Don’t be afraid to ask for guidance or help. You are allowed to not know everything about your ministry. You are allowed to be befuddled during your first few years and actually throughout all the years you serve. When I was hired 31 years ago to replace a seasoned DRE, even though I told the pastor that my experience did not go beyond being a catechist, I realized that there was so much of what I was ignorant. Fortunately, the gal I was replacing was a friend and left me beaucoup notes to guide me throughout the year. However, it was not enough. I learned I had to reach out to the other catechists, to a nun friend whom I came to work with in the school and I also learned to talk to the associate priest and pastor. I can’t say those first couple of years were easy but they were certainly an exciting adventure and a wonderful period of growth in many things but especially spirituality. The door opened on the Mystery of God, the hunger that people really do have for God, and their longing to matter and to find their way in life. Especially high school students.
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One time, I was with a group of students on a wilderness retreat. We had hiked into the gorge at night and had troubles putting our fire out. The next morning, we noticed there was a lot of haze at sunrise. We didn’t think too much of it until we noticed firefighters on our hike the second day! They warned us that the forest was on fire and that we should not be there. My co-leader and I still laugh about “not being trained to know what to do when the forest is on fire!” The good news: we were able to stay calm and hike out quickly. I really learned the importance of staying calm in certain situations that day, and to expect the unexpected!
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Diocesan Council For Catechesis
Mentoring Subcommittee Archives
May 2019
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