This
weekend, on the 3rd Sunday of September, our Catholic Church
celebrates Catechetical Sunday as designated by our US Bishops. Our
teachers and catechists in religious education will receive a special blessing
today, as just last Sunday we started our new year of religious education here
at St James. Catechetical
Sunday is a great opportunity for our community to reflect upon the role each
person has, by virtue of his baptism, in handing on the faith and being a
witness to the Gospel in the world. Catechetical
Sunday is also an opportunity for all of us to rededicate themselves to this
mission as a community of faith. Our
theme this year is: Safeguarding the dignity of every human person.
These
past few weeks, we have been reflecting upon our Sunday Mass readings from the
Letter of James – this is the 4th Sunday in a row we have had
readings from this letter. If
you have not ever read James in its entirety, I urge you to do so, as it is so
instructive in calling us to live out a vibrant, life-giving faith, urging us
to be doers of the Word of God in our lives and to bear fruits out of our
faith. Even
though this letter was written in Ancient Israel, the shrewd advice and social
commentary contained in James may seem like it is a written in our world
directly for us. And the theme of
Catechetical Sunday – the dignity of each human person – is inherent in today’s
reading from James. James
praises the peacemakers in our communities, but laments those who let their
jealousies and ambitions get the best of them. In
our society, we are told to always want more, to desire something else. It
good to have ambitions and to strive toward something if our goal is fruitful
and constructive and healthy, but James warns us that if we get caught up in a cycle
of bottomless desire, this desire that can never be satisfied, which can lead
to spirit of sourness and bitterness overtaking our lives. There
are a lot of sins and addictions that people struggle with in our world today,
but perhaps the greatest sin in our modern area is our greed and the way we
covet what is not ours. James
directs us to the need to journey as a community in solidarity and unity, where
we work together and affirm one another. Rather than focusing on something that is profound or dramatic or grandiose,
perhaps we need to focus on the values of simplicity, humility, hospitality,
and service – those values will have the greatest affect on our own lives and
on the lives of those around us.
The
call to service that we find in today’s reading from James and from today’s
Gospel can be found in the men and women who serve as teachers and group
leaders and catechists in our religious education classes and in our faith
formation program. They
make a lot of sacrifices in order to be of service to our faith community. And
perhaps we do not express our gratitude and thanksgiving often enough for what
they do.
We
call today “Catechetical Sunday,” but what does that actually mean? We use
the word “Catechism”, and we know that this word has to do with the compendium
of our Church’s teachings. For
those of you that don’t know, there are actually two official Catechisms for
our US Catholic Church. There
is this big green one, which was originally written in Latin at the Vatican and
which has been translated into all the different languages of the world. It is the universal Catechism of our
universal Roman Catholic Church. I
remember reading this book cover to cover when I was in seminary up in
Wisconsin. Then
we have this US Catechism, which was particularly written under the US Bishops
for Catholics here in our own country. Both
these books are important for us to have and to use, to find out what our
Church officially teaches. The
root word for “Catechetical” and “Catechism” and “Catechist” is the word
“Catechesis” – this comes from a Greek word that means “to echo” or “to
resound.” Catechesis is the act of resounding or bringing our Church’s teachings to the
world. And a
Catechist is one who teaches in the name of the Church.
Our
catechists and teachers of religious education bring to life the teachings of
the Church and the Word of God to all members of our faith community, both
young and old alike. We
honor them and celebrate them in a special way today. If all of our religious education teachers,
leaders of adult faith formation and Bible study and prayer groups, CYO advisors,
and RCIA team members would please stand to be commissioned and to receive a
blessing.
For the
pastoral activity of the Church, the cooperation of a great many people is
needed, so that as a community and as individuals we may advance to full
maturity in faith and to continually show forth our faith through the
celebration of the liturgy, through study, and through our manner of life.
Those
who devote themselves to catechesis provide this cooperation. Enlightened by
God’s Word and the Church’s teachings, catechists and teachers impart to others
an initiation or a deeper formation in those realities that they themselves
have learned as truths to be followed in living and to be celebrated in
liturgy. Let us bless the name of the Lord for giving us such co-workers and
pray that through the Holy Spirit they will receive the grace they need in
their service to the Church. Let us
pray:
With
your fatherly blessing, Lord,
strengthen
these your servants
in their
resolve to dedicate themselves as catechists, teachers of religious education,
and leaders in faith formation.
Grant
that they will strive to share with others
what
they themselves learn from pondering your Word
and
studying our Church’s teachings.
Let them
gladly join those they teach in honoring and serving your name.
We ask
this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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