We are called to renew our commitment to proclaiming God’s Word to others every year. Our mission is to help those we teach to grow in their knowledge and love of God’s Word. One of our joys as catechists is to open the Scriptures to our students and help them to appreciate what a wonderful treasure God’s Word is.
As your last class approaches, you still have some important tasks to complete. You and the students have come a long way together, but you are not yet finished! Don’t let the year end without looking back at all you’ve accomplished, celebrating together, and giving some serious thought to next year.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church emphasizes the essential role of the family in religious education: “Parents should initiate their children at an early age into the mysteries of the faith of which they are the ‘first heralds for their children’…Family catechesis precedes, accompanies, and enriches other forms of instruction in the faith.
Rowland Bailey Howard (1808-1937), a Congregational minister and author, once wrote “Do not let your chances like sunbeams pass you by /For you never miss the water till the well runs dry.”
As a catechist, one of your most important responsibilities is to help students recognize that faith is meant to be lived out in our daily lives. Providing opportunities for your students to serve others throughout the year will help bring concrete meaning to teachings like the Great Commandment and the Works of Mercy.
Whether we minister to children or adults, we are often so focused on achieving the academic goals of our sessions that prayer becomes little more than an after-thought. Yet, the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that “prayer and the Christian life are inseparable” (CCC 2745).
Check out these resources to be used with RCL Benziger’s The Faithful Revolution: Vatican II DVD set resource:
In spite of our best intentions; our class sessions can sometimes become predictable. We might tend to follow the exact same teaching steps each week, in the same humdrum order. While children need a good dose of consistency to learn, they often respond enthusiastically when we vary the routine and add a dash of creativity to a lesson.
Scripture proclaims, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). This passage has special meaning for Catholics because we prepare, remember, celebrate, and live this time each year through the lens of the liturgical year.
The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults explains that a saint is a “person who, after having lived a life of virtue, dies in the state of grace and has been granted the reward of eternal life by God.