The word of God: source of catechesis

94. The source from which catechesis draws its message is the word of God:

"Catechesis will always draw its content from the living source of the word of God transmitted in Tradition and the Scriptures, for sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the word of God, which is entrusted to the Church". (²⁹⁷)

This "deposit of faith" (²⁹⁸) is like the treasure of a householder; it is entrusted to the Church, the family of God, and she continuously draws from it things new and old. (²⁹⁹) All God's children, animated by his Spirit, are nourished by this treasure of the Word. They know that the Word is Jesus Christ, the Word made man and that his voice continues to resound in the Church and in the world through the Holy Spirit. The Word of God, by wondrous divine "condescension" (³⁰⁰) is directed toward us and reaches us by means of human "deeds and words", "just as the Word of the eternal Father, when he took on himself the flesh of human weakness, became like men". (³⁰¹) And so without ceasing to be the word of God, it is expressed in human words. Although close to us, it still remains veiled, in a "kenotic" state. Thus the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, has to interpret the word continually. She contemplates the word with a profound spirit of faith, "listens to [it] devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully". (³⁰²)