Catechesis
« Previous Entries“Either We Form Culture or the Culture Will Form Us”
Friday, October 22nd, 2010“Our culture is doing catechesis every day. It works like water dripping on a stone, eroding people’s moral and religious sensibilities, and leaving a hole where their convictions used to be.” Archbishop Charles Chaput offered this critical reflection on the state of our culture and its effects on young people at the “Faith in the [...]
Are Children’s Masses Appropriate?
Friday, October 3rd, 2008According to a recent Catholic World News story, the “Vatican intends to remove the Eucharistic Prayers for Children from the authorized prayers of the Roman Missal.” The article continues: Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Paterson, New Jersey, the chairman of the US bishops’ liturgy committee, has disclosed the Vatican plans in a letter to the American bishops. [...]
Welcome to the Catholic Church: A Gated Community?
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008In last week’s catechetical post, I likened the deposit of faith–all that Christ has revealed to us through His Church–to a bank deposit, with the Church being the bank and the apostles and bishops having special authority to safeguard this deposit so that it might bear interest for the kingdom of God. Another way of [...]
God’s Life Savings
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008“O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you” (1 Tim. 6:20). This sort of language is a recurring theme of St. Paul as he instructs his successor Timothy. In fact, St. Paul tells Timothy that “what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach [...]
Catechesis for Dummies
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008Since its publication in 2006, and even more so in recent months as I’ve grown increasingly accustomed to using it, I’ve thought the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a godsend to all who are involved in teaching (and learning) the Catholic faith. Of course, being a document of the Holy See [...]
Parents as First Bible Study Leaders
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008One of my favorite sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is nos. 2221-31, which magnificently sets forth the duties of parents toward their children. I often mess things up in practice, but after prayerful reading of the Catechism there should be little doubt as to the theory: As parents we are called to [...]
Son of Encouragement
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008On this date the Church celebrates the feast of St. Barnabas, whose exploits are described in the Acts of the Apostles. This feast is significant to my family, as we named a child whom we miscarried nine years ago Barnabas, and every year on this date we especially remember the gift of this precious child, [...]
Nature and Purpose of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008The following is taken from paragraph 121 of the General Directory for Catechesis (1997): The Prologue to the Catechism of the Catholic Church states its purpose: “This catechism aims at presenting an organic synthesis of the essential and fundamental contents of Catholic doctrine, as regards both faith and morals, in the light of the Second [...]
Catechizing for Conversion
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008While the situation is improving, I still frequently hear about problems with catechesis along with complaints that many Catholics are ignorant of the faith. We rightly examine the various factors that contribute to this phenomenon, from defective catechetical materials to lackluster teaching and a lack of parental support. There seems to be plenty of blame to go around. While all of the [...]
Temporary Amnesia
Wednesday, May 21st, 2008In the decades immediately following the close of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), we witnessed an alarming deemphasis of doctrinal teaching in religious education in favor of an overly experiential approach. The result of this catechetical malfeasance was a generation–make that two generations–of poorly formed Catholics. So while the feminists burned their bras and draft-dodgers burned their [...]
« Previous Entries