Pope Francis has instituted a new ecclesial position: Catechist. Our American bishops are studying how to implement this. I have strong convictions on the topic as I have long understood my role in the Church and society as that of a catechist.
The word "catechist" is from the Greek meaning "echo." So the catechist listens, within the Church, to the voice of Christ, and then echoes it in word and deed.
A Catechist is Not:
- A minor league "theologian-for-dummies."
- A new credentialed, clerical or professional class and bureaucracy within the Church.
- An avenue for the infusion of liberal theology from our universities to our parishes.
- A repeater of the Catechism or preparer of children for sacraments.
- A profession in the sense of a career path.
Catechesis is Close to but Distinct From:
Evangelization, which is the initial introduction to the person and salvific accomplishment of Jesus Christ. Catechesis builds upon this and reflects the light of the Gospel into every arena of human life.
Theology which is the more intellectual, academic study of God in his workings with us. Catechesis is more practical, probing every aspect of our active life as well as the beliefs that inform us.
Philosophy which contemplates and explores reality in all its depth and intelligibility. Catechesis involves philosophy but returns always to Revelation in Christ and how it illuminates all of life, especially action.
Catechesis Flows From Prayer
Even more than the "kneeling theology" of Balthasar, catechesis flows from intimacy and encounter with the person of Jesus Christ: in personal solitude, in the public liturgy of the Church in all its richness, and all kinds of spontaneous, informal, creative, communal engagements (family, friends, ministry, etc.)
With the Psalmist, the Catechist's hears: "Today, LISTEN to the voice of the Lord. Do not grow stubborn as your fathers did in the wilderness, when at Meriba and Massah they challenged me and provoked me, although they had seen all my works." (Psalm 95)
And so the first movement of catechesis: calm, composure and repose; sensitivity to the Presence of God and reception of His Word; contemplation and the gaze of love and adoration. Out of fecund rest, patiently and organically, flows the echo, in words and acts.
Ecclesial Spirit
Above all, the catechist is not an autonomous individual, but thrives (like a branch on the vine) in communion with the Church in all its density and richness: mystical, moral, intellectual, active, social, historical, sacramental, institutional.
And so, prior to the personal identity of the catechist is the ecclesial womb that nurtures him: an ambience in which the gathered wait on the Lord, listen to his Word, and accept it. The foundation is the listening, receiving, echoing, praising gathering. This entails: listening to the Word as articulated in Sacred Scripture; the context of worship, liturgy and the sacraments; a small community of loyalty and intimacy; filial communion with the Maternal and Magisterial Church.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Intellectually and dogmatically, we are singularly blessed, for 30 years, with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It is at once a theological masterpiece from the Holy Spirit. It is an inspired, succinct, accurate and lovely expression of the faith of the Catholic Church. We might think of the catechist's tripod as: the Bible, the seasonal and daily liturgy of the Church, and the Catechism.
Models of Catechesis
Kiko Arguello, founder of the Neo-Catechumenal Way, is the "Catechist Par Excellence." Not a theologian, he is a spiritual genius, a prophet blessed with a defining charism for our time. His "way" flows from immersion in the Word of God, specifically in the weekly gatherings to break open the Scriptures and the echoes that follow there and in the Saturday evening Eucharist. The extended itinerary of catechesis (20 years or more) is detailed, specific, profound, counter-cultural, orthodox, and demanding. Heavy emphasis is placed upon: fear of and overcoming of death in Jesus' Resurrection, forgiveness of the enemy, sacredness of marriage and family, renunciation of mammon, preciousness of new life and big families, personal request for forgiveness, our brokenness due to sin and desperate need for Christ, critique of our society and much of the Church as toxic and dystopian, and loyalty to small, intense, intimate communities. Were I a bishop, I would use his model, adapting it in aspects, and recruit priests and lay catechists into leadership into my diocese.
Pope Benedict is widely seen as the greatest Catholic theologian of his time. He may become (with John Paul and Balthasar) a doctor of the Church and arguably the best theological mind of all our popes. But what sets him off as unique (in my view) is the catechetical quality of his writing and thought. He is not as creative as John Paul or Balthasar; his learning is encyclopedic but not the equal of Balthasar; his spiritual depth is comparable to them both. But he exceeds them in the clarity, simplicity, directness, and loveliness of his articulation. He subsumes a quantity of academic scholarship, orthodoxy, scriptural insight, and spiritual depth and expresses it sweetly, fluently, directly, charmingly. His message is deep, authoritative, delightful, inspiring and easy to digest. As a catechist myself, I value most the theology that transfers most smoothly into catechesis. The master of this: Pope Benedict!
Ralph Martin, Mary Healy, and other leaders of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, much like Kiko, are not generally academic theologians but offer a novel, but Catholicly orthodox, deeply counter-cultural, biblical, practical and appealing catechesis. They draw richly from American Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism and exemplify the power of lay catechesis.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen (of happy memory) and (currently) Bishop Robert Barron are two clerics who combine depth of scholarship, prayerfulness, and a distinctive competence in presenting our faith in clarity, simplicity, charm and beauty.
Frank Sheed, Caryll Houselander, Heather King, Ross Douthat, Dorothy Day, Catherine de Hueck Doughterty,, Adrienne von Speyr, Baron von Hugel, Charles Peguy, Sigrid Undset, Flannery O'Connor, Gil Baile, my mentor Pat Williams and best friend John Rapinich are outstanding, if eccentric, catechists.
Amateurs
With the exceptions of Benedict and Bishops Barron and Sheen, all of the above are lay, neither academics (primarily) nor ordained. They are not credentialed professionals, not members of the guild. They are precisely amateur, they do it out of love. St. Paul was a tentmaker by trade; but an evangelist out of love. Jesus was a carpenter; but a Messiah out of love for his Father and for us. And so the above examples are writers, novelists, librarians, journalists, artist-musicians and other. Most have a deep embrace of the poor and the counsel of poverty. All of them listen to the voice of Christ, all are embedded in a variety of ecclesial communions, all echo Christ in their distinctive voices and styles.
Loveliness
As in the theology of Balthasar, we cannot adequately appreciate the centrality of beauty to the art of catechesis. In the echo of the voice of Christ, Truth is manifest in its splendor as charming, attractive, delightful, "useless," healing, encouraging, and inspiring.
Dramatic Event
The catechetical event is not merely informative or intellectual, although it is that. It engages the entire person emotionally, intellectually, morally, socially, physically and interpersonally. It is the synergistic, fecund, serendipitous engagement of three freedoms: the one echoing, those receiving the echo, and the ultimate source and destiny, God.
Lord Jesus, breathe upon us your Holy Spirit, that we may in our unique styles, voices and circumstances echo your Word, your Love, your Holiness.
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