Diocesan priest leads the way on developing online catechesis videos

STEUBENVILLE, Ohio  Passionate about catechesis, one diocesan priest has had a hand in developing the Spanish part of an online video series that gives lay parish religious educators the skills and formation they need in their roles as “front-line apostles,” who build up the Church and “go and make disciples,” as Christ commands.

That priest, Father Yojaneider Garcia, has helped create the Spanish portion of “Franciscan at Home,” an ongoing video series, developed by the Catechetical Institute (CI) of Franciscan Univer­sity here. It also helps catechists more effectively witness to the faith and walk with their students on their faith journeys by growing in their own relationships with Christ. Launched in English in 2016, this series offers catechists at any level the essentials for teaching the faith in the areas of methodology, philosophy, and doctrine. The Spanish portion started last year, said Father Garcia, part of the development team.

“I have a profound admiration for the catechists, who have dedicated their lives to this great mission. This is a quiet, arduous, and sometimes, under-appreciated job. Catechesis is a sacred and fundamental task. It has made the difference in the Church; it has built up communities and especially led many people to have an encounter with Jesus,” said Father Garcia, who came to Franciscan University in 2019 to pursue a master’s degree in catechesis, which he expects to complete this December. “I have always had a desire to contribute to the formation of the catechists. To accomplish this goal, we need to give catechists the tools to do this right,” he said.

A native of Colombia, Father Garcia also developed and taped a workshop in Spanish that teaches leaders how to offer an integral catechesis about the Blessed Mother. A truly far-reaching effort, “Franciscan at Home” is the product of partnership between the CI and 90 dioceses around the United States and the world. Today, 15,000 people in teaching ministry are learning from the workshops on their own schedule. Subscription details and prices for the ever-expanding video series can be found at www.franciscanathome.com, Father Garcia said.

These video workshops adhere to the requirements of the Directory for Catechesis: that the teaching of religious education be systematic, Christ-centered, organic, have a human dimension, be connected to the Mass, and be related to life. The videos also run along several different “tracks” that dive deeply into various topics or ministries, including “Catechist, “Four Pillars of the Catechism,” “Youth Ministry,” “Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults,” “Parish Catechetical Leader,” “Catholic Schools,” “Hispanic Faith and Family,” “Ministry of Parenting,” “Pastoral Accompaniment,” “Young Adults,” and “Proclamation and Evangelization,” Father Garcia said.

Father Garcia’s video workshop on the Blessed Mother is contained in the “Catechist” track, which catechists in a participating diocese take when they are receiving catechist training, Father Garcia said.

“The main idea is for the catechists to comprehend the role of Mary in the salvation history plan, how she is related with her Son, Jesus Christ, and how she is a role model as catechist,” Father Garcia said of his video workshop, which is not yet available on the “Franciscan at Home” website.

During his second year of study at Franciscan, Father Garcia first got involved with the CI as a mentor. Mentors accompany other catechists on their faith journey, sharing their experience in the field and in life, and teaching them how to actively engage with students, which is necessary for them to find a “real encounter with Jesus,” the priest said.

After a few months, CI asked him to put together the workshop in Spanish on Mary. Since then, he has been helping the institute to “inculturate” the Spanish-language workshops for Hispanic leaders. That involved not only translating the video’s accompanying guidebooks into Spanish, but also exploring different ways to pass on the faith, while also protecting the sacred truths that it contains. Father Garcia’s passion for catechesis earned him the title “the Father with a catechetical heart” at Franciscan, which he said, “is offering a solid or integral formation to the catechists.”

Since then, Father Garcia went from being a developer of the new video program to its promoter on the world stage. He spoke about the Franciscan’s project at the International Congress of Catechesis 2021 in May in Chile, coordinated by six universities, which chose Franciscan’s among six projects to be presented. The audience, which watched virtually because of the pandemic, liked the way that the CI “combined digital content with the personal formation of catechists very well,” which it has been doing for a while now, Father Garcia said.

Father Garcia also attended the CI’s St. Don Bosco Conference online and was a member of the National Conference for Catechesis and the Federation for Catechesis with Hispanics. At the CI, Father Garcia enjoys working with “many people who really love doing catechesis in the heart of the Church” and “have a lot of experience on it,” such as Petroc Willey, institute director, who worked for the Vatican, he said.

Father Garcia’s love for catechesis started as a seminarian, when he was involved with the ministry of lay catechists. Before moving to Franciscan, he served as a parochial vicar at St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Parsippany, where among his duties, he oversaw the Missionary Disciples group. The priest conducted faith formation in Scripture and the Catechism to participating adults and met with them to help them on their faith journey. He also sent the group’s leaders out to visit families in need of spiritual renewal. Many people came back to the Church and decided to receive the Sacraments, said Father Garcia, who called it an “act of the Holy Spirit, the principal protagonist of evangelization.”

Overall, Father Garcia told The Beacon, “I hope that I help the catechists to be more aware that they are participating in God’s work.

“It is Jesus’ mandate to shape joyful disciples not just for ourselves, but for him, teaching others to come to him, and to find their life and their salvation in him,” said Father Garcia, who called himself, “an instrument of the Lord. Wherever he needs me, I will go. I will share my experience with Jesus and my passion for catechesis,” he said.

“I’ve been glad to get to know Father Yojaneider and learn about his hard work in his studies in catechesis at Franciscan Uni­versity through the conversations I’ve had with him and Father Paul Manning [executive director of St. Paul Inside the Walls: the Diocesan Center for Evangelization in Madison],” Bishop Sweeney told The Beacon.