If you homeschool, why do you need a parish facility? Also, joining the parish catechetical program doesn’t seem unreasonable either, you can always supplement it at home. Separate groups is not a good idea. In our diocese several years ago, unbeknownst to me and other parents, there was a homeschool association that somehow wrangled the…
If you homeschool, why do you need a parish facility? Also, joining the parish catechetical program doesn’t seem unreasonable either, you can always supplement it at home. Separate groups is not a good idea. In our diocese several years ago, unbeknownst to me and other parents, there was a homeschool association that somehow wrangled the bishop to confirm all their kids, from about age 7 to highschool, while those of us who had kids in the parochial system had to wait until they were juniors in highschool, which is ridiculous. What’s up with that double standard?
It sounds like this is targeted at organized homeschool cooperatives or hybrid school options, which are a way that homeschool families get together to share the load of offering something more involved, like advanced science/math/literature, theology/catechism, and what have you. It is certainly unreasonable in most circumstances to require families to attend something mandatory on top of what they are already doing, in my experience, especially of that mandatory thing (religious ed, in this case) is seen as unhelpful or at the very least banal and worse than other available options. Just my two cents from my experience
The first question could only be asked by someone who doesn't understand homeschooling. Homeschooling as a name is something of a misnomer. To homeschool means more about what you don't do (send your kids to public or traditional private/Catholic school) rather than what you do. Homeschoolers don't sit at home all day. They are involved with many activities and come together in community. They do coops, online classes, in person classes, etc. An ideal place to come together in community is the local parish as the primary educators (parents) join together with their primary spiritual support (the parish).
Don't blame the homeschoolers for having a lazy bishop who cannot confirm kids more often. Providing Sacraments to his flock is much more important to a bishop than all his other activities, including participating in pointless USCCB committees which waste time and money producing documents that no one reads while they neglect confirming children who they are responsible before God for.
GB, Do you think that it is best if homeschool kids stay at home 100% of the time and are never allowed to attend classes with other homeschoolers? You may need to educate yourself on what best practices are among homeschool families for optimum results.
That seems to me not to be a problem the homeschoolers created—they didn’t. They just asked for and were granted their right under cannon law as agreed to by the competent authority vested in the person of their bishop. It does seem to me to be an opportunity to discuss sacrament prep with a given bishop and perhaps build a very good case for restored order of the sacraments because I believe you are correct: there isn’t a good reason parochial school students should have to wait and there is instead, if we believe the sacrament to do what we say it does, every good reason to confer it at an earlier age than is customary these days.
In my casual observation, preparation for confirmation seems vulnerable to slip into placing reception of the sacrament at the terminus of a parish’s youth program, either in or outside of a catholic school classroom, lending the sacrament almost the air of being a prize of completion or cultural right of passage.
Instead, we should consider that it is possible and good to have vibrant youth and teen programs not tied to the reception of a sacrament at the end then so long after that. Protestants seem to do very well with such a model.
Canon law actually says Confirmation should occur at 7. The reason given for delaying it for nearly a decade is that it is assumed that withholding a Sacrament is the only way to get kids to show up for catechism classes at all. If the homeschool association could satisfy the bishop that the kids would in fact get a religious education throughout their minority, he would have no reason to withhold the Sacrament, and ought to give it by law.
Separate groups like the lay Dominicans, lay Franciscans, men's group, women's group? I've heard of parishes with adult catechesis where people separate according to which class they want or which teacher they like. Separate groups are a staple in most parishes, and they don't cause problems. Lack of charity does.
I have a friend who rightly insisted her borderline high school daughter be confirmed. Her priest was hesitant to support the request because he feared that conferring the sacrament would suddenly mean the child—a non-driving minor still under the direct and constant authority of her active, faithful parents—would suddenly cease to come to Mass. This mindset of using a sacrament as a carrot or stick, while arising from a place of concern for souls and a sincere desire to keep them coming to Mass, is ultimately a detriment. It breaks cannon law, withholds grace, and treats the sacraments as rites of passage not encounters with the Living God.
Yes. All of that. Once I started thinking about it, I was appalled by the fact that we deliberately send children to public schools without the Sacramental grace of Confirmation. From a Church militant standpoint, that's like sending civilians to the front lines with sticks. Sacramental graces don't guarantee salvation or faithfulness, but they certainly aren't mere feathers in the cap either. They provide real aid.
If the parents aren't faithful, I can see witholding it, for the same reason that Baptism can be withheld if the parents aren't faithful or willing to do the work to raise the kid Catholic. But a blanket delay seems an awful lot like refusing to distribute Holy Communion to the laity for a decade because some (possibly many) receive sacrilegiously. How many adults would be on board with that?
Excellent analogy. Maybe the dismal state of the culture and the recognition that probably upward of 75 percent of Catholic children are in highly secular public schools will cause the USCCB to advocate the restored order.
I wrote that analogy thinking that it's weak point was that Holy Communion is received weekly, while Confirmation is received once.
Ten minutes later, I repent. The graces from Sacraments like Baptism, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Confirmation are not one-time things, they are constant things. It might actually be worse than withholding Holy Communion for 10 years, since the graces are constant rather than weekly or daily.
We can certainly pray that the USCCB (or even individual bishops) return to the traditional age.
Because the influence of Catholics who don't support Catholic teaching (parents, kids, and teachers) is foisting added detriment to our children's souls.
If you homeschool, why do you need a parish facility? Also, joining the parish catechetical program doesn’t seem unreasonable either, you can always supplement it at home. Separate groups is not a good idea. In our diocese several years ago, unbeknownst to me and other parents, there was a homeschool association that somehow wrangled the bishop to confirm all their kids, from about age 7 to highschool, while those of us who had kids in the parochial system had to wait until they were juniors in highschool, which is ridiculous. What’s up with that double standard?
It sounds like this is targeted at organized homeschool cooperatives or hybrid school options, which are a way that homeschool families get together to share the load of offering something more involved, like advanced science/math/literature, theology/catechism, and what have you. It is certainly unreasonable in most circumstances to require families to attend something mandatory on top of what they are already doing, in my experience, especially of that mandatory thing (religious ed, in this case) is seen as unhelpful or at the very least banal and worse than other available options. Just my two cents from my experience
The first question could only be asked by someone who doesn't understand homeschooling. Homeschooling as a name is something of a misnomer. To homeschool means more about what you don't do (send your kids to public or traditional private/Catholic school) rather than what you do. Homeschoolers don't sit at home all day. They are involved with many activities and come together in community. They do coops, online classes, in person classes, etc. An ideal place to come together in community is the local parish as the primary educators (parents) join together with their primary spiritual support (the parish).
Don't blame the homeschoolers for having a lazy bishop who cannot confirm kids more often. Providing Sacraments to his flock is much more important to a bishop than all his other activities, including participating in pointless USCCB committees which waste time and money producing documents that no one reads while they neglect confirming children who they are responsible before God for.
GB, Do you think that it is best if homeschool kids stay at home 100% of the time and are never allowed to attend classes with other homeschoolers? You may need to educate yourself on what best practices are among homeschool families for optimum results.
That seems to me not to be a problem the homeschoolers created—they didn’t. They just asked for and were granted their right under cannon law as agreed to by the competent authority vested in the person of their bishop. It does seem to me to be an opportunity to discuss sacrament prep with a given bishop and perhaps build a very good case for restored order of the sacraments because I believe you are correct: there isn’t a good reason parochial school students should have to wait and there is instead, if we believe the sacrament to do what we say it does, every good reason to confer it at an earlier age than is customary these days.
In my casual observation, preparation for confirmation seems vulnerable to slip into placing reception of the sacrament at the terminus of a parish’s youth program, either in or outside of a catholic school classroom, lending the sacrament almost the air of being a prize of completion or cultural right of passage.
Instead, we should consider that it is possible and good to have vibrant youth and teen programs not tied to the reception of a sacrament at the end then so long after that. Protestants seem to do very well with such a model.
Thank you all for the insights.
Canon law actually says Confirmation should occur at 7. The reason given for delaying it for nearly a decade is that it is assumed that withholding a Sacrament is the only way to get kids to show up for catechism classes at all. If the homeschool association could satisfy the bishop that the kids would in fact get a religious education throughout their minority, he would have no reason to withhold the Sacrament, and ought to give it by law.
Separate groups like the lay Dominicans, lay Franciscans, men's group, women's group? I've heard of parishes with adult catechesis where people separate according to which class they want or which teacher they like. Separate groups are a staple in most parishes, and they don't cause problems. Lack of charity does.
I have a friend who rightly insisted her borderline high school daughter be confirmed. Her priest was hesitant to support the request because he feared that conferring the sacrament would suddenly mean the child—a non-driving minor still under the direct and constant authority of her active, faithful parents—would suddenly cease to come to Mass. This mindset of using a sacrament as a carrot or stick, while arising from a place of concern for souls and a sincere desire to keep them coming to Mass, is ultimately a detriment. It breaks cannon law, withholds grace, and treats the sacraments as rites of passage not encounters with the Living God.
Yes. All of that. Once I started thinking about it, I was appalled by the fact that we deliberately send children to public schools without the Sacramental grace of Confirmation. From a Church militant standpoint, that's like sending civilians to the front lines with sticks. Sacramental graces don't guarantee salvation or faithfulness, but they certainly aren't mere feathers in the cap either. They provide real aid.
If the parents aren't faithful, I can see witholding it, for the same reason that Baptism can be withheld if the parents aren't faithful or willing to do the work to raise the kid Catholic. But a blanket delay seems an awful lot like refusing to distribute Holy Communion to the laity for a decade because some (possibly many) receive sacrilegiously. How many adults would be on board with that?
Excellent analogy. Maybe the dismal state of the culture and the recognition that probably upward of 75 percent of Catholic children are in highly secular public schools will cause the USCCB to advocate the restored order.
I wrote that analogy thinking that it's weak point was that Holy Communion is received weekly, while Confirmation is received once.
Ten minutes later, I repent. The graces from Sacraments like Baptism, Matrimony, Holy Orders, and Confirmation are not one-time things, they are constant things. It might actually be worse than withholding Holy Communion for 10 years, since the graces are constant rather than weekly or daily.
We can certainly pray that the USCCB (or even individual bishops) return to the traditional age.
Because the influence of Catholics who don't support Catholic teaching (parents, kids, and teachers) is foisting added detriment to our children's souls.