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INTENTION : |
Let us pray for the catechists, summoned to announce the Word of God: may they be its witnesses, with courage and creativity and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
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THE MINISTRY OF CATECHIST
Catechesis is not a "job". It is not a task that is external to the person of the Catechist. In fact, "being" a catechist is a vocation of service to the Church received as a gift from the Lord. It should be transmitted in one's turn.
Catechists must constantly return to that first announcement of "kerygma", which is the gift that changed their life. It is the fundamental proclamation that must continuously resound in the life of Christians.
"Nothing is more solid, profound, secure, meaningful and wisdom-filled than that initial proclamation" (Evangelii Gaudium, n. 165).
The Catechists walk from and with Christ. They are not persons who set out with their own ideas and tastes, but rather who let themselves be looked at by Him, by that gaze that makes the heartburn.
The more Jesus occupies the centre of our lives, the more He allows us to come out of ourselves; He decentres us, and brings us closer to others. This dynamic of love is like the hearts movement: "systole and diastole"; they concentrate on encountering the Lord and immediately opening up, coming out of themselves for love, to bear witness to Jesus and speak of Jesus, to preach Jesus.
He gives us the example of himself: He would retire to pray to the Father and then go immediately to meet those hungry and thirsty for God, heal them, and save them.
This is the basis of the importance of "mystagogic" catechesis, which is the constant encounter with the Word and with the sacraments and not merely occasional before the celebration of the sacraments of Christian initiation.
The Christian life is a process of growth and integration of a person's dimensions on a community journey of listening and answering (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, n. 166).
Furthermore, Catechists are creative; they seek to use different means and forms to proclaim Christ. It is beautiful to believe in Jesus because He is "the way, the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6) who fills our existence with joy and cheerfulness.
This endeavour to make Jesus known as the highest form of beauty brings us to encounter new signs and ways to transmit the faith.
The means may be different but what is essential is to keep in mind the style of Jesus, who adapted to the people He had before Him to bring them closer to the love of God.
Though it is always the same, one must know how to "change" to adapt to bring the message closer because God does not change but renews all things in Him. In the creative endeavour to make Jesus known, we must not have fear because He is ahead of us in this task. He is already in our midst, and awaits for us wherever we are.
"Dear catechists, I thank you for what you do, but primarily because you walk with the People of God. I encourage you to be joyful messengers, custodians of the good and beauty that shines through the faithful life of the missionary disciples."
Pope Francis
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