Called
to be a catechist:
‘You’re just overcome with the love and response
of the children’
By
CHRISTIE L. CHICOINE
CS&T Staff Writer
Catechist Rita M. Wishengrad, who is 76 years old today, still remembers
well the lesson on sin she learned seven decades ago in her second grade
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine [CCD] class, as the class prepared
for first confession and first Communion.
It involved ink, and a religious sister’s habit.
“Sister was explaining sin. She picked up an ink jar and said,
‘To sin, what you do to your soul would be [as] if I splashed
this ink on my [habit].’
“I’ve used that [example] myself over the years to explain
sin to young children,” she said.
Born in the New York Diocese of Albany, Wishengrad, whose maiden name
is Armstrong, teaches second-graders as a catechist in the religious
education program at St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Norristown.
“As we thank Him for all our blessings, try to learn more about
Him, do His will and follow His commandments, we’re kind of weak
when we turn our back on Him … we kind of splash ink in Jesus’
face,” Wishengrad said.
The reason for the sacrament of reconciliation, she tells the children,
is “not that they’re bad,” but, rather, that confession
is “a helpful thing for them to get through life, when …
they’ve made some mistakes here and there.
“Jesus is always waiting for them to come and tell Him,”
she also reminds the youngsters.
Sept. 17 is Catechetical Sunday [see related story on page 1]. Wishengrad
can hardly wait.
“I think it’s in my blood,” she said of her desire
to share with others the truths and teachings of the Catholic Church.
In fact, Wishengrad was presented with the St. Charles Borromeo Award
at the Archdiocesan Catechetical Forum last March, for 25 years as a
parish catechist.
“[I] was just following my heart and soul,” she said of
the CCD work she loves.
For a quarter-century and counting, Wishengrad has worked with hundreds
of children at St. Teresa of Avila — ninth-graders, seventh-graders,
sixth-graders, third-graders and second-graders.
The heart of her work as a catechist, she said, is showing the youngsters
“the importance of being Catholic, the importance of God and Jesus,
and what He means to people — and, especially to them, as little
children.”
As a second-grade teacher’s aide this year, Wishengrad will help
prepare the little ones to receive their first Communion. She will
help explain to them “that the host and the wine [are] the Body
and Blood of Christ.”
“It is to be known, in awe, that that is the power that comes
through the priest — to give them the Body and Blood of Christ
…,” she said. “Any time they attend Mass … it
happens on the altar. … This is really their God.”
Wishengrad is a widow, the mother of three grown children, and the grandmother
of four. Her late husband, Howard, converted to Catholicism from Judaism
before they were married in 1959.
At St. Teresa of Avila, she also serves as a lector and member of the
Saturday morning Scripture study group.
She is also a past president of the altar and rosary society. She has
been an extraordinary minister of holy Communion in addition to having
sung with the church choir, helped on the decorating committee, and
tended to the altar linens.
She counts among her devotions daily Mass, daily rosary and St. Rita.
Being a catechist is not without it’s challenges — and blessings,
she said.
Although, “we bemoan the fact, sometimes, that they’re mischievous,
disruptive or they don’t do their homework,”she said of
the students, “I’ve found that they’re really good
listeners, and can remember the class and teacher years later.”
As for herself, she said, “I hope that I have built up the Church,
and made God more personal to all the little [children] I [have had]
the pleasure of teaching and knowing.
“It’s very rewarding,” Wishengrad said. “You’re
just overcome with the love and response of the children you are teaching.”
CS&T Staff Writer Christie L. Chicoine may be reached at (215)
587-2468 or cchicoin@adphila.org.