Quick Links Missals Hymnals Music Finder Catalog Quick Order Entry Web Specials Site Map E-News Sign Up

2007 Back to School
One "Amen" Is Not Enough! Liturgy and the Mentally Disabled
Who Are You? The Role of the Catechist
Ideas for Praying with Children in the Liturgies of Fall
Gospel Talk with Children: Let Us Go Rejoicing

Miriam Malone, SNJM

Have you noticed a rather subtle yet obvious trend in television advertising lately? Many companies are promoting their product—usually food—by showing images of a family gathered around the table for a meal. The same image is being touted by a number of news magazine programs with a bit of a different twist. Their purpose is to encourage parents to reflect on the physical, emotional and psychological health benefits of taking time for a family meal together. Good food alone isn’t enough; gathering as family to share good food, good words and good relationships has the power to form happy, healthy, contributing members of society. Gathering at table, it seems, makes all the difference.

The Eucharist: The Repeatable Sacrament of Initiation
Gathering at table does make all the difference. It makes enough of a difference that it is recognized as both source and summit of the lives of believing Christians. It makes enough of a difference that the initiation process of children and adults culminates in a table gathering—the one repeatable sacrament of initiation, the Eucharist.

The baptismal catechumenate, which the bishops have mandated as normative for all catechesis, describes a journey of faith that leads to the eucharistic table. Formed as disciples of the Risen One, women, men and children come to say “Amen,” not only to the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but in the Word, in the leadership of the presiding minister and in the assembly gathered in faith. That “Amen” extends to encounters with the body of Christ in the persons, experiences and challenges of daily life.

Becoming a Disciple
The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) outlines four aspects of formation for discipleship: catechesis, community, liturgy and mission (75). Preparation for Eucharist, whether for First Communion or the Sunday after Sunday gathering of the Church, is meant to both express and nourish daily discipleship. Our responsibility as catechists, pastors and parents is to provide formation for our children that will enlighten faith, direct the heart toward God, foster participation in liturgy, inspire apostolic activity and nurture a life in accord with the spirit of Christ (78).


Catechesis Begins at Home
Such formation is a “gradual process that takes place within the community of the faithful” (4). For our children, the most significant community of the faithful is the family. As the family lives, so the disciple will be formed. Just as families differ, so the journey of faith varies “according to the many forms of God’s grace, the free cooperation of the individuals, the action of the Church and the circumstances of time and place (5). For all, however, the family table can be a primary source of Christian formation, a place where words of reconciliation and love are spoken, and where nourishment for life goes far beyond the food served.

As we begin a new school year and anticipate beginning of a new liturgical year, perhaps we can begin anew to see the family table as a truly sacred gathering place where we image the Eucharist and build up the body of Christ.

---

Miriam Malone, SNJM, is an author and teacher, known for her expertise in the areas of Christian initiation and liturgical catechesis. She founded SNJM FIRE for Ministry (snjmfire.com), which offers facilitation, in-service, retreats, and education opportunities for faith-based groups. She teaches at Holy Names University in Oakland, California(hnu.edu).