By M.T.Q Communication Team
In the quest for the realization of the importance and necessity of family catechesis within the spectrum of the entire efforts towards evangelizing the world and the missionary mandate of the church, the Catholic community of Mary the Queen Parish, Ekpoma, turned out en-masse to join their brethren in the Catholic world to celebrate the 2016 Catechetical week.
The theme for the week-long activities was family catechesis: an imperative for the new evangelization. The talk for Monday was delivered by Prof (Mrs.) Idialu and the topic was: BASIC CONCEPT OF FAMILY CATECHESIS. In the Lecture, Prof. (Mrs.) Idialu defined the types of family, forms of family structure as well as the meaning of family catechesis. She also outlined the role of family catechesis, the goals of family catechesis, principal agents of catechesis, catechesis and evangelization as well as methods of catechesis. And in conclusion, Prof. (Mrs.) Idialu admonished parents to bring up their children in a Catholic way so that when they grew up they would not be swayed from the right path.
Delivering a lecture on day three of the week on the topic: CHALLENGES TO FAMILY CATECHESIS, the guest lecturer, Rev. Fr. Ibemariae Ugwoke (OCD) described marriages as a divine vocation. He outlined some of the challenges of marriage to include: economic crisis/time, factor pressure of modern society, over –volunteering in church activities to the detriment of ample time with one’s family, poor faith formation/ education and misplaced priority. Finally, the Rev. Father Outlined implications of poor family catechesis to include: raising disobedient and wayward children, violence in the family, lack of proper conduct, irreligious tendencies and lack of appreciation of the sacraments amongst others. In conclusion, the guest lecturer admonished parents to lay good foundation for their children.
While speaking on the topic for day four, titled: “The Role of the Church in Family Catechesis.” The guest lecturer, Rev. Fr. Ibemariae Ugwoke (OCD) engaged the participants in a discussive session. In conclusion parents were encouraged to play their role as the principal and first educators of their children, while the Church on her part should make people understand what marriage is all about as they are going into it.
Lecture for day five was handled by Rev. Fr. Tony Ogwu (OCD) on the topic: MODEL FOR FAMILY CATECHESIS. The guest lecturer who handled the lecture in an interactive form, made the participants to know that young people tend to drift from the Catholic Church due to misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the Church’s doctrine and also as a result of some Catholic parents exposing their children to other churches.
The guest lecturer went further to describe a model family of family catechesis and admonished all to go back to the family, from where we are all expected to draw strength. He outlined six models of family catechesis which include:
1. Daily family catechesis and devotion
2. Basic /primary models of family centred catechesis
3. Secondary models of family catechesis
4. Traditional classroom catechesis
5. Alternative models of catechesis
6. Intergeneration /adolescent catechesis for family life.
Speaking on the topic: “New Era of Evangelization” the guest speaker and the parish priest, Rev. Fr. Franklin Udenze (OCD) attributed the act of teaching the doctrine of the church to be one of the reasons responsible for lack of interest in the church by some people. The guest lecturer admonished parents to go back to family catechesis and encourage their children to join societies in the church. He also admonished children to have fear of God and regard for people. He also admonished parents/children to read the Bible and the Catechism books. The activities of the day climaxed with benediction and the usual evening Mass.
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