This week's issue of The Evangelist offers a special focus on Catechetical Sunday, and on the various ways in which we as a Church and Diocese strive to fulfill our perennial task of transmitting the Gospel message of Jesus Christ, and make it relevant to the needs and concerns, the hopes and expectations of God's people.
Certainly there are many challenges which make this task most difficult at the outset of this Third Millennium. The secularism, consumerism, individualism, ethical relativism, religious indifference, and tensions rooted in religious and cultural pluralism that prevail within the contemporary milieu all coalesce to undermine our faith tradition, based, as it is, upon revealed truth and objective moral norms.
There is widespread ignorance of and opposition to our conviction about the sacred dignity of persons, and the full range of the Church's moral and social teaching, for example, with regard to abortion, racism, sexism, ageism, militarism, capital punishment, euthanasia, stem-cell research, and the rights of the poor, immigrants and workers.
The media, along with contemporary music and literature, often promote messages that are dismissive of and antithetical to Gospel values.
Focus of catechesis
Because of those and other influences, many Catholics have become lukewarm in their faith, often having only a limited understanding of what the Church believes, teaches and practices, and/or minimal exposure to the Church's guidance and direction.
Others have become easy prey for recruitment into non-denominational, evangelical or fundamentalist churches or into New-Age or other religious movements. And far too many have simply abandoned the Christian faith altogether because of alienation, ignorance or hard-heartedness.
Thus, the task of catechesis -- namely, "the process of transmitting the Gospel as the Christian community has received it, understands it, celebrates it and lives it" -- must be a priority for the Church. In particular, there must be a focus on adult faith formation wherein catechesis is seen not as directed primarily to children and adolescents but as a continuing process from cradle to grave.
Guiding documents
This refocusing of catechesis from an almost exclusive emphasis on children and youth to an inclusive emphasis on adults is highlighted in two recent Church documents:
* the 1997 General Directory for Catechesis, developed by the Vatican Congregation for Clergy; and
* the pastoral plan for adult faith formation in the United States, issued in 1999 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and titled "Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us."
Both of these documents make two things abundantly clear: ongoing adult faith formation must be at the heart of our catechetical efforts, and there must be a corresponding commitment on the part of the Church to provide the resources (both personnel and fiscal) to enable adult faith formation to happen.
'Mature in faith'
Without a commitment to adult faith formation (see list for some forms it takes), people's growth and understanding of faith and spirituality will most likely become stunted at a child or adolescent level. They will be unable to cope responsibly and constructively with life issues like human sexuality, marriage, relationships, parenting, medical or workplace ethics, illness, suffering and death.
Hence, the goal of our bishops' pastoral plan is to form adult Catholics who are "mature in faith and well-equipped to share the Gospel, promoting it in every family circle, in every church gathering, in every place of work and in every public forum. They must be men and women of prayer whose faith is alive and vital, grounded in a deep commitment to the person and message of Jesus."
When the adult members of our Catholic community are so formed, they become role models and witnesses to our young, both to how the Christian life is lived in practice and to the fact that growth in faith is life-long and does not cease with Confirmation, school graduation or adulthood.
Evangelization
Further, ongoing adult faith formation -- wherein our people consciously grow in the life of Christ through experience, reflection, study and prayer -- truly enables the Church to be an evangelizing community, bearing witness in the world to the gift of faith, and to the treasure to be found in Jesus and in the community of His disciples.
In other words, ongoing adult faith formation leads a person not only to a mature relationship with God and the Church but also to becoming a living witness within the wider community to the Gospel values of love, service and justice.
As we prepare to celebrate Catholic Catechetical Sunday, I urge the men and women of our Diocese to heed seriously the call of the Church to see faith formation as a life-long process and to avail themselves of the variety of vehicles or instrumentalities that are available to keep abreast with what is happening in Scripture, liturgy, moral development, the theological and social teaching of our Church, evangelization, ecumenism, pastoral practice, prayer and spirituality.
By "keeping abreast," I mean having a well-balanced understanding of contemporary Church teaching and pastoral practice, one that is fully in accord with the mind and heart of the Church, and not just following the pet theories of one's favorite guru or latching on to the latest spiritual fad.
Young adults
I am particularly pleased by the current initiative within our Diocese to revitalize a ministry to young adult Catholics (ages 18-35). I encourage young adults to join this group as well as to attend the Convening at LaSalle Institute in Troy on Oct. 20, which will focus on the theme "Young Adults: An Untapped Treasure." I also urge young adults from our Diocese to prepare for and participate in the World Youth Day Gathering to be held next July in Toronto, Canada.
Finally, I want to commend the priests, deacons, religious and lay ministers in our parishes, Catholic schools and colleges, who bear responsibility for faith formation in our Diocese, especially adult catechesis, for the leadership they give to this vital ministry.
Their own commitment to life-long formation and to developing the ability to communicate our faith effectively -- drawing appropriately upon the social sciences, contemporary culture and modern technologies as needed -- is truly a marvelous witness to Christian discipleship.
Together, may we continue to grow in faith so that we may fulfill our baptismal call to holiness and ministry, and our sacred mission to transform the world into a more caring and just society. May we never forget that ongoing adult faith formation is the indispensable key to accomplish this urgent goal.
Programs of adult faith formation can take a variety of forms:
* meetings for parents of children preparing for the sacraments of Eucharist, Reconciliation and Confirmation;
* programs that are part of baptismal or marriage preparation, such as the RCIA process or pre-Cana sessions;
* Scripture study and prayer groups;
* courses and study days for teachers in Catholic schools and for catechists in our parish religious education programs, who provide faith formation for our children and adolescents;
* formation evenings for lectors; for Eucharistic, bereavement and youth ministers; for ushers, musicians, parish council members; and for ministers of service to the poor, homebound and hospitalized;
* small faith-sharing groups like Renew;
* Lenten or Advent lecture series;
* involvement with movements like Cursillo, Marriage Encounter, Residents Encounter Christ and the Charismatic Renewal;
* the development of a public policy education network;
* spiritual renewal programs sponsored by parishes, retreat centers or houses of prayer;
* reading The Evangelist and other Catholic magazines or periodicals;
* logging onto various national, diocesan or parish Catholic websites;
* listening to tapes, watching videos or accessing computer learning programs;
* taking courses at St. Bernard's Institute or enrolling in our Diocesan Lay Ministry Formation Program; and
* participation in the annual fall Parish Convening or Spring Enrichment program.