The Catechetical Review - Communicating Christ for a New Evangelization

Articles Under: Catechesis and Culture

From the Shepherds: Formation in Digital Media Free
In 2020, the Shepherds of the Church gave us a treasure in the new Directory for Catechesis . Dr. Farey was a member of the working party for the bishops on the new Directory and shares additional reflections on its practical implications in this issue and the next two issues. “The new generations are not always formed and equipped culturally to face the challenges that digital society presents. . .. what is at stake is a form of digital illiteracy. Amid unending digital production today’s illiterates will be those who are unable to perceive the differences in quality and reliability... Read more
Measuring Success
There is an uncomfortable reality of spiritual multiplication with which we catechists, ministers, and missionaries must wrestle. That reality is this: spiritual multiplication produces results, but not always in the way we imagine. Often this model of evangelization includes a mathematical formula that is immediately appealing to those of us in the field who labor over reaching more souls for Christ. The formula, in essence, is that if one person invests in three or four people, and then those three or four people each invest in three or four more, then within fifteen to twenty years we could reach over... Read more
Freeing Up for Mission: Critical Steps for the Path Forward Free
Early Memories I had a somewhat magical season of my life that has left lasting memories for me. I was only eleven or twelve. Up until that time, life had been marked by tragedy. My dad had been injured and left paralyzed, one of my sisters had tragically died, my mom had even suffered a nervous breakdown and was away from us for several months. But then all that changed. My dad was miraculously healed after nine years of suffering—that’s an article for another day! After his healing, the whole family moved to the mountains of Arizona for a couple... Read more
Editor's Reflections: Forming Disciples who Make Disciples Free
It was yet another miraculous catch of fish. When Peter saw the fish and heard John say “it is the Lord!” he dove into the water in his zeal to be with the risen Jesus, rather than waiting to bring the boat to shore. After the meal, Jesus took Peter aside and asked, “do you love me more than these?” And then Jesus asked again. And a third time. After each consequent profession of love, which must have brought Peter healing from the wounds he inflicted on himself by each of his three denials, our Lord entrusted a sacred mission... Read more
Sanctifying Your Spending
If you were being investigated and the detective had access to highly detailed records of your personal income and spending, what would this evidence reveal about your Christian commitment? How does your credit card transaction registry provide a clue to the seriousness of your Christian faith? Do these questions sound strange? Oftentimes we aren’t very thoughtful about the relationship between money and faith, yet the way we spend our money reveals quite a bit about who we are and what we value. Spending Money Is a Moral Action Unlike other creatures, human beings possess an innate capacity for truth and... Read more
Youth & Young Adult Ministry: The Use of Media in Youth Ministry
It’s no secret that over the past year the use of media has become a near necessity, causing its importance in our youth programs to skyrocket. The conversation about what it looks like to effectively use media within the realm of youth ministry is more paramount today than it has ever been in the Church’s history. There is certainly no lack of differing perspectives when it comes to the best media practices, and there’s not necessarily “one right way” to engage with the youth culture through media. But there are most definitely some dangers in regard to the use of... Read more
From the Shepherds: The Paradigm of Mercy in the New Directory for Catechesis Free
On June 25, 2020, the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, headed by its president, His Excellency Archbishop Rino Fisichella, presented for the Universal Church a new Directory for Catechesis . The first directory, named the General Catechetical Directory , was issued on April 11, 1971, by the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy and approved by His Holiness St. Paul VI. The second directory, named the General Directory for Catechesis , was promulgated by the same Congregation on August 15, 1997, and was approved by Pope St. John Paul II. In 2013, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI... Read more
A Pagan Poet in Our Eucharistic Prayers Free
St. Paul did his homework carefully before proclaiming Christ to the Athenians. It paid off. In Acts 17, we find St. Paul at the Areopagus preaching about the resurrection of the dead (we will hear this reading during the sixth week of Easter Season, Wednesday, May 12) and introducing God as He in whom “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). This verse probably sounds familiar. Indeed, it is prayed at Mass in Eucharist Prayer I. But there’s an interesting back story to this particular phrase—it is not originally from St. Paul. In fact, he borrowed it... Read more
Recovering Nature and Building Culture in Catechesis
It is not a secret that knowledge of the faith continues to decline. It is tempting to insist simply upon teaching more doctrine, but this overlooks a more fundamental problem. What is catechesis really about? It is not simply knowledge of the faith but knowledge of the living God, a knowledge that includes and goes beyond simply the intellect, as it must include a complete transformation of life. We are not simply missing knowledge of the faith but the entire structure of life and culture that should undergird and support this knowledge. The Cultural Foundation for Catechesis Grace builds upon... Read more
The Eucharist: Source of Cultural Renewal
Western Culture needs renewal. This task of ennobling culture is vast indeed, and requires each of us to be a part of it. There are no sidelines or bystanders. It has been said that “Culture is the root of politics, and religion is the root of culture.” [i] To go a step further, religion rests upon the worship of God, and the Eucharist is at the center of true worship. Therefore, the task of ennobling culture requires ennobling religion and, correspondingly, ennobling worship, at the center of which we find the living God present in the Eucharist. Christian disciples must... Read more