Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Live your faith, Pope exhorts catechists

Live your faith, Pope exhorts catechists

Last updated on: September 28, 2013 at 6:52 pm by CNA Daily News

Live your faith, Pope exhorts catechists 2013-09-28T18:52:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Vatican City, Sep 28, 2013 / 12:52 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis met with a group of catechists from around the world on Friday, encouraging them to live a life of witness for the faith rather than simply catechizing as a job.

“Be catechists, don’t work as catechists,” the Pope said to a group of two thousand gathered in the Paul VI audience hall in Rome on September 27. “Being a catechist is a vocation.”

The pontiff stressed the importance of living a life of witness, because as Benedict XVI had noted, the Church does not grow through proselytizing, but through attracting, and that which attracts people is a life that witnesses to the gospel.

“People see the gospel in our lives: let them read the gospel,” said Pope Francis.

In order to live the gospel, we must remain with Christ.

“The first thing, for a disciple, is to be with the Teacher, to listen to him, to learn from him. And this always matters, it is a journey that lasts the whole of life!”

The Pope then asked the participants, “how do you live, remaining with Christ?”

When someone goes to pray before Jesus in the tabernacle, “you look at him, but do you let him see you? Allow him to look at you!” encouraged Pope Francis.

It is in this union with the Lord that we find the strength to go out of ourselves in order to share the gospel with others, he explained.

These evangelization efforts must bring us to the periphery, because that is where God himself goes.

Pope Francis reflected on the story of Jonah, who was called by God out of his “calm and orderly life” to go the city of Nineveh, which was “beyond his schema, at the periphery of his world.”

This story teaches us that “God is not afraid of the periphery.” In fact, “if you go to the periphery, you will find him there,” explained the Pope.

He then went on to give an example of how catechists could do this.

“In Buenos Aires, there are many children who don’t even know how to make the sign of the Cross! This is a periphery. We must go there.”

Pope Francis went on to emphasize the need for “creativity” in catechesis, because “you need to know the circumstances in which you preach the gospel.”

Although the gospel message never changes, we must be able to adapt our methods according to our circumstances. “God is not rigid,” he said.

Moreover, said the Pope, Christian catechists cannot remain “closed off in our group, in our parish, in our movement, in our environment.” Such an attitude leads to a person being “sick.”

Rather, we need the kind of catechist who “has the courage to take the risk to go out” preaching the gospel.

Sue Petritz of Sussex England, who works with adults entering the Catholic Church, was present at the meeting. She found Pope Francis’ words motivating.

“He’s just a great inspiration to catechists everywhere, because if the Pope can do it and he uses Jesus as his example, we can do it as well. He inspires us,” she told CNA.

The meeting with Pope Francis was part of the International Conference on Catechesis organized for the Year of Faith. Two thousand catechists from around the world gathered from September 26-28 in Rome to consider the theme of “Catechist: A Witness of Faith.”

One participant from Portugal, Christina, expressed her joy in being part of an international gathering.

“I think it’s very important to meet with people from other countries and other cultural experiences – and then we feel that we really are brothers and sisters that have a common Father,” she said.

The conference included the meeting with Pope Francis as well as various presentations on catechesis and a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Peter.

Vatican

Previous Post

September 28, 2013

Gossip helps devil undermine Church, Pope says

Next Post

September 28, 2013 African Catholics stress importance of Bible in faith life

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which New Testament book has the most Old Testament quotes?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Matthew Romans Hebrews Revelation