Catechetical Methodology: Teaching Holistically

This is the second article in the series on catechetical methods, methods which are drawn from pedagogical principles. To remind ourselves of the purpose of this series: the principles of the pedagogy of God have recently been explained in the form of twelve ‘keys’ discerned from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and elucidated in the book, Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Craft of Catechesis.[i] This series suggests concrete ways of incarnating these in catechetical methods and practice. The first key we explored in this series was that of ‘gracefulness’ - that is, ensuring the primacy of grace in one’s catechesis. The second key is ‘wholeness’, or a catechesis that addresses all ‘four dimensions of the Christian life’.[ii] We are called to hand on the treasure of the faith ‘from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayer’.[iii] ‘The Catechism calls upon us to learn and to teach holistically, the whole faith for the whole person’.[iv] This indicates to us that our catechetical programmes and individual sessions are to be designed and planned in such a way that all four aspects of the faith (doctrine, sacraments, morals and prayer) are integrated into them so that the four dimensions of the Christian life are always nourished. This particular article will serve simply as an introduction to further articles in this series that will come later, one on each of the four dimensions, offering further specific details. Our catechetical sessions are to be designed and planned so that all four dimensions of the faith are integrated into them.