The
following pages are catechetical; that is to say, their purpose is to
catechize, to instruct religiously, those who are listening. But what is
catechism? The word is derived from the Greek verb katechein, a compound verb
that means I echo downward, I shout from the top. Consequently, catechism is a
sounding from above. What does that really mean? To put it plainly, it means
that the voice is from Heaven. The voice of God. But does God speak to us and
is He present during catechetical lessons? Do we actually hear God's own voice?
Without any doubt God is present, since He is always present anywhere and
everywhere. During catechetical lessons God speaks to us through the mouth of
the catechist. If we look at this more closely, catechism is the systematic teaching
that teaches us what we should believe, how we should believe it, and how we
should behave; that is, what our conduct should be and our deeds, and how we as
Christians should worship God in order to be worthy of the name of Christian.
In the first centuries of Christianity, whoever wished to become a Christian
first had to receive religious instruction before being baptized. They had to
learn their religion well first in order to become one of its members. But the
instruction they received was not just dry knowledge. They had to accept the
faith and be ready to make it a part of their life. They had to learn the right
doctrines and the moral principles of their religion, and they had to know what
it was they received in baptism, where they were going, what their duties and
obligations were, and also what were their rights and benefits. This
instruction before baptism was called catechism. Those who attended this
teaching and accepted it were called catechumens. In other words, they made up
the class of catechumens. The Divine Liturgy itself was divided into two parts,
a part for the catechumens and a part for the faithful. The catechumens stayed
only for the first part of the Liturgy. After that they would leave. They could
not attend the Liturgy of the Faithful and, naturally, they were not able to
receive Holy Communion, the Body and Blood of Christ, since they were not
baptized and were not yet members of the Church, members of the Christian
religion, members of the Mystical Body of Christ. This class or group of
catechumens was later eliminated because infant baptism had been introduced. A
child was baptized within a few days or months of its birth, as is still the
practice today. But the neophyte or newly baptized child, even though he was
baptized and was a member of the Church and of the Mystical Body of Christ, did
not know his religion. He had to be instructed, even after baptism; that is, he
had to be taught faith in Christ and the moral principles of his faith. This
obligation to instruct the child in its religion as it grew up was the
responsibility, as it is today, of the godfather or godmother with the
assistance of the parents. But do all godparents and parents have a correct
knowledge of the Christian religion? And are they in the position of giving
good religious instruction to the child? If they are pious Christians, all is
well and good, because they teach the child mainly by serving as an example.
However, the Church has always felt the need to teach faith in Christ, to teach
the moral principles of Christianity, and the duties and rights of Christians
even to those who had already been baptized. In the pages that follow we will
try in simple terms to do the same thing. Follow these lessons and you will
discover what you do and do not know about our Christian religion. Pray that
God will enlighten me to write correctly and will open all of our hearts to
accept His teaching, His Word, as a true seed of Truth that falls on fertile
soil so that it can bear plentiful fruit. O Christ, Who are the Truth, the
Life, and the Way, the True Light that illuminates every one who comes into the
world, make the Light of Your Divine Knowledge to shine in our hearts and open
the eyes of our minds and hearts so that we may understand Your Teachings and
accept Your Word. Although we are baptized, we are also sinners. Before we
leave this earth in death, enable us to turn back to You, to give You our
heart, to become Yours. Make us abide with You and within You, and do You abide
with us. Make us become the branches joined to You, Who are the Vine, so that
we may bear much fruit and work out our salvation.
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