Catechist Foundations Course for the New Evangelisation

Transcription

1 Catechist Foundations Course for the New Evangelisation Part II: The Search for Happiness Unit V: The Theological Virtues School of the Annunciation 1

2 Published by: The School of the Annunciation Buckfast Abbey, Buckfastleigh TQ11 0EE, Devon, England Copyright: The School of the Annunciation, 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, otherwise, without prior permission of The School of the Annunciation and of the authors. 2

3 Contents PRAYER AND REFLECTION... 6 INTRODUCTION... 7 What is a theological virtue?... 7 Aims of Unit V... 8 Required Texts... 8 CHAPTER ONE, TRANSMISSION FOR MISSION: FOSTERING FAITH Learning outcomes Introduction We have believed in Love (Cf. I Jn. 4:16) Unless you believe, you will not understand I delivered to you what I received Faith as Historical Faith as Sacramental and Incarnational Faith as Relational Faith as Unifying Faith and the family A light for life in society Consolidation and strength amid suffering Blessed is she who believed Summary of Chapter Further Reading CHAPTER 2, TRANSMISSION FOR MISSION: FOSTERING HOPE Learning outcomes Introduction What is hope? Hope in the Catechism Living with the is and the ought

4 Living in the journey Hope expressed in Art The challenge of false hopes The true shape of Christian hope Ways of fostering the virtue of hope Prayer: The School of Hope Action and Suffering (Passion) Judgement Mary, Star of Hope Further reading CHAPTER 3. TRANSMISSION FOR MISSION: FOSTERING LOVE Learning outcomes Introduction God is love Unity of Love in Creation and in Salvation History A problem of language: Eros and Agape difference and unity: The Newness of Biblical Faith Jesus Christ the Incarnate Love of God Love of God and Neighbour Catechising on human love and Divine love Life in Christ Love and Justice Summary of Chapter Further reading CHAPTER FOUR, ENGAGING OUR HEARERS Learning outcomes for this chapter Announcing doctrine within salvation history

5 Giving reasons for the truths we teach Providing Explanations Asking Questions Summary of chapter Further reading ASSIGNMENT FOR UNIT APPENDIX 1:CATECHESIS ON THE PARABLES OF JESUS APPENDIX 2: EXTRACTS FROM THE GENERAL DIRECTORY OF CATECHESIS

6 Prayer and Reflection St. Thomas Aquinas Enthroned Between the Doctors of the Old and New Testaments, with Personifications of the Virtues, Sciences, and Liberal Arts Fresco by Andrea da Firenze, c. 1365; in the Spanish Chapel of the church of Sta. Maria, Florence. [online] Accessed 23 rd April 2015 Faith precedes hope. For the object of hope is a future good, arduous but possible to obtain. In order, therefore, that we may hope, it is necessary for the object of hope to be proposed to us as something possible. One object of hope is eternal happiness, and another is Divine assistance. Both of these are proposed to us by faith, whereby we come to know that we are able to obtain eternal life. Perfect love is when a person is loved for his own sake, as when someone wishes a person some good; thus a man loves his friend. Imperfect love is when someone loves something, not for its own sake, but that he may obtain that good for himself; thus a man loves what he desires. Perfect love of God pertains to charity, which loves God for His own sake; while hope pertains to the second love, since he that hopes to obtain possession of something for himself. Hope precedes charity. For just as a man is led to love God, through fear of being punished by Him for his sins, so too, hope leads to charity, in as much as a man through hoping to be rewarded by God, is encouraged to love God and obey His commandments. (Adapted from St. Thomas Aquinas: Summa TheologicaII-II Q 17 articles 7 & 8.) 6

7 Introduction You have just finished the first of three units with the overarching title: Search for Happiness. It is each person s desire for and search for happiness, ultimately only found in God that guides so much of our behaviour. The Church s teaching on the Christian life and on moral behaviour, focuses on orientating this desire towards its fulfilment in heaven. This second unit is on the three theological virtues. These are the virtues that are received from God in Christ, by the Holy Spirit at Baptism. Their entire purpose is to guide us to God, to make us capable for deep communion with God, in Christ, already on this earth and forever. The three theological virtues are Faith, Hope and Charity, or Love. Pope Benedict XVI began writing three encyclical letters, one on Love, one on Hope and the last one on Faith, which he wrote with Pope Francis. This unit uses these three encyclicals as guides for fostering these important virtues. What is a theological virtue? The word virtue comes from a Latin word meaning an ability or power. These three theological virtues are three new abilities for acting. We strengthen them and practice them and help them to grow by acting faithfully, hopefully and lovingly towards God. They are only received at Baptism; there is no other way we know of acquiring them, although the Holy Spirit also prompts people all the time to make acts of faith, hope and love of God, but at Baptism these are permanently within us. They are called theological because they are for God. There are human powers and capacities which are for life on earth, such as the power or capacity for sight, which is for [seeing] things. The power or capacity for playing the piano is for music, and for beauty or for expressing one s emotions. There are also human virtues which every person can acquire by human effort. They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts (CCC1804). They are powers and capacities for doing good and so forming good habits. Of these there are four that play a pivotal role, these are called cardinal virtues and they are: prudence, fortitude, temperance and justice. The Catechism speak of human virtues as: firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions and guide our conduct according to reason and faith (CCC1804). The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity, giving morality a special character. Infused into the soul by God they are the pledge of the presence of the Holy Spirit in man s faculties (CCC 1813) and as such draw us into the life of God, the source of our eternal happiness. 7

8 Introductory Activity: For theological virtues, turn to the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraphs Let s look carefully at the extraordinary truths we find here. Make a list of truths about these virtues for yourself, for example; The theological virtues adapt man s faculties for participation in the divine nature. The theological virtues relate directly to God The theological virtues dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity The theological virtues have the One and Triune God for their origin, motive and object. The theological virtues are the foundations of Christian moral activity And so on... This unit, then, is to help you foster the theological virtues in yourself and in others as a way of happiness. You might think that we need to foster theological virtues to help people in their relations with God, and human virtues to help people in their relations with each other. This is true but notice that there is something deeper being said in the Catechism. If we focus on the theological virtues they, guiding us to God, are the foundation of the Christian life towards God and towards our neighbour. Aims of Unit V To examine the question of how we can foster and support the deepening and strengthening of the virtue of faith in those to whom we hand on the Good News. To examine how we can transmit faith in order to foster hope To examine how to teach and hand on the faith so as to foster the life of grace so as to arrive at the love that never ends To reflect upon how the faith is proclaimed and explained To reflect on how we can engage those to whom we speak by the use of good questions Required Texts The Holy Bible The Catechism of the Catholic Church You may also like to refer to the following encyclicals: Pope Francis: Lumen Fidei - The Light of Faith 8

9 Pope Benedict XVI: Spe Salvi - Hope that saves Pope Benedict XVI: Deus Caritas Est God is Love Abbreviations used in this Unit: DCE Pope Benedict XVI: Deus Caritas Est God is Love LF Pope Francis: Lumen Fidei - The Light of Faith SS Pope Benedict XVI: Spe Salvi - Hope that saves 9

10 Chapter One, Transmission for Mission: Fostering Faith I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the Resurrection of the body and life everlasting. (Apostles creed) Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the woks I do: and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. (Jn. 14:12) Learning outcomes By the end of this chapter you will have: Understood the difference between the act of faith and the deposit of faith Begun to examine the question of how we can foster and support the deepening and strengthening of the virtue of faith in those to whom we hand on the Good News. Introduction Christian tradition speaks of faith in two related ways, using two Latin phrases: Fides qua and Fides quae. Fides qua is the act of faith. It is the exercise of the virtue of faith. This act is never made in isolation, but always as a member of the community of faith, which as a single body holds and hands on the precious Deposit of faith. This Deposit is signified by the term Fides quae that in which we believe. The virtue of faith is more than subjective emotion; it is also linked to reason. Faith flows from the knowledge and experience of God s love, and is linked to hope. It provides enough light and confidence to enable us to journey towards a future we judge to be good. Faith is something that enlightens all existence because it provides a new way of seeing, enabling us to share in God s vision. Although faith is a personal response to God, it is never something undertaken in isolation. Those who respond in faith do so with a living Body of believers moving through history together. Because faith enables a view on life that can illuminate every aspect of existence, it means that it can integrate our lives, so that the different aspects of our lives are not isolated incidents but can be seen as a part of the whole. (LF 1-7) We have believed in Love (Cf. I Jn. 4:16) God is not a God of a place or time, but He is the God of a person; as the Old Testament says, He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Ex. 3:6). Faith is our response to a word which engages us personally, to a thou who calls us by name. LF 8. 10

11 The God who asks Abraham for complete trust, reveals Himself to be the source of all life. Abraham s faith in God sheds light on whom he (Abraham) is; that his life is not the product of nonbeing or of chance but is in fact the fruit of a personal call and personal love. The mysterious God who calls him is the origin of all that is, including himself, and the great test Abraham underwent in the sacrifice of his Son (Genesis 22) shows his understanding that all life comes from this God. The unfolding history of the people of Israel in the book of Exodus sees that faith in God is a summons to a lengthy journey, leading to the worship of God and the inheritance of a Promised Land. Israel recalls God s mighty deeds in her liturgy and passes down this faith from parents to children as the life of faith is linked to concrete accounts of His work. You may have noticed this in the Psalms, e.g. Ps. 68. The Old Testament also reveals Israel s temptations to unbelief and that the opposite of faith is in fact idolatry. For example, whilst Moses was speaking to God on Sinai, the people, impatient with God s hiddenness worship an idol whose face they can see, whom they have fashioned, Catechetical idea In catechesis, especially with children, you can invite them to illustrate a psalm. Many of the psalms have wonderful imagery of creation, or of God as a shepherd, or as a rock etc which illustrate the Old Testament understanding of God as firm, protective, caring etc. This will help them to see that faith in God is reasonable and that we have faith in a God who responds to us. (There is no need for them to illustrate God as an old man on a cloud that is unlikely to help their long term faith.) and who in the end does not impose demands (Ex. Chapter 32). In Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis contrasts idolatry with faith, explaining that idolatry does not offer a journey, but instead a plethora of paths leading nowhere, opposed to faith, the opposite of idolatry, which is the willingness to let ourselves be transformed and renewed by God s call (LF 13). Moses acted as the mediator between the people, the community, and God. They found faith in the context of the community as a common we. Faith is not based on an individualistic response but grows in the context of participation in shared knowledge. This calls for humility and the courage to trust as we journey together on the luminous path leading to an encounter with God. To think about: How would you answer someone who said that they have faith but do not think they need to go to Church? Jesus taught that Abraham s faith pointed toward Himself, and so we recognise that Christian faith is centred on Christ and the confession that Jesus is Lord and that God has raised Him from the dead (Rom. 10:9). Christian faith is faith in a Perfect Love which has unfolded in history and is the foundation of all reality. Christ s death discloses the utter reliability of God s love, above all in the light of His Resurrection. As the Risen one, Christ is the trustworthy witness, deserving of our faith (Rev. 1:5, Heb. 2:17), and a solid support for our faith had the Father s love not caused Jesus to rise from the dead then it would not be a completely reliable love. LF

12 There are three important ways of believing: Believing that: in other words, believing certain things about Jesus, his work of salvation and his teaching Believing: one believes Jesus one hears his voice and responds to this personal encounter Believing in: one lives in Jesus, following his way and sharing his vision. Seeing things as Jesus sees them. For many people the movement of faith begins when they believe about Jesus, then through hearing him and responding to Him move to believing what He says before finally reaching a point when a new way of seeing opens up (LF 22) and Jesus becomes the centre of their lives and the reason to live. Faith involves, then, believing in propositions about God and his works of creation, redemption and sanctification. It means believing God himself, since he is the one who reveals the truths about himself. And it means sharing in God s own knowledge and way of seeing things. Ultimately, faith is about believing in love, as our will motivates us to hope in the One who loved us first, inclines us to belief in Him. Activity 1:1 Christocentricity In the light of these different ways of believing in relation to Jesus, we will pause to consider what the Church asks of us when it says that we need to hand on the Deposit of faith in a Christocentric manner. The General Directory for Catechesis (80-81 and 98-99) presents six dimensions that we need to be aware of in our annunciation of the faith. 1. Every topic in the Deposit, every subject, needs to be explicitly presented in relation to Christ. 2. Christ is to be presented as the key, centre and end of all history, enabling us to see also how we ourselves, at our point in history, find our centre in him. 3. As well as presenting Christ in these ways, we remember, from the term catechein, echo, that as teachers, evangelisers, catechists, we are echoes of the Voice that is Christ himself, 4. The four written Gospels in the New Testament have a central place in any presentation because they narrate the life and teaching of Christ. 12

13 5. Christ leads us into the heart of the Trinity; he is One of the Trinity (CCC 468) and cannot be understood apart from the Father and the Holy Spirit. All Christocentric catechesis is therefore a Trinitarian Christocentricity. 6. As persons made in Christ the image we are each Christocentric, as is the Church, his Body and Bride. We present the whole Christ, united to his Body and in relation to every person. Read CCC , the introduction to the Catechism s teaching on the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. Find one example of each of the above points in these paragraphs. Keep these notes for yourself, of if you are not sure, send to your course-coordinator for comments. Unless you believe, you will not understand We need to believe in order to understand. This is not the way people often think these days; they think that understanding needs to come before believing. Yet that is not how it works on a day to day basis. How many of us learned our times tables and only later understood what 4x7 actually meant? Most of us, when we turn on the car ignition do not fully understand how its engine woks, yet we are ready to believe that the car will work and when I press a certain pedal it will go faster and another will slow it down, etc. Even more common is the computer I am using to write this. I do not understand how it works, but I believe that when I press the on switch, that it will fire up and I will be able to access the internet, read s etc. Our reason tells us that if we switch a switch, the machine/light/motor/ etc will work, even if we do not know how. Faith is at work at all levels of society, and we take it for granted most of the time. Pope John Paul II s encyclical, Fides et ratio, Faith and Reason, sheds light on the relationship between faith and reason. The overall thrust is that faith is reasonable and that the more we engage with the faith of the Church, the more we see how the different aspects link together, in what is called the unity of faith. Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth in a word, to know himself so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves. (cf. Ex 33:18; Ps 27:8 9; 63:2 3; Jn 14:8; 1 Jn 3:2). Pope John Paul II: Fides et ratio, Introduction 13

14 The Scripture references in the above quote concern the desire to see God s face, the face of glory, the face of the Father for once we begin to interact with God, we want to know Him more and more. Our faith leads to our understanding. Ex. 33:18 Ps. 27:8-9 Ps. 63:2-3 Jn. 14:8 Moses said, I pray thee, show me thy glory. (RSV) Of you my heart has spoken; seek God s face It is your face O Lord, that I seek; Hide not your face. (Grail) O God, you are my God, for you I long; For you my soul is thirsting My body pines for you Like a dry weary land without water. So I gaze in you in the sanctuary To see your strength and your glory. (Grail) Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father and we shall be satisfied. (RSV) 1 Jn. 3:2 Beloved, we are God s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (RSV) Together faith and reason are following the path of this basic desire. There is a related point: that in this seeking of the face of God the human person also comes to know his or her own identity. Reason and faith are embarked on a quest that is deeply personal, that concerns the core question of who I am, and the answer, John Paul proposes, lies in who God is. If faith and reason find God as a Father then I know myself as his child (1 Jn. 3:1-3). (Conversely, those who do not know God as Father, do not recognize either themselves or others as his children they remain in unbelief about both God and the human person). The path of faith, leads to sight, at first partial and then to a full seeing that seeing which the Church calls the beatific vision at the end of our lives on earth. Christ shows us the face of the Father. He can do this because he is the consubstantial image of God (con-substantial - of the same substance). He is God the Son. All human beings are made in the image in Christ. This is why they can find their true identity in Christ, as sons and daughters of the Father, in the Son. The path of reason, united to faith, then leads us to a true understanding of ourselves as well as of God. It does so by enabling us to see that we ourselves are seen, are gazed upon with infinite love. Therefore, faith is not narrow, an enemy of reason, or restrictive, but on the contrary settles us in a broader world. Faith does not close us off from reality but helps us to continue searching precisely because it has a commitment to an objective truth that is both worth seeking and is discoverable (if either of these points were not true about reality then we would cease to search!). Ultimately what 14

15 reason and faith seek and discover is perfect love. And in this discovery of God s love we also discover our true selves. Because God is trustworthy, it is reasonable to have faith in Him and to stand fast on His word as faith without truth neither saves, not provides a sure footing. Today, more than ever, we need to be reminded of this bond between faith and truth. Contemporary society appears to regard scientific and technical knowledge as the only truth that is certain, yet conversely, the subjective truth of the individual s opinion are considered all equally valid. This is in fact relativism, in which the question of Vocabulary box: - Relativism The view that there is no absolute truth and that truth is decided by different peoples according to their own cultural views. universal truth is no longer relevant. Pope Francis says that Truth itself, the truth which would comprehensively explain our life as individuals and in society is regarded with suspicion (LF25). Activity 1:2 Read CCC and make some notes on how God is Truth. You may have come across people who try to dismiss your Christian faith as true for you, but not for me. Set out in a couple of sentences how this statement has to be false. I delivered to you what I received Faith is transmitted from person to person. Faith takes root in us and is strengthened in us through receiving it from others as it does not grow in isolation. You have already come across the four dimensions of the faith: Faith professed, Faith celebrated Faith lived Faith prayed. You may also have noticed that within each of these dimensions, there are two further dimensions. Faith is historical Faith involves both visible and invisible aspects. In the Catechism every doctrine and topic is presented first in its historical context and then by teaching the visible and invisible aspects. Faith is necessarily presented and received with a linear 15

16 aspect as it is handed on in history, from the promises and actions of God, to their centre in Christ, and looking to their fulfilment in the life of heaven, and also a vertical way, between the visible and the invisible, like the angels on Jacob s ladder, ascending and descending (see Gen.28:12; Jn 1:51). The faith is handed onto us and we hand it on to others through both human and divine agency two dimensions that meet in the present moment, the today of the mysteries of salvation. This vertical way is also spoken of as the sacramental and incarnational character of the faith. To think about: How much of the faith has come to you by way of other people? How much has come to you through the action of God Himself, in the Sacraments the liturgy, your prayer life etc. You cannot separate the two but it is worth recognising both aspects, for as a catechist, it is important to realise that you are not the only source of the faith for those you catechise. Faith as Historical Faith comes to us through the memory of those who have gone before us. The same God who called Abraham, who revealed His name to Moses, gave us His Son, thus revealing that He is in fact a Blessed Trinity. The historical dimension of faith is celebrated above all in the Eucharist which as an act of remembrance, makes present the mystery of the past, and points to a future glorious ultimate fulfilment. The gift of Apostolic Succession has ensured the continuity of the Church s memory, but the Church depends upon the fidelity of the witnesses chosen by the Lord for this task (LF 49). Faith as Sacramental and Incarnational Faith needs a setting in which it can be witnessed and communicated so in the Sacraments the entire person is engaged; body, spirit, interior life as well as relationships with others, which is communicated in the context of the community of faith. First and foremost, this transmission of faith occurs in Baptism in which we truly die with Christ and rise with Him in the newness of life (Rom. 6:4). Baptism gives the Church both a teaching to be professed as well as a way of life. The sacramental character of faith finds its highest expression in the Eucharist, which is also incarnational, moving from the visible world to the invisible. Faith as Relational Faith is passed on by personal contact. In Lumen Fidei, Pope Francis likens this transmission of faith to the Paschal Candle which from one candle lights countless other candles; in the same way all members of the Church are called to spread the faith by contact with others (LF 37). 16 Catechetical idea You can remind people that they were given a candle at their Baptism which was lit from the Paschal candle. You could challenge those you are speaking to, to pass on something they have learned in the catechetical session to another person in the coming week, and invite them to briefly feedback on how it went, the following week.

17 This transmission through personal contact also travels through time from one generation to another, through an unbroken chain of witnesses because people live in relationship. The theme of relationship is fundamental to the work of the Sacraments; Baptism must be received as no one baptises himself, just as no one comes into the world by himself. Baptism bestows upon the person a new identity in the Holy Trinity. Through water, a symbol of both death and life, Christ s work penetrates the depths of our being and transforms us radically, making us adopted children of God and sharers in the divine nature (LF 42). This is one of the fundamental reasons why the Church considers infant Baptism so important. Although the child cannot express personal faith, he is baptised into the faith of the Church, and is supported by the faithful community, especially his family and godparents. Therefore it is critically important for there to be cooperation between the Church and the family, as St. Augustine said, parents are not only called to bring children into the world, but also into the Church. 1 As well as passing on the creed, the Church hands on the Ten Commandments; the Decalogue. These comprise concrete directions for the faithful to enter into dialogue with God, to be embraced by His mercy and then to bring that mercy to others (LF 46). Far from being negative rules, the Decalogue is to be seen as the path of gratitude, a response of love made possible because in faith we are receptive to the experience of God s transforming love for us, which receives new light from Jesus teaching in the Sermon on the Mount [Mt. 5-7]. Finally, in the context of the faith as relational, the Church passes on the Lord's Prayer. In this prayer, Christians learn to see through Christ s eyes, and pray with Him to His, and our, Father. Faith as Unifying It is impossible to believe on our own; by its very nature faith opens us to the we of the Church which celebrates her faith in communion with one another, united with the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. Faith is One. o Because of the One-ness of God o Because it is directed to the One Lord of life; Jesus Christ and the concrete history He shares with us; o Because it is shared by the whole Church which is one in body and spirit. (LF 47) The one faith must be professed in its purity and integrity as all the articles of faith are interlinked. Denying even one article in the creed distorts the whole. The unity of faith is the unity of a living body, and therefore it is catholic (note small c) which means universal, enlightening the whole cosmos and history. 1 St. Augustine; De Nuptis et Concupiscntia, I,4,5. 17

18 Activity 1:3 Read CCC on Atheism and Agnosticism. Make a few notes on how these most serious problems of our time may be expressed in our society. Choose one of the concerns mentioned in the Catechism here, and give an answer from your reading above; E.g. CCC 2124 suggests that atheism can be caused by a practical materialism which restricts needs and aspirations to space and time; Answer from the reading above: The Eucharist makes present the mystery of the past, and points to an eternal glorious future. Life is not just about the here and now. Keep these notes for your own use. Faith and the family Faith is not just a journey but is also a process of building a place where people can dwell together with one another. From Noah who built an ark, through Abraham who lived in tents, faith shed light on every aspect of human relationship because it is born of love and reflects God s own love. The human family is the first setting for faith especially in the context of the stable union of man and woman in marriage; where spouses become one flesh and are enabled to give birth to new life. Promising love for ever is possible when we perceive a plan bigger than ours which sustains and enables us to surrender our future to the one we love (LF 52). Faith accompanies every age of life in the context of family life; therefore parents must be encouraged to share expressions of faith with one another and their children, whatever their age. The success of the World Youth Days demonstrates that young people desire an ever more solid and generous life of faith, as encountering Christ they allow themselves to be caught up in Him opening up new horizons of experience. Catechetical ideas We can help those who come to us for catechesis to deepen their life of faith in the family in many ways. It is a good idea to encourage parents to have regular times of prayer with the family begin small may be before bed, teach the children the Church s key prayers, the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Apostles Creed, etc. You can suggest they begin to pray the Rosary with say, only 3 Hail Marys at first, and that they can encourage their children to set up a holy place in their bedroom, to note on the calendar the feast days of the Church. Children enjoy celebrating the feast days of their names saints. Parents can be encouraged to make sure Sunday Mass is the highlight of the week by everyone wearing smart clothes, make Sunday special by having a desert and try to have family time if possible. A light for life in society A faith that grows in the family can shine forth and enlighten relationships in society. Whilst Modernity seeks to build a universal brotherhood based on equality, faith recognises that unless the brotherhood recognises their common Father it will not endure. Thanks to faith, we recognise the unique dignity of each person. Without faith s insight into the reality that God s concrete love of each person has culminated in the Incarnation, Passion, death, Resurrection and Ascension of His Son Jesus Christ, man loses sight of what makes human nature distinct, precious and unique. This 18

19 can lead to a renunciation of his proper moral responsibility leading him to assume that he is an absolute judge, endowed with unlimited power to manipulate the world around him (LF 54). Faith enables us to recognise the created world as a gift and to serve it in a manner which is not based simply on utility and profit. Faith convictions can offer Christians, and some other believers as well, ample motivation to care for nature and for the most vulnerable of their brothers and sisters (Laudato Si 64.) Faith recognises that authority comes ultimately from God. Faith allows forgiveness and recognises that unity is superior to conflict. Faith illumines life and society, setting every event in context of man s relationship with His Eternal Father (LF 55). Consolidation and strength amid suffering There is a double movement in the experience of faith: it both brings suffering because of the struggle against sin and also provides strength and consolation during periods of suffering. Suffering cannot be eliminated, yet in the light of faith it can have meaning and become an act of love and entrustment into the hands of God who does not abandon us, thus allowing faith to grow. Christians, when contemplating Christ s suffering on the cross can learn to share in Jesus gaze, confident that the Father to whom we abandon ourselves in death will keep us steadfast to the very end. Whilst faith does not eliminate suffering; God does not necessarily provide answers which explain everything, but His response is that of an accompanying presence. In Christ God shares this path with us, as He is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith [Heb. 12:2]. Suffering is a reminder that faith is Catechetical idea May be look at the lives of some saints who suffered and show that suffering is not necessary an evil to be eliminated but that it can help people to grow in faith. linked to hope and that only in the light of the risen Christ we recognise that we have an eternal dwelling place which God has already prepared for us. Therefore in union with faith and charity, hope propels us towards a sure future, in contrast to the illusory enticements and idols of this world, and so Pope Francis urges that we must refuse to be robbed of hope or allow our hope to be dimmed by facile or fragmentary answers and solutions to the problems of the world (LF 57). Blessed is she who believed Our Blessed Mother Mary reminds us of her key role in the transmission of faith. She received the Word of God who became incarnate in her womb. She accepted the message of the Angel Gabriel by faith; a faith which led her to the foot of the cross of her Son, our Redeemer. Activity 1:4 19

20 Read LF in the appendix and make some notes on how Mary received what she has heard and pondered it in her heart. What can we learn here about the role of memory, faith and joy? Make some notes on how Mary s faith can inspire catechists in the task of handing on the faith. Task 5:1: Either: A. In the introduction to this chapter you were introduced to two related concepts: fides qua and fides quae. 1. Sum up in two sentences what the difference between these two phrases is, and how they are linked. 2. In no more than 300 words, make some notes on how Faith has been and is transmitted in the Church. 3. In a summary sentence or two, explain how the faith of Our Lady is an example to both as those who pass on the faith and is a model for those who receive it. Or: B. Imagine someone said to you, that they do not see the need to go to Church. Set out how going to Church is a necessary aspect of our faith. Use between words for this answer. (Notes on Task A: Whilst points 1 & 3 can be written in sentence form, point 2 would be better in bullet points. You are not going to be able to include everything you have read in this chapter, so be selective and pick the key aspects on what faith is and how it is transmitted.) Send this to your course-coordinator. Summary of Chapter 1 In chapter 1 we have seen that: The word faith refers both to the act (virtue) of faith (fides qua) and the deposit of faith (fides quae) Faith is linked to reason, flows from God s love and provides hope Faith is a new way of seeing, giving a new vision of the world and daily life Faith is Christocentric Faith is historical, sacramental, incarnational, relational and unifies Faith strengthens the family, society and individuals in all situations in life Mary is the model of faith for us in the way she received and inspires faith 20

21 Further Reading P.de Cointet, B.Morgan and P.Willey, The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Craft of Catechesis, Ch.5, Ch.6 C.E.Farey, et al, The Pedagogy of God, Ch.4 Pope Francis: Lumen Fidei 21

22 Chapter 2, Transmission for Mission: Fostering Hope Let me believe and hope, love and live according to your purpose and your will (Prayer to God, in The Prayers and meditations of St. Anselm, p.91) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (I Pt. 1:3) Learning outcomes By the end of this chapter you will have: Appreciated the relationships that flow between hope, beauty, liturgy and prayer Understood how to transmit the Deposit of Faith in order to foster the virtue of hope and to avoid the twin vices of presumption and despair Introduction Transmitting faith in order to foster hope responds to the question that Mary asked of the angel, How can this be? (Lk 1:34) Hope knows the answer: The Holy Spirit will come upon you. The virtue of hope is aware of the great gift that is being proposed and that God wants to give. It is also aware of the incapacity of human resources to bring this about. Hope has great confidence that God s grace can provide what is needed to make up all that is lacking in the human situation. Transmitting the faith in a way that nurtures the virtue of hope means to do so in a way that is fully realistic, but with a supernatural realism - with a realism that embraces the human person and also the divine reality. It acknowledges that we live in a state of tension between what is possible to human beings and what is needed, between what is the case and the good we are seeking, between now and the future in which a further good is promised and towards which we aspire and yearn. There is an incompleteness and in each case the gap must be supplied by God s grace. We live on the Way, as part of a universe that was created in a state of journeying (in statu viae) toward an ultimate perfection yet to be attained, to which God has destined it (CCC 302). Transmitting for hope means, then, that we teach the realism that comes from acknowledging this journey, and avoiding the twin vices at odds with the realism of hope: thus neither lapsing into a lazy presumption of accepting that the present is all there is, nor yet despairing of the present in the face of the as yet unattained good of the future; neither presuming on God s help without the need for an appropriate engagement with his action, not yet despairing on seeing how poor such an engagement is on our part. In each case we are asked to place our hope in God, in his desire to lead us to his blessedness and his ability to do this. This mean, the point of creative balance between presumption and despair, is the virtue of hope. It involves the realism that accepts that we are creatures, living in time, not yet complete, believing 22

23 with this in the goodness of God who wills to bring us to the happiness for which he has made us. It is the virtue that allows God to act and to bring about, with our obedience, the good that he intends for us and for creation. What is hope? Put at its most basic, we might say that hope is an expectation of some good, some satisfaction, some reason for going on. We could say there is an implicit hope that gets us out of bed in the morning because we believe that there is something worthwhile doing in the day. This simple human understanding of hope is expressed by one of the characters in a novel by George Macdonald, one of the inspirations of the work of C. S. Lewis: Good is always coming; though few have at all times the simplicity and the courage to believe it. 2 Good relates us to the future. It does so in expectation of the fulfilment of our nature. So it is the uniting of our created source and our present, anchoring us in the future. The theological understanding of hope as a virtue builds on this natural foundation. Hope as a theological virtue centres on confidence in the goodness of God and on the power of his grace to bring us to eternal life and to his life of unending happiness. Catechesis to build up and support hope is particularly challenging because of the many misunderstandings of the virtue. We will begin, therefore, by looking at the natural virtue of hope to see how the parodies of hope need to be carefully distinguished from the real virtue. One popular misunderstanding of hope confuses it with wishful thinking, with an optimistic character and cheerful personality. (The glass half full kind of thinking.) The authentic virtue of hope, on the other hand, is rooted in reality. We are hopeful because we know what is real. Optimism and pessimism are two poles, at the centre of which lies realism. Attaching ourselves to the real does not sound particularly like a virtue. On the other hand, we sense the truth of what is said in Burnt Norton, one of T. S. Eliot s Four Quartets, Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind/ Cannot bear very much reality. Relating to what is real is indeed virtuous because of the constant temptation to prefer appearance: the appearance of reconciliation rather than real reconciliation; the appearance of compassion rather than genuine sharing in pain and suffering; the appearance of goodness rather than true goodness, and so on. Activity 2:1 Natural hope 2 This is a concluding line from one of his greatest adult imaginative novels, Phantastes. See his Phantastes and Lilith, London: Victor Gollancz, 1962, p

24 Natural hope is one of the key themes which run through literature and these can be good ways to introduce this subject in catechesis. Identify two or three works of literature that express themes of natural hope, themes related to those identified in these readings. Which characters or figures carry the theme of hope in these works? For example you might think of Sam and Frodo, the young hobbits, in the Lord of the Rings, or Pip in Great Expectations. Can you identify any novels, films, TV series or characters who capture the idea of false hope? E.g. Hope as wishful thinking, or mere optimism, or hope misplaced. Think also of where the vices associated with hope are portrayed: the vice of presumption, or where hope gives way to despair, the other vice. From your own life identify one or two occasions where hope in the good sustained you in difficulty. Keep these comments for yourself, or you could share them with your fellow students for their ideas. Activity 2:2 Biblical and Church teaching on hope From natural hope we turn to the theological virtue. Look up some of these Scriptural references to the theological virtue of hope: Old Testament: Hope for blessings: Gen. 3:15 3, 9:1-11, 12:1-2; Ex. 3:8; False hope: Jer. 8:15, 13:16; True hope: Isa. 28:7 ff; Eze. 37:11 ff; New hope: Isaiah. 11; Jer. 31; New Testament: Mt. 4:17, 5:11, 24:36, 28:20; Lk. 21:18-19; Acts 2:33,39; I Cor. 13:13; Gal. 5:5; Eph. 2:12;* I Thess. 1:3, 4:13*;I Tim 2:4; Heb. 10:23;* 11:1,16; I Jn. 2:25; I Jn. 3:2; I Peter 1:3ff, 3:15;*5:8-9; * These are key references which are important to read. You may be aware of others and may come across them in your prayer and in the liturgy. It would be a worthwhile exercise to collect such references for your work as a catechist or in the New Evangelisation. 3 Gen. 3:15 is the first hope of redemption after the Fall. Whilst God curses the serpent, He also promises that Eve s seed with bring forth a saviour who will crush the head of the serpent (the devil). That seed of course in Jesus Christ, son on Mary, daughter of Eve, who own victory over the devil in His Passion, death Resurrection and Ascension. 24

25 Hope in the Catechism Read these paragraphs in the Catechism: CCC , 2086, Notice that hope, is a habit in other words, an ingrained way of thinking and acting. Sum up in two sentences how the theological virtue of hope as you have discovered here differs from natural hope (as you explored in Activity 1:1). Keep these notes for yourself, or if you wish you may send them to your course-coordinator for comments. (Again, this could be an interesting topic to share with your fellow students if you have the time). Living with the is and the ought The theological virtue of hope enables the understanding, above all, of how the Christian faith relates to life. Our experience of life is one of being aware of an incomplete goodness, of a gap between the way the world is from day to day and how we know the world should be. We live with this consciousness of the is in the light of the ought. Faced with suffering and with the brokenness of the world, of the gap between the is and the ought, it is all too easy to move in one of two directions: The first is to hold on to the is, but despair of the ought. In this situation people may despair of the good, give up hope and become pragmatic. The ought might still be considered as an ideal, but is basically considered to be unreal. The call is made to face facts, to live in the real world. The result is that Catholics practice an acceptance of the world and live according to it. Catechesis takes this line when it seeks to tone down what are considered to be unrealistic moral demands. This kind of catechesis speaks in positives without negatives. So, for instance, baptism is being made a child of God (but there is no mention of what one was before), is given the light of Christ and puts on Christ (but no mention made of being previously in the dark and needing Christ s light). This is inevitably a shallow catechesis which does not convince because it will not name the darkness. If the first way is a path down which believers are often tempted, a second path tends to lead to a different kind of outcome. One holds onto the ought, but ultimately rejects the is. Sensitive to the pain of the world and its injustices, and holding on to a clear vision that this is not how things should be, one eventually rejects this world in favour of the ought. A wedge is driven between creation and the good, with the created order condemned as bad. It is the path of many religions. The view is expressed in secular terms by the English poet Philip Larkin: 25

26 Man hands on misery to man, It deepens like a coastal shelf; Get out as early as you can, And don t have any kids yourself. 4 This view is represented also by the figure of Ivan in Dostoevsky s great novel, The Brothers Karamatzov. After recalling instances of terrible suffering, especially of children, Ivan concludes, It s not God I reject it s the world I return the ticket. He holds onto the good, onto God, but cannot accept God s world. Returning the ticket entails suicide. Ivan takes his own life, unable to bear the fact of the world in the face of the good he knows it should be. These works of literature illustrate the dramatic choices before us as we contemplate the unfinished world, a world in which there is much suffering and distress, a world with such a gap between what we have before us and the good we seek. Living in the journey Read the Catholic doctrine in CCC on creation, providence and evil. Alongside this doctrine, there is also the way in which the Catholic lives, day by day, this tension between the is and the ought, the present reality and the future glory. This is expressed especially in the narrative of the Creed, in which the believer positions himself in the last days ; the mystery of the interpenetration of the is and the ought is celebrated in the Eucharist the reality of the Lord to come, now present but veiled; it is expressed in the heart of Jesus preaching and the Christian way the paradoxical promises of the Beatitudes; and it forms the heart of the daily prayer of Christians, the Our Father. Activity 2:3 Read CCC on the petition, Thy Kingdom come. Sum up in a paragraph how this petition can be used in catechesis, to help those you are speaking to, to understand the theological virtue of hope. Keep these notes for yourself. 4 Philip Larkin, This be the Verse, from Collected Poems, Farrer, Strauss and Giroux,

27 Hope expressed in Art Beautiful Christian art often reflects the hope we have in eternal life. Benedict XVI mentions that Christian hope in eternal life was illustrated on Roman Sarcophagi, (SS 6) such as the one below. (For further examples, put Third century Christina Sarcophagi into Google Images.) The Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, marble, 359 AD. [Treasury of Saint Peter's Basilica, umanities/medieval-world/earlychristian1/a/early-christian-art] shows beautifully that the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New and Christian hope in eternal life. The challenge of false hopes It is important to be able to teach about the parodies of hope, about false hopes that arise and propose themselves if authentic Christian hope recedes. Recalling the alternatives that appear to face us as we contemplate the gap between the world as it is and that world we seek as the good and fulfilment of creatures, Until the sixteenth century Christendom expected that the recovery of what had been lost in the Garden of Eden would come only from faith in Jesus Christ, in what we understand as redemption. With the rise of science, the ideology of faith in progress began to replace faith in Christ. Progress became associated with both reason and freedom, which began to be interpreted as being opposed to the faith of the Church. This idea was consolidated by political events, such as the French Revolution, and later, the rise of Marxism, which were attempts to establish the rule of reason and freedom as political realities. These eventually led to the rejection of religion and any concept of the hereafter. In Spe Salvi, Benedict XVI quotes Theodor W. Adorno saying that faith in progress shows that progress seen accurately, is the progress from the sling to the atom bomb (SS 22). We need to recognise that reason is God s great gift to man, but detached from God it becomes blind to Him and cannot distinguish between good and evil. Man needs God, otherwise he remains without hope Reason needs faith if it is to be completely itself: reason and faith need one another in order to fulfil their true nature and their mission. Benedict XVI, Spe salvi 23 27

28 The true shape of Christian hope Freedom presupposes that in fundamental decisions, every person is a new beginning. Spe salvi 24 In the field of empirical discoveries, incremental progress is to be expected, but the same cannot be said of ethical awareness and morality. Every generation needs to engage anew in the arduous search for the right way to order human affairs as it is a task which is never completed. Man cannot be redeemed through science, even though science can contribute to making the world more human. However science can also destroy, unless forces that lie outside it steer it. Modern Christianity has to some extent, in its effort to focus on the salvation of the individual, failed to recognise the enormity of the task to show that salvation is not to be found in scientific progress (SS 25). It is not science that redeems man; man is redeemed by love. Spe salvi 26 We redeemed only in the absolute love of Christ Our Lord. Through Him we become certain of God; a God who is not some remote cause but a God who has become man, so that with St. Paul we can say, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me [Gal. 2:20] Optional activity 5 Read Spe salvi paragraph 27, on what true hope is and paragraph 28 on the implications of this hope. In your own words, sum up briefly how Christian hope is different from the hope of the world. Focus in this exercise, on the joy of true Christian hope, rather than on the limitations of worldly hope. It may help to have an audience in mind for this exercise. Keep these notes for yourself, or if you wish you can send them to your course-coordinator. Ways of fostering the virtue of hope Christian hope reaches to God for what He alone can provide. Christian hope seeks the blessedness that is a share in his life and only this can satisfy and only he can bring this about for us. Thus Christian hope is always in the attitude of the one who waits, asks and seeks, in order to receive from God what he alone can give. 5 This extra reading will add to your time, so please only do it if you have the time. 28

29 1. Prayer: The School of Hope When we pray we are never alone and man is created to be filled with God. In prayer, God increasingly purifies us, the more so when our prayer is guided by the great prayers of the Church, her liturgy and the saints. Prayer must also be personal where we speak with God and He speaks with us. Activity 2:4 Read on prayer as a gift, as something for which we ask, and then CCC on the different forms of prayer For each form of prayer identified in your reading in the Catechism, give an example of that form in the Gospel or other New Testament writings. E.g. for the first one (Blessing and Adoration) you could suggest the Benedictus, (Lk. 68:79). In a sentence explain how this form of prayer enables us to participate in the school for learning hope as we turn to God who alone is both the fulfilment of desire and the one who can bring us to this fulfilment if we cooperate with him. Keep these notes for yourself, or you may wish to exchange ideas with your fellow students. Optional activity If you have time, you can extend this activity by reading CCC CCC 2745 begins with the words prayer and the Christian life are inseparable. How would you explain this to someone who suggests that they don t need to pray as God knows what they want/need, anyway? 2. Action and Suffering (Passion) Action and suffering are the two poles of human life and so together they can be said to sum up human life. It can help us to see how these are two opposite poles when, instead of using the term suffering we remember the Latin term passio (from which we get passive and passion ). When we think of Christ s passion we think of his suffering and this suffering is being indicated precisely by his being subjected to passion. One who is in passion is to being done to. We can put it this way: that when a person acts this is rendered in language by making him the subject of a verb; when he is in passion, on the other hand, this is rendered by his being the object of a verb. For example, John 29

30 pulled on his socks John is acting whereas Mary pulled the socks onto John s feet John is in passion, it is being done to him. (When you have time, take a close look at the Gospel accounts of Christ s Passion. Before His arrest the initiative was His; afterwards, He allowed things to be done to Him.) Because we are created beings, we are acted upon before we act. (We did not created ourselves). Therefore, passion is the primary mode in human life. We develop virtuous patterns of living being faithful, hopeful and loving, for example - out of situations of passion; from what we have received and from the situations in which we find ourselves. For example, a person finds themselves with a serious illness; this can lead the person to either despair or to hope. It is vital to realize that being in the state of passion does not indicate passivity. First of all, it is within each person s grasp to actively embrace (or not) the state that they have, which has been given to them. Thus we find Jesus insisting, before his passion, I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord (Jn. 10:17-18). So also, at the crucial point of the annunciation narrative, when Mary utters her fiat, it is expressed as Be it done to me according to thy word. The passive form here is a Hebrew way of implying the action of God and Mary is here placing herself deliberately in an openness to this action. We can speak of an active passion, a deliberate embracing of God s action in one s life. Suffering is a part of human existence, stemming partly from our finitude, and partly from the mass of sin which has accumulated over the course of history. It is most important to do what we can to reduce suffering, and as Christians we have serious obligations in this matter, but we cannot eliminate it altogether. Regarding our own suffering, we can also choose how we respond to that which is given, and here a whole series of Christian virtues come into play. Give thanks in all circumstances. Be patient. Rejoice when you are persecuted. Love those who mistreat you. We choose how to act out of situations of passion. Optional activity Read CCC on Christ s offering of himself. As you read this sections of the Catechism make a note of the phrases that indicate: God s plan and his action Christ s free embracing of passion and the Father s will Then also Our receiving of the work of salvation wrought by Christ Our free embracing of, and participation in, the work of salvation 3. Judgement Our hope is related to the final judgement at the end of time. Christianity overturns the usual way of looking at time. Normally it is considered that the past and present are certain, fixed, whereas the 30

31 future is uncertain. Hope related to the future may be seen as wishful thinking and vulnerable since it is rooted in an essential uncertainty. No-one can see or know the future. How often have you heard people say that there are only two things that are certain in life taxes and death? Yet the Christian view is radically different. It is the future that is certain. Hope is realism because it is to do with certainty. This certainty is based on two convictions. 1. The nature of God as love who desires his creatures to reach their good and their happiness and is implacably opposed to all that runs counter to this i.e. sin and evil. 2. The fact of the Resurrection, where we see the triumph of love over evil and sin. It is in the light of the certain future in which we hope that the present and past are understood. The past, for this reason, is never fixed, but is always being re-read and re-appropriated in hope. The new understanding generated by hope s certainty allows us to revisit our present experience and our memories and bring healing to both. This is one of the dimensions of the narrative on the road to Emmaus as Jesus explains the events in the Scriptures and the recent time in Jerusalem, opening their eyes to a new vision of its meaning. Catechetical idea It is a fact that Jesus said that He would be with us until the end of the age (Mt. 28:20). Baptised into Him, we are united with Him in a particular way and so it may be helpful if people are upset about something in their history, to help them to recognise that in fact Jesus was with them at that time, and even if they felt vulnerable, He was praying to His Father for them. The future is the point of judgement, the point where evil is definitively overcome and the triumph of goodness assured. The certainty of the future is the certainty of the triumph of goodness. It is this that allows one both to bear the period of suffering and the mixture of evil and good in the present knowing that there will be a resolution of this and also to protest against the injustices of the world in the present. As Pope Benedict says, To protest against God in the name of justice is not helpful (SS 44) because it is precisely God s goodness that gives us the measure by which we can name evil and injustice in the first place. If we remove God we remove the ultimate measure and our criticism is without weight. Mary, Star of Hope Mary is often considered the model of hope. In Spe salvi, Benedict XVI refers to the ancient Marian hymn Ave Maris Stella, (Star of the Sea), as he says that human life is a journey, like a voyage at sea where the sailors are guided by the reflected lights of the stars to indicate the route. Whilst Jesus is the true light, Mary, reflects His light and is a star of hope for us on our Christian journey. In the Akathist Hymn, the great hymn of the Eastern Church based on the Annunciation, she is called the spouse unespoused, the Bride unwedded (in French, the épouse inépousee ). She is the Godbearer who bore Christ in the world, so that the Kingdom was present in the midst of the world. She is now in the glory of heaven as the sign of certain hope to which the whole Church is called. If you would like to read this beautiful hymn to Our Lady, you can access it on this link: 31

32 Task 5:2 Either: A. Read CCC , how the Lord's Prayer is at the heart of the Scriptures. Pay particular attention to the quotation from St. Thomas Aquinas in CCC Set out some ideas you have on how to develop an understanding and appreciation of the Lord's Prayer in catechesis, especially how regular praying of this prayer can foster and increase hope. Make sure you have a particular audience in mind, e.g. a Sacramental preparation group, RCIA, ongoing adult formation, altar servers etc Use a maximum of 500 words on this. Note: This task is a development of the Activities you have already done in this chapter. Therefore you are not expected to read the whole of the Catechism on this. Focus on what you have already read, and make use of the activities you have done as they point to this Task. As with Task 1, you are not going to be able to say everything there is to say on this, so select a few key points, use them as bullet points and then expand in a few sentences below. Or: B. Write a short article on how Christian hope is different from secular hope and the role of Christian hope in our lives of faith. Use between words on this. Summary of Chapter 2 In this chapter we have: Seen how the ways in which our handing on of the faith can foster and support the virtue of hope. Seen that in his encyclical on hope, Spe Salvi, Pope Benedict explains that the place of the relationship we have with God in prayer, is par excellence the place of waiting, anticipation, blessing and hope. Seen that Mary is characterized in the Church as the one who lived in confident hope, as the unespoused spouse, who in her fiat expressed a perfect confidence that God would bring his promises to fulfilment, and now enjoys that fulfilment in the glory of the Blessed Trinity. Further reading A classic work on the virtue of hope is by Joseph Pieper, On Hope, San Francisco: Ignatius Press

33 One of the most powerful treatments of action and suffering in relation to hope is by the Anglican theologian W.H.Vanstone, The Stature of Waiting, London: Darton, Longman and Todd, This discusses the centrality of passion as a form of waiting as it is revealed to us in the Gospel and then as it is expressed in a variety of ways in the Christian life. St Thomas Aquinas discussions of the virtue of hope can be found in his Summa Theologica II-II. Questions concern themselves with hope, including the gift of fear that is associated with hope and the vices of presumption and despair that are opposed to hope. A clear and helpful discussion of St Thomas views on hope can be found in Brian Davies, The Thought of Thomas Aquinas, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1992, pp G. Simon Hayak, Virtuous Passions: The Formation of Christian Character, Wipf and Stock 2001, is a study of St Thomas teaching on the passions and how virtues can emerge from them (while this work is not reliable in all respects it manages to get across clearly the key idea of taking the passions seriously as the basis from which the virtues are developed). Aidan Nichols, O.P., The Virtue of Hope in R.Brown (ed), The Gift of Hope, Oxford: Family Publications 1998, pp.7-14 P.de Cointet, B.Morgan and P.Willey, The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Craft of Catechesis, preface, Chap 8 C.E.Farey, et al, The Pedagogy of God Chap 8 33

34 Chapter 3. Transmission for Mission: Fostering Love The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes, leaping up the mountains, bounding over the hills. (Song of Songs 2:8) Whom shall I ask? Who will tell me of my beloved? For I am sick from love God is the strength of my heart, my portion for ever. (Prayer to Christ, in The Prayers and Meditations of St. Anselm, p.97) Learning outcomes By the end of this chapter you will have: Examined ways in which to hand on the faith so that the life of grace is fostered Recognised that all we pass on in catechesis is orientated to the love that never ends Introduction In this chapter we examine how to teach and hand on the faith so that the life of grace is fostered, and those we encounter in our catechesis arrive at the love that never ends (CCC 25). Within the Annunciation pedagogy we see that the angel leaves Mary at the end, after her fiat, and we know that what follows is Mary s journey of love and service to her elderly cousin Elizabeth, to assist her in her own pregnancy and to bring to her, in the flesh, the Good News of her child. The Annunciation is for the sake of an embodied Christ who, himself carried, might be considered the One who carries those who bear him in their acts of love. This chapter focuses upon how an authentic transmission of the faith fosters love, the greatest of the virtues, and speaks to the participation in the kingly mission of Christ, especially in terms of its expression in the lay apostolate. To enable this, the Church undertakes a moral reading of the Scriptures. The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity, which binds everything together in perfect harmony [Col. 3:14]; it is the form of the virtues; it articulates and orders them among themselves; it is the source and goal of their Christian practice. Charity upholds and purifies our human ability to love, and raises it to the supernatural perfection of divine love. CCC 1827 We see here that the Catechism describes love as the form of the virtues that in which all of the virtues find their position and shape we will be using this chapter to draw together the work we have undertaken in the chapters on faith and hope. 34

35 God is love Following the Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566) which in turn is inspired by the work of St Augustine in his Enchiridion the Catechism of the Catholic Church asks that the whole of the teaching of the Church be presented in the light of the love that never ends (CCC 25) in other words, the love of God. All of our catechesis can have no other purpose ultimately that to enable those we are working with to arrive at love. Love is the centre. In the end it is all that is important. All of our doctrine is an explication of the love of God. We need to ensure that we see clearly that this is the case, for only if we do will we be able to lead those we present the faith to, towards the love that never ends. As you work your way through this chapter, think about how you can bring those you are catechising to a deeper understanding and experience of God s love. Activity 3:1 Read CCC 25 now. Take a moment to think about how you have experienced the love of God in your own life. This is important for if you cannot reflect on your own experience of God s love, then it would be difficult to lead others into that experience. Unity of Love in Creation and in Salvation History In the first letter of St. John we read, God is love, and he who abides in love, abides in Him (I Jn. 4:16). These words express the heart of the Christian faith and that being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or lofty idea, but an encounter with an event, a person (Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, 1). Pious Jews daily recite the words of the Shema, Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is One Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might (Deut. 6:45). Jesus united this commandment with the commandment of love of neighbour in the book of Leviticus (Lev. 19:18) into a single precept of love of God and love of neighbour (Mk. 12:29 31). In Christ, love is transformed from a mere command to being our response to the gift of love with which God draws near to us. A problem of language: In English, we use the same word love to mean or indicate many different things; love of one s country, work, friends, parents, children, neighbour and God. The love between man and woman stand out as the very epitome of love. 35

36 Eros and Agape difference and unity: The ancient Greeks called the love between man and woman eros. However, the Greek Old Testament (called the Septuagint) only uses eros twice and the New Testament does not use it at all. The New Testament writers prefer the word Agape which was used less frequently in contemporary society. This pointed to something new and distinctive about Christian love. Eros was perceived as a kind of intoxication which found expression in the fertility cults and in sacred prostitution, and was viewed by the writers of Scripture as symptomatic of man s fall and exploitation. The challenge of eros continues today as the ecstasy of eros has been reduced to pure sex; a commodity. For most people in our modern world, the body is no longer considered as being united to its soul but, is regarded from a purely material angle, no longer an expression of our whole being but is relegated to the purely biological. In the Old Testament book Song of Songs, (probably originally love songs for a Jewish wedding feast, intending to exalt conjugal love) two words are used for love in the Hebrew texts, indicating different stages of love. As love grows it becomes exclusive and develops a sense of being for ever. Love looks to the eternal and this is where its true ecstasy lies; not in a moment of intoxication but an ongoing journey towards authentic self-discovery and the discovery of God. Agape is summed up in Jesus saying, Whoever seeks to gain his own life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it. (Lk. 17:33) Agape is not about self-fulfilment, but something far greater. Jesus portrays His own path which leads through the Cross and to the Resurrection Starting from the depths of His own sacrifice and of the love that reaches fulfilment therein, He also portrays in these words, the essence of love and indeed of human life itself. DCE 6 However, Agape and eros cannot be separated as the more they find a unity in the proper reality of love, the more the true nature of love is realised. If agape is absent form eros then it is impoverished and loses its own nature, but on the other hand, man cannot love by agape alone; he cannot always give, he must receive as well. Benedict XVI, commenting on these two terms says that love is a single reality with different dimensions. At different times one or other dimension may come into focus, but without both the result is a caricature of love (DCE 8). Activity 3:2 Revisit Activity 2:2 in Unit 2 and the notes you made there on the images of marriage in Sacred Scripture. Make some further notes on them in the light of what you have read in this Unit so far. 36

37 Keep these notes for your own use. The Newness of Biblical Faith Compared to other societies around then, the world of the Bible had a very different view of God. First; He is One (Deut. 6:4), and the source of all that exists, and secondly, this God loves man. Greek philosophy, which came to recognise that a single divinity moved the world, could not grasp that this divinity loved man with a personal love. The doctrine of creation is essentially a teaching about the overflowing nature of God s love. God does not keep being for Himself but shares it through creation. He had no need to create; it is a gratuitous act. The Catechism says, God has no other reason for creating than his love and goodness (CCC 293), and it goes on to quote St.Thomas Aquinas who notes that Creatures came into existence when the key of love opened his hand (In Libros Sententiarum II, prol). Every moment of our lives is necessarily an introduction to the love of God, since every creature, all that is, exists because God holds it in being through his love. Therefore, rejection of God s unconditional love is akin to betrayal in a marriage. The prophets Hosea and Ezekiel described God s passion for His people using erotic images of betrothal, marriage; and rejection of God as adultery and prostitution, a direct reference to the abuse of eros in the world around. God s eros for man is totally agape because it is bestowed in a completely gratuitous manner, without any previous merit [and] because it is a love which forgives. DCE 10. Biblical faith also presents us with a completely different image of man is from the ideas presented in the world around us today. (Even in the eras when the Bible was taking shape, the biblical image of man was in contradiction to the societies around the People of God). The second account of the creation of man and woman in Genesis (2:7-24) show that man is somehow incomplete when he is alone. The final line of this account concludes with a prophecy about Adam: Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife and they become one flesh [Gen. 2:24]. Pope Benedict says that this verse gives us two important points: the first is that eros is rooted in man s very nature and the second is that eros directs him towards marriage; a bond which is unique and definitive (DCE 11). 37

38 Corresponding to a monotheistic God, is monogamous marriage. Marriage based on exclusive and definitive love becomes the icon of the relationship between God and His people and vice-versa. God s way of loving becomes the measure of human love. This close connection between eros and marriage in the Bible has practically no equivalent in extrabiblical literature. DCE 11 Jesus Christ the Incarnate Love of God The doctrines of the incarnation and redemption take up the incredible story of God s love. The Word became flesh, the Catechism teaches, so that we might know God s love (CCC 458). St. John puts it like this: In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. (1 Jn. 4:9). And the Gospel of John teaches, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (Jn. 3:16.). That love was expressed, vindicated and made available for us through the Son s Passion, death and Resurrection. The Novelty of the New Testament is the person of Christ who gives flesh and blood to the concepts discussed above. His parables reveal that God Himself seeks the stray and the lost, embracing them in their wretchedness. Jesus Passion and death on the Cross is love in its most radical form. Love is central to the Christian doctrine of God. The central mystery of the Faith, the mystery of the Holy Trinity, which is also the source of all the other mysteries of the Faith, concerns the truth that God is in himself an infinite movement of loving self-gift. The Father loves the Son eternally, and this love is received and returned by the Son. And that by which the Father and the Son love one another is himself a Person: the Spirit, the bond of love. It is not by chance that the Scriptures open and close with the account of a marriage (Gen.1:27, 2:2-25; Rev. 21:1-3, 22:17). God s Revelation of himself and his plan for creation begins with the marriage of the first human couple and it concludes with the marriage of the Lamb of God with his Bride. Love is the key to understanding the whole of God's Revelation. This is why the Catechism stresses that the human person is to be understood in a spousal sense (CCC 1617). God has destined his human creatures to find their fulfilment in the closest possible union with him - a union that will not exclude the creaturely bonds we have, but transfigure them. In that union we will know and love even as we are presently known and loved by Him. God himself will be the goal of our desires; we shall contemplate him without end, love him without surfeit, praise him without weariness. This gift, this state, this act, like eternal life itself, will assuredly be common to all. (St. Augustine: The City of God 22:30) In the Eucharist we enter into this very dynamic of Christ s self-giving as the image of marriage between God and Israel is now realised in a way previously inconceivable: it had meant standing in God s presence, but now it becomes union with God through sharing in Jesus self-gift, sharing in His Body and Blood (DCE 13). Note also the social character of the Eucharist. As well as being personally united with Christ, we are also united with the whole Church, as St. Paul says, Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body for we all partake of the one bread (I Cor. 10:17). 38

39 We become one body completely joined in a single existence. Love of God and love of neighbour are now truly united; God incarnate draws us all to Himself... The transition which He makes from the Law and the Prophets to the two-fold commandment of love of God and of neighbour is not simply a matter of morality faith worship and ethos are interwoven as a single reality which takes shape in our encounter with God s agape. A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented. DCE 14 Having grasped this, Jesus parables can be understood in a new light. The concept of neighbour is no longer just the close-knit community of Israel; it encompasses anyone who needs me and whom I can help. In the parable of the Last Judgement, love and God and neighbour have become one as in the least of the brethren we find Jesus, and Him we find God. Love of God and Neighbour So often love is considered from its emotional aspect that many people ask whether we can love God whom we have never seen, and indeed, whether love can even be a command? The first letter of St. John partly answers this problem: If anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar, for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen (I Jn. 4:20). This means that rather than beginning with the concept of loving God, we need to begin with the love of neighbour, which is a path that leads to the encounter with God. If we close our eyes to our neighbour, we become blind to God. Whilst it is true that no one has seen God as He is, God has made Himself visible in His Son and so in the Church s community, the liturgy, and the Sacraments we experience the love of God, who loved us first. Love is not merely a sentiment which comes and goes, love is never finished as our will and God s will increasingly coincide, until God s will becomes my will as He becomes increasingly more present to me than I am to myself. Therefore, in God and with God, love of neighbour becomes possible. I am given the grace to look at the person I dislike and love him. I can look at him and see as Jesus sees and can respond in the way they most need. Conversely, if I have no contact with God, I only see the exterior person. Love of God and love of neighbour are thus inseparable, they form a single commandment. But both live from the love of God who has loved us first. DCE 18 39

40 Activity 3:3 Choose one of these parables: The prodigal Son (Lk. 15:11-32) Good shepherd (Lk. 15: 3-7) Rich man and Lazarus (Lk. 16:19-31) Last Judgement (Mt. 25:31-46) Make some notes on how you could teach that God is love using the chosen parable. Keep these notes for yourself Catechising on human love and Divine love In the encyclical of John Paul II, Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason), we can imagine when we pick it up that the work will be simply defending the place of faith against the incursions of reason. Yet, the Church in that work is also defending reason. And it is the Christian faith that provides this defence. The Church appears as defender of the human. Remove Christian faith, the encyclical argues, and reason is threatened. The same goes with Pope Benedict XVI s encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, and we think when we pick it up that the work will be a presentation and an explanation of Divine love. And so it is, of course in part. But it is also concerned to defend human love. And it is the reality of Christian love that provides this defence. Remove Christian love, the encyclical argues, and human love is threatened. Possibly for our culture, these are unexpected lines of argument. We are missing an important plank in our work for new evangelisation if we do not engage with people s experience of romantic love. So Benedict is keen to articulate the Christian basis of romantic love and affirm it. On the other hand, he also wants to show that it must be purified and completed through its encounter with agape, Christian love. Activity 3:4 Read the section in the Catechism God is love, from CCC Follow the cross references and note how they highlight the kerygma: All creation comes from God, who made us to share in His divine life; He sent His Son Jesus Christ to redeem us from our sins by His Passion, death, Resurrection and Ascension; the Holy Spirit which came upon the Church at Pentecost continues to lead and inspire the Church today, as we wait for Christ to come again. 40

41 Make some notes from this reading and from the section above, on how God s love is the foundation of all aspects of the faith of the Church. Choose some key phrases which you could draw upon in catechesis. Keep these notes for yourself. Life in Christ Take a moment to re-acquaint yourself with the structure of the Catechism. Part One is the Church s teaching based on the Creeds, and we are introduced to the mysteries of the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation, Christ s Passion, death Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven, Our Lady, the mystery of the Church and so on. In Part Two, we read about the liturgy and the sacraments, the celebration of our faith and the source of the graces needed. Part Three, called, Life in Christ can only come now The Christian life of love flows from the faith we hold. St. Paul described this as faith working through love (Gal.5:6; see CCC 1814). We live the moral life which is a life of love, because of the graces received in the liturgy and the sacraments. We can only live the Christian life, in Christ. What we call the moral life therefore must be seen precisely as a life in Christ as a life of grace, rooted in the theological virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The great doctrines of the Christian faith show us the deep realities from which our lives, as baptized persons, flow. One of the great difficulties we have to overcome when presenting the faith to others is the tendency there has been to detach our lives from these truths; many imagine that the Christian life is simply one of living well according to our own understanding and our own strength. But of course this is not possible. And it is not authentic Christianity. Any detaching of Christian living from an appreciation of the central truths and realities of the faith lead in fact to a misreading of the commandments so that they are seen as mere obligations that we need to keep, rather than as responses, made possible by God s grace, to his redeeming work. When thinking of how we read the Scriptures, a way of putting this misreading of the Christian life would be to say that there is a tendency to see only the moral sense of the Scriptures when they are read whether this is in the liturgy or in private reading of the Bible. Or at least we might say that it is the moral sense of the Scriptures that tends to be the most evident dimension of the text to us. In other words, we tend to be more alive to hearing the Scriptures asking something of us than we are to hearing what they tell us about who God is and how he acts. When this happens, Christianity becomes a set of values to be upheld rather than a new life in Christ. Read the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10:

42 Now compose in your mind a single sentence answer to the following question: If a parish congregation were to hear this Gospel being read, what would they predict would be the main message that the homilist would give on this passage? Before we go any further, remind yourself of the senses of Scripture you covered in unit 1 by rereading CCC Activity 3:5 Read the article by Mgr. Paul Watson in the Appendix on the parable of the Good Samaritan. Make some notes for yourself on: Who originally spoke the parables What happens when we only read parables on a human level What the parable of the Good Samaritan reveals to us about God Keep these notes for yourself, or if you wish, you can send them to your Course Coordinator. Love and Justice We can never separate love from justice. Justice needs to be perfected by love. It is worth noting that the origin of the welfare state lies in the loving activity of the early Church in her care for those who need material support. Although the just ordering of society and the State is the central responsibility of politics, the role of the Church s social doctrine is to purify reason and to contribute to the formation of consciences in political life. Whilst the Church cannot and must not replace the State, neither must she sit on the side-lines in the fight for justice. As Christians we must all play our part in opening minds to the demands of the common good (DCE 28). By and large, this is the responsibility of the lay faithful who as citizens of the State are called to configure social life correctly, respecting its legitimate autonomy and cooperating with other citizens according to their own responsibility (DCE 29). The Church can never be exempted from practicing charity as an organised activity of believers, and on the other hand, there will never be a situation where the charity of each individual Christian is unnecessary, because in addition to justice, man needs, and will always need, love. DCE 29 42

43 Christian charity must be independent of political parties and ideologies but is the making present of the love which man always needs. Christian charity is the heart that sees where love is needed and acts accordingly, whether as the work of an individual or as a combined strategy of a larger organisation (DCE 31). Charitable work must not be used to proselytise, as love is free and is not practiced in order to achieve ends. However, this does not mean that God is left out. Whilst those who practice charity in the name of the Church cannot force others to accept her faith, a Christian knows that to show unconditional love is an outstanding witness. Whilst in some situations, there may be opportunities to answer questions but the overriding reason for charitable work must be love and care, not conversion. In this way words, silence and love provide a credible witness to Christ. When we serve others we are led to be humble as was Christ who took the lowest place in the world the Cross. We serve others by the grace of God, recognising that we are instruments in the Lord s hands. This frees us from thinking that building a better world is our personal responsibility; it is God who governs the world, not us (DCE 36). We must never forget the importance of prayer in the face of activism. Praying is not a waste of time! We only have to see the example of Blessed Mother Teresa who devoted hours to prayer. A personal relationship with God and an abandonment to His will prevents us from being demeaned and falling prey to fanaticism, or accusing God of allowing poverty. Faith tells us that God has given His Son for our sakes and gives us the victorious certainty that it is really true: God is love! It thus transforms our impatience and our doubts into the sure hope that God holds the world in His hands and that in spite of all darkness He ultimately triumphs in glory. (DCE 39) Summary of Chapter 3 In this chapter we have analysed the specifically Christian understanding of love so that we could see better how to transmit this as the centre of our presentation of the faith, and the faith s practical outworking, as both the source and the goal of the Christian life. 43

44 Task 5:3 Choose one of the parables of Jesus listed in Activity 3:2 Imagine you were to lead a catechetical session to an age group of your choice with the overall aim: To know that God is the source of all Love Set out the key points you would make in a catechetical session on this theme of love for an age group of your choice. Refer to both the parable and the Catechism in your session. Use a maximum of 500 words on this. Note: This task is a development of the Activities you have already done in this chapter. Focus on what you have already read, and make use of the activities you have done as they point to this Task. As with Tasks 1 & 2, you are not going to be able to say everything there is to say on this, so select a few key points, use them as bullet points and then expand in a few sentences below. Send to your course-coordinator. Further reading If you want to follow up the ideas on romantic love and how these were developed among the inklings you might look especially at two works by Charles Williams: The Figure of Beatrice and He Came Down From Heaven, as well as the introduction by Dorothy Sayers to the volume Purgatorio in her translation of Dante s Divine Comedy. In general, you might also wish to look at S. R. Letwin: 'The Christian Idea of Love', Philosophy pp The collection edited by L. Melina. and Anderson C., The Way of Love. Reflections on Pope Benedict XVI s Encyclical Deus Caritas est, Ignatius Press, San Francisco 2006, provides helpful commentary on Benedict s encyclical, while the Pontifical Council for the Family s The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality (1996) is an excellent presentation of the Catholic teaching on sexuality, placing love at the centre. On the relationship between justice and love see Stratford Caledecott, Not as the World Gives: The Way of Creative Justice, Second Spring,

45 Chapter Four, Engaging Our Hearers Learning outcomes for this chapter By the end of this chapter you will: Be able to present and explain the Deposit using the light of salvation history to illuminate it, the narration Be able to devise questions which you can use in catechesis In this chapter we will look at how from the perspective of Mary giving her fiat, we will be able to identify some key features of how the announcement and explanation of the Deposit can be made. In particular we will look at what is called the narration, or narratio in Latin: the presentation of God s saving pedagogy continuing in our time - in bringing his people into faith through history. In this light we focus also on the central element in the pedagogy of the annunciation: the annunciation and explanation of the Deposit. As we undertake this work we participate in the prophetic mission of Christ. Finally we will look at how we can engage those we are speaking to by the use of good catechetical questions. With the transmission of the Deposit of faith, (passing on the Good News of our salvation in Jesus Christ) the first step is to introduce the topic under consideration in the context of the proclamation of the Good News, relating the topic to the heart of the kerygma. (See Unit 3 for a definition of the Kerygma.) The introductory step also alerts those being taught to the presence, perspective and activity of the Holy Spirit as the primary agent in the transmission and upbuilding of the faith. Those announcing the Deposit and those called to respond with the obedience of faith have their places within this broader canvas in which an openness and docility to the Spirit is needed. Announcing doctrine within salvation history The faith, as we saw above, is handed on from person to person in history. The Church speaks of faith coming to birth within the history of the mystery of salvation. The angel, declaring the Good News to Mary, places this news within the context of God s promises in salvation history: And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there will be no end. (Lk 1:31-33) This is a central element in an annunciation pedagogy, presenting doctrines within this context of salvation history so that each person receiving the message of salvation can do so not as an isolated individual, but as a member of a people in a living tradition, as the receiver of God s promises for this people. In making a response of faith the person is responding both to the invitation to 45

46 communion with God and also to communion with a people, the community of those who have been rescued (see CCC 1691). Read the extracts from the General Directory of Catechesis, paragraphs 36-45, , 115, in the Appendix As you read, note the following points carefully: Salvation history is presented in three basic periods: that of the Old Covenant, the time of the promises; that of the New Covenant, the time of the coming of Christ; that of the Church, as she awaits the end times and fulfilment of all things. All of the periods, then, are biblical: the first told to us in the Old Testament, the second in the four written gospels and the third in the rest of the New Testament. It is important to appreciate that the third period includes the whole history of the Church thus, includes ourselves; we are to understand ourselves from within the perspective of an ongoing salvation history. The relationship of salvation history to revelation: this is presented in GDC Essentially, the first period is one of the progressive and gradual revelation of God; the second period that of revelation in its fullness; the third period that of the conservation and transmission of revelation. The Latin terms to describe salvation history, drawn from the period of the Fathers of the Church: when one is speaking of salvation history that has taken place, this is the narratio. When one is looking forward, this is the expectatio. Activity 4:1 Let s look at an example from the Catechism so as to understand how doctrine is often announced within the telling of God s great deeds and in anticipation of his loving fulfilment of all things in Christ. Look through CCC : The Revelation of Prayer, and make a note of the subtitles and structure of this section, how the Catechism presents her teaching on prayer in the context of salvation history. Make a note of these subtitles for your own use. Optional Further reading: P. de Cointet, B Morgan and P. Willey: The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Craft of Catechesis, Chp.5 C.E.Farey, et al, The Pedagogy of God, Chp.4, 46 pp

47 Giving reasons for the truths we teach Alongside the annunciation of the faith, we explain the faith. This, in fact, is one key part of the annunciation. In this final section of the chapter we will examine the kinds of reasoning at work in presentations of the faith. What is it, first of all, to give an explanation? It is to give an account of something that makes it understandable. An explanation can be thought of as a set of propositions that renders an event, an object, a belief, or a situation, intelligible. What kinds of explanation, we need to ask, are appropriate for presentations of the teaching of the Church? Explanations can be of various kinds. For example, if I arrive late at a theatre, during the second act of a play, someone who was present from the beginning might be so kind as to quietly explain what was happening. The explanation might provide a brief account of what I had missed, noting if some speech or event was especially important because of what had already happened, and letting me know who the characters were. If it wasn t clear, I might be told the genre this is a comedy, or this is a tragedy. I would be provided with context and assistance in interpreting what was taking place. Explanations would be of a different kind in the case of an accident that had taken place. We would want to know what had taken place, to receive a narrative of the events, together with the perspectives and choices of the main actors, and to gain a sense of the environment and context of the accident. Activity 4:2 Write short notes on what kinds of explanation would be appropriate if you were: Advising someone wishing to select a camera to buy Advising someone learning a new board game Teaching in a class on classifications in botany Telling someone why you were late for a meeting What have you found out from reflecting on these different kinds of explanations and their value? Crucially, you will have seen that the kinds of explanations that are appropriate vary with the discipline and subject matter. In all cases, though, offering an explanation has to do with intelligibility, with making something understandable. Keep these notes for your own use 47

48 Providing Explanations Let us use some of the documents we have been studying, then, to consider what kinds of explanations are used in presentations of the Deposit. 1. Looking to Scripture: In the account of the Annunciation the angel explained his greeting in response to Mary s two questions: her pondering what it might mean (Lk 1:30-33), and her question as to how this might take place (Lk 1:35-37). His explanations always refer back to God and his acts. Read the account of the annunciation again and note the angel s explanations: That God will keep the promises he made to David That the Holy Spirit will overshadow Mary That Mary s cousin Elizabeth is evidence of God s action and faithfulness That nothing is impossible with God Following the pedagogy of the annunciation, then, we will want to say that in the case of explanations of the Deposit of Faith the ultimate explanation will always be: God as He acts and reveals Himself in Christ and through the action of the Holy Spirit. 2. Looking to the Catechism: Taking this point a bit further, we can say that the explanations are broadly of two kinds, indicated by CCC 89 and 90. Read these two paragraphs before continuing. CCC 89 refers to explanations regarding the embodiment of the life of Christ. As Mary asked, How can this be? We can legitimately seek connections between dogmas and the spiritual life, and note that they mutually shed light on each other. There is an enlightening correlation between belief and life. These connections are also teased out in the crossreferences between Parts One and Two of the Catechism on the one hand (God s action) and Parts Three and Four on the other (the human response). CCC 90 refers especially to explanations regarding the intrinsic intelligibility of doctrines, their fundamental meaning. Footnote 51 refers us to a key phrase in the teaching of the First Vatican Council: the nexus mysteriorum the interconnection of the mysteries which human reason can seek to penetrate as far as possible. Footnote 52 refers us to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council on the hierarchy of truths and their coherence in Christ. When offering an explanation, then, we look from the less fundamental to the more fundamental. The most fundamental doctrine is the Blessed Trinity, as CCC 234 tells us (read this to remind yourself of this crucial point). 48

49 Activity 4:3 We shall look at a small example from the Catechism to illustrate the kinds of reasoning. Read CCC and look for the ways in which the Catechism seeks to make intelligible, to explain, for us God s nature as truth and love. Look for reasoning words why, therefore, because, and so on. What kinds of reasons are being proposed? Look for analogies, metaphors, similes, and examples that seek to make connections with Christian and human experience Look for the turning towards the mystery of Christ and of his teaching for the authoritative explanations that can be offered Look for the grounding of explanations in the most fundamental doctrines of the faith in the key doctrines surrounding the kerygma, and most especially in the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity Keep these notes for yourself or if you wish, you can send them to your Course Coordinator Optional Further reading: P. de Cointet, B Morgan and P. Willey: The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Craft of Catechesis, Chp. 6.(This chapter discusses reasons related to identify and to meaning. This is simply a different way of explaining the teaching contained in CCC 90). Asking Questions In catechesis one of the most common way to engage those you are speaking to is by the use of questions. Good discussion in catechesis can help participants to deepen their understanding of the faith and thereby their own faith is deepened. Therefore it is very important in catechesis that questions you ask take people deeper into the mysteries of the Holy Trinity, salvation in Christ, etc. and not to themselves, their feelings, their memories and so on. There are three levels at which questions can be asked: 1. Factual questions: these seek a straightforward answer; usually quickly found in a text or something given in a presentation. These are good ways to open the questioning as the answer is usually easy to find. 2. Interpretive questions: these use the material presented and invite participants to reflect deeper on the material, possibly linking one aspect of the faith with another. 3. Evaluative questions: these questions lead participants to make links between the teaching they have received and their Christian life. 49

50 For example: Read CCC on Charity. Factual questions: Who makes a new commandment? (Answer: Jesus) What is the new commandment? (Answer: Charity) What kind of virtue is charity? (Answer: A theological virtue) What did Jesus say the disciples had to do? (Answer: abide in His love) Interpretive questions: Who are His own that Jesus loved? (Answers: the disciples, us) What did Jesus do to show His love for us? (Answers: Died on the Cross, healed, taught, etc answers will depend upon prior knowledge) Why must we love God? (Answers: because we have been commanded to; in return for what He has done for us, etc.) Why do you think Jesus links love of God with love of neighbour? (Loving our neighbour is a concrete way of showing our love of God. Jesus said whatever we do to others, we do to Him.) Evaluative questions: When do we show our love for God? (Answers are much more open ended, and could include, Mass, prayers, loving others, charity work "For Christ", seeing Christ in others, thanking God for His creation...) How can we show our love for our neighbour? (Again, answers are more open ended, and could include some of the charitable suggestions above, be patient with others, pray for people, etc ) What has Jesus given us to help us love God and our neighbours? (Answers: grace, the sacraments, teaching of the Church, the Catechism etc Activity 4:4 When preparing questions or evaluating questions in a ready-made resource, consider where the questions could take participants. Good catechetical questions take people to: The mystery of the Holy Trinity Christ and His salvific work The Church/ Church teaching The dignity of the human person The sacraments, Our Blessed Lady The saints The moral life 50

51 Prayer etc. Poor catechetical questions lead people to: Themselves Their memories Their feelings Their opinions Their likes and dislikes What they had for breakfast Good/bad experiences (catechesis is not spiritual direction) What they would like to do afterwards Nowhere People Read CCC on the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit Read the questions below and make a note of: 1. The type of question (factual, interpretive or evaluative) 2. Where they are leading, e.g. to somewhere on the first list on the left with a or to somewhere on the second list. a) What are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit? b) What is the role of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit? c) Which Sacrament are the seven gifts most associated with? d) Do you remember your Confirmation? e) How can you live out your Confirmation? f) Do you agree that children should be confirmed at the age of g) Who are those led by the Spirit? h) What identifies someone who is sustained by the Spirit? i) Who in the Bible was filled with the Spirit? Generally in preparing discussion questions, it is usual to begin with one or two factual questions then have an interpretive question and finish with an evaluative question which can lead into a reflective discussion amongst participants. Developing questions takes practice, but at the back of your mind it is important to think as to where the questions will take participants. That is key. 51

52 Summary of chapter 4 In this chapter we have focused on how the transmission of the Good News aims to engage with, and support, the building up of the virtue of faith in those being taught. We have examined both the central annunciation of doctrine and also its explanation, and at how good catechetical discussion questions can help deepen faith and penetrate the mysteries being presented. Further reading For a thorough discussion of the Catholic understanding of faith, see the Catholic Encyclopedia at This article refers you to a number of sources, including sources available on newadvent. St Thomas Aquinas discussions of the virtue of faith can be found in his Summa Theologica II-II. The first sixteen questions concern themselves with faith, including the gifts of the Holy Spirit associated with faith and the vices opposed to faith. 52

53 Task 5:4 Imagine you were delivering a catechetical session to a group of your choice on either the theological virtue of faith or of hope, based on the teaching given in CCC Choose two or three paragraphs to work from within this section of the Catechism. Note: You do not need to give the teaching the session is based on, just make sure that you mention which virtue you are working on and the relevant paragraphs in the Catechism. If you work with teenagers and young people, you could use questions in the Youcat* as the textual basis for the questions. Devise for this section: two factual questions two interpretive questions two evaluative questions For each question, give the answer or possible answers, saying where you hope the question will take participants. Use a maximum of 500 words on this. Send to your course-coordinator. * If you are not familiar with the Youcat, the teaching is summarised from the Catechism, and is presented in a series of questions so the equivalent section form the Catechism comes under questions numbered Assignment for Unit 5 Either You may resubmit the four tasks to be assessed and graded (with any changes or enhancements you feel necessary after comment by the course-coordinator). Also add references and a bibliography. Or: How would you present a catechetical session to a group of your choice on the theological virtues? Notes: This is an essay type question which would fall (after an introduction) into four roughly equal parts: Parts 1-3 will be each of the theological virtues explaining your understanding of the Church s teaching, based on your reading of this Unit and the Catechism. 53

54 Part Four would suggest which passages of Scripture you could use, plus any other resources, such as liturgical prayers, and the questions you could ask as well as any other thoughts on methodology. Finally you would conclude with a short paragraph (the conclusion) summing up the key points you have made in the essay. Any examples of prayers and other resources are not a part of the word count and should be set out in an appendix. This essay needs to be about 1500 words. Appendix 1:Catechesis on the Parables of Jesus(Next page) Article by Mgr Paul Watson on Catechesis on the Parables of Jesus Catechetical Review 54

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