Dear Parishioners:
On Sunday, we celebrate CATECHETICAL SUNDAY. It is an opportunity to honor our catechists and to remind us of our responsibilities as a parent to raise our children in the practice of the faith.
Religious Education plays a key role in the spiritual formation of our children. We need to practice our faith (especially by going to church on Sundays) and we need to grow in an intellectual understanding of our faith. As one saint once said: “fides quarens intellectus” (faith seeking understanding).
However, Religious Education is not only for children. As adults, we need to grow in our faith too. In other areas of our lives (ex. work), we go to classes, learn new skills, etc. We also need to bring that type of mindset to our faith. We need to grow in a deeper adult understanding of the tenets of our Catholic faith.
In 1935, the Vatican published On the Better Care and Promotion of Catechetical Education, a document that asks every country to acknowledge the importance of the Church’s teaching ministry and to honor those who serve the Christian community as catechists. For the first few years after Catechetical Sunday was established, national catechetical congresses were held in conjunction with the celebration. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) continued to publish Catechetical Sunday materials each year. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has designated the third Sunday in September as Catechetical Sunday.
Catechesis is a distinct and special ministry in the Church. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church makes clear “Catechesis is intimately bound up with the whole of the Church’s life . . . her inner growth and correspondence with God’s plan depend essentially on catechesis” (no. 7). This ministry of teaching in the name of the Church has a profound dignity, which is why catechists are formally commissioned by the Church. It is only fitting that we set aside a day to highlight this ministry and invite the entire church community to think about our responsibility to share our faith with others.
While our catechists are essential to the passing on of our Catholic faith, parents are truly the primary catechists of their children. Parents prepare the soil and plant the first seeds of faith. On Catechetical Sunday, we not only highlight the work of catechists in parishes and schools, but we also commend parents and guardians and encourage them to take seriously their role of making their Catholic households a place where faith is passed on to the next generation. At every Baptism, the priest or deacon reminds the parents that “you will be the first teachers in the practice of the faith; may you be also the best of teachers witnessing to the faith…” So on Catechetical Sunday, hug your catechist and hug your parents!
Remember: Together, we can do something beautiful for God.
In Christ,
Fr. Brian