Page 131 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 10

Lake suggests that all true motivation arises The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd leads
from the mother’s giving in those first months, children through a process of coming to under-
“not ‘under the law’ as when Acceptance is stand sin, of awakening moral consciousness,
made conditional, but ‘under grace’, i.e., a posi- in the light of God’s infinite love. Cavalletti sees
tive ethic, to ‘love as I have been loved’” (Lake, this time of middle childhood as significant in
2005, p. N.b.). the development of the conscience, particularly
as the practices of confession of sin and recei-
Sofia Cavalletti, founder of the Catechesis of the ving of Eucharist are woven together in the sac-
Good Shepherd, spent over 50 years listening to rament of reconciliation. “Children are all too
and observing children as they participated in aware of what is not right within and around
her Montessori-inspired catechesis centers. Her them. Frequent reproaches keep them ever
perspective on the development of the consci- mindful of their failings. Our role as catechists is
ence is deeply Christian and pastoral and useful to help them look at the light within and around
for our considerations here. In line with Lake, them, to see how beautiful that light would be
Cavalletti emphasizes the fundamental role that if it were allowed to fully shine… The morality
love plays in the building blocks of what will of the gospel is a morality of “You can!” It is a
eventually become a mature Christian cons- morality, which calls us to “Be perfect as your
cience. “In early childhood, our fundamental heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). The
need is to be loved with a protective love, and to morality of the gospel is one of “You can,” be-
have another to love” (1992, p. 152). She notes cause it is rooted in a morality of ‘You are’“ (Ca-
that children from three to six are not interested valletti, 2002, p. 109).
in moral behavior as such and are therefore
not able to receive explicit moral formation. Conscience, Super-ego, or both?
“The enjoyment of God’s presence in our life,” Medieval thinkers differentiated conscience
what Cavalletti would call religious experience, from synderesis, and psychological theories of
provides “indirect moral preparation for later our day have differentiated the conscience from
childhood” (1992, pp. 152-153) (p. 152, 153). the superego. The concept of the superego is
The more profound, deeply felt, and enjoyed valuable in that it allows us to consider a psy-
this experience is in early childhood, the more chological structure or process within the soul
ready, autonomous, and genuine the moral re- that engages in supposedly moral activity that
sponse will be when this child grows older. may be erroneous and internally and externally
harmful. The super-ego is understood to deve-
During middle childhood (ages six to twel- lop early in life, performing defensive activity
ve), Cavalletti suggests that the greatest moral within the soul throughout the lifespan. I find
need is to know God’s merciful love and infinite Frank Lake’s understanding useful: “mainly,
tenderness. Cavalletti, who was also a Hebrew [the super-ego] is synonymous with the Neu-
scholar and Old Testament translator, notes that rotic Conscience, which has been given the task
the Hebrew word racham which is translated as of incorporating within the mind the anticipa-
compassion or mercy also means womb, as in ted reactions and attitudes of the parents, as the
the tender and cherishing love of the mother infantile ego perceived them — as often as not,
for the child within her (i.e. see Gen 49:25). “It mistakenly. It warns the ego of painful rejection
seems that faithfulness is the aspect of God’s if these standards are not kept… It sets a rigid
love which best responds to the turbulence that and unbending standard of prohibitions and
the ‘middle aged’ child feels when first coming negative standing with these anachronistic pa-
to terms with his or her weakness” (Cavalletti, rental figures. It is the ‘Mother Superior’ of all
2002, p. 98). This is a vulnerable period in the those fast-bound in miserable morality and ju-
development of the conscience, for it is easy for stification of themselves by works.” (Lake, 2005,
a child to become fixated on himself and his fai- pp. 151-152).
lures, losing sight of God and the gifts He desi-
res to give.

129