A: In 1935, the Vatican published On the Better Care and Promotion of Catechetical Education, a document that asks every country to acknowledge the importance of the Church’s teaching ministry and to honor those who serve the Christian community as catechists. For the first few years after Catechetical Sunday was established, national catechetical congresses were held in conjunction with the celebration. Since 1971 the USCCB’s Department of Education has produced materials to help parishes celebrate the event at the local level.
Q: The word “catechetical” is unfamiliar to most people. What does it mean?
A: The word might be more familiar than you think. Many Catholics have used the word “catechism” for years, and they know it has something to do with the compendium of the Church’s teachings. The root word, “catechesis,” is from a Greek word meaning “to echo, or resound.” Catechesis is the act of resounding or bringing the Church’s teachings to the world. A catechist is one who teaches in the name of the Church.
Q: Why do we have a special day set aside to commission catechists?
A: Catechesis is a distinct and special ministry in the Church. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church makes clear, “Catechesis is intimately bound up with the whole of the Church’s life . . . her inner growth and correspondence with God’s plan depend essentially on catechesis” (no. 7). This ministry of teaching in the name of the Church has a profound dignity, which is why catechists are formally commissioned by the Church. It is only fitting that we set aside a day to highlight this ministry and invite the entire church community to think about our responsibility to share our faith with others.
Q: How are parents, the primary catechists of their children, recognized on Catechetical Sunday?
A: Parents are truly the primary catechists of their children. They prepare the soil and plant the first seeds of faith. In the National Directory for Catechsis, we read:
While the catechesis offered within the family is ordinarily informal, unstructured, and spontaneous, it is no less crucial for the development of the child’s faith. “In a certain sense nothing replaces family catechesis, especially for its positive and receptive environment, for the example of adults, and for its first explicit experience and practice of the faith.” The catechesis of infants and young children nourishes the beginnings of the life of faith.
“God’s love is communicated to infants and young children primarily through parents." Parents have shared the gift of human life with their children and, through Baptism, have enriched them with a share in God’s own life. They have the duty to nourish it. Their faith, their attitude toward other human beings, and their trust in a loving God strongly influence the development of the child’s faith. Parents are catechists precisely because they are parents. Their role in the formation of Christian values in their children is irreplaceable. They “should speak naturally and simply about God and their faith, as they do about other matters they want their children to understand and appreciate.” (NDC, p. 202-203)
On Catechetical Sunday, we not only highlight the work of catechists in parishes and schools, but we also commend parents and guardians and encourage them to take seriously their role of making their Catholic households a place where faith is passed on to the next generation. This is why the rite of blessing of catechists used on Catechetical Sunday includes an optional blessing of parents and guardians.
