Message sent to the International Catechetics Symposium taking place from July 11 to 14 in Buenos Aires

(ZENIT – Rome, July 12, 2017).- Pope Francis sent a message to the participants of the International Catechetics Symposium, which runs from July 11 until Friday the 14th, reminding them that being catechists “is not a ‘job’” but rather “a gift,” and inviting them “to be creative,” and “to seek different means and ways to proclaim Christ.” The symposium is being held at the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (UCA), in the Villa Devoto neighborhood, reported the news agency Aica.

The text of the message was released today by the Holy See Press Office. The theme of the gathering is: “Blessed are those who believe,” and among the speakers are the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria SJ, and the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, Mons. José Ruiz Arenas.

Below is the text of the letter

To His Excellency Mons. Ramón Alfredo Dus, Archbishop of Resistencia,
President of the Episcopal Commission for Catechesis and Biblical Pastoral
Vatican, July 5, 2017

Dear brother:

Warm greetings to you and to all those participating in the various training meetings organized by the Episcopal Commission for Catechesis and Biblical Pastoral.

Saint Francis of Assisi, when one of his followers insisted that he teach him how to preach, responded this way: “Brother, [when we visit the sick, help children, and give food to the poor] we are already preaching.” This beautiful lesson encapsulates the vocation and task of the catechist.

First of all, catechesis is not a “job” or an external task to the person of the catechist, but rather that the person “is” a catechist and all of life revolves around this mission. In fact, “being” a catechist is a vocation of service in the Church, and what has been received as a gift from the Lord must in turn be transmitted.

Hence, the catechist must constantly return to that first proclamation or “kerygma,” which is the gift that changed his life. It is the fundamental proclamation that must resonate again and again in the life of the Christian, and even more so in the one called to proclaim and teach the faith. “There is nothing more solid, profound, secure, dense, and wise than that proclamation” (Evangelii Gaudium, 165).

This proclamation must accompany the faith that is already present in the religiosity of our people. It is necessary to take charge of all the piety and love potential contained in popular religiosity so that not only the contents of the faith are transmitted but also a true school of formation is created, cultivating the gift of faith received, so that acts and words reflect the grace of being disciples of Jesus.

The catechist walks from and with Christ; he is not a person who starts from his own ideas and tastes, but who allows himself to be looked at by Him, by that gaze that sets the heart on fire. The more Jesus takes the center of our lives, the more He makes us go out of ourselves, un-centers us, and makes us close to others.

This dynamism of love is like the movement of the heart: “systole and diastole”; it concentrates to meet the Lord and immediately opens up, going out of itself for love, to give testimony of Jesus and speak of Jesus, to preach Jesus.

He himself gives us the example: He withdrew to pray to the Father and immediately went out to meet the hungry and thirsty for God, to heal and save them. From this arises the importance of “mystagogical” catechesis, which is the constant encounter with the Word and the sacraments, and not something merely occasional prior to the celebration of the sacraments of Christian initiation. Christian life is a process of growth and integration of all dimensions of the person in a community path of listening and response (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 166).

The catechist is also creative; he seeks different means and ways to proclaim Christ. It is beautiful to believe in Jesus because He is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6), who fills our existence with joy and happiness. This search to make Jesus known as the ultimate beauty leads us to find new signs and forms for transmitting the faith.

The means can be different, but what is important is to keep in mind the style of Jesus, who adapted to the people before Him to make God’s love close. One must know how to “change,” adapt, to make the message closer, even when it is always the same, because God does not change but renews all things in Him. In the creative search to make Jesus known, we must not feel afraid because He precedes us in that task. He is already present in today’s man, waiting for us there.

Dear catechists, I thank you for what you do, but above all because you walk with the People of God. I encourage you to be joyful messengers, custodians of the good and beauty that shine in the faithful life of the missionary disciple.

May Jesus bless you, and may the Holy Virgin, true “educator of faith,” take care of you.

And please, do not forget to pray for me.

Francisco.