Perhaps the biggest crisis facing the Catholic Church today is that of losing our Catholic youth. Disturbing reports from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate are showing ever younger children are denouncing God and professing to be atheist. Dr. Gregory Popcak, Founder and Executive Director of the Pastoral Solutions Institute, believes that our children are being sacramentalized and catechized, but they are not being evangelized so that they develop a personal relationship with Jesus. We consider the works of mercy foundational to how Jesus expects us to practice and live our Faith. We believe that using experiential exercises can help our youth move from simple awareness of our Faith into regular practice, so it becomes part of who they are as Catholics. This article suggests an approach to addressing the problem by incorporating experiential learning into instruction about the works of mercy.
St. Ignatius of Loyola’s dictum was that “love ought to manifest itself more by deeds than by words” (J. Marton, The Jesuit Guide to {Almost} Everything). Pope Francis, beginning on the day of his ascension to the Chair of St. Peter, talked constantly about living our Faith through the practice of the works of mercy. It is important for adults and children to live in the present, to notice the needs of those that are around them and respond to those needs. One way of helping our youth to understand what Jesus calls us to do in the practice of the Faith is to find a concrete way to help them not only learn content, but also to have the opportunity to practice and reflect on what they are learning. And hopefully as they begin to practice, they will begin to truly understand what Jesus meant when He said that the second commandment was to love your neighbor as yourself.
Learning through practice is not a new concept. Virtually all science classes incorporate a laboratory learning experience in addition to assigned readings and lectures. Experiential exercises incorporated into lessons on the works of mercy take students beyond rote learning, through understanding, to developing empathy for those in need. The desired end result is that students will develop a new outlook on serving others and incorporate that into who they are by seeking to practice the works of mercy in their daily lives.
We believe that this method assists teachers as they attempt to instruct and guide their classes in how to live a Christian life. Planning meaningful activities that will help open children’s eyes to the plight of the poor, the needs of all people, and how they might respond to these needs will help children develop empathy for others by putting themselves in others’ shoes, feeling what they feel and thinking how they think. The most important part of any activity or exercise is helping children make that connection between our Catholic Faith, why we are called to help others, and what it means to stand with Jesus and be His followers. Like the early Christians who were noticed by others because their lives changed dramatically, today’s true followers of Jesus will also be changed and will radiate love, joy, and care for others. We want to help children demonstrate to the world their Catholic Christian Faith by how they live; to “be doers of the word, not hearers only” (Jas. 1:22).
Using an experiential learning approach with children is an excellent way to help them internalize the message that you are trying to help them understand. One of the purposes of experiential exercises is to help participants see and experience problems, situations, and ideas from a different perspective than their own. We refer to this as helping students see things through multiple lenses. When faced with a complex problem, idea, or opportunity, business professionals often use the multiple lenses tool to arrive at a better outcome. This tool is best used in a group environment such as a classroom.
The tool is based on the idea that there are many lenses through which problems, ideas, and situations may be viewed. In business, customers might view a problem one way, suppliers another, and employees yet another way—and all might differ from our own view. Children generally will view the world through the one lens that is most familiar to them. Relative to the works of mercy, those in need of assistance most likely view their situation through a different lens than those outside their situation. And each outside viewer is likely to have their own lens unique to them. By viewing situations through multiple lenses, we gain greater insight into what the best approach should be to effectively deal with the situation. It also provides a way to empathize with those viewing the same situation through a different lens. This helps us “feel” what others see through their lenses and helps facilitates discussion.
For example, when teaching children about the corporal works of mercy, the multiple lenses approach can help the children empathize with those in need in a way that would be unavailable to them otherwise. By feeling what the needy feel, the children can better relate to their needs and feelings, better understand how to address their needs, and be more motivated to take action to address those needs.
It is important to realize that simple participation in an exercise or activity does not make it experiential learning. Exercises and activities must have a clear teaching purpose that relates to the content being taught. To this end, debriefing is the most important part of the experiential exercise because this is where the students are guided in their understanding of the situations and ideas from a different perspective. The objective of debriefing is to help students learn to empathize, not just sympathize with others.
We certainly do not want our youth to hear from Jesus, “I do not know you.” These are the most terrifying words one could hear as we stand at the pearly gates. Why would Jesus not know you? Because, as Matthew 25 clearly states:
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry, and ye did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.” Then shall they also answer, saying, “Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?” Then shall he answer them, saying, “Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me.” And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.
So, let us use experiential exercises in the religious instruction of our youth to help them develop a lived understanding of the Faith so that it becomes who they are, such that they live it in a way that clearly identifies them as followers of Christ.
Authors’ Note: More information on this subject can be found in the book The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy for Children by Judith and Victor Sower.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash
