The Lost Sayings

As the episodes of Star Wars unfold, we learn that Darth Vader was a master in the ways of the Jedi. This mastery should have been transmitted to his children, as would be expected between a parent and his-her offspring, but in the case of Luke Skywalker, he was isolated from his father for so long that he had no idea that the Jedi even existed, much less that he himself possessed the potential to be one of its masters.

Faith is also transmitted one generation at a time, but it risks being 'lost' if it is not practiced or taught, and the parents who neglect to teach it are eventually faced with the reality of children who are indifferent to it or curious about establishing even the most superfluous understanding of the role of faith in their lives.

I once participated in a conference on the subject of catechesis where one of the invited guests compared the effect of the cultural revolution of the 1960s to the devastation of the Hiroshima bomb - at least in terms of transmitting faith. The argument goes something like this: the 1960s were characterised by a spirit of free choice where many of the teenagers and young adults chose to rebel totally against all that their parents had taught them. Consequently, they rejected all the wisdom and lessons that their families had held as sacred up to then, including faith, family values etc. As they in turn matured, were married and had families, the time came for them to teach their own children about the important lessons of life, but since they had rejected the lessons that they themselves had been taught, they had nothing upon which to base the lessons they would teach their own children. Since that time, at least two or three other generations have passed, and the challenge of transmitting faith has been compounded with the passing of each generation.

One of the results is that we currently find some young people who are thirsting for meaning in their lives, for answers to the most basic questions about higher powers, about God, about faith. Particularly among teenagers and adults who are now in their thirties and forties, questions abound about the validity of various methods of spirituality. One might say that many have lost the sayings which were part of the Catholic faith traditionally transmitted by parents to their children.

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of questions and yearnings for answers, especially in the realm of faith. Various groups such as Catholic Christian Outreach and even the Legionaries of Christ and others like them have sprung up as possible sources of answers and providers of the catechesis which has been missing for so many years.

Some nominal Catholics - those who have been baptised and raised as Catholic but who for various reasons do not practice the traditions of the Catholic Church may actually be surprised to learn that the bible actually speaks many truths which have hitherto been unknown. In a sense, you might say that the bible is the list of 'sayings' which for many lapsed Catholics, have been lost. As these 'sayings' are rediscovered, the faith which was not previously transmitted has the possibility of coming back to life.