For all Catholics there are three stages of formation:
First Stage: the infant stage – the formation we receive in our infant years and our primary school education where we learn about different aspects of the faith in a way that is suitable for our age.
Second Stage: the adolescent stage — that formation corresponding with secondary and also third level education where the level of education rises but quite often the exploration of faith is not treated as important or as deeply as other subjects. Shakespeare and physics are seen as ok for teenagers to delve into but educators tend to shy away from opening up faith development to the same level.
Third Stage: is the adult stage. When the individual reaches adulthood and the responsibilities that come with adulthood are new ones and require adaptation to circumstances, in tandem with that, the faith development should take on an adult level of understanding. What the sacrament of baptism means to a child and what it means to that child when they are at adult stage should be deeper. The ability to explore and search for a deeper understanding to the sacraments of initiation and the sacrament of reconciliation (confession) should grow and lead to a mature look at faith and see that it is something that can be lived as part of living a life which is based on reason as well. Faith and reason can work together, they are not mutually exclusive. One of the saints whose feast day is celebrated this weekend is St. Albert the Great who saw the importance of recognising the importance of both. Pope Saint John Paul II wrote an encyclical letter that was published in 1998, ‘Faith and Reason’, to highlight this understanding and see God present in all dimensions of our life.