The Catechetical Review - Communicating Christ for a New Evangelization

Holistic Catechesis: A Renewed Approach

Authored by R. Jared Staudt in Issue #33.4 of The Sower
What is an effective and truly engaging model for Catechesis? R Jared Staudt argues that a new approach is needed, one that cultivates every aspect of faith to create a dynamic experience of the Christian life for those being catechized. In a short piece entitled “Models of Catechesis,” Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., describes various approaches to catechesis practiced by the Church in the twentieth century. Foremost among these Dulles lists doctrinal catechesis, which “relies heavily on the authority of Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church,” and whose “objective is to produce Christians who are confident and orthodox in their faith.”[i] It is not surprising that a dire crisis in both confidence and orthodoxy afflicted the Church in the late twentieth century when doctrinal methods of catechesis were virtually abandoned.[ii] In what follows, I will argue that new approaches to catechesis, rather than being completely abandoned, should be integrated in a holistic fashion in which the doctrinal method holds priority. Such “holistic catechesis” will lead to a vibrant spiritual life for those catechized in which the faith that is learned is also encountered and, ultimately, lived out.

The rest of this online article is available for current subscribers.

Start your subscription today!


This article is from The Sower and may be copied for catechetical purposes only. It may not be reprinted in another published work without the permission of Maryvale Institute. Contact [email protected]

Articles from the Most Recent Issue

Editor’s Reflections: Eucharistic Communion and Seeing Those in Need
By Dr. James Pauley
Free The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that receiving the Eucharist “commits us to the poor” (1397). Why is this so? Receiving the Eucharist means that we enter into union with the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. And being in Holy Communion with Jesus himself means something profound. Let’s consider one facet of this great mystery.... Read more
The Anawim and the Kerygma
By Colin and Aimee MacIver
Sarah: aged and barren. Joseph: rejected, betrayed, and enslaved. Moses: desperately cast afloat in a basket. Daniel: sent to death by lions. Mary: unknown, unmarried, unbelieved. Salvation history is the story of the poor ones, the bowed down, the lowly—the anawim , as they are named in Hebrew. In both the Old Testament and the New, God tends to... Read more
The Spiritual Life: Poverty, Purity of Heart, & Eucharistic Living
By Sr. Alicia Torres, FE
Free This article is part of a 3-year series dedicated to promoting the efforts of the National Eucharistic Revival in the United States. “The Body of Christ.” “Amen.” Each time we participate in Mass, we have the opportunity to encounter the Lord Jesus in the most intimate way through the reception of Holy Communion. This moment is the most practical... Read more

Pages

Watch Tutorial Videos

We've put together several quick and easy tutorial videos to show you how to use this website.

Watch Now