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Key Terms
Catechesis “The education of children,
young people, and adults in the faith of the Church
through the teaching of Christian doctrine in an organic
and systematic way to make them disciples of Christ.”
CCC (5, 426-27) Basically, catechesis is the
process by which the Church makes disciples for Jesus
Christ.
Catechists “Those who perform the ministry
of catechesis in the Church are called ‘catechists’.”
CCC
Evangelization “The proclamation of Christ and
His Gospel by word and the testimony of life, in
fulfillment of Christ’s command.” CCC (905)
Evangelization is not restricted to the clergy,
religious orders, and theologians. Every baptized
Catholic is called to this challenge. Evangelization
includes any activity we do to bring the Apostolic faith
to others. We must look for these opportunities; then
take advantage of them.
Evangelist “One who works actively to
spread and promote the Christian faith.” CCC
Introduction to Catholic Christian Faith
Conversations
Mt 16:13-19 Jesus built His Church on Simon
Peter (Kepha/Rock) and declared that the gates of hell
would not prevail against it.
Evangelii Nuntiandi, Pope Paul VI encyclical on
evangelization, makes the point that the Church’s
primary focus is to educate and evangelize God’s
children. He wrote, “There is no true evangelization if
the name of Jesus is not proclaimed. To evangelize is
first to bear witness to Jesus Christ.’”
Pope John Paul II “The growth and vitality of the
Catholic Church depends on guarding doctrine and
teaching the faithful to defend and spread it.”
Rom 10:14-15a “How can they call on Him in whom
they have not believed? And how can they believe in Him
of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear
without someone to preach? And how can people preach
unless they are sent?”
Mk
16:15 Jesus tells His disciples to go into
all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
1 Pet 3:15-16a “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your
hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to
anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do
it with gentleness and reverence.”
- By virtue of our Baptism,
God sends us into the world to build up His Church. He
calls us to know, practice, live, and pass on our
Catholic faith.
CCC 27 “The desire for God is written in
the human heart, because man is created by God and for
God; God never ceases to draw man to Himself.”
Ps 63:2-4 “O God, you are my
God—for you I long! For you my body yearns; for you my
soul thirsts, like a land parched, lifeless, and without
water. So I gaze on you in the sanctuary to see your
power and glory. For your love is better than life; my
lips offer you worship!”
St. Augustine, Confessions 1, 1, 1 [CCC 30] “You
are great, O Lord, and greatly to be praised…You have
made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until
they rest in you.”
Baltimore Catechism says that God created us “to
know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world,
and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.”
Mt 10:19a-20, 28, 32-33 “Do not worry about how you are
to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at
that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you
who speak but the Spirit of your Father who speaks
through you…Do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one
who can destroy both soul and body…Every one who
acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge
before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me
before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in
heaven.”
- The Holy Spirit will
ensure I succeed in evangelizing if I acknowledge and
accept the following: 1-My love for Jesus Christ
and His Church is my most precious gift; God calls me to
share it with others, 2-Rejection is part of
evangelization. Jesus was rejected by some but not all;
so I will likewise be rejected by some but not all, 3-The
Catholic Christian faith is the one true faith Jesus
taught His Apostles, who in turn passed it on through
His one true Church: the Catholic Church.
CCC 6
According to the Catechism of the
Catholic Church (#6), catechesis is built on several
elements of the Church’s pastoral mission: 1-initial
proclamation of the Gospel and missionary preaching to
arouse faith, 2-examination for the reasons for
belief, 3-experience of Christian living, 4-celebration
of the sacraments, 5-integration into the Church
community, and 6-apostolic and missionary
witness.
CCC 426
(To paraphrase the Catechism) what lies at
the heart of catechesis: a Person, the Person of Jesus
of Nazareth, the only begotten Son of the Father, the
Second Person of the Holy Trinity who suffered, died,
and rose from the dead that we might live with Him
forever.
CCC 1074 “…it is in the sacraments,
especially in the Eucharist, that Jesus Christ works in
fullness for the transformation of men.”
CCC 1075 “Liturgical catechesis aims to
initiate people into the mystery of Christ.”
Jer 29:11-14a “I know well the plans I have in
mind for you…plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans
to give you a future full of hope. When you call me,
when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you. When
you look for me, you will find me. Yes, when you seek
me with all your heart, you will find me with you, and I
will change your lot.”
Acts 5:17-42
Peter & the Apostles are thrown into jail by the High
Priest of the party of the Sadducees for preaching the
Gospel and healing the sick. That night the Angel of
the Lord opened the door and Peter and the Apostles
returned to the Temple and continued to teach the
message of Jesus.
Acts 18:9-10
When the Jews rejected Paul’s teaching, he redirected
his message of the Gospel to the Gentile. In a vision,
the Lord told Paul not to be afraid, but to go on
speaking and not be silenced.
- “If you truly love
Jesus, then your love for Him will energize and motivate
you, strengthen and sustain you; He will move your mind,
tongue, and heart to a new level of faith that will
consume your entire being.” (Deacon John
Beckmann)
2 Tim 2:22-26 “Turn from youthful desires and
pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with
those who call on the Lord with purity of heart. Avoid
foolish and ignorant debates, for you know that they
breed quarrels. A slave of the Lord should not quarrel,
but should be gentle with everyone, able to teach,
tolerate, correcting opponents with kindness. It maybe
that God will grant them repentance that will lead to
knowledge of the truth, and that they may return to
their senses out of the devil’s snare, where they are
entrapped by him, for his will.”
Col 4:2, 5-6 “Pray perseveringly, be attentive
to prayer, and pray in a spirit of thanksgiving. Be
prudent in dealing with outsiders; make the most of
every opportunity. Let your speech be always gracious
and in good taste, and strive to respond properly to all
who address you.”
- In everything we do, we
must first persevere in prayer and offer thanks to God.
We must speak and listen with our love for Jesus in our
hearts and on our tongues. Our ultimate mission in
evangelizing & catechizing is to point others to
Christ. “What we start only God can finish.”
Archbishop Fulton J.
Sheen was a 20th century radio and television
star; but more importantly, he was a knowledgeable and
faithful follower of Jesus Christ and a staunch defender
of the Church. He once stated, “There are not over a
hundred people in the United States who hate the
Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate
what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic
Church---which is, of course, quite a different thing.”
* Identifies Bible
passages/verses that non-Catholic Christians use to
support their view of The Deposit of Faith.
Catholic and Non-Catholic
questions and responses
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