By Father Rich Tomkosky
What is Catechesis? It is part of the Church’s teaching mission to us into contact with the Blessed Trinity — in our minds, hearts, and wills — the whole person. And remember, parents and families are the primary teachers of children and young people in the ways of the faith; Catholic schools and CCD classes are supplements but not substitutes for a lived faith in the family. The faith is caught more than taught – although it does needs to be taught well. In our catechesis in the Catholic faith, it needs to engage the three essential parts of the human person to bring it all together well.
Intellectual/Knowledge about the Catholic faith is probably the most obvious and what we think of when we think of the topic of catechesis, adult education, or religion instruction for our children – (strong in pre-60’s Church, but sometimes other two parts not emphasized). This part concerns teaching others about Jesus, the Blessed Trinity, the Sacraments, the moral life, prayer, etc. Basically, this is the material for catechisms or books about the faith.
This whole package of the faith on an intellectual level should be presented in a systematic way to our young people, whether they are in CCD/Catholic school/home-schooled. To do this well, those of us who are teachers of the faith: priests, sisters, parents, catechists, and Catholic school teachers must strive ourselves to know our Catholic faith better, as handed down by the Church, not our own limited opinions – see the Catechism of the Catholic Church as the norm for our Catholic teaching. And as we grow in knowledge, then with the help of God’s grace, we need to live it and communicate it well to others, both by our example and teaching it well. Our job is to point others to the Lord’s Way of Life instead of the world’s way which lead to spiritual death. The foundation for all our teaching in the Church must be a prayerful and obedient spirit and lived Faith.
Good catechesis or teaching should affect not just the mind but one’s heart – (strong in the 60’s ff. era, but often without the intellectual and will components). This is the second component to teaching the faith well. Our knowledge of the Lord in our minds should lead us to love Him, His Church, and His people in our heart. Head knowledge without heart knowledge is ultimately vain and empty. All of us have encountered people who went to Catholic school for 12/16/20 years, or CCD for many years and were Confirmed, and now they are far away from the Church and the practice of the faith. Why is that? Lots of reasons, but one of the main ones I have observed is so many Catholics learned about the faith in being told to “love God and neighbor” but without any real content. How can you truly love God and neighbor and the faith if you don’t know it? Without growing in prayer and a life of devotion, the faith will not come alive, especially when we move into the difficulties of adulthood in this imperfect world. This is the challenge to parents and catechists alike: to help our children and young people not just to know the faith, but to love the faith. Showing our children how to pray and to persevere in it daily goes a long way to correcting this problem of a split between one’s head and one’s heart in faith life; also, we must live the Corporeal and Spiritual Works of Mercy to keep us grounded. It is an ultimate tragedy and failure of catechesis if it doesn’t lead to transformation in the heart of the person being taught, be it adults (the O.C.I.A.) or children.
Finally, good catechesis helps to form one’s will in the ways of God (integration of the human person in faith what we are trying to do now in the Church). Along with helping people to know intellectually what the Lord teaches and expects of us and helping one to come to love the Lord and neighbor in one’s heart, the teaching of the faith should lead us to form habits of virtue and goodness in order to consistently choose what is good and holy. Again, this is a particular challenge for us. It’s one thing to know the Catholic faith well, it’s another thing to develop a love for the Lord and the faith in our hearts – but the hardest thing for us is to take that knowledge and love and put it into action in the nitty gritty of daily life with all its temptations and distractions, and to choose the food with God in season and out of season. But it is essential for us, this narrow path, if we want to become the saints God calls all of us to be, by virtue of our Baptism, in full communion into the Life of the Trinity. Holy strength of will and becoming virtuous in all our actions takes much time and effort, but never forget the God is there to help us with His daily grace. May our catechesis in the Church and family lead to this noble end. God bless you.
Father Rich Tomkosky is the Pastor of Saint Thomas the Apostle Parish in Bedford and Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Beans Cove.
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