To determine truer developmental responses to a meditation, diverse and large sample sizes are required.
Dr. Cavalletti comments (From Way of Holy Joy):
For the first decade (1954-64) or so, our work took place in a generally uniform social environment; therefore it might be thought that the children’s responses were determined in some way by the environment in which they lived. 36
The aspect of social uniformity ended when the Good Shepherd Catechesis spread to children who were from lower middle and working class families, as well as gypsies. In spite of this diversity, the response continued to be the same. 36
In 1975 the Catechesis spread into even more diverse environments … who live in a variety of different conditions: of personal or familial suffering, in serene environments and in and in environments of conflict, in institutions and in hospitals. 36-37
Every experience of daily life arises from one or more external causes, which are interiorized and then generate different reactions and influence to a more or less profound degree. The child’s experience of the relationship with God is different from these; it does not appear to derive from external factors which, by their very nature, are diverse and thus would produce different results from person to person. 38
The child’s relationship with God seems prior to and independent of any external factors whatsoever; it is something that is stronger than such experiences and unassailable by them; the religious reality seems to be located at a deeper level than educational interventions of whatever type. It is something that cannot be taught. 38
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