My own experience with poor catechesis started in about 5th grade. Prior to that, I had attended CCD in 1st and 2nd grade and learned something similar to the Baltimore Catechism. “Who made you.” “God made me.”

I didn’t hate it. It seemed to categorize and settle things in my young brain in an easy to access manner. In 3rd grade we started attending Catholic school and again the religion classes were very good. WE started learning the bible stories through the old testament and I thorougly enjoyed it.

About 5th grade however, all of that changed. We no longer used the bible, we no longer had a well organized text book. We did lots and lots and lots of arts and crafts, burlap banners and liturgy planning, such as it was. But we didn’t really learn anything more about our faith.

High school, if possible, was worse. I considered religion class an easy A, and a complete waste of time in my schedule. The most significant thing I did was in the 10th grade when I was assigned to read [i]The Last Temptation of Christ![/i]

I also remember the Brother who taught religion telling me that as long as I loved my boyfriend, it was OK to have premarital sex… uh right.

I am sure this is a common experience for other folks, but my first realization that maybe I was missing out on something important was the birth of my first child and the challenges that came from my sister as she was leaving the Catholic Church and attending a Bible Christian/Evangelical model church.

When I talk to folks on line and in real life, this seems to be a fairly common experience for children in the post Vatican II era.