Joy of teaching: Catechists reflect on decades of service

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone congratulates Our Lady of Angels parishioner Johna Maychrowitz during the Pius X Awards Dinner May 9 at St. Mary’s Cathedral. Maychrowitz has taught faith formation for 57 years. The annual awards honor all those involved in serving the church’s catechetical work. (Photos by Dennis Callahan/Catholic San Francisco)
 
May 13, 2019
Nicholas Wolfram Smith
 
Johna Maychrowitz was born to teach.
 
“It all started when I was 5 years old,” she said. She and a friend would gather the neighborhood kids together and teach them about their Catholic faith.
 
“We even had an ecumenical group going with the Baptist girl down the street,” Maychrowitz added.
 
The Franciscan sisters who taught her at the former St. Bruno School inspired her to become a catechist. “They were just so much fun, they brought everything to life and I decided that’s what I wanted to do,” she said.
 
She earned her catechist credentials at the end of seventh grade, and began by teaching third graders in the choir loft at St. Bruno Parish. Fifty-seven years later, she still works in catechesis as the religious education director for the parish school of religion at Our Lady of Angels in Burlingame.
 
Maychrowitz, along with more than 140 other individuals, was honored May 10 at the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s Pius X Awards Dinner, which celebrates catechists and parish faith formation leaders for their service to the church. More than 400 people attended the annual dinner, held at St. Mary’s Cathedral.
 
In remarks delivered in English and Spanish, Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone said that “to be a catechist is not just a job in the church, it’s a vocation.” In addition to saluting their work in classrooms, the archbishop especially thanked catechists for teaching the faith “by modeling a life of hope and a life of holiness.”
 
“Pouring our lives out for another is at the center of Christian life,” he said.
 
Rosa Gomez, a parishioner at All Souls in South San Francisco, was honored for 50 years of service. A catechist since 1964, she said she only took time off during pregnancies. When she was first asked to be a catechist, “I jumped and said yes.
 
“Since then to the present, I’ve been serving the parish and the children, loving it and embracing the Lord,” she said.
 
Being a godmother led Jean Mariani to becoming a catechist. After taking a class to prepare for her niece’s baptism, a religious sister asked if she would help with children’s catechesis.
 
“The program was on Sundays and I decided I had no excuse not to teach,” she said.
 
Thirty years later, she is still teaching, dedicating her Sundays to the children’s liturgy of the word at St. Anthony of Padua in Novato. The early years of catechesis are important for a lifetime of belief, Mariani said.
 
“You create these rituals and traditions and stories,” Mariani said, “and it’s stuff that kids keep with them. We’re remiss if we don’t tell them stories of their faith, starting with the Gospels.”
 
Leading her students to faith has also helped their parents become more involved in the church, she said, since they ask to go to the children’s liturgy and can explain the readings to their parents.
 
As a catechist, Mariani said, “you have to really believe your faith and really love it and live it. That’s how you impart it to others, that’s what kids are responding to.”
 
Pat and Tom Lama, parishioners at St. Veronica, were also honored for 30 years of service as catechists in the archdiocese. They started teaching third graders after responding to a bulletin ad and have since taught marriage preparation, RCIA and confirmation retreats.
 
Pat Lama said the joy of teaching her students brings her back every year. “It thrills me to see young people grow in the church,” she said. “And it’s just been fun. I think it’s brought us closer.”
 
One of the most gratifying moments for the couple is seeing former students at Mass.
 
“When we see someone in church it’s like, ‘oh, we had them in class,’” Tom Lama said. “So we must be doing something right. It’s neat. Indescribable.”