Diocese celebrates catechists at convocation

Catechists in the Diocese of Baton Rouge spent time "sitting at the feet" of the master teacher Jesus and learned how to effectively touch lives with the Gospel message at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Baton Rouge on Aug. 26.

The Annual Convocation Celebrating Catechists, sponsored by the Diocese of Baton Rouge Office of Evangelization and Catechesis, provided attendees with formation, the chance to network and spend time before the Blessed Sacrament.

Bishop Michael G. Duca then commissioned the catechists, who were sent forth to spread the good news. The convocation’s theme was “Come To me all you who labor and are burdened (Mat 11:28). ”

The day opened with Mass celebrated by Father Josh Johnson, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus. In his homily, Father Johnson keyed in on how prayer leads people to conversion and is an integral part of everyone’s call to become a saint.

In his keynote presentation Dr. Brant Pitre pointed to Jesus as the supreme model of prayer. Pitre is a New Testament Scholar and distinguished research professor of Scripture at the Augustine Graduate School of Theology.

“What do you think of when you hear the word prayer?” Pitre asked the assembly.

He urged the catechists to think about whom they are praying to, who their examples are in prayer and whom they imitate in prayer. Pitre guided participants through three different kinds of prayer, and how Jesus models all of them: vocal prayer, meditation and contemplative prayer. Vocal prayer is using words to communicate with God. They can be memorized, such as from the Psalms or spontaneous, according to Pitre. They can be words of praise or lamentation.

Jesus used vocal prayer when he went to the synagogue and in his distress at the Garden of Gethsemane (“He fell on his face and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as you will (Mat 26:39).’ ”

Vocal prayer is not a “monologue” but a way we communicate with God and then God communicates to us, said Pitre. He alluded to the passages in the Old Testament where Abraham and Moses spoke to God and God spoke to them. And both responded with prayers of faith. Christ taught the disciples how to pray by giving them the words of the Our Father as a vocal model of prayer, Pitre noted.

Praying with the mind, or meditation, is especially done by reading, memorizing and pondering Scripture.

Jesus mediated on Scripture and taught his disciples to meditate, as seen in the parable of the sower. “We are moved inside … If our soul is engaged, we will grow spiritually,” emphasized Pitre.

Many times, people may go to a retreat or have a spiritual “mountaintop experience,” but when they return to their daily lives, they return to their former worries, frustrations, sorrows, etc. The seed, which is the word of God, is stripped away from them or does not take root. Their experiences made it to “the head but not to the heart.”

Staying immersed in Scripture and prayer will help people develop “rich soil” so they can produce spiritual fruit, Pitre noted.

“When you hear the word, it finds a place in your heart … your heart will be open to hear the word,” Pitre said.

Spending time looking and beholding the Lord, or contemplative prayer, was the last form of prayer Dr. Pitre discussed. As stated in the catechism of the Catholic Church, it is a “gaze of love between the soul and God (CCC 2709-2715).”

In the Old Testament, Moses seeks the “face” of God in the tabernacle, which he called the tent of meeting. And there God spoke to him like a friend, Pitre said.

In the New Testament story of Jesus visiting Martha and Mary, Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to his teachings. Martha, being distracted with serving, complained about Mary not helping her. Jesus rebuked Martha for being distracted from the most important thing, saying Mary had chosen the “good portion, which shall not be taken from her (Lk 10:38–42).”

With the nation celebrating a three-year National Eucharistic Revival, Pitre reminded catechists that eucharistic adoration is a place where people can spend time in contemplation in eucharistic worship. He referred to a quote from St. Pope John Paul II in the Catechism of the Catholic Church #1380: “The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease.”

The convocation ended with Eucharistic adoration and Bishop Duca commissioning the catechists.

Photos by Nicole Jones |Digital Media Manager, Diocese of Baton Rouge