Kite Flying in Berkeley
What happens when you give Fr. Michael Sweeney, O.P., free reign at a Dominican graduate school of theology? Lots of creativity, of course, and a very tired support staff!

Kite Flying in Berkeley
by Fr. Chris Renz, O.P., Academic Dean, Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology

(editor's note) Two years ago, Fr. Michael Sweeney, O.P., the co-founder of the Catherine of Siena Institute, became the President of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, the graduate theological school and seminary of the Western Dominican Province. Last year the Catherine of Siena Institute affiliated with the DSPT, and members of both institutions are looking forward to fruitful collaboration in the future.

When I look at my last two years at the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology (DSPT), I see a kite (a.k.a. Fr. Michael Sweeney, O.P.), attached to a string (a.k.a. me), tethered to the ground (a.k.a. the administration and staff of the DSPT). These days we are certainly flying high with great excitement about our new physical plant, new faculty, new programs and, most of all, our new students.
Continuing the visionary enthusiasm evident during his tenure with the Catherine of Siena Institute, Fr. Michael seems to have caught a spirited breeze. For those of you who know him, or have worked with him, you won’t be surprised when I say that it is frequently hard to keep up with his creative imagination. There is a joke around the office that we on staff dread his adventures out on the road because he always returns with two or three additional projects for us to do! It is that wonderful energy which has moved us forward these last two years into a new place, both literally and symbolically.

Beginning in August 2006, the DSPT has a “place to call our own” at the corner of Arch & Vine Streets in Berkeley, CA. Although we were at the Graduate Theological Union since 1964, we were unable to find suitable classroom or administrative space. But now that we’ve got it, our sites are set high for the twenty-first century. Moving into this new millennium, the DSPT will have three very smart classrooms. The IQ of one of them is so high that it will be able to handle a variety of multimedia requests including, we hope in the not-too-distant future, distance learning.

We’ll be calling upon the expertise of one of our faculty, Fr. Michael Morris, OP, to help initiate the space. With a background in art history, and a deep commitment to religion and the arts, Fr. Michael has organized an exhibition of movie posters from films with religious themes. Part of the exhibit will be at the GTU Library, the rest in our own DSPT galleria.

Fr. Sweeney keeps us soaring upward with developing two new programs. The first, an expansion of our MA (Theology) degree, will focus on the theology of the laity. Enrolled students will have the opportunity, for the first time, to take summer classes, which may be applied towards either CE credit, the DSPT MA (Theology) degree, or the STL degree (offered through the Angelicum, in Rome). The second new program, still a few years away (the staff can only work so fast, after all!), will offer a curriculum specifically tailored to the needs of business and professional executives who seek to integrate theology in their leadership roles. It is our hope that these programs will continue to expand the already diverse student population.

Which reminds me, this fall 2006 we will welcome 14 lay women, as well as a number of religious from communities other than the Order of Preachers. And, of course, now that the Institute and DSPT are collaborative partners, it would seem that the sky’s the limit! So do come to visit us at Arch & Vine. But make sure to bring sunglasses and a strong pair of binoculars, ‘cause, we’ve gone stratosphere!

The Institute Down Under
by Clara Geoghegan, O.P.L., co-Director, Catherine of Siena Institute, Australia

The Catherine of Siena Institute, Australia was established in October 2004, when we enjoyed the company of Sherry Weddell and Fr. Mike Fones, OP, who shared with us with their pastoral experience and wisdom. Over a grueling ten days Sherry and Fr. Mike conducted a Called & Gifted workshop, provided interviewer training, teacher training and much, much, more to an enthusiastic group of Aussies. This has resulted in our being able to conduct Called & Gifted workshops in southern Australia.

Sherry’s and Fr. Mike’s visit was made possible by the Archdiocese of Melbourne, and the Archdiocese continues to sponsor the work of the Institute. To date we have taught the Called & Gifted workshop in six Melbourne parishes and will be conducting workshops in two more this fall (see the side panel for details). All our workshops have been well attended and are generating wider interest within the Catholic community and beyond. Our teachers in Melbourne have been Lorraine McCarthy, Bernadette de Bruyn, Br. Paul Rowse, OP, and me.

In May I traveled to Wagga Wagga where, together with local Called & Gifted teachers Sr. Margaret Knagge and Fr. Gerard Ryan, we presented a workshop to the education consultants of the Catholic Schools Office. The response to the workshop was enthusiastic, particularly its value in team building for the staff.

The Institute has also worked in the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn, where we have a team of interviewers and the beginnings of a teaching team. The third Canberra workshop is scheduled for September 15-16 at Corpus Christi Parish, South Tuggerenanong. Fr. John Armstrong, the parish priest, is strongly supportive. Another exciting development is the interest that Fr. Chris Ryan, MGL, has shown in the work of the Institute. Fr. Chris is a member of the Missionaries of God's Love - a young Australian congregation, and is the pastor at St Benedict's Narrabundah. He contacted me after purchasing CDs of the Called & Gifted workshop from the U.S. He and members of his parish will participate in the workshop in South Tuggerenanong with a view to hosting one in Narrabundah. Why is Fr. Chris' interest so exciting? He is chaplain to World Youth Day! He received the WYD cross in Rome and will be absent from his parish from March next year to take the Cross on pilgrimage throughout the country. The cross was made to stand next to the high altar in St. Peter's for the 1983 Holy Year, and was given by the pope afterwards to the youth of the world as a symbol of Christ's love for us and a sign of our redemption. Fr. Chris sees great potential for the Called and Gifted workshop as a formation tool for the seventy WYD diocesan leaders.

The big local news for Canberra is that Bishop Mark Coleridge has been named Archbishop and will be installed on August 17, 2006. This is wonderful news for Canberra and for the Institute. Bishop Coleridge, a former auxiliary bishop in Melbourne, is the reason we exist in that archdiocese, and he will be a great support to the Canberra team.

In planning the future direction of the Institute, we continue to receive inquiries from parishes and various organizations within the Church. We have been approached by the Thomas More Centre with a view to teaching a workshop to young people involved in the organization of World Youth Day. We are planning to have a short presentation for the Days in the Dioceses leading up to World Youth Day, we hope with young adult presenters. We are currently training more teachers and interviewers in order to spread the workload.

We are excited about the future of the Institute in Australia, and ask for your prayers as the Holy Spirit continues to breathe new life into the Australian Catholic Church!

Institute Teacher Ordained in Seattle
by Fr. Michael Fones, O.P., co-director, Catherine of Siena Institute

On a beautiful, sunny June 10 in Seattle, WA, Archbishop Alex J. Brunett ordained seven priests for the Archdiocese of Seattle in St. James Cathedral. Among the seven-member ordination class, the largest in the Archdiocese since 1968, was Bryan Dolesji, a teacher with the Institute for four years. Anyone who knows Bryan or has seen him teach would agree that this is a great moment for the Archdiocese. Not only is Bryan a gifted teacher, he brings to his ministry an exuberant love for people and charisma that will make him a beloved pastor. In addition, because of his long collaboration with the Institute, he has a deep understanding of the role of the pastor. He will be able to help identify, call forth, and coordinate the charisms of the people in his parish, all of which comprise pastoral governance.

Actually, I should have written that Fr. Bryan will be helping call for the charisms of the people in his parishes. Although the Archdiocese ordained seven men, there is still a shortage of clergy in Seattle. Consequently, Fr. Bryan was appointed Parochial Vicar of Sacred Heart Church, St. Ann Church, St. John of the Woods Church, and Visitation Church in Tacoma! He will be serving the English-speaking community, while two other priests serve the Hispanic and Vietnamese communities.

Fr. Bryan's ordination class reflects the current trends of men entering the priesthood in this country. Their average age is 36, and two were not born in the U.S. All but one had post-graduate degrees. Nationally, almost 80 percent of the men slated for ordination in 2006 completed a college degree before entering the seminary and 30 percent had attained a graduate degree. The average age of the class of 2006 is 37 and almost a third of the men were born outside the United States.

Congratulations, Bryan! You will be a great blessing to the people of the Archdiocese of Seattle.

The Challenge of Adult Faith Formation (part 3)
by Fr. Michael Fones, O.P., co-director, Catherine of Siena Institute

This spring and summer I have been exploring the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) as a model for adult catechesis, a recommendation made by the U.S. bishops in their document, Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us. In my first article on this topic, I outlined the bishops' goals for adult faith formation: conversion to the Lord, active membership in the Church, and the preparation of adults to act as disciples in mission to the world.  The Catherine of Siena Institute, with its mission of helping parishes form lay apostles, is a wonderful resource for any community that would take the bishops' letter to heart. In the May issue of the e-Scribe, I pointed out that the first stage of the RCIA process, the precatechumenate, is described as an important time of conversion from an old way of life to a new way in Christ. This stage is almost universally presumed to have happened when we deal with adult Catholic Christians, but it is not necessarily the case! I also suggested that parishes consider ways for parishioners who have undergone conversions and who have established or deepened their relationship to Jesus to share their stories with other members of the parish.

In this third of four installments, I will offer some ways in which elements of the catechumenate can be adapted to comprehensive parish-wide adult faith formation.  Yet before we further our examination of the RCIA process, a couple of disclaimers are in order.

1. Neither I, nor the U.S. bishops, are suggesting that we simply add baptized Catholic adults to the RCIA process. I imagine this is a temptation in some parishes. In several campus ministries where I have served, parishioners would hear great things about the catechetical formation the catechumens were receiving, the close-knit community that was forming, and the spiritual growth that was happening and ask, "why can't you open up the RCIA process to the rest of the parish?" It is imperative to remember that there is a real difference between the baptized and the non-baptized; a distinction that many American Catholics are loathe to admit. Yet baptism does something; it is not merely symbolic.  The baptized have received sanctifying grace, they have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, they have received a character that sets them apart for the worship of God. Even the decision to celebrate the rite of reception into full communion with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil is not necessarily the norm, but must be "guided by the theological and pastoral directives proper to each rite" [RCIA study edition, Appendix 1:4, 562 (all the following citations in brackets are from the RCIA Study Edition)] and be consistent with "respect for ecumenical values and be guided by attentiveness both to local conditions and to personal and family preferences. The person to be received should always be consulted about the form of reception."  [Appendix I:4, 564]
2. I recommend that people who are serious about adult faith formation read through the RCIA process! There are many important directives that will help guide those who seek to utilize it as a model for adult faith formation. 
3. I suspect it will take a significant amount of time to develop an effective adult faith formation process in a parish. Our temptation will be to put together a program based on the RCIA process. I suggest that we focus on assessing our effectiveness in our formation efforts, rather than on whether or not we have a program in place. Pastoral leaders must have the courage to evaluate their efforts dispassionately, and to change aspects in the formation process that do not seem to have a long-lasting effect on adult participants. Just as in the discernment process, in which knowing where we are not gifted is success, knowing what doesn't work is also success! 
4. The suggestions that follow are by no means exhaustive, but are a cursory examination into some possibilities for adult faith formation. In reality, adults in our parishes are in various stages of faith: from baptized but not catechized seekers, to intentional disciples, to lay apostles. No single "program" will meet the needs of every adult. Pastors, pastoral staff, and lay leaders will need to examine the various formational needs of the adults in their parishes and respond to them creatively.

75§2 As they become familiar with the Christian way of life and are helped by the example and support of sponsors, godparents, and the entire Christian community, the catechumens learn to turn more readily to God in prayer, to bear witness to the faith, in all things to keep their hopes set on Christ, to follow supernatural inspiration in their deeds, and to practice love of neighbor, even at the cost of self-renunciation.

This is what we at the Institute have begun calling intentional discipleship. Intentional discipleship, born of a genuine conversion to Jesus that is prompted and supported by God's grace, is not “unconscious” or accidental, nor is it merely cultural. One is not a disciple simply by the fact of being born into a Catholic family, having attended Catholic schools, following the rules, going to Mass on Sunday, or generally being described as a good person.  One can do all those things and still not fit the description in the preceding paragraph!

Intentional discipleship requires a deliberate decision to follow Jesus Christ as Lord. When that happens, people's lives change, sometimes dramatically. Their priorities change.  They worship, pray, serve others, give, study their faith, and discern their vocation not out of guilt, but out of a living, growing relationship with God. These behaviors begin to flow from within, from the stream of life-giving water Jesus promises his disciples (John 4:14), rather than from an external source.

In the last issue of the e-Scribe I mentioned that prayer, proclamation of the Scriptures, personal testimony and the public recognition and celebration of personal conversion are important in fostering intentional discipleship. What elements from the catechumenate might help parishes assist adults in their faith formation?
The RCIA describes the catechumenate as "an extended period during which the candidates are given suitable pastoral formation and guidance, aimed at training them in the Christian life." [75] Note that the catechumenate does not have a specific length.  It "should be long enough – several years if necessary – for the conversion and faith of the catechumens to become strong." [76] This suggests that adult faith formation should be recognized as a process, not a program or simply a series of courses from which an adult "graduates," guaranteed to be a disciple.  If we are going to form adults effectively, we must recognize their differences, and be willing to walk with them as individuals. That's a daunting task for parishes with memberships in the thousands!

The RCIA mentions four ways in which conversion and faith can be deepened. I will mention them, and discuss in this and the next e-Scribe how they might be used in the formation of adult Catholics.

1. Suitable catechesis by priests, deacons, catechists, others of the faithful "accommodated to the liturgical year, and solidly supported by celebrations of the word.  This catechesis leads the catechumens not only to an appropriate acquaintance with dogmas and precepts but also to a profound sense of the mystery of salvation in which they desire to participate." [75] "Celebrations of the word may also be held in connection with catechetical or instructional meetings of the catechumens, so that these will occur in the context of prayer." [83]
2. The help of sponsors, godparents, and the entire Christian community. Catechumens "learn to turn more readily to God in prayer, to bear witness to the faith, in all things to keep their hopes set on Christ, to follow supernatural inspiration in their deeds, and to practice love of neighbor, even at the cost of self-renunciation." [75§2] They participate in a spiritual journey, "passing from the old to a new nature made perfect in Christ." [75§2]
3. Suitable liturgical rites which purify and strengthen with God's blessing. [75]
4. Because the Church's life is apostolic, "catechumens should also learn how to work actively with others to spread the Gospel and build up the Church by the witness of their lives and by professing their faith." [75]

Suitable catechesis. No matter who is teaching, whether clergy or laity, two questions must be asked. First, "are people learning?" Suitable catechesis takes work. The catechist must take into consideration the education level, interests, available time and life situation of the adults being catechized. People will not come back for more catechesis if they do not understand what is being taught. What works for one person won't work for another: some are drawn by ideas, others by feelings, by example, or through reflections on their own experience, or through scripture. Effective catechesis that is suitable for the variety of people in our parishes requires tremendous creativity!

Secondly, the catechist needs to connect catechesis to the various lived experience of adults. Some will be married, others single, divorced or widowed; others will be retired or disabled. Their various careers will give them unique perspectives on issues in the world and in the Church. Good catechists will constantly be asking themselves how they can connect their teaching to the wealth of experiences of adults. The faith must be presented as much more than ideas to which we give our intellectual assent. Our faith is a reality that challenges our assumptions, our common sense, and "the way things are in this world." The parish will likely have a number of people who can help catechize in particular areas, and they should be utilized.  For example, a Catholic physician might be an excellent resource in discussions concerning the Church's teaching on birth control, natural family planning and abortion, while a social worker may have insights into some of the factors that lead to homelessness, especially among the working poor, and could enrich a conversation on some of the Church's social teaching. Catechesis that fosters discipleship "should be of a kind that while presenting Catholic teaching in its entirety also enlightens faith, directs the heart toward God, fosters participation in the liturgy, inspires apostolic activity, and nurtures a life completely in accord with the spirit of Christ." [78] Such catechesis will help adults realize that their daily decisions are part of the mystery of Christ's ongoing redemption of the world.

The RCIA suggests that catechetical instruction can take place in conjunction with a liturgy of the word, so that catechesis happens in the context of prayer [81, 82]. The scriptures themselves are the root of the church's teaching, and naturally can be an integral part of catechetical instruction. Effective catechesis utilizing Scripture will helps adults connect the Scriptures to the daily living of their faith.  Specifically, this can occur in the context of teaching "the morality characteristic of the New Testament, the forgiving of injuries and insults, a sense of sin and repentance, [and] the duties Christians must carry out in the world…." [82] Part of adult catechesis needs to include instruction on prayer, and again the scriptures and the Church's rich tradition offers many resources, including lectio divina and the praying of the psalms, either on their own or as part of the liturgy of the hours. The catechist's prayer during the preparation of their instruction is crucial, for therein he or she will ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit for themselves and for those who are to be catechized. At the same time, catechists, including clergy, would do well to ask others to pray for the success of particular adult formation events.