Catechetical Sunday Sept. 17 provides us a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the role that each person plays, by virtue of baptism, in handing on the faith and being a witness to the Gospel.
“Catechetical Sunday is an opportunity for all to rededicate themselves to this mission as a community of faith,” according to the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops.
“Congratulations! You have given your ‘fiat’ — your yes — in response to a call to participate in the catechetical mission of the church,” said MaryAnn Wallen, Diocese of Wilmington director for the Office of Religious Education, in a letter to catechists.
“While all members of the church participate in its catechetical mission, your role is more defined,” she said. “Catechesis is from the Greek word meaning to echo, or resound. Through an authentic transmission of the faith, you educate and prepare children, young people, and adults to enter into the fullness of Christian life and to live as they have been taught.”
Wallen wrote “the task of catechesis calls you to be more than a mere instructor, but also to be a joyful witness to the Joy of the Gospel in order to help others live their faith in a more authentic way.
“Let us encourage one another remembering the words of Pope Francis along the way: “Catechists are people who keep the memory of God alive; they keep it alive in themselves and they are able to revive it in others.”
