Sacramentality and Interculturality

Jess Hirtzel from Brebeuf Jesuit in the United States, shares a “Sacramentality” a Reflection Assignment.

It may seem daunting to teach Sacraments at a school whose student population is only 50% Catholic. However, at Brebeuf Jesuit, with our Ignatian focus on Finding God in All Things and our students’ commitment to being Open to Growth, God is tangible in our classroom experience. That’s what Sacramentality is all about – encountering the mystery of God in a real way through people, things, and experiences.

By exploring the connection each Sacrament has to the shared human experience, students of all faith backgrounds are able to connect in a profoundly personal way to these rituals of the Catholic Church. Our Protestant students share memories of their Baptism experiences, while many non-religious students compare starting high school to the idea of new beginnings. While Catholic students write about their own Confirmation, our Jewish students share how deeply meaningful their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs are in their faith lives. When we discuss how Catholics believe the Eucharist nourishes us at Mass, all students reflect on how they have developed new ways to sustain their emotional and spiritual lives in the face of a global pandemic. Teaching about Sacraments is effortlessly life-giving. In doing so, we each connect to one another and with our beautifully diverse humanity.