In the Neocatechumenal Way, faith is transmitted through the family. It is said that "the family that prays together stays together." At a certain stage, families will go through morning prayer with the father leading the prayer. Faith is transmitted to the very young as the father questions his very young children about morning prayer and who God is for them. During morning prayer, the father blesses every child, and very young children appear to understand that there is something very special in morning prayer. They even look forward to it.
The youths spend their Saturday nights in a two hour Eucharist. Many of the youths are cantors. Even the small children are given tamborines, and they play along. During the Eucharist, the priest would also ask the children simple questions about Sunday's readings. So at a very young age, faith is being transmitted to them. By the time they are twelve or thirteen, they can join a community of their own.
Youth scrutacio are also held every month on a Sunday afternoon. Boys and girls are seated separately during the youth scrutacios. Every youth brings their own Jerusalem Bible. The youth scutacio includes prayers, bible readings and reflections. Youth scutacio is usually about 4 hours long and includes a nice dinner for them.
The youths in the Neocatechumenal Way are always encouraged to attend World Youth Day. The next one is coming up in Poland. These youths look forward to World Youth Day to see the Pope. The Way has always been well-known for sending thousands of youths to World Youth Day. In Brazil, there were approximately 40,000 youths from the Neocatechumenal Way. After each World Youth Day, a vocational meeting would be held by Kiko Arguello, Carmen Hernandez, and Father Mario. Boys who wish to enter the priesthood are called, and girls who want to enter the convent are also called. It is amazing to see the commitment of these youths.
There are also pre-vocations meetings for both men and women in the Neocatechumenal Way held once a month. In the pre-vocations, these young men and women spend their time discerning what vocation God is calling them to.
Sad thing about this meetings for vocations and discernment so is that they are all gear for the NeoWay...can't join the priesthood unless going Neo. Can't join the convent unless it's in New Jersey! Why can't the girls join here....the convents don't have the NEO program....entering here has nothing to do with the aging Nuns. Ask the superiors of each convent how hard they pray for girls to enter the order they are in. Don't try to go around trying to fool the rest of us about aging nuns!
ReplyDeleteYou people just want to shut down everything that is not NEOCAT! You can't see beyond your nose about all the trouble that is happening and the big division this will surely bring. The division now is minor! Wait for the BANG!
Dear Anonymous at 7:44 pm,
DeleteA Jesuit priest was formed in the Jesuit Order. A Franciscan priest was formed in the Franciscan Order. And you do not think these things are sad. It is only sad that the NCW form priests according to the Way?? And then you blame the division on us??
Diana check this out.
ReplyDeleteMY REPLY TO FR. PIUS' SUPERIOR
Here is the response from Fr. Emanuel Schembri, O.C.D. to the letter sent by Chuck White regarding the petition to remove Fr. Pius from service in the Archdiocese of Agana.
From: "mannyocd@gmail.com"
Date: Oct 25, 2014 11:46 PM
Subject: Petition re: Fr Pius Sammut
To:
Cc:
Dear petitioners,
I have personally looked into the petitions presented both by those who believe that Fr. Pius Sammut, Discalced Carmelite, has a negative effect in the archdiocese of Agana (Guam) in his leadership role within the Neo-catechumenal Way, and those who cherish his presence and ministry in the archdiocese and elsewhere in the Pacific. The former carry over 300 signatories, and the latter over 1000.
At this point in time, one must remember also that as such the Neo-catechumenal Way and its statutes have been approved by St. John Paul II on May 11, 2008. Thus, as a Way within the Church and of the Church, the bishop is the Pastor responsible for the communities. Father General OCD, with regards Fr. Pius is well aware the he has served the Order for several years as Provincial in Malta, and his involvement as a dedicated Discalced Carmelite has been appreciated by his confreres in Malta throughout the years. It was with the permission of the then General of the Order and his Provincial, that Fr. Pius offered his services abroad.
Our Father Superior General has now passed on to me to reply to the request mailed to him, as Fr. Pius’ direct superior. This petition seems to be presented on the grounds of what one believes is happening (or happened) rather than objective reasoning. I have spoken to Fr. Pius on the matters presented, and keeping in mind that His Grace the Archbishop of Agana is appreciative of his presence and ministry, it results that there is no serious motive to accept the petition regarding his removal from his present ministry in Guam.
And finally, dear petitioners, we wish God’s blessings on you, your families and friends, on one and all. May the gift of reconciliation, with respect and love for one another, reign supreme.
With prayerful wishes,
Fr. Emanuel Schembri, O.C.D.
(Superior Provincial)
My response.
Dear Fr. Schembri,
Your order has just fallen greatly in my estimation, or at least the branch of it of which you are a part. No wonder we have people like Pius floating around, you don't even know that John Paul II DIED in 2005, yet you have him approving the "statutes" (It's Statute, by the way) of the Neocatechumenal Way IN 2008! Apparently you don't even know who the pope was in 2008. What a mess.
And check out this stupid statement:
This petition seems to be presented on the grounds of what one believes is happening (or happened) rather than objective reasoning.
DUH! "Objective reasoning" is what we were asking YOU to do. The point of the petition was to ask you to consider the problem and OBJECTIVELY examine it. But the extent of your investigation is (AND THIS IS AMAZING): speaking with the Archbishop who is bigger problem, speaking with Pius who IS the problem, and noting that the other side had more signers (which consisted mostly of people's kids). HUH!
Well, Fr. Schembri, we gave you a chance to show some integrity and at least a modicum of intelligence. But you have failed at both. Now you have forced our hand. The explosion of division in this archdiocese can be directly traced to Pius' arrival in this diocese, and we will hold you personally responsible. Keep you eye on the news.
By the way, do yourself a favor and have someone who knows who was pope in 2008 write your letters (or did Adrian write this one too?).
Tim Rohr
(No Title and don't need one.)
Dear Anonymous at 9:26 a.m,
DeleteI am not surprised that they rejected Tim Rohr's petition. For one thing, there is no substantial evidence that Father Pius has done any harm on this island. His response shows that he is more concern about trivial things. Okay......so they got the name of the Pope wrong. That is an honest mistake. And he has to demean the person for making an honest mistake??
Why did Tim Rohr answer to the letter of Father Schembri? I thought it was Chuck White who orchestrated the petition. But as someone once commented Tim Rohr and Chuck White are like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza “the hilarious protagonists of the Man of La Mancha. One is a wild knight and the other is his groveling squire. The moment Tim writes an article, Chuck jumps on the wagon instantly by writing a comment and then they reverse the roles, when Chuuk White writes something, Tim White is the first to post his comment.”
DeleteThere are two comments that I accidentally deleted by mistake. My intention was to publish it, but ended up clicking on the wrong button. Unfortunately, I cannot undo the deletion. But I remember what I read.
DeleteThe anonymous poster made a comment that the petition that had over 1000 names did not all come from Guam. My response......So what?? Tim Rohr attacked the character of Father Pius. He was not attacking Guam. He wanted Father Pius removed from Guam because he believed that Father Pius was doing some harm to the island and is behind the division on Guam. People on Guam and other countries who knew Father Pius signed the petition because it is Father Pius' character that is being questioned. So, these people who know Father Pius can sign the petition and can even testify in defense of his character.
Diana - Tim so arrogant calling the Superior not intelligent, what made him so intelligent?????
ReplyDeleteDear Diana, you adult NeoCats seem surely eager to start the brainwashing of the NeoCat youth early. You say kids spend 4 hours on "scrutacio" on some Sundays whatever it means in NeoCat language. How would we know that these kids do not waste their times at these youth sessions? How would we know they are being educated on the Catechism of the Catholic Church during these Sunday afternoons? Is there any open teaching schedule for these sessions? Could you present a detailed education plan with corresponding curricula of these "scrutacios", please? I would truly appreciate your kindness.
ReplyDeleteDear voice of faith,
DeleteThe youth scrutacio starts with prayers and a bible reading. A biblical verse is read to them. They spend about an hour or more scrutinizing the word of God, using the biblical verses that was read to them. In other words, they go through the bible themselves and read it on their own, do a reflection on the biblical verses they come across. Afterwards, they share their reflections with the group. Then they hear what the priest says and then they go to another room for an hour of catechesis on the Word of God and/or have a group activity. The catechesis is always in line with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The scrutacio then ends with a fancy dinner served to them by the adults.
By the way.....I say "fancy dinner" because we use real china and silverware for the kids. Glasses are used for their drinks rather than plastic cups. We also use real napkins and not paper napkins.
DeleteOh yeah? This is the assurance of quality that you pamper your kids with "fancy dinner" served on real china with silverware and glasses? Really? This sounds more like a club house gathering. As far as I can see there is no rigorous teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Opening up the Bible "scrutinizing the word of God" looks like an improvisation on some ad hoc topic. It does not sound like systematically reading some book or through the books of the Bible. I just wonder how can kids "scrutinize" Holy Scripture if they don't learn the Catechism of the Catholic Church first?
DeleteDear voice of faith,
DeleteAnd why should we allow our kids to eat off paper plates, especially since they chose to be at the Scrutacio reflecting on the Bible?? Any kid who chose to reflect on biblical readings should be served a "fancy dinner." After all, they are the children of a King.
How do you know there is no rigorous teaching of the Catechism when in the first place, you have never participated in a scrutacio? You asked me what a scrutacio is and I answered your question. Now, you pretend to know more about the scrutacio than me???? And then you want to dictate to us how we should teach our kids?. You say that they should learn the Catechism of the Catholic Church FIRST??? Our kids learn them BOTH at the same time. My kids should know both sacred Scripture and what the Church teaches at the same time. Our Catechists told us that only the Church interprets sacred scripture, and we are to listen to the Church.
The Bible we use is the Jerusalem Bible or the New Jerusalem Bible with its many references and commentaries. The commentaries come from the interpretations of the Church, which is what the kids also read.....so they understand scripture through the Church's interpretation.
The Bible and the Catechism should be taught to kids according to their intellectual level and age group. Bible commentaries are for adults who understand them. What can kids do with adult level Bible analysis tools when they need to learn first and study the Bible and the Catechism book by book, step by step, topic by topic, before they endeavor to "scrutinize" it? This kind of education is best done in religious education classes in individual parishes.
DeleteDear voice of faith,
DeleteThe catechists and priests are there to help them. These kids are not left alone unsupervised. Faith should always be transmitted by the parents. The priests and catechists are there to nourish that faith.
There is a huge gap between systematic education in faith and being "left alone unsupervised". The whole issue is about this gap between.
DeleteDear voice of faith,
DeleteI want my kids to KNOW God......not to know ABOUT God. The catechists and priests are there to help them come to KNOW God rather than to know only ABOUT Him. This is why they spend four hours praying, reading, reflecting, sharing, meditating, and listening.
Voice just go to the cathechisist instead of this piece mail speculation. Taste the cake instead of asking how sweet it is. You won't have the answer till you try it.
ReplyDeleteDear Voice of faith, Have You ever heard about the different method reading and meditating the Holy Scripture. Scrutatio is one of the methods like Lectio Divina or Ignatian meditation. If you don't know about that so maybe it is time for you to come back to the catechism and read the paragraphs about reading the Holy Scripture and methods of meditating God's word.
ReplyDeleteYes, in the hands of the NCW the scriptures are no longer "a lamp for my steps", but a weapon now to wield
Delete