Knowledge and Experience of God

I am lucky enough to be the rare Catholic who was raised with extensive catechesis and a thorough knowledge of my faith. I memorized questions from the Baltimore Catechism that I can still rattle off today. My education stood in stark contrast to the vapid, content-less fluff that pervaded catechesis at the time, which is why my parents so greatly emphasized learning the doctrine.

Without a doubt, I am extremely grateful for this. Even today, when my daughter asked me what a sacrament was, I had no hesitation: "An outward sign, instituted by Christ, to give grace." There is much more that can be said about the sacraments, of course, but here at my fingertips is the core explanation of what they are.

Yet it is clear to most people of faith that pure knowledge is far from enough. "And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." (1 Cor. 13:2) And, sadly, I have seen some people who were similarly well-catechized leave the faith because it did not speak to their hearts.

The problem, as I see it, is how to give children both that thorough knowledge of the faith and the experience of God and love of Him that gives the knowledge meaning.

An answer came to me as I witnessed the beautiful Pentecost ceremony that is part of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program. The children were given the words and the explanation for each gift of the Holy Spirit, but then they had a chance to make them their own. Each was asked to choose the gift of the Holy Spirit that they most desired, and then the child's candle was lit from the candle next to that gift. Can you imagine a four-year-old boy solemnly requesting "piety"? Yet each child requested a gift, most with no hesitation at all.

I was struck during this ceremony by just how right this all was, this integration of knowledge and experience. Depriving a child of knowledge of God and his Church is like observing a child enjoying nature, yet refusing to let him go deeper and learn how a seed grows or a bee gets pollen from a flower.

Yet it would also be a great disservice to a child to set him before science books alone and never encourage him to walk outside in the sunshine.

What we must encourage the child to do is to use her knowledge as a gateway to the experience of God and her love of God as an incentive to learn more about Him. Indeed, that is what we ourselves must do.