By Tanya Connor
The Catholic Free Press
The number of religious education students dwindled significantly after two parishes were merged.
Then the pandemic struck and classes had to be taught remotely.
However, that brought an unexpected response – which led to a new religious education program.
Joan D’Argenis, religious education director at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Our Lady of Loreto Parish in Worcester, tells this story of her recent experiences there.
She started at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in 1985, teaching religious education and doing youth ministry, and eventually became the director of religious education.
When Mount Carmel and Our Lady of Loreto merged several years ago, fewer students came to class, she said. But after she switched to online lessons during the pandemic “I found that I was getting more participation … from the children and the parents. The parents would be in the background.… They would almost join into the class.”
One day when Mrs. D’Argenis was leading Stations of the Cross for children remotely, a mother asked to say something, and told a story she’d heard as a child in Italy: about how the robin got his red breast. It seems the little bird tried to remove a thorn from Jesus’ crown and some of Jesus’ blood spilled on him. The mother recounting this story said she’d seen the first robin of spring outside “listening” as Mrs. D’Argenis led the online Stations of the Cross.
“That gave me an idea – that I wanted to involve the parents more,” the religious education director said. “I realized how important it was to have the families involved and wanted to include it in my whole program.” So, this fall she started her own program, with the main focus being family involvement.
Students attend classes with their age group in person, usually twice a month, and have remote classes and community service projects monthly, she said. There are also numerous in-person workshops. Parents are encouraged to participate in remote classes, community service and workshops. Some grades are grouped together, regularly or for workshops and remote classes.
One workshop all students were asked to attend was the Oct. 16 dramatization of the Gospel of Luke by Frank Runyeon, a California-based Catholic who has starred in numerous television shows and now does performances of the Gospels.
The parish’s Knights of Columbus Council 13575, which seeks to evangelize, arranged for Mr. Runyeon’s appearance, said Rick Annunziata, Grand Knight. Mr. Annunziata said his own life and the lives of some of the other Knights had been changed by hearing Scripture.
Wanting the students to “really understand their faith,” beyond just a surface level, Mrs. D’Argenis made the performance part of their religious education. She said she thought if they knew the Bible stories, they’d better understand the meaning of those stories. But after the performance, she was concerned that maybe the students still did not understand the stories’ meanings.
Then she saw one story “coming alive” and pointed that out to the students around her. Some Knights were trying to help a homeless man find shelter, making phone calls for him and offering him a ride, she said. She told the students that was an example of living out the story of the Good Samaritan that Mr. Runyeon had just portrayed. (Mr. Runyeon had not just dramatized Bible stories; he’d stressed listening to the Gospel and living it.)
Mateo Huaman, 9, said the performance helped him understand the Bible a little better – in a different way.
“It taught me about Luke’s story ... and how he experienced it and lived it,” he said. “It works because it teaches about your faith and how you live it and how you experience it.”
“It was moving the way he (Mr. Runyeon) expressed his stories through his voice,” Elizabeth Garcia, 15, said. “That was cool. He explained the stories thoroughly, so I understood them.”
OTHER TOPICS
The religious education program presents other topics too.
On Nov. 3, Mrs. D’Argenis said, she taught remotely, telling the younger children about All Saints’ Day, and showing the older ones a video by Bishop Robert Barron about choosing a saint’s name for confirmation. She also showed a video which pointed out things found in Catholic churches, such as the crucifix and altar. When students came in person on Nov. 7, they were asked to point out those things in their own church. Mrs. D’Argenis also had younger children draw a host and chalice.
“The drawings are very important,” she said. “Most of us, including children, are visual learners.” When drawing their own chalice “it actually comes alive” for them.
On Nov. 16 Nino Giamei, ninth-grade teacher, talked to grades 7-10 about the Eucharist and “why we go to church,” Mrs. D’Argenis said. This lecture was offered in-person and via Zoom, and was open to all parishioners.
Soon Domenic D. Mercurio Jr., from the parish’s Knights of Columbus Council, is to speak to grades 7-10 about abortion, she said. She encouraged parents to attend so they’d know what their children were being taught and could better answer the young people’s questions.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
An important part of the religious education program is community service, Mrs. D’Argenis said. On Monday students and parents made fruit baskets for a veterans’ shelter and the homeless and bought toiletries for the veterans.
The religious education program also includes “learning the traditions and rituals of our Church,” Mrs. D’Argenis said. In October, she had a Zoom rosary workshop for younger children and their families. They learned about the rosary’s meaning and history. Some students remembered one of the Mysteries of Light, as they’d acted out the Wedding at Cana story at the summer Bible school.
Other traditions kept alive come from the original parishes. On Sunday, students attended the children’s Thanksgiving Mass dressed as pilgrims or native Americans, as they did at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Mrs. D’Argenis said. Another Mount Carmel tradition was continued, giving each family an orange at that Mass, to divide and share on Thanksgiving. Our Lady of Loreto’s tradition of giving out apples at Mass on Thanksgiving Day was also being kept, she said.
“We have a very strong program,” Mrs. D’Argenis said. “The kids learn. I want that to continue at a deeper level.”