Being a Catechist: Challenges, opportunities and guidance in Catholic faith formation

Parish News

The obligation to pass on our faith can be traced back to the Gospel mandate we received from Jesus himself, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15) The Gospel mandate applies to all – both ordained and non-ordained members of the Church – and faith formation is one of the ways of proclaiming the Gospel. If we do not pass the faith on, there is a danger that the life of the Church will be compromised. So began Sr Melanie Reyes in her formation on the teaching ministry held on Sunday, 24th July 2022 at the Nativity Centre.

Not information but transformation

The goal of catechesis is to bring the faithful in “intimate communion with Christ” (Directory for Catechesis 2020, #3). Catechesis is not about knowledge or information – you can know Jesus but not have a personal relationship with him; rather it is about the conversion, transformation, and renewal of the person to live a life in intimate relationship with Christ.

To be a catechist requires love, an ever stronger love for Christ, a love for his holy people. And this love can’t be bought in stores, even in Rome. This love comes from Christ! It is Christ’s gift! And if it comes from Christ, it also starts with Christ, and we too need to start anew with Christ, from the love he gives us.

Pope Francis

Challenges and opportunities

The 21st century lifestyle brings about many unique challenges to catechesis. Parents are the primary catechists of their child, yet many are preoccupied with work or are unprepared for the task of Christian formation. Additionally, society too makes it difficult for parents to be hands-on in forming their children. Long work hours and the pressure to climb the career ladder, for example, take parents away from their primary task of nurturing and teaching their children.

In a parish setting, catechists may face challenges in integrating faith contents with life experiences, realities, and current questions and concerns of the young they teach. There is also a need to adopt methods of teaching in a creative and appealing way. The youth of today are inundated with distractions from digital media, especially social media platforms, and live in a culture of instant gratification. The catechist, therefore, needs to discern on how to engage the young ones in a way that will not be dismissed by their students as irrelevant.

Some of the catechists shared that among the challenges they currently face are students lacking maturity, parents not being involved in their children’s faith formation, a lack of bonding among the students, unfamiliarity with scripture, and catering to the diverse levels of competence in a classroom.

Nevertheless, living in today’s age of technology and connectivity also brings plenty of opportunities that can be used to our advantage. There is an ease of access to catechetical resources and vast availability of training or instruction on pedagogy like never before. The internet has provided the means of obtaining abundant resources for faith formation, many of which are at no cost at all. We also have the opportunity to network with other faith educators, even beyond the parish limits, to share best practices and resources.

Creativity in catechists

Sr Melanie stressed that adapting content to the need of times is a critical competence that a catechist should master.  Two important skills of catechists are creativity and adaptability. The Canon Law provides some guidance on this:

  • In teaching or passing on the Christian doctrine, propose them in a manner accommodated to the condition of its listeners and adapted to the needs of the times. (Can. 769)
  • Give catechetical instruction by using all helps, teaching aids, and instruments of social communication which seem more effective so that the faithful, in a manner adapted to their character capabilities and age, and conditions of life, are able to learn Catholic doctrine more fully and put it into practice more suitably. (Can. 779)

Pope Francis further adds on creativity, “Catechists are creative; they seek to use different means and forms to proclaim Christ… This endeavour to make Jesus known as the highest form of beauty brings us to encounter new signs and ways to transmit the faith. The means may be different but what is important is to keep in mind the style of Jesus who adapted to the people he had before him in order to bring them closer to the love of God. One must know how to “change” to adapt in order to bring the message closer, though it is always the same, because God does not change, but renews all things in him. In the creative endeavour to make Jesus known, we must not have fear because he is ahead of us in this task. He is already in today’s man and he awaits us there.” (Message to participants in the 1st International Catechetical Symposium)

One of the means to introduce creativity in catechesis is through the “Way of Beauty” or “Via Pulchritudinis”. In this method the student is offered an encounter with beauty through art, music, and literature. Contemplation on beauty ultimately leads to a meeting with God making it an increasingly necessary way of evangelisation in our modern age.

A catechist shared her experience of using the Rembrandt painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son” to invite her students to deeper contemplation and reflection on the parable.

Sr Melanie further spoke about the concept of kerygmatic catechesis, which is one of the themes at the heart of the new Directory for Catechesis. Kerygma means first proclamation. In kerygmatic catechesis, the essential message that catechists are called to proclaim is that: “Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is living every day at your side to enlighten, strengthen and free you.”

In closing, Sr Melanie shared Pope Francis’ message to catechists:

  • Be close to Jesus. Being a catechist is not a title, it is an attitude: abiding with him, and it lasts for a lifetime! It means abiding in the Lord’s presence and letting ourselves be led by him.
  • Start anew with Christ by leaving oneself behind and encountering others. When Christ becomes the centre, one is moved “to constantly go forth to others out of love, to bear witness to Jesus and to talk about Jesus, to proclaim Jesus.”
  • Starting anew with Christ means not being afraid to go with him to the outskirts. To stay close to God, we must not be afraid to set out. If a catechist gives in to fear, then he or she is a coward. If a catechist is rigid, he or she will dry up and wither. [… We need] a Church, a catechist with the courage to risk going out, and not a catechist who is studious, knows everything, but is always closed: such a person is not well

Before the session ended, Fr Dom called on the catechists to keep in mind that faith formation also includes teaching students to be relational with each other. He called the catechists to find ways to encourage their students to grow in relationship with their peers. He further added that catechists must not have tunnel vision and that they must see beyond the classroom context and think of how to get students to be involved in the larger parish life.