Besides providing psychological and pastoral consultation, I
direct a religious education program and teach its confirmation class in my
Catholic parish on weekend.
After running a student assembly session for all students,
from kindergarten student to 8th grade student, students go to their
respective grade level classes led by their own teachers. I ran this assembly as the director and take
my 7th and 8th grade students, who are preparing for the
Sacrament of Confirmation.
I emphasize that receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation is
a very serious matter. It is not something to be forced into. So, I bluntly
tell my students that they should not even bother to come to my class if their
hearts are not into the Confirmation. I also tell them that I would speak to
their parents if they come to my class because their parents pressure them to
receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this year, because it is not a right
thing to do.
Why the Sacrament of Confirmation is so serious – besides it
is Sacrament?
A Lutheran theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, expressed his
concern, in his “The Cost of Discipleship” (1937), about dispensation of the
Sacraments are becoming “easier”. He
coined the term, “cheap grace”, in criticizing the modern age’s tendency to make
it too easy to appreciate incalculable values of grace, which is also a vehicle
of the Sacraments.
Though I am not Lutheran, I agree with Bonhoeffer’s view and
echo his concerns for the devaluation of grace and the Sacraments.
Though he expressed this concern way back in 1937, the same
problem continues on even today.
The kind of social culture we live in today has gotten very
discouraging to discuss values of grace and the Sacraments these days. A result
of this social trend is to make people take grace for granted or even become
ignorant about. Then, the Sacraments of Initiation, such as Baptism and
Confirmation, have become rather “routines” or empty rituals.
To me, what Bonhoeffer was so concerned about – devaluation
of grace and the Sacraments – “cheap grace”(cheapened grace) – boils down to a
habitual lack of love in our faith. This makes our “faith” nothing but an empty
formalism.
In 1 Corinthians 13:22, Paul says, “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.”
It is important to note that “love” in this Paul’s statement
in the original Greek text is “agapēn (ἀγάπην)”. So, it is not a “cheap love” because it is agape.
A point I emphasize to my Confirmation students and their
parents is that they must demonstrate “agape” for Christ in their faith to
be recommended to the pastor and bishop to be confirmed.
In my teaching, I employ a psychological approach, too, to
help students reflect and monitor their own feelings and thoughts about their
relationship with Christ toward Confirmation. I periodically assign them to journal their
thoughts and feelings in reflection. And I have noticed that they express some
anxieties, some confusion, and even a bit of skepticism, if not necessarily a
doubt.
Preparatory education for the Sacrament of Confirmation is
not all about putting theological knowledge to make them look “smart enough” to
be confirmed – though it is important to build the theological foundation and
basic understanding of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which I teach.
What is most important for my students in this preparatory process is to
cultivate their hearts of “agape” for
Christ. And, in order for them to
receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in the presence of Bishop, they must
demonstrate their hearts ready to be like Peter’s heart after his
reconciliation with Jesus (John 21:15-22).
In reading John 21:15-22, we notice that Peter still had
some hesitance, which reflects his anxiety, in facing Jesus, after betraying
him three times (John 18:15-27). Peter’s
subtle uneasiness toward Jesus also comes from his anticipatory anxiety about
following Jesus. And, I invited my
students to reflects their own feelings and thoughts toward Confirmation in
reflection to the psychology of Peter in facing Jesus through reconciliation
and re-commissioning (John 21:15-22). I pointed out to the students that their
anxiety, confusion and even doubt, in their preparation for Confirmation can be
compared to Peter’s uneasy feelings in facing Jesus, being asked if he loves
Jesus three times, and being told that he will stretch out his hands, and
someone else will dress him and lead him where he does not want to go (John
21:18). Obviously, Peter realized that
these words of Jesus point to a dark metaphor of his future crucifixion.
Imagine how Peter could have felt when he heard this from
Jesus, I asked my students. Then, I told the students that these words of Jesus
are also for them to make theirs to embody for them to receive the Sacrament of
Confirmation, which means that they are psychologically and spiritually mature
enough to confess their “agape” for
Christ, which Peter failed to do so when Jesus asked him if he loves him
three times.
Although in English bible, Peter kept answering to Jesus’
“Do you love me?” questions with “Yes, I love you”, there was a gap between the
level of Jesus’ expectation on Peter’s love for him and the level of love in
Peter’s answer, according to the original Greek text of the John’s Gospel.
For the first two times, Jesus asked Peter if he loves him
with “agapas (ἀγαπᾷς)”. But,
Peter kept answering with “philō
(φιλῶ)” (John 21:15-16). So, for the third time, Jesus asked Peter if he loves
him with “phileis (φιλεῖς)”, and Peter answered with “Phileis(Φιλεῖς)” (John
21:18).
By consulting the original Greek text, it is clear that
Peter’s answer never met Jesus’ original expectation – though an English
translation text makes it as if Peter answered Jesus’ question on love with his
love. But, I believe that English
translation for “philō” should be “affection” rather than “love”, as “love” is
reserved for “agape”.
My students can easily say that Jesus had to ask Peter if he
loves him three times to “get even with” him for his three-time denials. But, I
also want my Confirmation students to go a bit deeper to get in touch with the
psychology between Jesus and Peter to help them handle their own dynamic
psychology toward Confirmation.
Jesus noticed that Peter was not really showing his love as “agape”
for him when he questioned three times. But, Jesus wanted Peter’s “agape” in
order for him to follow him as the shepherd to lead the new Church, whose early
development is described in detail in the Acts of the Apostles. To lead the
Church, Peter needed more than “philō”(affection) for Jesus. That is why Jesus
had to tell peter the metaphor of crucifixion. It is because “agape” requires
laying his own life for Christ. And, that is what my Confirmation students must
understand in order for them to say “Yes” to the Sacrament of Confirmation with
their firm determination. No looking
back.
Peter’s response to Jesus’ metaphoric expression on Peter’s
crucifixion really shows Peter’s lingering anxiety.
Peter was still struggling deep I his heart about a prospect
of following the Way of Jesus, which requires ultimate sacrifice. That is why Peter asked, “What about John”(
John 21:21). Apparently, Peter wanted
someone else to walk the Way of Jesus with him, hoping that John might.
But, Jesus said to Peter, “What if I want him (John) to
remain until I come? What concern is it
of yours? You follow me”(John 21:22). Basically, Jesus was telling
still-hesitant Peter, “What about your buddy, John? Peter, it’s none of your
business! Just mind on your business and
do my way!”
When I explained this to my students today, boy, they began
to seem thinking and reflecting more deeply about what they are heading to!
Maybe I scared them a bit. But, I have no apology because I sure do not want “cheap
grace” in my commitment to religious education and preparing for strong-faith
Catholic men and women. I want to make sure that the Sacrament of Confirmation
isn’t cheap!
No comments:
Post a Comment