Handing on the faith in the family the importance of family catechism

Fr Anthony Pillari interviewed His Excellency Bishop Athanasius Schneider about the crucial importance of the family catechism today, when launching Voice of the Family’s new programme Our Lady of the Rosary Family Catechism. Well known to the readers of Calx Mariae, Bishop Schneider is the auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan. He holds a doctorate in patristics, speaks German, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, English, French, and Italian, and reads Latin and ancient Greek. He is especially known for his great love of the Catholic faith and for his ability to communicate its great truths clearly “in season and out of season” (2 Tim. 4:2).

FR PILLARI: Your Excellency, it is a real blessing and honour to have you with us today. Thank you so much for joining us. BISHOP SCHNEIDER: You are welcome. I greet especially, with much love, young families and their children. They are the true hope for the renewal of the Church. Large families represent the domestic church as the Church fathers taught. It is a joy for me to speak to these young Catholic families.

FR PILLARI: And would you be willing to share with families throughout the world some of your own experience of studying the catechism as a young boy? BISHOP SCHNEIDER: I learnt the catechism within the family, from my parents. I consider this the most appropriate place, since God has already established the family as a small church, a domestic church. Through all generations, the Catholic Faith has been handed on in a true way by the parents in a family. This is the true way because it is the most organic way. What is organic is stronger — it lasts and it has a deeper impact.

I had the great grace to be born in a deeply Catholic family. Both parents and also my grandparents from both sides, and even their grandparents had the same deep Catholic faith. For me, it is an unspeakable grace from God that I could grow up in a “soil” which was filled with the Catholic faith through generations.

So I learnt the catechism firstly from my mother. She taught the catechism regularly to me and my

siblings. It was the good old German catechism. My mother was very wise, she taught us the most basic important truths in a very simple way, which we had to memorise.

FR PILLARI: Memorising the catechism is something that many young families today are not as familiar with. Was that difficult to do? Could you say a few words about what it was like for you as a young boy to memorise the catechism? BISHOP SCHNEIDER: In those times it was still in the general culture, also in the schools, to memorise poems and so on. Unfortunately, today it is not the case anymore. Children can memorise more easily than adults. God gave this capacity to children – the ability to memorise quicker and easier, and what you have learnt in your childhood remains in the memory through all your life. These basic truths will accompany you in moments of difficulty – when you remember them, they give you strength and renew your faith. Therefore, it is necessary to restore these proven methods of learning the catechism.

FR PILLARI: Did you find as you grew older, as an adolescent and as a young adult, that these truths were helpful in a concrete way for you in your own life? BISHOP SCHNEIDER: Of course, without doubt, they were very helpful. When growing up you receive a lot of information – you study theology, you hear different opinions, you study the heresies; and then as a priest and as a bishop, you are witnessing the great crisis of the Church today. When hearing ambiguities, even errors and heresies, from the mouth of the shepherds of the Church, unfortunately, and many theologians as well, it helped me very much to remember the basic truths which I learnt as a child in the good old catechism.

For example, let us take the Ten Commandments of God. I memorised these and the first commandment is: you shall not have other Gods beside Me. This is so evident and now when we are witnessing the confusion, that God allegedly wills other religions or the plurality of religions, spread even from the Vatican and the Pope, we know that it directly contradicts the first commandment. When I heard this, I thought of the first commandment which I learnt as a child: you shall not have other gods, which is so clear and evident.

Let us take another example. The sixth commandment: you shall not commit adultery. It is clear. When discussions started about the implementation of Amoris Laetitiae and the admittance of divorced and remarried Catholics to Holy Communion, when bishops stated that these people could receive Holy Communion in certain cases without being asked to stop committing adultery – again, it directly contradicts the commandment of God.

These are only two examples. When you keep the Catholic Truth in your soul – I call it the good old catechism – it really reflects, even breathes the spirit of the Catholic faith of all ages. This clear, unambiguous language helps when studying theology, when becoming a seminarian. It was my experience as a priest and even as bishop with keeping this childlike, firm, clear, Catholic faith.

Our Lord Jesus Christ said in the Gospel “Unless you will become like little children, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (cf. Mt. 18:3) I consider these words of Our Lord evermore important: a childlike faith – not childish but childlike – in the spirit of Our Lord. Every seminarian, priest, bishop and pope has to keep this pure, firm, childlike faith, just as when they first learnt the catechism. If you do not keep this firm childlike faith, you will become a scribe. In time, your faith will vanish and you will only be a sterile scribe, a Pharisee, or an agnostic. Your faith will only be a theory which can be changed in your mind.

I remember the words of St Paul to his disciple Timothy when he says: “Remember the faith of your grandmother, the faith of your mother.” St Paul praises the simple strong faith of these holy women from whom St Timothy received the faith, who nurtured his faith until he was in a new and deeper manner confirmed by St Paul, and ordained a bishop.

FR PILLARI: It is moving to hear how the truths you learned as a young boy are playing today a key role in your episcopal ministry. I know from a number of families throughout the world that parents are rather nervous about taking on more of a role in

“God gave children the ability to memorise quicker and easier, and what you have learnt in your childhood remains in the memory through all your life. These basic truths will accompany you in moments of difficulty – when you remember them, they give you strength and renew your faith. Therefore, it is necessary to restore these proven methods of learning the catechism.”

teaching their children. Our hope is that Our Lady of the Rosary Family Catechism will provide them with the support of a priest teaching their children, but nonetheless they will have a crucial role. Would you be willing to say a few words about how your own mother taught you the catechism? BISHOP SCHNEIDER: We were four siblings. She gathered us together in the evening, we sat down and she opened the beautiful old catechism. She read a small part. We repeated it and then she moved on to the next part. The next time we repeated the last part and so on. This repetition was very helpful. It was not long, maybe half an hour because children cannot concentrate for a long time. It is better to take a short time but to do the basic repetition with the children and then slowly move on.

We also had another tool. We had a book which was called Bibelgeschichten in German, biblical stories. It was a good book where the most important events of the Bible, from the creation of the world to the last book of Revelation, were related. It summarised the content of these stories with beautiful pictures for children. These beautiful pictures made a deep impression – for example, when Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, the passage through the Red Sea, the sacrifice of Abraham, the Apostles and so on. It is a good method, complementary to the catechism, to use such a book of bible stories with beautiful pictures for children.

FR PILLARI: That is very encouraging to hear because, in fact, the Our Lady of the Rosary Family Catechism will begin every lesson with a story from the Bible accompanied by beautiful sacred images, but I really hope that families will take to heart what you just said and will obtain a book which tells the key stories from sacred history so they can pass them on to their children.

When you were learning the catechism did there come a moment when you had to pass an examination? What was that process like for you? BISHOP SCHNEIDER: Of course, my mother did not allow us to go to our first Holy Communion without an exam. She checked the most important things which we had to memorise and this was very helpful. For example, we had to know by heart the acts of faith, hope, and charity and the act of contrition. And this remains with you all your life. Even as an adult, as a bishop, I pray this same act of contrition in the evening. Why not? It so deeply expresses the truth.

Also a prayer my mother taught us before going to Holy Communion is a very beautiful old German

“I would say to all young families: please consecrate your little family to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Make your preparations and invite a priest, so that in his presence you pray the Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart and he can give a blessing for this consecration.”

prayer, a song. It expresses the desire to go to Holy Communion, inviting Jesus to come to you before you go to Him. It is a kind of spiritual communion immediately before going to Holy Communion. It says: “Jesu, Jesu, komm zu mir. O wie sehn ich mich nach dir!” – “Jesus, Jesus, come to me. O how much I long for Thee!” “Meiner seele bester Freund” – “You are the best friend of my soul”.“Wann werd’ ich mit dir vereint?” – “When can I be united to Thee?” From my childhood until now, I say this prayer during the day to renew my spiritual communion. This prayer and the instruction I received as a child still accompany me and every day I pray more deeply this prayer desiring the Eucharistic Jesus and to be with Him.

It is also important for parents of course, as you know, everyone who teaches another is also learning themselves.

FR PILLARI: Yes, and this is a question I wanted to ask you: many parents today feel that their own formation was inadequate or that the catechetical education their older children received was inadequate. Our hope is that this catechism programme will allow the entire family to sit down together and study these lessons as a family. But what would be your advice? Can this traditional method of memorising questions and answers be helpful also for parents and older children? BISHOP SCHNEIDER: Yes, it is never too late to learn. We can always learn something. This is also true for parents. Why not? Be humble and learn because what you are studying is not something temporal, it is the eternal truth you are learning with your children. Therefore, I would encourage young parents, even if you did not receive adequate Catholic instruction yourself, take time to read these passages, meditate on them and then transmit this to your children.

FR PILLARI: Thank you. I know you have a particular love for Our Lady of the Rosary who appeared at Fatima, we have placed this entire catechetical programme under her patronage. In your opinion, is the message given at Fatima, over 100 years ago, still relevant today for young families and children? Is it something that can still be helpful for them in today’s world? BISHOP SCHNEIDER: Of course. The message of Fatima stresses the most fundamental truths of our faith.

To begin with, the Angel shows the children the mystery of the Eucharist, which is at the heart of our faith, at the heart of the Church. Without the Eucharist, without Mass, we cannot live.

The Angel then taught the children the prayer to the Holy Trinity, the central mystery of our faith. We have to uphold this truth against the dangers in today’s Church when other religions are placed on the same level with our faith in the Holy Trinity and the Incarnation of God.

Then Our Lady showed the children the last things: the judgement of God and even Hell. I consider that the most important words which Our Lady spoke to the children and which have the same importance for us today were those when she said: “Do not offend God Who is already so much offended.” This is the most grievous aspect of the world and of our life in the Church: sin. Sin is an offence to God, to the love of God.

Our Lady then gave us the summary of the Gospels with the Rosary. What is the Rosary, if not the synthesis of the Gospel, of the mystery of our redemption, of Christ’s work for us?

The basic Christian truths in the message of Fatima are so helpful for families. And as a concrete tool, we received the call to consecrate ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

I would say to all young families: please consecrate your little family to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Make your preparations and invite a priest, so that in his presence you pray the Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart and he can give a blessing for this consecration.

FR PILLARI: I think it will be very helpful for the young families who are participating in this programme. I know a number of these families struggle with being faithful to the daily Rosary, they say: “Father, it’s hard for us. We have young children. It is hard for the children to be quiet, we’re really struggling with the daily Rosary.” Or others who will say: “We’re familiar with the message of Fatima and we want to respond but we are so far from holiness, we’re discouraged.” What advice do you have for families who struggle with the daily Rosary or who feel discouraged along the path to holiness? BISHOP SCHNEIDER: When it is a large family and the children are still young, it is, of course, natural, that a small child cannot always be quiet for the entire half-hour of the Rosary. Therefore, for the little ones maybe one decade would be sufficient, but older children could pray with the parents the entire Rosary.

There are always temptations and there will always be reasons to drop it, but I would encourage families to remain faithful to the daily Rosary, to schedule this important event – the daily Rosary in your family. Our Lady will reward this fidelity with many graces.

FR PILLARI: And for families that, beyond the Rosary feel discouraged or are really struggling along the path to holiness, what advice would you have for them as to what steps they can take to respond to Our Lady’s request, what steps can they take to go forward along the path of holiness? BISHOP SCHNEIDER: Yes, holiness for parents and for a family is different from that of priests and religious as St Francis de Sales explains in his famous book on the devout life, Philothea. The holiness

PUBLIC DOMAIN . WELLCOME COLLECTION, LONDON. THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

of a family basically consists of parents doing the daily duties of fathers and mothers, and children doing their basic daily duties. When you fulfil these duties faithfully, trying to do them with greater love for God and for your children or parents, this already is holiness.

And since we are human beings and weak, it is very important for families to always practice mutual forgiveness. The humility to ask forgiveness and, therefore, to always try to keep the peace in the family, this is also a sign of holiness. When you ask forgiveness, when you make an act of humility and really try to put Christ in the centre of your family life, this keeps you on the path of holiness. Family life is a school – a school of love. We have to learn with humility. When parents as well as children aim to love God, then they are on the path of holiness.

Take the examples of holy couples, say, the parents of St Thérèse of the Child Jesus. They did nothing extraordinary. They fulfilled their daily duties and tried to do them with love of God, with patience – accepting the crosses which every family has, but accepting them from the hands of God. And God crowns such families with a lot of graces. The parents of St Thérèse of the Child Jesus had much suffering. The mother died at a relatively young age and left her husband with five children. They had already lost four children when they were little. What a suffering for St Louis, the father, to lose his four children and then his beloved wife? But he accepted this with the love of God. And God granted such blessings through these crosses. He gave this family one of the greatest saints of the Church’s entire history – St Thérèse of the Child Jesus. In almost every church of the world, you can see an image or a statue of St Thérèse of the Child Jesus, in all the continents and nations she has really become one of the most beloved saints and even a doctor of the Church.

FR PILLARI: I’d like to follow up with another question about the spirit of sacrifice: all families following this course will begin with several videos introducing the message that Our Lady gave at Fatima and how generously the children responded to the spirit of sacrifice on behalf of poor sinners. What advice would you have for parents as to how they can teach their children to say yes to God as the children of Fatima did, in particular, how can young children begin to embrace this spirit of sacrifice out of love for God and for the conversion of sinners? BISHOP SCHNEIDER: This is a good question. Yes, it is important that parents teach their children from a young age the spirit of abnegation, the spirit of sacrifice because the consequence of original sin manifests itself in our lives from childhood on. You can see egoism even in little children – they want all for themselves and they want it immediately. If they are not taught, they will become great egotists when they grow up. This is damaging for themselves and others. Therefore, it is good that parents teach their children from a young age some small sacrifices. Not too much – we have to be very careful not to overload children – but a little bit.

Parents can explain: today you will not receive, say, this sweet. Maybe there are a lot of children who do not have what you have, or you can make this sacrifice for the love of Jesus who is suffering for you on the Cross. Maybe tomorrow you will receive it or on Sunday. So the child understands that it’s not a complete negation but he can practice a little bit of renunciation. This is only a little example, every parent has to decide how to do this. It would also be very helpful when there are many siblings to teach them to share with another, or say, “you could give a part of this chocolate to the neighbouring family, they have not received anything today.”

It may also be good to visit an orphanage to let them see that there are children who have less than they have, so they can grow in a feeling of compassion and true charity. It is very important to nurture in children a spirit of sacrifice. FR PILLARI: And is there any advice that you would wish to give to the young families throughout the world who are about to embark on studying the catechism together as a family with children as young as ages 8-10 through Our Lady of the Rosary Family Catechism, who are trying to respond to Our Lady’s call at Fatima? BISHOP SCHNEIDER: Yes, the basic thing is, of course, prayer, fidelity to prayer, the transmission of faith through the catechism and other ways.

“Dear parents and families: believe deeply in the power of prayer. And trust that when you have built your family in the Lord, when you have put Him at the centre of your life, of your family and of your house, He will never abandon you.”

I would also suggest making Sunday the day of the family so the children can experience it as the day of the Lord. The culture of our time is destroying Sunday with so many distractions; it would be good for parents to cultivate Sunday. Maybe in the afternoon or evening, they can read a biography of a saint or watch a good video about the life of a saint and be together.

On Sunday you can relax together, play together or have some recreation together as a family – at least when the children are still in the family home. When they are older they can do other things but when they are still at home, it would be good to always keep the day of the Lord.

It is also very important to pray for one another. Firstly, the spouses have to pray for one another, then the parents for the children and the children for the parents.

And then it is really important to always forgive one another and to practise forgiveness. To help each other in times of difficulty, simply by practising patience when there is a cross. It could happen that one child is not obeying or is going in a different way when he has grown up, then you have to pray and make sacrifices so one day the Lord will give His graces. We have to believe in the omnipotence of prayer.

So, I would say to you, dear parents and families: believe deeply in the power of prayer. And trust that when you have built your family in the Lord, when you have put Him at the centre of your life, of your family and of your house, He will never abandon you. You will always have His assistance. As I have already advised you, consecrate your family to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and also invoke the guardian angels of all your family to protect you from the evils of body and soul.

Do not forget that the aim of a true Catholic family is Heaven and there you will be going to the eternal family. This is your vocation and your privilege: to collaborate in raising future citizens of Heaven. May God bless you and Our Lady of Fatima, her Immaculate Heart and all your saints protect you, may all your holy patrons and your guardian angels guide and protect you always.

Fr Anthony Pillari JCL, MCL, STB presents Our Lady of the Rosary Family Catechism, an online video catechism course (see p. 42). He is currently studying for a doctorate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He has been engaged in apostolates for children and young families for the past 20 years, including a variety of home-schooling apostolates.

SIGN UP TODAY!

JOIN OUR NEW ONLINE VIDEO CATECHISM COURSE

A unique opportunity for children and their families to learn the timeless truths of the Catholic Faith according to the classic Baltimore Catechism

Presented by FR ANTHONY PILLARI JCL, MCL, STB Produced by LYDIA KEOGH

PLEASE VISIT:

www.olrfamilycatechism.com