The Baptismal Catechumenate as Model for First Holy Communion Catechesis
How might First Communion catechesis be carried out if it is based on the Catechumenal model?
Having laid the foundation for the baptismal catechumenate as the model for all catechesis, we are able to illustrate how these principles are or can be applied pastorally to catechetical instruction of children preparing to receive First Holy Communion.
The catechesis of children begins in the home. As the primary educators of their children, parents form their children humanly and spiritually by instruction and example. Parents plant the seeds of the Christian faith within their children. This is analogous to the pre-catechumenate, where the initial evangelization takes place. Children are introduced to God and Catholic piety for the first time by their parents. When a child is taken to Holy Mass, he gains a sense of the Eucharistic mystery, rudimentary as his understanding might be. Eventually, he will grow in understanding of the Eucharist through the experience of the liturgy and the teachings and example of his parents.[x]
Once the child reaches the age of reason, he is ready to continue catechesis in preparation for First Holy Communion in a more formal manner. Formal catechetical instruction corresponds to the catechumenate, whereby he will be systematically taught the Church’s teaching on the Holy Eucharist by his pastor and a catechist. This catechesis will, in turn, enable the child’s parents to catechize more effectively. During this period of formal catechesis, there are certain essential truths of the faith that must be taught which are outlined in the National Directory for Catechesis.
Catechesis for the Confirmation of Adolescents
On May 9, 2001, the Congregation for Bishops granted recognitio to the action of the United States bishops regarding the Sacrament of Confirmation. This action was that the sacrament ‘shall be conferred between the age of discretion and about sixteen years of age, within the limits determined by the diocesan bishop and with regard for the legitimate exceptions given in canon 891.’[i] As a result, there is a diverse practice for the Sacrament of Confirmation in the United States, differing from diocese to diocese and, in some cases, parish to parish.[ii] Because of this diversity, the guidelines for catechesis for confirmation in the National Directory for Catechesis are not as thorough as that for the other sacraments. Many dioceses confer Confirmation during middle school, some have mandated Confirmation at the age of discretion for the whole diocese, and many leave the decision up to the pastor of the specific parish.[iii]
In this article, I would like to address sacramental preparation/catechesis for Confirmation when conferred on adolescents. I will first look at the basic relevant Scriptural and theological principles of Confirmation. Then I would like to discuss some catechetical difficulties and abuses that are present in contemporary Confirmation preparation/catechesis and offer some possible solutions. Finally, I will offer several pastoral considerations in preparing adolescents for Confirmation.
The Bishop's Page: Catechesis on the Eucharist
On Feb. 22 2007, the Feast of the Chair of Peter, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, published his post-synodal apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis (On the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church’s Life and Mission). In no. 64 of this apostolic exhortation Pope Benedict XVI takes up the topic of the character of ongoing catechesis on the Eucharist to enable the deeply interior dispositions required for a fruitful participation in the Holy Eucharist. It addresses what is required for a personal eucharistic piety which is deep and constant. This is a topic which has suffered from some neglect during the first decades of the liturgical reforms that followed upon the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council.
