Yesterday marked the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)’s annual celebration of Catechetical Sunday–an unofficial kick-off to parish catechesis, which generally starts in September (following the academic calendar).
Catechesis is a hot topic and growing business these days. With more and more guides, DVD series, books, textbooks, online programs, study booklets, etc. coming onto the market from various publishers and ministries, there’s no shortage of choices for parishes looking to renew or reinvigorate catechesis for preschoolers right on up to adults.
While having lots of resources to choose from is good, it can be a distraction from the personal. The quest for the perfect program or curriculum can create the impression that it’s all about information. But catechizing to help kids or adults learn information misses the true nature of catechesis in the Church. The General Directory for Catechesis, reminds us that catechesis must have a style “of integral [meaning essential] formation rather than mere information; it must act in reality as a means of arousing true conversion” (§27).
Conversion cuts to the heart. In the New Testament it’s called metanoia. And the true and radical conversion that is metanoia doesn’t happen when an individual merely hears, learns, or articulates certain facts. It’s life-change.
Some conversions are really big. Like the initial, fundamental conversion every Christian must have–when he or she encounters Jesus Christ as Lord and says “yes” with one’s life (Deus Caritas Est, §1). Other conversions as part of the life of faith and formation in catechesis are proportionately smaller–wrestling with God over a challenging teaching and as a result forming a deeper relationship with Him, turning from a particular sin, claiming a new promise of God for one’s own life (versus just hearing it as an informative doctrine of a catechetics class), and more.
No matter what the theme of “Catechetical Sunday,” no matter what series or curriculum you use, as evangelizers we must ensure that catechesis does not become “mere information,” but always become ever more fully “a means of arousing true conversion.”
Copyright 2014, Colleen Vermeulen
Colleen Vermeulen
Colleen Reiss Vermeulen, M.Div., M.N.A., blogs, ministers in parish life and lay/deacon formation, and serves as a U.S. Army Reserve officer. She and her husband, Luke, have been married since 2011 and live in Ypsilanti, MI with their two young sons.
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