I will be the first to admit that the very thought of being a catechist for 6th graders literally scared the living daylights right out of me when I grudgingly signed up for the job last spring. My thinking was that the sweet little innocent faces of previous years would be no more at the middle school level. Instead, I pictured myself looking out into a classroom of sinister faces attached to bodies that were almost as tall as, if not taller, than me as they chucked stones at my head while I attempted to teach Catholic stuff to them. And I’m not into painful teaching experiences. Not in this lifetime, anyway. But I digress.

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While I’ve been running around like the Energizer Bunny doing the daily drive-kids-to-school-shuffle and the teach-2-ccd-classes-simultaneously, I’ve collected notes on certain things-that-must-be-blogged in the process. Stay tuned to read more about blasphemous behavior in which we deal with Jesus’ butt and my newly proclaimed age: 22.

Back soon. Blogging about it all, of course.

This afternoon, I had the pleasure of talking to my CCD class about the 2 kinds of sin: MORTAL and VENIAL. After opening up the discussion by chatting about how humans are all special and created in God’s image, we then reminded ourselves that people defy God by committing sin in one (or both) of those two ways. My definition? If the voluntary sin you commit lands you in jail, it’s MORTAL. Otherwise, your sin is in the VENIAL category. The explanation works for 4th graders anyway. *heads nod in agreement*

So let me back up just a ‘lil. The preface to my SIN talk started with the question posed to the class:

Raise your hand if you’ve been through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. (That’s confession to those non-Catholic readers out there.)

A few hands remained unraised, which really seemed to disturb me. Why is that? Because I’ve taught 2nd graders in the past, the time when most kids receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and I know how important it is for kids to complete this particular sacrament early. Confessing to a priest is just plain scary for kids! And yet now I have the pleasure of teaching these 4th grade newbies that not only haven’t they experienced a sacrament that most of their classmates have already completed, but they also have a huge amount of catching up to do in the sin absolution department. *sigh*

Ah, the trials and tribulations of a Catechist. Let me count just one more way. (Although, did I mention that 4th grade is my favorite so far?)

As a catechist (CCD teacher to those non-Catholics reading this blog) for over 5 years, I often wonder if the catechumens (CCD students) ever absorb any information that I attempt to teach in lessons each week. I ask myself questions like Are they really getting it? and Did I make sense in explaining that difficult subject today? or Will the kids actually apply what they learned when they walk out the door? The list goes on and on.

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