The responsibility of the Church to teach the people the truth and to journey with them as they try to live the truth with the help of God’s grace is a basic principle of Catholic pastoral care.

Unfortunately, in too many cases the teaching and journeying techniques used by the Church are fundamentally informational in nature. The people are expected to understand, digest and live what they have been taught. In too many cases, the pastoral goal is not achieved.

In contemporary pastoral life, there are more and more examples of people in pastoral leadership trying to provide people with an experience of what they have been taught.

For example, after teaching people about prayer, they are taught how to pray and then given the opportunity to actually experience praying under supervision. The experience of praying is a more powerful lesson for most people than is just hearing teaching about prayer.

For example, telling the people that Advent is a season of joyful hope is certainly true. However, it is much more effective to give them an experience of hope in a community setting in which teaching, dialogue and personal testimony along with liturgy are at the core of the program.

Contemporary example

Last weekend, the Archdiocesan Commission for Family Life hosted a conference on the Theology of the Body – a catechesis by the late Pope John Paul II on a biblical vision of the human person understood within the mystery of Christ.

The Theology of the Body is the name given to the 129 general audiences by the Holy Father held on Wednesday afternoons in Rome from September of 1979 through November of 1984.  

The weekend was a summary of and an experience in understanding/celebrating the teaching of Pope John Paul II on the bodily dimension of human personhood, sexuality and marriage in light of biblical revelation. It was facilitated by Mr. Christopher West, an internationally acclaimed speaker who is an expert in the Theology of the Body.   

The context of the conference

The context of the Conference was the entire Caribbean Church. Almost 1300 people from the dioceses of the Antilles Episcopal Conference and representatives from Venezuela participated in the conference.

In my introductory remarks at the opening of the conference I stressed that the event was truly an ecclesial happening. I asked the people to enter into the conference with the attitude of a missionary disciple i.e. manifesting a willingness to listen carefully to learn and to appreciate what they experienced, but also that everyone at the conference will be willing to share its message with others.

In addition, I reminded them that since many of the Family Life Commissions of the Bishops’ Conference are present at the conference, it was important that they communicate what they have learned in a systematic way so the conference can touch those whom we serve well into the future.  

The content of the conference

The Church obviously has a pastoral challenge regarding the self understanding of people about being human, about the meaning of sexuality and marriage. In many cases, people just do not know.

Without knowledge, they cannot have meaningful experience. Without a meaningful experience, they will not be motivated to choose freely the teaching of the Church. Responding to the challenge of providing knowledge in a community experience of what they have been taught is the modern ministry of the Church. 

In the introduction to this column, I stressed the importance of teaching in a way that is not just informational. Teaching about the Theology of the Body must help people to understand the vision of the Church on the human person and the ethical rules of the Church on sexuality and marriage.

It is important to note that in the 129 afternoons of catechesis by Pope John Paul II only 14 were devoted to the ethical norms of the Church. All the other afternoons were spent on laying the foundations for the teaching of the Church.

One of the realities of modern culture is that people are being conditioned by what has been called a civilization of lust. Sexual attitudes are being taught by the culture.

The Church must find a way to redeem these attitudes by offering a positive catechesis on the beauty of God’s plan for sex and the joy of living it. In the Theology of the Body, the church has found the instrument to communicate the message of human love in the divine plan.

The experiential aspects of the programme

The lectures were preceded by inspiring music and prayer including a hymn written for the conference, Created and Redeemed. The music and prayer communicated clearly that the conference was not going to be just an academic event.

The schedule was demanding but the music, prayer and testimony created an experiential context for the entire conference which helped many participants to have a conversion experience.

The 35 page booklet provided an easy to follow format for the two day conference. The booklet was filled with specific references to Scripture and the Holy Father’s, Theology of the Body. The study/reflection questions which followed each lecture were very helpful for personal application.

The post conference mission

The post conference mission is clear: the family life commissions of the various dioceses must find ways to share the content of the conference in a systematic way with the people of their dioceses.

Conclusion

I want to express my gratitude to the Family Life Commission and to all who collaborated with it for hosting the conference. It was truly a pastoral service to the Caribbean Church.