To be a Catholic is to be part of a community. It is not an individual project driven by self interest, or a purely private one. To be Catholic is to be communal, institutional and tradition-centered. ~William D. Dinges 1
Five Principles Based on an Augustinian Model of Passing on the Faith De Catechizandis Rudibus (Instructing the Unlearned) In response to Deogratias, a deacon from Carthage 2
Love of God: not a doctrine but a life, not an abstract analysis but a journey, not a theory but an experience. 3
Starting point for developing one s spiritual life: Get to know Jesus John of the Cross 1542-1591 Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book 1, chapter 13 4
Pope Benedict XVI Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction. ~Deus Caritas Est 5
Cardinal Avery Dulles Evangelization should not be seen primarily as a communication of doctrine or even of a message. It means introducing people to a blessed and liberating union with the Lord Jesus, who lives in the community that cherishes His memory and invokes His spirit. To evangelize is never a matter of mere words. It is an invitation to others to enter the community of the disciples and to participate in the new consciousness that disciples alone can bring. 6
The primary source for teaching lies not in the teacher but in the hearer. Augustine spoke of our restless hearts. Teachers give voice to the inner experience of their hearers, the ache for God is the teacher s greatest resource. 7
Father Michael Himes The teacher of faith should keep in mind that faith is a gift, an act of God s selfgiving. Teachers can exemplify it, inspire others and desire the faith, but they cannot give it. Thus the first duty of teaching is prayer. 8
The faith is taught as a narrative. The center is Christ, who died, rose and will come again. From this center the story expands and gradually widens. The presumption is that the past has something to say to us. 9
G.K. Chesterton Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant dictatorship of those who merely happen to be alive at this time. Democracy objects to people being disqualified by the accident of birth; Tradition objects to their being disqualified by the accident of their death. Democracy tells us not to neglect a good man s opinion, even if he cleans our stable; Tradition asks us not to neglect a good man s opinion, even if he is our father. 10
The teacher of faith invites the students into a conversation with the community which includes our ancestors in the faith. ~c.f., Confirmation Rite 11
The General Catechetical Directory Catechetical pedagogy will be effective to the extent that the Christian community becomes a point of concrete reference for the faith journey of individuals. This happens when the community is proposed as a source, locus, and means, of catechesis. Concretely, the community becomes a visible place of faith-witness. It provides for the formation of its members. It receives them as a family of God. It constitutes itself as the living and permanent environment of growth in faith. (GDC #158) 12
Cardinal Avery Dulles The idea of discipleship, as we know it from the New Testament, makes ample room for both freedom and failure. Unlike the bare notion of community, discipleship brings out the demands of membership. The Church is not a club of likeminded individuals, but a venture in which all depend on the community and are obliged to make contributions to the community and its work. The possession of this spirit is seen as the mark of a mature disciple and as a prerequisite of responsible, creative ministry. 13
While there should be a proven method and an apt order, teaching should be not tedious, but in a spirit of cheerfulness. 14
Nothing is more practical than finding God, i.e., than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, What seizes your imagination Will affect everything It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, What you will do with your evenings, How you spend your weekends, What you read, What you know, What breaks your heart, And what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will Decide everything. ~Father Pedro Arrupe, SJ 15
What we have loved, others will love and we will teach them how. ~ William Wordsworth 16