Seventy new master catechists from nine parishes received
their certification April 29 at St. Andrew the Apostle Church
in Clifton. Father Paul F. deLadurantaye, secretary for
religious education and sacred liturgy, was the celebrant and
homilist at the ceremony.
The Master Catechist Training Program is sponsored by the
Office of Catechetics and is supported by diocesan parishes,
which enroll candidates for this specialized training in
catechist formation. Since its inception in 1991, the program
has certified 308 master catechists, including this year’s
class.
To receive certification, candidates must complete a two-year
coursework in theology, Scripture, adult development and
education theory, and methodology. Persons commissioned as
master catechists are certified to conduct catechist training
and formation, workshops and sacramental catechesis in
diocesan parishes.
In his homily, Father deLadurantaye asked the congregation,
“What does God want from us? Tonight’s reading answers that
question – to go and make disciples.”
Father deLadurantaye said it is incumbent upon all Catholics,
especially the new master catechists, to be witnesses to
Jesus Christ, to gather others and let them know about the
Lord.
“Tell others the Good News, which was meant for the whole
world, and lead others to the faith,” he said.
The field of evangelization for most of us is not some
distant part of the world, but rather in our homes, parishes
and neighborhoods, he said.
For the graduates, he said, it extends beyond their families
and into their parishes as they teach in religious education
programs, lead Bible study programs and adult faith formation
groups.
“There’s a principle that says, ‘No one can give what he or
she doesn’t have,'” he said. “Give to others what you
yourselves have learned.
“Like the first apostles, our graduates are being sent out to
proclaim the Gospel,” he said. “Many in our world today need
to hear that saving word.”
One of those receiving her certificate Friday night was
Michelle Peters, a second-grade religious education teacher
at Holy Trinity Church in Gainesville, who watched her
students receive their first Communion the following morning.
Peters, who earned her bachelor’s in Catholic theology from
Christendom College in Front Royal, believes you should never
stop learning about the faith. “I went to Christendom
thinking, ‘I go to Mass on Sundays, I know my prayers, I read
the lives of the saints. This is going to be easy,'” she
said. “Boy, was I shocked. With entire classes on the Holy
Trinity or social doctrine, I realized pretty quickly the
vast depths of the church’s teachings.”
Over the years, Peters continued to read about the faith,
attend talks and listen to CDs, but she realized she needed
to get back in the classroom. Since she was raising five
children, she thought the two-year Master Catechist Program
was a micro version of getting her master’s degree.
She said there were many new perspectives she took away from
the class, thanks to Father deLadurantaye’s instruction.
“I realized how lucky we were to live in an age where the
teachings of the church are so accessible and how the saints
have really plowed the path to heaven before us, giving us
multiple examples of how to walk the walk and shine His
light, and most importantly how to encourage others to join
us,” she said.
“It has really stoked my faith and made me feel like we, the
newly certified master catechists, are standing in the
shadows of the disciples of the early church and have been
sent out as they were so many years ago to go give to others
what has been given to us. I really hope I can do that.”
Peters said that during their final class, Father
deLadurantaye told the students to be ready to say “yes” to
whatever the Lord calls them to be. “The pay may not be very
good,” he told them, “but the retirement plan is out of this
world.”
