Sunday, Sept. 20, the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate Catechetical Sunday under the theme, “I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you.” On that Sunday catechists are formally commissioned and recognized for ministry in their parish community.
Catechetical Ministry is essential to the life of the church as it involves the whole gamut of parishioners: children, teenagers, young adults, adults, for example, parents and godparents preparing for the baptism of an infant, parents and godparents of those preparing for confirmation and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.
I sincerely express my gratitude to each parish catechist for her or his dedication and commitment to those they serve through catechetical ministry. Their ministry is critical to the present and the future life of the church. A catechist encourages the living of Catholic faith and can be a catalyst in the lives of those whom they serve.
In many of our parishes there is a catechetical leader (PCL) who organizes the parish catechetical programs. She or he is responsible to the pastor who is the PRINCIPAL teacher of the faith in a particular parish. The parish catechetical leaders do yeoman’s work on behalf of the church, for which they deserve our gratitude.
Effective catechesis and effective catechetical programs have three functions:
1) Information. Instruction. Teaching what the church teaches; handing on to the present generation of Catholics the deposit of faith which belongs to the church and is the same from generation to generation.
2) Formation, Christian values. Catholic morals. Exposure to Catholic culture in art, literature, and history and prayer which nourishes faith and assists in its formation.
3) Transformation. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of each participant in a parish catechetical program. The pastor, the parish priest, the parish catechetical leader and the parish catechist are agents of the Holy Spirit who deepens the life in Christ of each student.
The proof is in the puddin’ as the old saying goes. That is, living the Christian life as a practicing Roman Catholic is the goal of the parish catechetical enterprise.
The church recognizes the principal role of parents in the formation of their children in faith. Parents are the first teachers of their children in the way of faith. However, the reality we face is that many parents neither know nor practice the faith, which presents our pastors and catechists with a significant challenge. How can parents hand on what they do not have? That they present their children for catechetics is a good thing but they too are in need of information, formation and transformation. The parish catechetical program has to work closely with these adults to encourage them in the faith.
Our Holy Father Pope Francis frequently uses the expression “to accompany” which means we have to learn to better relate the faith to the daily lives people. Given the restrictions the pandemic has brought to parish life, doing this is even more of a challenge.
At the recent diocesan celebration of the Mass of the chrism I concluded by saying to the priests and deacons that the blessing of the holy oils and the consecration of the chrism remind us that we need to get back to business. A principal business is catechetics, the handing on of the faith.
Most Reverend Dennis J. Sullivan, D.D.
Bishop of Camden