Franciscan at Home

As a time of immense grace, this Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis is an opportunity for the Catholic Church and for each one of us to reflect ever more completely the merciful love of the Father (Lk 6:36). Holy doors are open in every diocese throughout the world; these open doors are symbols of hope, healing, and love, and they announce the mercy of God, who is “the beating heart of the Gospel, which in its own way must penetrate the heart and mind of every person.”[1] Each of us in ministry or service to the Church must, during this time, undertake a review of our attitudes, practices, and habits so that we might be a more efficacious sign of the Father’s mercy in our own lives and the lives of others. This applies in a particular way to all those who are involved in the ministry of catechesis and have such an influential role for present generations of children and youth, in particular. I am grateful to all catechists who minister in our Catholic schools and parish religious education programs, and I would like to reflect with you on this new opportunity for the Church, especially in our mutually shared role of teaching and passing down the faith. Each of us in ministry or service to the Church must, during this time, undertake a review of our attitudes, practices, and habits so that we might be a more efficacious sign of the Father’s mercy in our own lives and the lives of others. This applies in a particular way to all those who are involved in the ministry of catechesis and have such an influential role for present generations of children and youth, in particular. I am grateful to all catechists who minister in our Catholic schools and parish religious education programs, and I would like to reflect with you on this new opportunity for the Church, especially in our mutually shared role of teaching and passing down the faith.

When news of the 5-4 decision of the Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage was announced, some said that the question had been settled. But it isn’t. Five people, no matter how prominent, cannot settle such a momentous question for a democratic nation.

There can be no greater sign of hope than the expectant mother. She is the “one who waits” for the pain and joy of childbirth. She affirms the strength of womanhood, cherishing the living hope slowly taking form in her womb, or “beneath her heart” as St. John Paul II put it in Evangelium Vitae.

Therefore, the Church sets a unique pregnant woman before us. In this issue of The Catechetical Review, focused as it is on Christ our Hope, let us turn our gaze to the one who points us all towards the Coming of the Christ through the great sign of hope: Mary Immaculate.

On September 27, 2013, Pope Francis gathered catechists from around the world for the International Congress on Catechesis in Rome. For many of these catechists, this was a stirring encounter with the Holy Father. While this department will regularly feature insights of our chief shepherds, in this inaugural issue we begin with those of the chief shepherd. May the following excerpts from the Holy Father’s important address to catechists[1] challenge us to faithfully live out our vocation.

Marriage: God's plan of love to live, not an injustice to remedy

For Christians, marriage is a sacrament: a sacrament which enriches spouses and their families and contributes to the greater good of the whole community. In recent years the very idea of marriage has become a subject of contention and controversy in our society. Voices have been raised to say that marriage does not belong to any religious group. We would, of course, be the first to agree: for marriage belongs to humanity.

Bishop Monforton reflects on the theme for Catechetical Sunday in the US: Teaching about God’s Forgiveness.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

As a preacher and teacher of the faith, there is none better than the late Pope John Paul II. His spoken and written words on the entire spectrum of Catholic doctrine fill many volumes. John Paul was seen and heard by more people throughout the world than St. Paul and all twelve apostles together. He spoke in language that ranged from the sophisticated cadence of encyclical letters to the folksy language of general audiences. In his four volumes on The Creed he offers the following thoughts for the benefit of all who teach Christian doctrine.

On January 16, 2013 Archbishop Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, wrote the following reflection on Fides per Doctrinam, Faith through Teaching, issued motu proprio. This English translation was made available through the Vatican’s Year of Faith website.

Pope Francis incenses the altar at Mass in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican on Catechists’ Day. Catechists from all over the world convened in Rome for their pilgrimage on the occasion of the Year of the Faith and the International Conference on Catechesis. Here for our readers is the Vatican’s English translation of the Holy Father’s homily.

1. “Woe to the complacent in Zion, to those who feel secure … lying upon beds of ivory!” (Am 6:1,4). They eat, they drink, they sing, they play and they care nothing about other people’s troubles.

‘At the heart of catechesis, we find in essence, a Person, the Person of Jesus Christ. The definitive aim of catechesis is to introduce people to an intimate friendship with Jesus Christ. Only He can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Trinity.’ In Catechesi Tradendae, Blessed Pope John Paul II stresses the centrality of Christ and establishes the essential link between evangelization and catechesis. There is no separation or opposition between catechesis and evangelization. They integrate and complement each other. Catechesis must often concern itself not only with nourishing and teaching the faith, but also with arousing it unceasingly, with the help of grace, with opening the heart, with converting and with preparing total adherence to Jesus Christ.

As the twentieth anniversary of the Catechism approaches on October 11, 2012, our goal as catechists is to help the whole community of faith to come to at least a basic standard of knowledge of Christ and of the teachings of the Church in such a way that the people of God are guided in living in these perilous and confusing days. The only answer to the confusion of our times is a thorough knowledge of the Truth and cooperation with the grace of God to live that knowledge to the full in preparation for the kingdom of heaven. What is being called for here is for all of us to see our relationship to Jesus Christ as the most central one of our lives, and that we recognize that ‘conversion of mind and heart’ to become more like Him every day is the true meaning and purpose of our lives.