Franciscan at Home

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.

This liturgical meditation is taken from Guardini’s book, Sacred Signs.

We have spoken of reverence towards the eternal God as demanding a definite, respectful attitude. He is so great, and we are so little, that we must acknowledge this even outwardly: it makes us small, it bids us kneel.

But this reverence can also be shown in another way. Imagine that you are lolling in a chair, either at rest or chatting with others. Someone comes who is worthy of special respect and begins to speak to you. Immediately you stand up and hold yourself upright, while you hear and answer. What does this signify?

Standing signifies, above all, that we pull ourselves together. Instead of the slack position of sitting, we take up a stiff, controlled attitude. It means that we are attentive: we are, as soldiers say, ‘at attention’. Standing has in it something of stress, of watchfulness. It shows that we are ready: he who stands can immediately go off here or there; he can undertake any task without delay; he can begin any work, as soon as he is shown what to do.

This liturgical meditation is take from Guardini's book, Sacred Signs.

The whole body is the tool and the expression of the soul. The soul does not merely dwell in the body, as if it dwelt in a house, but it lives and works in every member and every fibre. It speaks in every line, and form, and movement of the body. But in a very special way the face and the hand are the tool and the mirror of the soul.

This is obvious with regard to the face. But watch anyone – yourself – and see how a movement of temper, of joy, of astonishment, of expectation is revealed by the hand. How often a quick raising, or a slight twitch of the hand says more even than a spoken word. It appears sometimes as if a spoken word were almost coarse compared with the delicate language of the hand, which tells so much.

After the face, the hand is the most spiritual part of the body. It is truly firm and strong, as the tool for work, as the weapon for attack or defence; but it is very delicately formed, with many joints, flexible and penetrated with sensitive nerves of feeling. It is truly a machine through which man can reveal his soul. By the hand we welcome the stranger and join souls when we join hands – with this act we express trust, joy, agreement, sympathy.

On the Spot urges us to connect our catechesis on the Church to that of the Eucharist.

We know that providing authentic teaching on the Church and on the Eucharist is absolutely central to our catechesis. This is the case not least because of the intrinsic importance of these subjects but also because of the many misunderstandings and limited views people hold on both of these areas of the Faith. I would like to identify here some of the more common misunderstandings and limitations concerning the Church and the Eucharist. I also want to suggest that we catechise strongly on the two topics together in order to avoid falling into these difficulties. Catechesis on the Church and catechesis on the Eucharist in fact belong closely together for another and deeper reason—because, in the words of the Catechism, ‘the Eucharist makes the Church’ (CCC 1396).

In 1927, the great theologian Romano Guardini wrote his introduction to a short series of meditations which he collected under the title, Sacred Signs. He explained the purpose of these ‘little essays’ as ‘intended to help in opening the door to the liturgical world’. They are not intended as catechesis in the usual sense; they are not explanations of the meaning of the signs we use in liturgy, nor are they descriptions of how they came to be used in the liturgy. Rather they are are simple aids to helping us ‘to read in outer form the inner state: to read from the body what is in the soul; to read from the earthly process what is spiritual and hidden.’ These are the living signs, objects and actions through which we can begin to grasp the invisible grace at work in the liturgy. ‘The liturgy is a world of sacred and hidden events which have taken visible shape – it is sacramental.’

This, Guardini says, in ‘liturgical education’ – to provide a ‘living vision’ of the sacred in and through these signs. ‘Seeing and doing are the groundwork’, he claims, on which teaching can most properly be founded. We can then illustrate with clear doctrine and accompany our explanations with a historical perspective. But first of all, let us try to give something of the vision of the sacred.

The entries in the short book tell us what he means: ‘The Hand’, ‘Kneeling’, ‘’Walking’, ‘Standing’, ‘Striking the Breast’ – simple and basic actions which accompany all liturgy. And then the objects we see around us – ‘The Steps’, ‘The Door’, ‘The Candle’, and so on. The Sower will be presenting a selection from this beautiful and compelling book in its forthcoming issues, as a further aid to catechists for use in their liturgical education and catechesis, hoping both to inspire and to inform.

This feature aims to highlight some of the complex positions, questions and comments experienced by catechists, teachers and parents. It tries to outline the knowledge necessary to be faithful to Church teaching and which will best help those we teach who call us to account for the hope that is in us (cf I Peter 3:15).

In this issue, On the Spot looks at some of the questions raised by those helping to celebrate a Liturgy of the Word for Children on Sundays.

Louisa is a young mother with two small children, a part-time job and a non-Catholic husband who usually attends Mass with her. Recently, the parish priest has approached her to see if she will help on Sunday mornings with the Liturgy of the Word for Children (henceforth LWC). Louisa was unsure. In talking it over with her, it became apparent that her concerns fell into three main areas:

She was not sure of the purpose of the liturgy of the word for children.
She was not sure if she would be able to prepare suitable material or to control the children effectively.
She was not sure of how participating in this way would affect her own family’s faith development.

The parish priest, of course, did not put her ‘on the spot’; Louisa was fortunate in having time to think about it and to discuss it with her family and other people who were able to advise her. Having decided to take part in this, at least occasionally, Louisa was more conscious of the misconceptions and concerns of other parents concerning the liturgy of the word for children.

When talking with Louisa, it became apparent that it was first necessary to deal with what the LWC was not—before we could consider its proper purpose.

Catechists need to teach the language of the signs used in the sacraments and show how these unveil the inner reality of God’s actions.

The more Catholics are catechetically assisted to have a genuine understanding of the dynamics of the sacramental life, the more meaningful and ‘active’ will their sacramental participation be. And, the more the Catholic faithful participate in the sacraments fully conscious of what is taking place, the more they will be ‘plugged into’ the sacramental power to radically live the life of Christ in the world today. Using dramatic language, Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that the power of sacramental grace present through the Eucharist is not a force which may be blandly domesticated but instead has the potential to transfigure the world:

‘The substantial conversion of bread and wine into his body and blood introduceswithin creation the principle of a radical change, a sort of ‘nuclear fission,’ to use an image familiar to us today, which penetrates to the heart of all being, a change meant to set off a process which transforms reality, a process leading ultimately to the transfiguration of the entire world, to the point where God will be all in all (cf. 1 Cor. 15:28).’[i]

And yet, so many Catholics in the pew seem to be unaware of the true importance of the part they play in the sacramental life. This is, I believe, the liturgical-catechetical crisis of our time.

Taking our cue from the General Directory for Catechesis, we can say that a key principle for re-invigorating sacramental living is a catechetical methodology which regularly ‘unpacks’ liturgical signs in the catechetical process.[ii]

The artwork chosen to introduce section one of part four of the Compendium, on prayer, is, unexpectedly, an icon of liturgical feasts. One expects an image relating to liturgy for part two of the Compendium since the subject for this part is liturgy and sacraments; but it may be less obvious why a liturgical icon has been used for the fourth part, on prayer.

As usual, we can turn to the text of the Compendium which is placed on the reverse side of the picture. This explains this intimate link that exists between prayer and liturgy:

‘All times are good for prayer. The Church, however, proposes special times to the faithful to stress and nurture continual prayer’.

In other words, coming together for liturgical celebrations nourishes personal prayer, and is a continual reminder to pray as one moves through the liturgical year. The important point for us to bear in mind for our catechesis, therefore, is not to separate public liturgical prayer from private devotional prayer. They belong together to nourish our life in Christ.

We can draw attention, also, to the title of section one which is placed over the image. The title is not just ‘prayer’; it is prayer in life and in a baptized life in particular. When we look at this icon we are looking at prayer in Christian life because it is the prayer which characterises those who have been baptized into Christ’s life. We learn, then, that the life of Christ is expressed through the Church, and that the great moments of the life of the Church are always liturgical events. Personal prayer is impoverished if it is not united to, and fed by, the liturgical life of the Church, since this is where prayer in the Christian life is centred.

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.