Each year, the Catholic Church in the United States designates the 3rd Sunday in the month of September as “Catechetical Sunday.” Catechetical Sunday is a day on which we celebrate and pray for the Church’s mission to teach the Gospel to all people. Each year there is a theme for Catechetical Sunday: this year’s theme is “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened” from the 11th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. This theme reminds us of the invitation we receive from our Lord to follow him and the promise that he doesn’t want to add to our burdens; he wants to lighten them.
Our catechists and teachers of religious education are to respond to the call that all of us have: to share the gift of faith with others, even as we deepen our own faith. This call can come to us in different ways, but, ultimately, this call comes from God, through the Holy Spirit working in us, guiding us, and inspiring us.
This quote from Matthew’s Gospel starts with an invitation: “Come to me.” Jesus’ directive is for all to come; he is not just inviting a privileged group. That is why we at our parishes of Immaculate Conception and Holy Savior offer different liturgies and formation activities to welcome everyone, including our children, youth, and adults. From our youth group and religious education program, to our monthly evening programs for adults to our young at heart monthly luncheons, we are trying to invite everyone in different ways. That is why we too are reaching out beyond our parish community. Our children and youth have outreach events with the homeless in Jackson, nursing home residents here in the Clinton, and the Clinton fire fighters. Our adults help upkeep the lawn and gardens at the Carmelite monastery. And as you know that through my ministries as a priest, I make time in my busy schedule for outreach at the VA hospital, at the state and federal prisons, and with the Carmelite community in our Diocese. We reach out and minister to all, especially those who are sometimes forgotten.
Jesus singles out those who feel overwhelmed by life, specifically telling all who labor and are burdened to come to him. Jesus proclaims his Good News to all. When we come to Jesus, laying down our burdens and casting them upon him, we are opening ourselves up to his ministry and his message, we are opening ourselves up to spiritual growth, we finding rest from our burdens and to all that weighs us down.
Our catechists and teachers of religious education have a responsibility is also to reach out to their faith community. Pope Francis said that they are to be "shepherds with the smell of their sheep.” They are to be with their sheep and to grow in faith with their sheep. Catechists must be like shepherds who invite everyone to celebrate the sacraments. The lost, the disgruntled, the confused, and those who are hurt or in pain need someone to ask them to meet Jesus in the sacraments so that they may lay down their burdens and rest. Our catechists need to be ready to explain why they have hope in their midst of their challenges and struggles. We all need to share our stories with others, to share our hurts, our struggles, and our burdens.
We in the Diocese are undergoing a reimagining process of our ministry and our parish life. We in the US Catholic Church are going through a Eucharistic renewal, which also has hopes of encouraging a parish revival within the parishes throughout the country. We need to see this Gospel quote from Matthew today as challenging us to look for creative ways to invite people to our faith community. It is not only our priests, deacons, church leaders, parish staff, and catechists who are called to be inviting, but all our parish community. Everyone in the Church, and those outside of the Church, should feel the invitation to come to Jesus through our liturgies, through our activities and small group gatherings, through our religious education programs and social events, to help individuals to come to know Jesus in a more intimate way.
Our second reading today from the letter of St Paul to the Romans reinforces this same message, telling us that we do not live for ourselves and we do not die for ourselves. We are to live and die for the Lord. We are to live and die by the values of our faith.
I always enjoy celebrating Catechetical Sunday here in the parish. It is so important for us to emphasize our program of religious formation and to thank all those involved. May we hear this invitation that our Lord Jesus Christ gives us today.
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