and go, and so it seemed the kitten did as well. She let us know the kids were free to play with the kitten if it wandered over. Then after a while, one day, we never saw the kitten again. We aren't sure if it went back to another home with it's owner, or if it wandered off and got lost like cats do, or if a coyote got it! We have no idea.
Why am I sharing this story? Well, today is Catechetical Sunday. I used to hear that word and think, "Cata what?" Still I think it is common to get that reaction to the words catechism, catechist, catechesis, catechetical, catechetics and catechize. That's a lot of Catas! We have definitions for the meaning of those words and that's great but to boil it down, they all have to do with instruction in the Christian faith. Therefore, Catechetical Sunday is a celebration and time to give thanks and blessing to all those catechists that do the work of passing on the faith. These catechists may be volunteers, Church or school staff, teachers, parents, coaches, clergy, religious, or any disciple of Jesus Christ witnessing to others. Passing on or instructing in the faith can be done in a formal or informal way. As I was putting the date for Catechetical Sunday in my calendar and notes, I started shortening it to Cat Sunday and finally just ended up with CATS! Hence my kitten story. CATS was really just an abbreviation for Catechetical Sunday all along. But my kitten story is a true story and this is the reason I shared it.
My kids received this kitten. They paid attention to it and the kitten attached itself to them. This kitten was lost and didn't quite know who it belonged to. It wandered around and didn't really know where to stay. It would see my kids come home and run right over to them for play time. It seemed comforted. And this reminded me of Jesus in today's gospel (Mark 9:30-37). Jesus sits down with his 12 disciples for an instructional "catechetical" moment. Jesus ends up embracing a child as he tells the disciples, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me."
What a great image for catechists, this is the essence of what God wants them to do. That is to welcome others to the God that lovingly receives them. The God that they belong to. The child, the kitten, the adult, all need to know where they belong. The lost need to know who is welcoming them, who is receiving them.
And so the simple message of receiving the lost kitten was a reminder of a crucial attitude to have when it comes to sharing Christian faith with others. That is to simply receive the person you are sharing your faith with. To be present with them, to receive them in Jesus's name. Surely there may be deep discussion, teaching and questions to answer as time goes on, but if the part of receiving is missed it seems the catechizing is not being done the way Jesus showed his 12 disciples how to do it. Jesus took this child, put his arm around the child and embraced the child. He made the child feel welcomed. And look at the beautiful promise he makes to those that do this.
Joe Schleicher is Pastoral Associate for Youth & Children's Evangelization at St. Margaret of York Catholic Church in Loveland, OH. He has worked in various parishes as a youth minister, Catholic school teacher and liturgical musician. He is currently studying to complete an MA in Theology with a concentration in Evangelization & Catechesis. He is passionate about sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with youth of all ages and their families. He is a husband and a father of one boy and two girls.