Catechesis

Catechesis (pronounced "cat-uh-kee-sus") is a big word that means education, specifically education in the Christian Faith. 

To Catechize is to teach others about the Christian Faith. And the Catechism of the Catholic Church is so named because it is a summary of teachings of the faith. 

Here is what the Catechism has to say about Catechesis:

Quite early on, the name catechesis was given to the totality of the Church's efforts to make disciples, to help men believe that Jesus is the Son of God so that believing they might have life in his name, and to educate and instruct them in this life, thus building up the body of Christ. 

"Catechesis is an education in the faith of children, young people and adults which includes especially the teaching of Christian doctrine imparted, generally speaking, in an organic and systematic way, with a view to initiating the hearers into the fullness of Christian life." 

While not being formally identified with them, catechesis is built on a certain number of elements of the Church's pastoral mission which have a catechetical aspect, that prepare for catechesis, or spring from it. They are: the initial proclamation of the Gospel or missionary preaching to arouse faith; examination of the reasons for belief; experience of Christian living; celebration of the sacraments; integration into the ecclesial community; and apostolic and missionary witness. 

"Catechesis is intimately bound up with the whole of the Church's life. Not only her geographical extension and numerical increase, but even more her inner growth and correspondence with God's plan depend essentially on catechesis." 

Periods of renewal in the Church are also intense moments of catechesis. In the great era of the Fathers of the Church, saintly bishops devoted an important part of their ministry to catechesis. St. Cyril of Jerusalem and St. John Chrysostom, St. Ambrose and St. Augustine, and many other Fathers wrote catechetical works that remain models for us. 

(CCC 4-8)

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What is the Catechism of the Catholic Church?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) is a compilation of all the teachings of the Christian Faith. It is an enormously helpful tool for self-education, faith formation, and catechesis. And it can be found online at the following link:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

This truly is amazing if you think about it. Two thousand years of history and teachings and you can get the official stance of the Catholic Church on any issue with the click of the button. 

Introduction to the Catechism

Here is what the Catechism itself has to say about its contents:

This catechism aims at presenting an organic synthesis of the essential and fundamental contents of Catholic doctrine, as regards both faith and morals, in the light of the Second Vatican Council and the whole of the Church's Tradition. Its principal sources are the Sacred Scriptures, the Fathers of the Church, the liturgy, and the Church's Magisterium. It is intended to serve "as a point of reference for the catechisms or compendia that are composed in the various countries". 

This work is intended primarily for those responsible for catechesis: first of all the bishops, as teachers of the faith and pastors of the Church. It is offered to them as an instrument in fulfilling their responsibility of teaching the People of God. Through the bishops, it is addressed to redactors of catechisms, to priests, and to catechists. It will also be useful reading for all other Christian faithful. 

(CCC 11-12)

Structure of the Catechism

The Catechism is broken up into four main sections.

Part One: the Profession of Faith - Those who belong to Christ through faith and Baptism must confess their baptismal faith before men. First therefore the Catechism expounds revelation, by which God addresses and gives himself to man, and the faith by which man responds to God (Section One). the profession of faith summarizes the gifts that God gives man: as the Author of all that is good; as Redeemer; and as Sanctifier. It develops these in the three chapters on our baptismal faith in the one God: the almighty Father, the Creator; his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour; and the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, in the Holy Church (Section Two). - (CCC 14) 

Part Two: the Sacraments of Faith - The second part of the Catechism explains how God's salvation, accomplished once for all through Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit, is made present in the sacred actions of the Church's liturgy (Section One), especially in the seven sacraments (Section Two). (CCC 15) 

Part Three: the Life of Faith - The third part of the Catechism deals with the final end of man created in the image of God: beatitude, and the ways of reaching it - through right conduct freely chosen, with the help of God's law and grace (Section One), and through conduct that fulfills the twofold commandment of charity, specified in God's Ten Commandments (Section Two). (CCC 16) 

Part Four: Prayer in the Life of Faith - The last part of the Catechism deals with the meaning and importance of prayer in the life of believers (Section One). It concludes with a brief commentary on the seven petitions of the Lord's Prayer (Section Two), for indeed we find in these the sum of all the good things which we must hope for, and which our heavenly Father wants to grant us. (CCC 17)

Purpose of the Catechism

The purpose of the Catechism is to teach the Truth with Charity.

The Catechism emphasizes the exposition of doctrine. It seeks to help deepen understanding of faith. In this way it is oriented towards the maturing of that faith, its putting down roots in personal life, and its shining forth in personal conduct. (CCC 23) 

To conclude this Prologue, it is fitting to recall this pastoral principle stated by the Roman Catechism: The whole concern of doctrine and its teaching must be directed to the love that never ends. Whether something is proposed for belief, for hope or for action, the love of our Lord must always be made accessible, so that anyone can see that all the works of perfect Christian virtue spring from love and have no other objective than to arrive at love. (CCC 25)

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Love is Not a Feeling

The Popular Understanding of Love is Incorrect

What if I told you that love is not a feeling?

Nor is it a fleeting joy you experience with someone you fancy.  That is the definition of infatuation.  You cannot "fall out of love".  What people mean to say is "I fell out of infatuation".  (No wonder people don't say that...it sounds terrible!)

It is a sad thing that so many people have confused "infatuation" and "love".  Because infatuation doesn't begin to capture a fraction of what true love is all about.  This post hopes to rectify this situation by teaching the true meaning of love.


Love as a Sacrifice

As discussed in the Biblical Definition of Love, the term "love" that we use in society today originated as the Greek word "agape". And in early Christianity, Love came to mean Sacrifice.

But if Love is Sacrifice, our understanding of the language is completely transformed. Love stops being about our feelings and starts being about our actions, our will, and our decisions.

• "I love you" really means "I sacrifice for you"
• "True love conquers all" really means "True sacrifice conquers all" 
• "God is Love" really means "God is Sacrifice"

Sacrifice as a Decision

Everybody knows that making a sacrifice requires willpower. Sometimes even small sacrifices require a lot of willpower. Whether it is going on a diet, giving of your treasure like in the parable of the widow's mite, or laying down your life for another, sacrifices are hard.

So nobody enters into a sacrifice accidentally. In every sacrifice, a mental decision is made to alter behavior away from what you naturally want to do. The decision is key. Without it, no sacrifice would ever be made.

Love as a Decision

Well the same is true of real love, the kind of love Christ had for us on the cross. I guarantee you He wasn't having happy feelings, pleasant thoughts, or even doing what he wanted to do. Rather, He chose to sacrifice His life so that you and I might be made free.

His love is the model after which we base our own love for one another. And to make sure we didn't miss it, He even told us this explicitly:

"This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15:12-13)

So, as Christians, when we say "I love you", we should mean "I love you as Christ loves me", or put another way:

Conclusion

Love is the most celebrated idea in the world. It has been championed time and again as the force that conquers all. Do we really think that "ephemeral happy feelings and nice thoughts" is the greatest thing in existence?

Or is it more likely that the love that has inspired the poets through the ages is the love that Christ showed for His Church, a decision to sacrifice all that you are for another because they are that invaluable and cherished?

I think it's time we started using the real definition of Love, both in what we say and in what we do.

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Additional Material

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(This post is part of a mini-series on love.)

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Other ramifications of this redefinition of love:

• If love is an act of the will then you cannot "fall out of love". Love becomes a decision, every day, to choose the wellbeing of your loved one over yourself. This kind of love does not fail. 
• People thinking love is about happy feelings leads so many to marry for the wrong reason. When the "honeymoon phase" ends, as it always does, what will get you through. Marriage is supposed to be for a lifetime, and that is only possible with the Love of Christ.
• If love is about sacrifice and not about feeling good and Church is about the love of Christ, then we no longer go to Church for what we get, but because of what we give. It is our sacrifice at Mass that makes Church meaningful, not the songs, not the priest, and not the sermon.
• A popular saying is "God is love". This is true, but only if you use the correct definition of marriage. God isn't "happy feelings", God is agape.

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Lastly...Let me just go ahead and get this out of the way now...
YouTube - Jim Carrey SNL Original - What is Love
There.  It's done.  No more temptation.

My Marriage Advice

Once, on a flight from Europe to Texas, I was blessed with a lovely neighbor from London.  She was fun, she was talkative, and she was cute. We had a great time talking about video games, work, flowers, and God.

At one point we began talking about her parents's pending divorce and the future of her relationship with her boyfriend.  At which point she asked me:

"You seem happily married.  How do you make a marriage successful?"

It wasn't a flippant question.  The foundation of her life had just been ripped from under her feet by divorce. She was worried about the future. And I was caught completely unprepared. How do you summarize a lifetime of past lessons and future dreams?

So...I failed.  I offered a few weak platitudes about being nice and the conversation drifted to other topics. When the flight ended we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, but her question stayed with me. It haunted me for months, begging for an answer.

Years passed and now my sister is getting married. She asked me the same question the other day. But this time I was ready! After years of searching for a simple, universal truth that summed up the countless bits of wisdom surrounding marriage, I found the answer in Christ. And I have lived it ever since.

So here it is my one piece of advice, for anybody, on how to make a marriage successful:

"Know that love is a decision, not a feeling."

That's it. Remember that and your marriage will never fail. And the reason it will never fail is because it takes your marriage out of the hands of chance and places it in your own capable hands. It makes "falling out of love" impossible. And it makes "til death do us part" a reality.

Love was never meant to be lowered to just some happy feeling or some fleeting attraction. That wasn't the passion we celebrate in Romeo and Juliet. That isn't the force that conquers all. And that is certainly not what Christ felt when he died on the cross for you.

Love is willing the well-being of your spouse above your own life. You have to choose, each day, to love your wife.  You have to decide, each morning, to love your husband.

Because the happy feelings come and go. They just do.
And the good times cycle with the bad times.  They just will.

It is your "yes" that has the power to outlast anything this life can throw at you.

  

That is the love that has been celebrated through the centuries.

That is the love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
That is the love God has for each one of us.
And that is the love that will make your marriage last.

I love you K.
May God bless your marriage.


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Biblical Definition of Love

Biblical Origins

I think it would be beneficial to explore the roots of the Christian use of "love" in order to re-center ourselves on the truth.

The The New Testament was originally written in Ancient Greek. There are four words for "love" in Ancient Greek.

• Eros - A love that desires to possess the beloved. It is where we get the word "Erotic" from.
• Philia - A mutual affection or friendship.  It is where we get "Philadelphia", the city of brotherly love.
• Storge - A familial affection.  The duty-bound love you have for your family.
• Agape - A love that is innocent or selfless.  An example would be the love you have for someone who is dependent on you, like an infant, for which you won't get anything in return. 

When the Hebrew scholars translated the Old Testament from Hebrew to Ancient Greek, they did not use Eros or Philia once.  They only used Agape.  One of the reasons for this might be because the words "Eros" and "Philia" had been tainted by society and were also used to refer to sexual relationships.

It was still an interesting choice for the scholars because "agape" was used so rarely.  In fact, it was used so infrequently that, until recently, historians hadn't found an example of the noun form of agape outside of Biblical texts!

When the New Testament was written, the scholars used Storge, Philia, and Agape (never Eros).  However, they always used Agape to describe Christ's love.  (See a spectacular example of how this contrast was used in the appendix!)

So, while Agape meant an "innocent love" in pre-Christian Greek.  In the Christian vocabulary, Agape came to mean a sacrificial love.  It is a love that hopes for no return. It is a love modeled after Christ's love for us.

Love came to mean Sacrifice.


Ramifications

If Love is Sacrifice, our understanding of language is completely transformed...

• "I love you" really means "I sacrifice for you"
• "True love conquers all" really means "True sacrifice conquers all" 
• "God is Love" really means "God is Sacrifice" (which fits Christ)

And in transforming our understanding, our actions should be transformed as well.  Love stops being about our feelings and starts being about our actions.

In this light, many of the things people claim to do "for love" are shown to be quite selfish or completely nonsensical.  And more importantly, the Greatest Commandments, issued by Christ, become much more concrete:

• "Love God with all you are" becomes "Sacrifice all you are to God"
• "Love one another as yourself" becomes "Sacrifice for each other as you would for yourself"

Those are much more actionable than the fluffy "have happy thoughts and good feelings for God" that we used to get with the modern definition of "love".


Conclusion

Love means so much more than we have been led to believe.  We've been shortchanged.

We need to recapture the true meaning of love by using this definition of love in conversation and by living this definition of love in our lives.

Yes, it will take a lot of work to retake the word, but...you know...to love something is to sacrifice for it.


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Additional Material

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(This post is part of a mini-series on Love.)

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The story of Jesus questioning Peter three times is famous.  But it takes on profound new meaning when read in the original language of Ancient Greek where distinctions between types of love can be shown.  Read below:

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you AGAPE me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I PHILIA you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." 

He then said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you AGAPE me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I PHILIA you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." 

He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you PHILIA me?" Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you PHILIA me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I PHILIA you." (Jesus) said to him, "Feed my sheep.
John 21:15-17

Tell me that doesn't make the story more valuable!  Here we see Jesus asking, "Do you love me enough to sacrifice for me?" and Peter answering, "Yeah, I love you like a brother".

That was not what Jesus asked.  Peter was dodging the question.  So finally, the third time, Jesus says, "So you love me like a brother huh?" to which Peter replies, "You already know that".  You can almost hear shame in his voice.  (Some scholars in the Church contend this was the first confession of the first pope.)

The Come Holy Spirit Prayer

This is how you pray the "Come Holy Spirit" prayer:

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. 

V. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created.
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth. 

Let us pray.
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Christ Our Lord.
Amen.

Personal Note:

I love praying this prayer before my morning Bible reading. It gets my head in the right spot and helps ensure I am getting the Holy Spirit's message, not making up my own.

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