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How can we ensure a liturgical approach in our catechesis?

The heart of what the Church means by liturgical catechesis is that we proceed from ‘the visible to the invisible, from the sign to the thing signified, from the sacraments to the mysteries’ (CCC 1075). This is the secret of all good liturgical catechesis! Liturgy, after all, enables a spiritual encounter with Christ Our Lord – which is why the liturgy is described is the summit towards which the activity of the Church is directed’ (CCC 1074).

We could say that there are three aspects to liturgical catechesis:

Firstly, there is the catechetical preparation for liturgy: we can call this ‘teaching to the Rite’. We catechise about the Liturgy so that people know what to expect, so that they are taught the meaning of what they will see and experience.

Secondly, there is the catechesis that takes place through the liturgy itself: Christ and His Bride instruct us by means of the liturgy, enlightening the mind and the heart.

Thirdly, there is the catechesis that follows from the grace of the liturgy: this is called ‘mystagogia’.

Our focus in this article is on the first of these three – we are looking at how to catechise so as to prepare people for the liturgy. We also give concrete suggestions for how to provide opportunities for those being catechised to experience liturgy more, and so be catechised by the liturgy itself.

How can we ensure a prayerful approach in our catechesis?

The principles of the pedagogy of God have recently been explained in the form of twelve ‘keys’ discerned from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and elucidated in the book the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Craft of Catechesis.[i] This series suggests concrete ways of incarnating these in catechetical methods and practice.

The first key we explored in this series was that of ‘gracefulness’—that is, ensuring the primacy of grace in one’s catechesis. The second key was ‘wholeness’, or a catechesis that addresses all ‘four dimensions of the Christian life’.[ii] The third key, that we explore here, is that of prayerfulness.

This article concerns ways in which we can create prayerful catechetical sessions. For this, one of the first things we need is the prayer of others. We need to ask others to pray for us and for our work. Catechists can seek the prayers of different parish groups - and, for example, of the sick and housebound, for the work of the handing on of the faith of the Church. The parish community as a whole is helped when different people and groups are asked to support each other. Different types of prayer groups recognised by the Church are all valuable - from the charismatic prayer group to the Rosary or Divine Mercy prayer group. The sick and housebound and those living on their own can also be asked to pray for catechetical work, for we know that the prayer of those suffering can be especially powerful.

We examine the concrete implications for a catechesis inspired by the pedagogy of God.

In the last issue of The Sower we noted the centrality of the notion of the pedagogy of God in the General Directory for Catechesis. We saw that it is God himself who is the pedagogue and that catechists work within the pedagogy of God. ‘Catechesis, as communication of divine Revelation, is radically inspired by the pedagogy of God, as displayed in Christ and in the Church’ (GDC 143). As Pedagogue, God’s work is that of disciplining, or ‘discipling’ his people. In this article we examine the concrete implications of this for our catechetical work.

The central point being made in the General Directory for Catechesis is that the initiative in catechesis belongs, above all, to God himself. The ‘transmission of the Gospel through the Church remains before all else and forever the work of the Holy Spirit’ (GDC 138). The work of the catechist is always to assist, to help, to prepare, and to work in docility to the greater work of the Lord. We really can have the confidence to know that, in catechetical work, the outcomes lie in the Lord’s hands. Faith is always a divine gift (cf Matt 16:17; 1 Cor 12:3).

Successful catechesis, therefore, is not primarily about learning more and better sets of skills. The catechist, therefore, emphasises the ‘divine initiative’ (GDC 143), avoiding any confusion between ‘the salvific action of God, which is pure grace, with the pedagogical action of man’ (GDC 144). Then, the GDC carefully adds: ‘Neither, however, does it oppose them and separate them’. The catechist must not confuse himself with God – but neither is he to be cast aside. He, too, comparatively insignificant though he might be, still has his part to play! Teaching skills are not irrelevant since although we cannot by ourselves bring faith about, we can assist in preparing for the reception and deepening of the gift of faith in others.

James Pauley asks how we can assist in the recovery of wonder at the Christian faith in a technological age.

In the United States National Directory for Catechesis, the U.S. Bishops make an interesting point about the effects of the entertainment industry upon our young people in their capacity for growing in Faith. While the media certainly presents many opportunities for evangelization and catechesis, there are some important challenges which arise as well, especially when today’s generations are as ‘plugged in’ as they are.

Every catechist who teaches people who are more and more under the influence of television, the Internet, and other communications media knows this challenge very well. Certainly there is nothing inherently evil in these various technologies, but a strong case can be made that the more time people today spend in a ‘virtual’ world of instant messages and entertainment, the less of an attention span they have. After all, what kind of an effect does a high number of hours a day on the Internet or in front of the TV have on our capacity to think, to imagine, and to wonder? What effect does it have on our interest in the mysteries of Faith? How does it impact our capacity for meditation and contemplation?

¿Cómo asegurar un enfoque lleno de oración en nuestra catequesis?

Los principios de la pedagogía de Dos fueron explicados recientemente en la forma de doce ‘llaves’ discernidas desde el Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica y aclaradas en el libro Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Craft of Catechesis. [El catecismo de la Iglesia Católica y el arte de la catequesis][i]. Esta serie sugiere modos concretos para incorporar estos métodos y prácticas en la catequesis.

La primera llave que exploramos en esta serie fue la de una catequesis ‘llena de gracia’ – es decir, que asegure la primacía de la gracia en nuestra catequesis. La segunda llave fue ‘totalidad’, o una catequesis que se dirige a las ‘cuatro dimensiones de la vida cristiana’.[ii] La tercera llave, la que exploramos en este artículo, es una catequesis ‘llena de oración’.

Este artículo trata de las maneras en las que podemos crear sesiones catequéticas llenas de oración. Necesitamos pedirles a los demás que oren por nosotros y por nuestro trabajo. Los catequistas pueden buscar las oraciones de entre los varios grupos parroquiales – y, por ejemplo, de los enfermos y los que no pueden salir de su casa, por la obra de la transmisión de la fe de la Iglesia. La comunidad parroquial en su totalidad es auxiliada cuando a distintas personas y grupos se les pide dar su apoyo los unos a los otros. Los muy variados tipos de grupos de oración reconocidos por la Iglesia son todos valiosos – desde el grupo carismático de oración hasta el grupo de oración del Rosario o de la Divina Misericordia. A los enfermos y las personas confinadas en casa o que viven solas también se les puede pedir sus oraciones por la obra catequética, ya que sabemos que la oración de los que sufren puede tener un poder especial.

James Pauley asks how we can overcome the liturgical indifference of so many we catechize.

I have the privilege and honor of teaching many of the young adults who come to Franciscan University of Steubenville to study Theology and Catechetics—and these young people love the Church’s liturgical life and are enthusiastic to cultivate liturgical understanding and liturgical living in the Catholic laity whom they will someday teach. When I ask my students to identify adjectives which describe their personal experience of the Church’s liturgical life, words like ‘beautiful,’ ‘mysterious,’ and ‘irreplaceable’ are often mentioned. Of course, if we were to ask this question of the typical cradle-Catholic fourteen-year-old boy, he might use a different word to describe what he thinks of the Mass and the sacraments. The word he might use starts with a ‘b’ and ends with ‘o-r-i-n-g’ – certainly not a favorite word of catechists!

Pope John Paul II described the sanctifying value of the sacraments for human beings in this way: ‘it is in the sacraments, and especially the Eucharist, that Christ Jesus works in fullness for our transformation.’[i] Of course, the transformation John Paul wrote of does not come about through mere liturgical attendance, but only through the ‘full, conscious and active participation in liturgical celebrations called for by the very nature of the liturgy.’[ii] If our fourteen-year-old boy is bored and uninterested in the liturgical realities set in motion before him, it is highly unlikely that his transformation will result merely from his presence.

In my opinion, this is the great liturgical-catechetical crisis of our era. Severely limited in their understanding of what is happening in the liturgical drama and therefore in their capacity to fruitfully participate, many today are essentially cut off from the sacramental power to actually live the life of Christ in the world. How do we begin to break through the liturgical indifference which plagues so many today? This is an important question, to be sure.

The evangelist Luke has reproduced in the Acts of the Apostles the journeys that the Apostle Paul undertook along with others in order to set up Christian communities the length, and breadth of the Roman empire. Highly significant is the use of the Greek verb ‘discipling’[i] that is used towards the end of the first journey (see Acts 14:21). Discipling could be considered as a synonym for catechesis. The very purpose of catechesis is to make disciples, disciples in the true sense of the word. In this article we shall examine the first journey of Paul (Acts 13:1­-14:28) so as to take note of the methods that the Apostle Paul used in order to win converts as well as to confirm them in their faith.
Luke has presented the person of Paul as an ideal catechist who is able to consolidate with his own personal life the faith of those entrusted to his care. What Paul is, is no doubt as important as what he does on behalf of the community by way of imparting faith formation.

At the outset of the first missionary journey, Luke refers to Saul [Paul] and Barnabas (along with three others) as prophets and teachers. This is what Paul is—a prophet and a teacher. These are two complementary gifts given by God in order to establish others in the faith.

In this series of articles on catechesis on God the Father, Scott Sollom offers us initial points of focus for our teaching.

Catechesis that turns frequently to speak of God the Father is rare. But even a little reading of the Catechism of the Catholic Church may provide the support and incentive you and your fellow catechists need so as to be able to make this catechesis central in all that you do. You may even find yourself surprised into wanting to speak of God the Father all the time! And especially you will find that this is the case when it comes to preparation for the sacrament of reconciliation where God the ‘Father of mercies’ is the key.

In the last issue of The Sower, Archbishop Burke drew our attention to Pope Benedict’s statement on mystagogical catechesis. Here, James Pauley unpacks some of the implications of this teaching for our catechetical methodology.

Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis on the Eucharist as the source and summit of the Church’s life contains the most recently articulated magisterial teaching on the important relationship which exists between liturgy and catechesis. The importance of a deep integration of liturgy and catechesis has been a much frequented theme in these years since the Second Vatican Council highlighted the ‘didactic’ nature of the liturgy[i] and the importance of the faithful participating in liturgical life with ‘minds attuned to their voices.’[ii] Benedict’s immediate predecessor warned of an increasing liturgical participation which lacked liturgical understanding, manifesting itself in a widespread ‘hollow ritualism’ in the liturgical practice of the faithful.[iii] And, the General Directory for Catechesis called for a catechesis which consistently promotes ‘a deeper understanding and experience of the liturgy.’[iv] In a careful reading of the magisterial catechetical vision of the second half of the Twentieth century, it would be difficult to overlook the very important connection between liturgical understanding and liturgical participation.

If we catechize well about the Liturgy, we will find that the Liturgy itself will catechize well.

‘Every form of catechesis necessarily leads to the sacraments of faith.’[i] These are the words of Pope John Paul II, written in the first year of his pontificate, and they are crucial for our understanding of catechesis. The relationship between liturgy and catechesis is a theme John Paul II chose to carefully develop in his apostolic exhortation to catechists.
The liturgical-catechetical relationship is a subject alluded to by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium. The purpose of that document was to renew and reform the Church’s sacramental life, and the Constitution makes clear the importance of the relationship between liturgy and catechesis in the Church’s mission.

The phrase from Sacrosanctum Concilium which has become perhaps the best-known and most prolifically quoted in these subsequent decades is the call for ‘full, conscious and active participation in liturgical celebrations’ on the part of the People of God.[ii] The Council set in motion a period of substantial renewal of the Church’s liturgical life in order to facilitate this level of participation on the part of the faithful. While many believed that ‘active participation’ was possible only through an adaptation of the liturgy to the capacities of the faithful (for example through a restoration of the use of the vernacular language), it is clear that in the minds of the Council Fathers, the heightening of liturgical understanding was also understood to be necessary.