Whole Community Catechesis
"Fill my cup Lord,
I lift it up, Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!
"
What is Whole Community Catechesis?
Whole Community Catechesis is an approach to parish faith formation through which children, youths, and adults are invited to participate in faith formation throughout the year. The entire community thus becomes the focus of all we do in catechesis. In "Whole Community Catechesis", what happens in the Sunday assembly for Mass is closely connected to what happens in the faith formation throughout the Parish.. The liturgy of the word from Sunday is the starting point.
The absolute bedrock of whole community catechesis is that the community “breaks open the Word” proclaimed in the Sunday Assembly for the entire week. The Sunday Assembly at Mass is the font from which all this flows. It's the font from which the whole community draws the sweet water of faith-sharing and self-understanding as the Body of Christ and the People of God. Secondly, The Catholic Christian family is where faith is lived every day. We don't teach or even encourage Christian homemaking as part of faith formation. And yet, we all know that, regardless their age, members of every household have their most profound formation right there, in the living rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms of their home. So, in whole community catechesis, there is a strong focus on developing Christian families. Christian home-making becomes very important.
The third part in the framework of whole community catechesis also involves a change from the present way of thinking. Whole community catechesis is not an optional parish program for which one enrolls and pays tuition to participate. Catholics don't “enroll” for the Sunday Assembly at Mass or “pay tuition” to participate there. Whole community catechesis starts with the premise that faith formation or learning about the faith is part and parcel of being Christian. It isn't optional. It's central, like being in the Sunday Assembly at Mass.
The life of faith, following the Way of Christ, is really quite spontaneous. It really is a movement, much more than a program. The Spirit seems to ebb and flow in our lives, inspiring us toward this and urging us toward that. The Spirit of Christ, we know, cannot easily be contained or defined. Life is like that, too. We have up times and down times. We have happy times and sad times. There is death everywhere, and then it's followed by a surprising uprising of life in its place. It flows. Life is a movement, not a program. Whole community catechesis helps us lead people to Christ, which means that by grace, they become persons of justice, persons working endlessly for peace, persons taking the part of the powerless, persons with a heart for the poor, persons eager to be forgiving, generous and hospitable. To be in Christ is to live as Christ taught his disciples to live. It's to enter into the death of the Lord in all the ways I just listed --- and more! And then it's to invite others to do this, too.
Knowing about religion is not the same as experiencing the presence of the Risen Christ and turning one's heart over to Christ through belief. Whole community catechesis remedies this by combining conversion opportunities with instruction, all linked by the connection to the Sunday Assembly. The pathway to come to know Christ, involves building homes of faith, strengthening the role of the family, and creating intergenerational faith sharing groups. As part of this strengthening process, once a quarter, children and parents will be asked to gather for a two-hour mini-retreat. There will be faith sharing and praying in age appropriate groups and then coming together as one household of faith. There are also plans to have a Parish “Living with Christ” retreat this summer.
To strengthen the community, look to see announcements inviting people to attend a series of “Appreciating Our Catholic Faith” workshops in which participants meet in small groups and as one intergenerational community. We will also soon be announcing upcoming workshops such as Catholic Christian parenting, marriage encounter, and having a Heart like Jesus.
The whole community catechesis paradigm will depend on well-formed and trained lay leadership. This new paradigm will rely on at least several trained leaders who meet basic theological and ministerial competencies. The St. Catherine Whole Community Catechesis core team will be composed of Deacon Bobby Peregrino, Sis. Janet Brandon, Sis. Daisy Wiraatmja, Bro. Angelo DeVigal, Bro. Dean Castro, and Bro. Jim Canfield. Subsets of volunteers are needed and this is where we need your help. In Luke 12:47-48 Jesus states in his parable of the faithful servant and the evil servant “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed of him they will ask the more.” Many of you have been blessed with many graces with the expectation that they would one day be put to use in God's vineyard and in feeding and tending God's sheep. Your Parish community needs you.
The Theme for this Liturgical Year is: “Fill My Cup Lord I Lift It Up To You”
"I bow my knees before the Father, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen."
(Ephesians 3: 14-21 Revised Standard)
If you feel you have a talent to share with the Whole Community Catechesis Team contact any member of the core team or complete the form below and click the submit button.