August 21, 2009
OYAYA
Dog-matic Theology, Part One
BY STEVE DABROWSKI (Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry)
Friends tell me how much they learn from watching their children encounter the world. Abby is the one from whom I learn. She’s four, has an adorable little face, and deep blue eyes . . . and her breath stinks. Abby is my four-year-old Siberian Husky, and we have settled into a routine here in Evansville over the last ten months. I typically don’t go to the office on Saturday mornings, so Abby and I walk over to my local Starbuck’s where I get a coffee, and Abby gets a dog biscuit. As we walk home, we pass several stores, and their automatic doors swing wide open with a cool blast of air. Being a Siberian Husky, Abby quite enjoys this, and since the doors have apparently opened for her, she heads in to take a look—despite the sign that reads, “Service Animals Only: No Pets Allowed.”
We live in a world where doors swing open in front of us all the time. Some offer a nice cool breeze that seems inviting, and we want to walk through. The problem is that not every open door is good for us. In fact, some are quite harmful.
I have received several questions from parents regarding Teens Encounter Christ and Chrysalis. Usually the question goes something like, “So, my child has been asked to make Chrysalis by a friend, and I was wondering if they should?”
Whoosh! Did you feel that nice breeze?
Here’s the problem: Catholic kids should never make a Chrysalis retreat. Why? The first rule of logic and reason is this: If you begin with a false premise, your conclusion must necessarily be false as well. Chrysalis is a stripped-down, non-sacramental form of TEC. It starts with the premise that one can truly know Jesus and fully live out their life with Him without the sacraments that He instituted. That is like saying you can have a relationship with someone you have never met: It defies logic.
TEC, on the other hand, is designed around the truth of Catholicism. We know that Jesus established the Church upon Peter and the Apostles (Matthew 16:18), and we know that Jesus gave them authority over all things (v. 19). It is from their experiences with Jesus that we know what Jesus taught, and the New Testament was written from their community. In fact, Scripture tells us that the Church is the “pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15); we lose stability once we pull away from that foundation. TEC focuses upon Jesus present in His Church through the Sacraments: So why would any parent allow their child to go to a TEC-like weekend that refuses to follow Scriptural truths?
Not every door that opens in an inviting way is good for our youth. Parents and adults see things from an experienced vantage point, and if we don’t help young Catholics read the signs on those doors carefully, they may find themselves in harmful circumstances — spiritually and otherwise.
Closed doors can open up truth.