We hear now and then – or, perhaps, frequently – of parishes seeking to implement lifelong faith formation. What is the role of the Catholic school in this endeavor? In order to answer this question I will review the call of the Second Vatican Council in this area, examine some objections to lifelong formation, articulate the role of the divine pedagogy in answering the call to this formation, and conclude with a statement about the teacher's role in this process.
The Second Vatican Council declares that Catholic school teachers should “do all they can to stimulate their students to act for themselves and even after graduation to continue to assist them with advice, friendship and by establishing special associations imbued with the true spirit of the Church. The work of these teachers, this sacred synod declares, is in the real sense of the word an apostolate most suited to and necessary for our times and at once a true service offered to society.”[i]The Church’s call is, therefore, that teachers should assist students throughout their whole life in the formation of their faith. Since the goal of education is the person’s attainment of their final end, education is necessarily lifelong faith formation.
But a key objection arises: How can one claim to have the faith if, in fact, it takes a whole life to form it? Lifelong faith formation cannot mean that I am on a life project beginning now and culminating say when I am 70 years old or so, maybe 80- or 90 with good medicine and a vigorous workout regime. It cannot mean this because our Lord distinctly says, “But of that day and hour no one knoweth, not the angels of heaven, but the Father alone” (Mt 24:36). Moreover the parables of the 5 virgins with lamps, the tenants whom the vineyard owner left in control of his land, or the two men in the field (one taken, one left) all suggest that we may not have much of a life after today or this hour or minute. At any point our Lord may return or call us unto Him.
It follows, then, that lifelong faith formation cannot mean that the faith is so incomprehensible that it is impossible to be sufficiently formed right away. As if we were to just say, “Well, good luck with the Catholic faith—maybe by the end of your life you’ll have a clue!” This is not what it means, for “For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.” (Jn 3:16). St. Paul says the same, “For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9). There is an original simplicity in the faith that can speak to all men of all ages at any stage of their intellectual or moral development. And, as Cardinal Journet might have said, all men have an original encounter with the first truth that God exists and rewards those who seek him.[iii]
Perhaps more importantly, lifelong faith formation should not be seen as a project in which an individual slowly forms the faith according to his own wishes. Here are possible quotes from people not really practicing authentic faith formation: “As I grew up I realized that the teaching on contraception was not one that I liked or saw as reasonable, so I decided that it was not a part of the faith.” “One day I came to see that the Eucharist was more of a symbol than the real presence, and now I keep that faith.” “I finally came to realize that the Pope was not a necessary figure for cementing Magisterial statements and private interpretation was more in line with what I wanted to approach Jesus.” One does not form the faith; one opens oneself to being formed by the faith. Dogma educates and transforms the penitent and docile heart. Everything else is the work of Satan encouraging arrogance and a vision of faith formation that is known in history books as Reformation, but is really about revolt.
Finally, lifelong faith formation does not necessarily mean a theology degree, a master’s degree in pastoral counseling, or listening to the latest theology podcasts on the road. All these options are good in themselves, of course, but they are not necessarily what this or that person would do at this that point in his or her life. As I will argue later, lifelong faith formation demands an appreciation for the economy of salvation and an acceptance that the divine pedagogy functions according to the law of gradualness wherein what is received is received according to the mode of the receiver.
This then leads me to a positive definition of lifelong faith formation and allows us to begin our journey toward an appreciation of its value for our time. Lifelong faith formation begins with the realization that we are branches in the vines that grow and deepen in our response to the vine and vinedresser; moreover, Our Lord says, “Now you are clean by reason of the word, which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you.” (John 15:3-4). The faith begins in our response to the Word and calls us to abide in Christ. It is this abiding in Christ that is the central principle allowing for the formation of the faith in our souls.
Blessed Pope John Paul II explains the call of Christ to the rich young man: "Come and follow me." He explains that, "It is Jesus himself who takes the initiative and calls people to follow him. His call is addressed first to those to whom he entrusts a particular mission, beginning with the Twelve; but it is also clear that every believer is called to be a follower of Christ (cf. Acts 6:1). . . ..By responding in faith and following the one who is Incarnate Wisdom, the disciple of Jesus truly becomes a disciple of God (cf. Jn 6:45). Jesus is indeed the light of the world, the light of life (cf. Jn 8:12). He is the shepherd who leads his sheep and feeds them (cf. Jn 10:11-16); he is the way, and the truth, and the life (cf. Jn 14:6). It is Jesus who leads to the Father, so much so that to see him, the Son, is to see the Father (cf. Jn 14:6-10). And thus to imitate the Son, 'the image of the invisible God' (Col 1:15), means to imitate the Father. Jesus asks us to follow him and to imitate him along the path of love, a love which gives itself completely to the brethren out of love for God: 'This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you' (Jn 15:12). The word "as" requires imitation of Jesus and of his love, of which the washing of feet is a sign: 'If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you' (Jn 13:14-15)."[iv]
In his first encyclical, Redemptor Hominis, John Paul also wrote that “the man who wishes to understand himself thoroughly — and not just in accordance with immediate, partial, often superficial, and even illusory standards and measures of his being — must with his unrest, uncertainty and even his weakness and sinfulness, with his life and death, draw near to Christ. He must, so to speak, enter him with all his own self; he must 'appropriate' and assimilate the whole of the reality of the Incarnation and Redemption in order to find himself. If this profound process takes place within him, he then bears fruit not only of adoration of God but also of deeper wonder at himself.”[v]
Learning to adore God and know oneself more deeply – this is a true sign of lifelong faith formation. If we wish to understand what God has revealed about Himself, we must draw close to him in Love. It is in this light that we are brought into the ever deepening plan of knowing Him more that we may love him more and loving him more that we may know Him more.
I think this is the meaning of Catechism 158: "Faith seeks understanding:it is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith, and to understand better what He has revealed; a more penetrating knowledge will in turn call forth a greater faith, increasingly set afire by love. the grace of faith opens 'the eyes of your hearts' to a lively understanding of the contents of Revelation: that is, of the totality of God's plan and the mysteries of faith, of their connection with each other and with Christ, the centre of the revealed mystery. 'The same Holy Spirit constantly perfects faith by his gifts, so that Revelation may be more and more profoundly understood.' In the words of St. Augustine, 'I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe.'"
Faith seeking understanding, love seeking to know the beloved, these call us to many different pursuits in lifelong faith formation: dogmatic studies, scripture studies, sacraments, canon law, natural knowledge in all its many dimensions and so forth. Sometimes it is a discovery of one the many devotions: rosary, stations, the history and prayers from a Marian apparition, and so forth. Always it is the frequent return of the penitent sinner to the merciful Father; this redeemed and absolved prodigal son who grows in self-knowledge and knowledge of God in his own personal journey through sin and conversion. Thus, for each person the journey to God has the same end with a different path, as branches have the same source in one vine but are all different branches.
The importance of lifelong faith formation is precisely in the fact that we just don’t get it in a lot of areas; nevertheless, God has a plan for us to learn this or that aspect more deeply and truly at a given point in time. Is it humility? He may lead us on a long journey to humiliation to teach us this truth. Is it the evangelical counsel of poverty? God might strip us of our worldly goods. Do we need to learn how to pray? God will bring us to a deep frustration and find as a spiritual director. Time reaches a fullness for us in various areas just as it reached a maximal fullness at the paschal mystery.
The most important thing for each of us is the salvation of our soul. Thus, lifelong faith formation absolutely essential if we become only open to hearing and understanding aspects of the faith at certain stages of our life due to certain experiences, good or bad. A faith formation that is constantly seeking to bind the wounds of the repentant sinner, constantly seeking to find yet another soul lost and help it to be found, this is a faith formation that understands itself rightly as lifelong.
The church has taught it seems from the beginning (at last since Irenaeus) of a concept of divine pedagogy and economy of salvation to explain God’s plan for teaching Israel in the unity of scripture. But this concept works for each of us on an individual existential level too.
The other phrase that emerges frequently with this definition of pedagogy is economy of salvation; God parcels economically the tidbits necessary for our salvation all the lifelong way. “Such is the mystery of Christ, revealed and fulfilled in history according to the wisely ordered plan that St. Paul calls the ‘plan of the mystery’ and the patristic tradition will call the ‘economy of the Word incarnate’ or the ‘economy of salvation.’[vii]
The importance of lifelong faith formation in the final analysis can be summed up in the call to holiness, a sharing in the inner life of God. Just as God has sought us out and gently led us to the fullness of truth, so should we expect to be continually led by him and so should we expect our dealings with others to go as well. In this light, we conclude with the awareness that Christ called Peter to feed his sheep. This is the image of the shepherd, or in Latin, pastor. Christ calls to us as our Good shepherd – the good Pastor; we are called to go out and seek others in this way at any stage of their life. Pastoral ministry and pastoral theology begin and end in the image of the Good Shepherd who feeds his sheep and lays down his life for them.
Thus, the Catholic school teacher -- the educator committed to the full integrated of the human person in every soul encountered in a school during childhood and after graduation – is one who shepherds another soul according to the needs of growth, according to a proper economy of salvation for that soul. All teachers must understand the universal call to holiness and the proper final end in heaven that exists for each and every student whom they encounter. At the same time, they must be aware that each individual soul is unrepeatable and follows a unique path laid out by Christ – in Christ -- that has special demands and needs at each stage of growth and development. The faith is One: it is Jesus Christ; it is all there in baptism. Yet, just as baptism needs confirmation, so does the initial mustard seed of faith need soil, water, and sunlight to develop as God intends it on its path to fulfillment. The teacher who cultivates a pastoral theology in imitation of the divine pedagogy best fulfills the Church’s call to assist each student in lifelong faith formation.
[i] Paul VI, Gravissimum Educationis Vatican.va, Dec. 7, 1965, 8. [ii] Sacred Congregation, Lay Witness, Vatican.va, Oct. 15, 1982, 15. [iii] Cardinal Charles Journet, Le Dogme Chemin de la Foi; See also What is Dogma? (SF: Ignatius, 2011) [iv] Pope John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor, Vatican.va, August 6, 1993, 19-20. [v] Pope John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, Vatican.va, March 4, 1979, 10. [vi] CCC 53. [vii] CCC 1066