Day Fourteen: The Bible and the Formation of the Gospels, Part One

Much of what I do in this freshman class is what we can call “confessional pedagogy”. Confessional or neo-confessional pedagogy, as it relates to theology, is really just catechesis. It is the level-one learning of basic vocabulary and concepts relates to Catholic-Christian belief. I will admit this is not the best way to develop Catholic identity in the classroom, the school, or even a parish if you are a catechist. Neo-confessionalism reduces theology to just knowledge, for the most part, as if the more we know about God or the Church, the stronger our relationship with God will become. This sounds like it might be logical, from a post-Enlightenment perspective, but the reality is, neo-confessionalism basically argues that we are the ones who are in control of our relationship with God. It places the burden of Faith on us as we learn more and master more about Faith. But Christianity is not so much about what we do or what we know; it is about what Jesus does for us and how He knows us.

The altar in the grotto at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Denver, Colorado. St. Bernadette's context when she saw the apparitions of Mary was not particularly well-formed in terms of catechesis; she did not recognize that the woman appearing to her was Mary. Yet Mary came to her in a way that Bernadette could understand. Maybe if we pay more attention to our own context we will see God encountering us. (photo P. Smith)

So what is the point of teaching this stuff or learning this stuff? What is our role in the development of a relationship with God? Maybe our job is just to be aware of our own context so we can begin to recognize how God is trying to reach us. Maybe what we teach in the classroom, this catechesis, is only necessary to help prepare our students and ourselves to recognize and talk about the encounters we have with God. Maybe this sort of neo-confessional catechesis is all about developing a disposition for recognizing and receiving God’s encounter with us.

That being said, one of the major ways God encounters us is through Scripture. In this class period, I introduce my students to the idea that God not only tells us about Himself through Scripture; the Scriptures, especially the Gospels, are, in some way, a direct encounter with Him. I start the class with a question: “How do you tell someone good news?” I am trying to contextualize the meaning of the neo-confessional catechesis. Hopefully my students are opening their minds and hearts enough to make the connections. This whole lesson is about showing how God is already encountering them; they just need to start making a connection between their context and doctrine or tradition of the Church.