Catechism Manual

Catechesis and Catechisms The catechism is a clear, concise exposition of the basic essentials of our Catholic Faith. By a living tradition, carried from centuries past to the present, the catechism is taught first to children by their parents within the heart of the family and later by teachers in schools. Since it is the deposit of the essentials of our Faith, the very bedrock of our principles and convictions, we continue to learn the catechism throughout our lives as sincere and maturing Catholics, who want to know and live what is required of us as children of God, heirs of heaven and followers of Jesus Christ. Learning the catechism - that is, learning the Faith in order to live it - is called catechesis. As such, catechesis is truly the effort of a lifetime, an effort that happily begins and is sustained with God's help, an effort that asks of us only the sincerity of our Faith and the courage of our cooperation. Catechesis for our time - as for all time - gives full and rightful place to God and man: to man's creation by God, man's sin and defiance of God; to God's plan of Redemption, its long and loving preparation and realization; to the Incarnation of the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Jesus Christ, who is true God and true man; to the Blessed Virgin Mary, sinless, immaculate, chosen by God to be the Mother of Jesus, therefore the Mother of God, who was raised body and soul to heaven; to her role in our salvation as our Mother and Mediatrix; to the mystery of lawlessness in our lives and the power of God saving us from our human weakness and condition; to the need for penance and for struggle toward sanctity; to the supernatural aid of the Sacraments, which confer grace, God's own life in us; to the reality of the presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist; to our participation in the divine life of grace here and hereafter, in the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting, face to face with God. This - in full - is the deposit of the Faith. Catechesis: Learning Christ, Being Taught by Christ, Following Christ At the very heart of catechesis, in its essence is a Person, the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, true God and true man. "Accordingly, the definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch, but in communion, in intimacy with Jesus Christ. ' ' So states Pope John Paul II in his apostolic exhortation, on catechesis in our time, Catechesi Tradendae. ' 'We must therefore say that in catechesis, it is Christ, the Incarnate Word and Son of God, who is taught - everything else is taught with reference to Him - and it is Christ alone who teaches. . ." (cf. CT, nos. 5-6) Learning Christ, being taught by Christ, following Christ, this is catechesis. To think like Christ, to judge like Christ, to act according to His commandments and to love as He invites us to love - this is specific and authentic catechesis. Sitting at the feet of Christ the Teacher who reveals God to man and man to himself, listening to the Teacher who saves, guides, inspires, judges and forgives, who lives and goes with us day by day - this is living catechesis. Catechesis for Adults: Parents, Educators and Pastors For the Christian, catechesis is the very condition of growing, maturing and fulfilling himself in the Faith. Understandably then, the catechesis of adults is the principal form of catechesis, for it is directed to persons with the greatest responsibility and capacity to live the Faith, to attest and abide by their loyalty to Jesus Christ to say to Him with ever-deepening knowledge and will: Yes, I believe in You. Yes, I follow You and abide by You. (cf. CT, no. 43) For adult Christians who are parents, their commitment to Christ leads them to be their own children's catechists. Education in the Faith by parents begins from the children's tenderest age and continues throughout their family life through the witness of their Christian lives. (More Inside)