Catechesis
Catechesis is the formation that the future baptised person must receive to prepare for Baptism or to live their Baptism more fully. Catechesis, since the time of the Church Fathers, has always had four parts: the Creed, the Sacraments, the Commandments, and the Our Father. However, catechesis as we understand it (both yesterday and today) only provides the foundations of faith. Furthermore, it does so in a “dogmatic” manner, or rather “from above,” as if the catechist were saying: “This is how you must believe, this is how you must celebrate, this is how you must act and live, and this is how you can pray.”
Catechising and Making Disciples
Today, we easily associate two things: “making disciples” and “catechising.” We readily say that catechising is “making disciples,” helping the baptised to become disciples of Christ. Or we say that in order to “make disciples,” one must catechise them or provide adult formation. It seems to me that we are hasty in this conclusion, as “making disciples” is a far deeper reality than simply having received the fundamental elements of faith.
Two Ways of Living Catechesis
One could even say that there are at least two ways of receiving and integrating these elements of faith—of believing in them, celebrating them, living them, and praying them. These two ways also reflect the two different understandings of what it means to “be a disciple” of Christ.
There is one way that does not involve a living relationship with Christ but only a general faith (distant) relationship with Him. Then there is another way of being a disciple, of integrating and living out the elements of catechesis—a way that involves a real encounter with Christ, a daily familiarity with Him, and a commitment to following Him.
The First Consequence
For the first way, receiving catechesis is sufficient and fulfilling. But in the second way, the initial catechetical formation with its four parts—even, and especially, that offered to adults—is not enough to sustain a daily relationship with Christ. It is an excellent and necessary foundation, but it is insufficient for a vibrant and intense spiritual life. Growth is needed. And growth needs nourishment and support.
Moreover, we can easily observe that basic catechetical formation does not chart the path to holiness, even though this call is implicitly present. Basic formation is the solid and necessary foundation of faith, but it is not the growth of the edifice.
The Richness of the Church’s Spiritual Formation
The richness of the development of mystagogy and, above all, of spiritual formation throughout the life of the Church prevents us from thinking that catechesis alone is sufficient. That being said, given its foundational nature and its normative role in faith—and in this sense, it implicitly contains everything, just as Baptism contains everything within it—we have this unfortunate tendency to ignore the richness of spiritual development and to force everyone to think that catechesis alone is enough! We convince ourselves that it is enough to make saints! We reduce and limit Christian doctrine to catechesis! Sometimes, this even reaches alarming levels of ignorance!
The Universal Call to Holiness
How should we understand “becoming a disciple” or “being a disciple” in relation to the question of the universal call to holiness? Is “becoming a disciple,” as understood by a particular catechist, truly capable of leading someone to holiness? What are the means that will lead them to holiness? Will we continue to say that catechesis alone is enough?
Baptism and Consecration
When the Second Vatican Council speaks of religious life, it states that it is not something separate or additional to Baptism but rather the unfolding of baptismal grace itself—its deepening. This is a fundamental clarification that shifted the entire Church from a tripartite to a bipartite division. Previously, there were the baptised, the consecrated, and the clergy. Through this new theological adjustment, there are now only two categories: lay baptised persons and the clergy. Since the consecrated are not a third order in the Church, they simply live out the development of baptismal grace. They do not receive a different grace, nor do they belong to a third order within the Church, which is now “reduced” to two categories or orders. They receive a development of the the baptismal grace.
Consecration Directly Aims at Perfection
Religious consecration directly aims at the perfection of charity; its members live the call to holiness in an intense and privileged manner.
A Proven Doctrine That Leads to Perfection
That being said, when the Council speaks of what is necessary for every religious life, it states clearly that a new way of life is required (a Rule to follow) and that a “sure” or “proven” doctrine that leads to holiness is also necessary. This doctrine is part of God’s Revelation, has developed throughout the Church’s history, and has revealed the depths of Gospel understanding. Consider Saint Teresa of Avila or Saint John of the Cross and the doctrine and spiritual formation they offer us.
There is a spiritual doctrine, a living spiritual tradition that develops within the life of the Church and that forms—or can form—a doctrinal corpus. Consider the different “summas” of spiritual theology that have appeared at various moments in Church history. Consider also the great masters and prophets whom the Lord has sent to explain what spiritual formation is.
Note: Some might argue that the fourth part of the catechism is sufficient for spiritual formation. However, when we compare this section to true spiritual formation, the difference is striking. Consider its content—essentially a basic explanation of the Our Father—alongside the vast spiritual doctrine developed by the many masters God has sent to the Church over the past twenty centuries. There is simply no comparison.
Catechesis and Spiritual Formation
We can clearly see the light that comes from religious life and spiritual doctrine! Normally, this doctrine and formation lead to the perfection of charity—and is not the perfection of charity the very definition of holiness?
All the more reason, if the consecrated need a proven doctrine that leads to holiness (or to the perfection of charity), then all the laity—all the members of the Church—vitally need a proven doctrine that leads them to the holiness to which they are all called.
Thus, basic catechesis is in no way sufficient. It is necessary, just as Baptism is necessary for every Christian life. But the seed of Baptism is called to grow and unfold through the Call that Christ addresses to the Christian at a certain point, inviting them to follow Him more closely in their state of life.
The Need to Establish the Doctrinal Corpus of Spiritual Formation
The Church of tomorrow has the responsibility to establish—just as it did for catechesis—a corpus of spiritual formation that is valid for all, even before speaking of spiritual families (different spiritualities) or dividing doctrine. A foundational doctrine must now emerge to illuminate the path to the call to holiness, marking out the steps and indicating what must be done at each stage to progress etc.
Note: The New Testament as the Primary Reference
Moreover, we must not be naive. We must recognise that the New Testament presents a deepening of understanding over the course of different moments of composition. At the very least, we can identify three generations, even if the first can be divided further. If we retain only the major documents, we might distinguish the following generations:
- Paul, Matthew, Mark, Hebrews
- Luke-Acts
- The Johannine corpus
This distinction also reflects stages of deepening in the Christian message—the Gospel. There is no contradiction; rather, there is deepening and development. Here too, we see three or four ways of being disciples—three if we keep the groups above, four if we separate the first group into two: Paul-Hebrews and Matthew-Mark.
It would be far too simplistic if, in evangelising and “making disciples,” we retained only one way of understanding what discipleship entails. It would even be dangerous. Reducing all New Testament authors to the same level would diminish the richness of its content.
Thus, from the outset, we cannot simply use the expression “making disciples” from Matthew 28. In this sense, not only must catechesis return to its sources, but it must do so while taking into account the layers of composition and development present in the New Testament.
It is a fundamental mistake to limit catechesis solely to the teachings of the Church Fathers and the early centuries. Catechesis began with the first evangelisation, in the first century, and the first catechetical documents are the Gospels themselves!