CORONAVIRUS precautions are keeping people inside their homes but Brisbane catechist Anne Delsorte believes calls for self-isolation are a blessing in disguise for Catholic families.
The director of the Graceville Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, which provides children as young as three Christian formation based on the principles of child educator Maria Montessori, said the global coronavirus pandemic could be providential for the domestic church.
“For me personally, I think this is a time for the domestic church to arise,” Mrs Delsorte said.
“I feel like this is a time when parents can truly be the heralds of the Gospel to their children.”
Since the Second Vatican Council, the family has been described as the “domestic church”, honouring its role as the first place where baptised Christians learn their faith.
Lumen Gentium, one of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council, described parents as “the first preachers of the faith to their children”.
Mrs Delsorte said now, as Australia heads towards stricter measures to slow the spread of coronavirus, including asking people to stay home unless absolutely necessary, was the time for parents to truly live out the call in Lumen Gentium.
“They have and always will be the first heralds of the Gospel, this is a time to live that with their children,” she said.
With the suspension of public Masses and closure of churches, Mrs Delsorte recommended families set up a permanent prayer space in their home, and place a greater emphasis on reading or accessing the Bible every day.
“We can’t be at Mass so Jesus is equally present to us in his Word, so making a space in their homes in that prayer space to enthrone the Bible,” Mrs Delsorte said.
Prayers should be led by the child, rather than imposing “adult-style prayer”.
“It’s so easy to say a prayer and then have your children say ‘men’, but how about the children saying a prayer and you saying ‘Amen’,” Mrs Delsorte said.
When it comes to bringing the Mass into the family home through television or internet, Mrs Delsorte said not to expect children to remain still for the entire liturgy.
“They’re children but even if they’re wandering around, they’re absorbing what’s happening and absorbing what you’re doing,” she said.
“If your life is a prayerful, a God-centred life, that’ll naturally flow through to your child because they absorb everything you do.”
Mrs Delsorte said she would be offering resources for parents during the COVID-19 pandemic through the Graceville parish website, the Association of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Australia site and are in discussions with Evangelisation Brisbane.
For more information email Anne Delsorte on delsorte@bigpond.net.au.
