Formation and Learning
A summary of what the Faith Formation Commission learned to help determine the purpose and goal statement.
- Purpose of catechesis is more than just instruction – it’s evangelization.
- “Evangelization invites men and women to conversion and faith” (GDC, #51). The purpose of all catechesis, then, is to call people to a personal encounter with Jesus, make them disciples and help them to make a permanent commitment to think, judge and live as he lived. It not only informs, it forms our faith.
- Three levels of evangelization – All groups are different and need to be evangelized differently:
- People have never heard the Word of God;
- People have heard the Word of God and are hungry to grow in maturity of faith needing patient guidance and direction; and
- People have been baptized, yet live as if they don’t know Christ
- “Frequently, many who present themselves for catechesis truly require genuine conversion. Because of this the Church usually desires that the first stage in the catechetical process be dedicated to ensuring conversion….” (#62, 58c)
- Faith isn’t as much alive in Catholics as we think it is
- For faith to live and be strong, it has to connect with real life. Connecting with real life is something we as Catholics have not done
- Catechesis is constitutive of the Christian life: It is not optional. You really can’t consider yourself a follower of Jesus Christ unless you grow daily to be more fully faithful
- Conversion precedes catechesis: Knowing doctrine is not the same as meeting Christ. The desire for catechesis arises from conversion
Bibliography
“New Guide to Teaching the Faith: Overview of GDC.” Catholic Update. St. Anthony Messenger Press, August 1999.
Handbook for Success in Whole Community Catechesis (Chapter 1). Twenty-Third Publications, 2004.