Summer Institute offers teachers opportunity to learn

More than 100 teachers gathered recently for the diocesan sponsored continuing education program.

BOB REDDY | FLORIDA CATHOLIC VENICE BUREAU EDITOR

Posted: 06.30.09

BOB REDDY | FC
Father Gerard Austin, OP, talks to religious teachers during the Summer Institute program June 17.

VENICE | Catholic school teachers and catechists in parishes gathered recently at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Retreat and Spirituality Center for their annual Summer Institute to broaden their understanding on a variety of topics.

The 120 teachers heard from two priests and two of their fellow catechists in discussions about Scripture, the Liturgy, social justice and dealing with students with special needs in a program offered by the Office of Catechetical Ministry.

Dominican Father Jerry Austin, a professor at the Blessed Edmund Rice School for Pastoral Theology, gave a lecture titled “Praying and living the Mass: What does it mean to participate in the Eucharist.”

Father Austin spoke about the Real Presence and what each person offers when going to Mass. “We offer ourselves in union with Christ,” he reminded the teachers.

A theology of Eucharist presupposes a theology of baptism, Father Austin stated. Through Eucharist (as a verb and not just a noun) we become “all the more that which we already are,” to quote St. Augustine.

“The goal of Eucharist is divine-human Communion or ‘deification.’ It is a symbol of our unity as Catholics who are receiving the Christ in a real sense,” Father Austin said.

Father Michael Hughes, pastor of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Parish in Bokeelia, spoke about St. Paul as a fitting end to the conclusion of the Year of St. Paul.

Father Hughes reminded everyone that while St. Paul is a great saint, he was also Jewish and considered himself following the Jewish/Hebrew traditions as he spread the word of Christianity.

Remembering this fact and the times in which he lived help put into context his teachings and writings, which were the first of the books of the New Testament to be written, within 10 years of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“He is remembered in his letters or epistles – Romans, in particular,” Father Hughes said. “Remember these are letters to his flock or to the people he is trying to convert. He was competing against others who wanted to keep the strict Hebrew ways even with the new teachings of Jesus as a guide. It was St. Paul who was able to convert the gentiles because he understood the need to ease the transition for many new believers.”

Other speakers at the Summer Institute included: Kristine Neumayer Jenkins, director of faith formation at St. Cecilia Parish in Fort Myers, who spoke about the roots of Catholic social teaching and what social justice means in the Catholic Church and how it all relates to each persons own spirituality and community; and Kathy Lynn, a teacher at Dreams are Free School at Bishop Nevins Academy in Sarasota, who spoke about how to deliver faith formation to students who have specific learning needs and to their families, and provided different strategies and techniques so everyone can participate.

The Summer Institute provides opportunities for Catholic school teachers and catechists in parishes to earn 12 hours toward diocesan certification. Each teacher must continually earn and update their education to remain certified by the diocese.

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