Faith Formation – A Way of Leading Little Ones to Christ
The first holiday after the completion of the first academic year! As part of the requirement at Hekima University College, I did pastoral fieldwork at St. Paul Chapel, the chaplaincy of the University of Nairobi. I mainly worked with children under fourteen years old. Part of my activities was to prepare these children for holy mass and catechesis of confirmation class. The children performed these activities, and their mass participation made me admire them. Indeed, my first experience journeying with children was fascinating.
As Jesus says in Mt 19:13-15, let the children come to me, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. This scripture guided me through my six weeks with children. I ventured into the faith formation of children. The interactive mass and classes were impressive, and I never wanted to miss a day. The interactive sessions I received at Hekima made me make my catechism class very interactive. Being the time when the Gen Z movement was the topic in Kenya, the interactive class with children and listening to them made me realize that children understand every chaos that is going on in the country, and they have their opinions.
Thanks to HUC for equipping me with pastoral methods that helped me identify problems and find solutions. My pastoral experience made me encounter a class of students where three of them had mental health issues. What do we do in this case? Do we separate them? Alternatively, do we leave them to the mercy of God? Realizing that catechism is for all, they are incorporated in one class, and there is a need to pay close attention to them so that they can grasp something. My joy was always that after each class these catechumens with mental health issues would tell me at least a word that they had heard during the class. This integration made them feel that they were children of God like other children.
By Sr. Stella Oduor, FSA