The Catechetical Review - Communicating Christ for a New Evangelization

Youth & Young Adult Catechesis: Sharing the Gospel Message with Adolescents

Authored by Bob Rice in Issue #31.4 of The Sower
The Catechism asks a question that is so simple and yet is one that many of us have never thought to ask: ‘Why did the Word become flesh?’ The amazing answer is the heart of the Gospel message and the missionary discourse that we invite teenagers to hear and accept in their lives. There is nothing more dramatic than the story of our salvation, but in order to understand it we must tell it like any other story: in order. What if we just jumped right to last chapters of Lord of the Rings? Frodo throws the ring into the fire. Without knowing what the ring was about, the journey they had taken to get there, or what would have happened if they didn’t, it’s just an interesting moment that seems to be important but you wouldn’t know why. And I think that is exactly how teenagers view the cross. They know it is important (because they see it everywhere), they are sorry that Jesus died and think it’s cool that he did, but so what? What does it mean to them?

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