6 Tasks of Catechesis and the New Religion Curriculum: Catechesis Comprises Six Fundamental Tasks: Knowledge of the Faith, Liturgical Education, Moral Formation,Teaching to Pray, Education for Community Life, Missionary Initiation

1. Department of Catholic Formation and Evangelization
-Diocese of Raleigh-

2.  “The fundamental task of catechesis is the
formation of disciples of Jesus Christ”
(National Directory for Catechesis, #20)
 Faith must be…..
known
celebrated
lived
expressed in prayer

3. Catechesis Comprises Six Fundamental Tasks:
 Knowledge of the Faith
 Liturgical Education
 Moral Formation
 Teaching to Pray
 Education for Community Life
 Missionary Initiation
Catechesis must attend to each of these different dimensions
of the faith; each becomes a distinct yet complementary
task. (NDC#20)
These six tasks of catechesis constitute a unified whole by
which catechesis seeks to achieve its objective: the
formation of disciples of Jesus Christ.

4. National Directory for Catechesis
 Operators manual for the Catechism
 Of particular note are:
- Chapter 2– Catechesis Within the Church’s
Mission of Evangelization
- Chapter 8 – Those Who Catechize
Every principal and faith formation director
should have a copy!

5. Task 1 – Knowledge of the Faith
 Catechesis promotes knowledge of the faith
 Not just know “about Jesus” but to “know Him”
 “Encounter with Christ”–
 His life, the content of His message
 Gives believers a knowledge of the content of God’s
self-revelation and by introducing them to the
meaning of the creed
 Found in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition

6. There are Many Factors that Work
Against Knowing Christ
 Can you name some?

7. The Apostle's Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived by the
Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was
crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into Hell. The third day He arose again from the dead;
He ascended into Heaven, sits at the right hand of God, the Father
Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

8. A Look at the Apostles Creed
My Personal Creed
 I believe God is…
 I believe Jesus is…
 I believe the Holy Spirit is…
 I believe the Church is…
 I believe Reconciliation is…
 I believe Death is…
 I believe the Last Judgment is…
 I believe Mary is…
 I believe the Eucharist is…

10. Task 2 – Liturgical Education
 Catechesis promotes a knowledge of the meaning of
the Liturgy and the Sacraments
 Promotes: an active, conscious genuine participation in the
liturgy of the Church, not merely by explaining the
meaning of the ceremonies, but also by forming the minds
of the faithful for prayer, for thanksgiving, for repentance.

11. The Liturgical Year

12. Our Liturgical Year
 Advent- Begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends after mid-afternoon
prayer on Christmas Eve
 Christmas- Begins with evening prayer on Christmas Eve and ends after
evening prayer on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
 Ordinary Time – Comes from the word ordinal which means “counted”
Full of solemnities, feasts, and memorials of the Lord and the saints
 Lent – Begins on Ash Wednesday and ends with the celebration of the
evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday
 The Paschal Triduum - Begins on Holy Thursday with the evening Mass of
the Lord’s supper and ends after evening Mass on Easter Sunday
 Easter - Begins on Easter Sunday and Ends after evening prayer on the
Solemnity of Pentecost
 Ordinary Time…..
Help your students to understand the cycle of the Liturgical Season!

14. Task 3 – Moral Formation
One word – Jesus “Life in Christ”
Catholic Identity based on:
-Scripture
-Tradition
-Magisterium

15. The Language of Sin Before Vatican II
-Sin is personal
-Venial
-Mortal
-Commission/Omission
After Vatican II
-Sin is social
-Sin is selfish
-My actions affect the Body of Christ

16. Morality Before Vatican II
 Telological – An end to be achieved
– John 18 “My kingdom is not of this world.”
 Deontological – Law to be followed, duty, moral
obligation – Matt. 17: 5-20 “I have come not to
abolish the law.”
 Relational – Perspective now Matt. 25:35
“For I was hungry and you gave me food…”

18. Task 4 – Teaching To Pray
 Catechesis teaches the Christian how to pray with
Christ
 Catechesis should invite the believer to join Christ in
the Our Father
 Prayer should be the ordinary environment for all
catechesis

19. Ways to Pray With Children
 Create an environment that is open to prayer
 Set up a prayer space that the students will respect
 Use the Bible as a focal point and include scripture
 Use a variety of prayer types:
-memorized prayers
-prayers of petition
-reflective prayers
-spontaneous prayers
-Teach the children to be at home with prayer-

21. Task 5 – Education for Community Life
 Catechesis prepares the Christian to live in community and
to participate actively in the life and mission of the Church.
 Jesus Christ said to his disciples, “Love one another. As I
have loved you…(Jn 13:34)
 Catechesis provides the basis for the disciples’ life in
community.
 Catechesis encourages an apprenticeship in Christian living
that is based on Christ’s teaching about community.
 Catechesis encourages the believer to understand and
articulate the meaning of vocation and to pray to discern
one’s own vocation.

22. • Know and articulate the meaning of vocation
• Pray to discern one’s vocation; Priesthood, religious life,
Christian marriage, single life
• Pray for an increase in vocations to the permanent
diaconate, priesthood, and consecrated religious life
• Pray for the diocesan seminarians by name
• Pray for faithfulness in one’s vocation
Vocation: A call from God to
salvation and holiness

23. Education for Community Life Encourages
 Spirit of simplicity and humility
 Special concern for the poor (particularly the alienated)
 A sense of fraternal correction
 Common prayer
 Mutual forgiveness
 Fraternal love
 Catechesis encourages the disciples of Jesus to make
their daily conduct a shining and convincing testimony
to the Gospel

24. Seven Principles of Catholic Social Teaching
 Life and Dignity of the Human Person
 Call to Family, Community, and Participation
 Rights and Responsibilities
 Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
 The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
 Solidarity
 Care for God’s Creation
Source: Sharing Catholic Social Teaching, Challenges and Directions USCCB - Revised 2009

26. Task 6 Missionary Tradition
 Catechesis promotes a missionary spirit that prepares the
faithful to be present as Christians in society.
 In fostering missionary spirit of evangelization, catechesis
nourishes the evangelical attitudes of Jesus Christ.
 Catechesis recognizes that other religious traditions reflect
the “seeds of the Word” that can constitute a true
“preparation for the Gospel.” (LG #16)
 Catechesis encourages knowledge and understanding of
ecumenism; which seeks to bring about unity among all
Christians.

27. Ecumenism
 The movement that seeks to bring
about unity among all Christians
 Indicates the initiatives and activities
encouraged and organized, according to
the various needs of the church and as
opportunities offer to offer to promote
Christian unity

28. Evangelization and
the
Formation of Disciples
 What is evangelization?
 Sharing the good news; transforming humanity…
 1 Jn 1: Believe this so much that I want to share it
 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God.
 Evangeli Nuntiandi – Dec. 8, 1973 Pope Paul VI EN #22

29. Evangelii Nuntiandi Pope Paul VI
 At every new phase of human history, the Church,
constantly gripped by the desire to evangelize, has
but one preoccupation: whom to send to proclaim
the mystery of Jesus? In what way is this mystery to
be proclaimed? How can one ensure that it will
resound and reach all those who should hear it?
This proclamation - kerygma, preaching or
catechesis - occupies such an important place in
evangelization that it has often become
synonymous with it; and yet it is only one aspect of
evangelization. (EN #22)

30. Process of Evangelization
 Pre-Evangelization
 Before we can evangelize we must first find out if their
basic needs are being met
 Evangelization
 Sharing the good news of the Gospel to others
 Catechesis
 Instruction and formation in the Catholic Faith

31. Audience for Evangelization
 Those who never encountered Christ
 Those who need initial announcement of the Gospel
 Those never baptized or formed in the faith at
childhood
 Those alienated from Church
 (We are to find out what people’s issues are)
 Those who lost their faith
 Those who have been Baptized but never catechized

32. Key to Evangelization
 Hospitality

33. Evangelization continued…
 Sister Susan Wolf – “Our role as catechists is not
enough. Our role must now include that of evangelizer.
We must teach young people to share the faith they
know”
 What is your Damascus story?
 What is your Emmaus story?
 What brought you to this moment in your life?

41. Mary, Star of Evangelization

42. Mary, Star of Evangelization
O Mary, Star of Evangelization,
Intercede with your Son
to bring about in each of us
a renewed enthusiasm for our faith.
Inspire in us the courage and zeal to live the Gospel
and to bring Christ to everyone we meet.
Open our hearts to the gift of the Holy Spirit,
the agent of evangelization,
and enable us to transform the world
in the image of your Son.
O Mary, Star of Evangelization,
enlighten us with the radiance of your Son,
walk with us in faith,
strengthen us in hope,
and unite us in love
as we strive to become disciples in mission.
We ask this through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord and savior.
Amen.