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Sacred Scripture, the Catechism of the
Catholic Church, and Catechesis
127. The Constitution Dei
Verbum of the Second Vatican Council emphasizes the fundamental importance
of Sacred Scripture in the Church's life. Together with tradition, it is the
"supreme rule of faith", since it transmits "the very word of
God" and makes "to resound... the voice of the Holy Spirit".
(435) For this reason the Church desires that in the ministry of the
word, Sacred Scripture should have a pre-eminent position. In concrete terms,
catechesis should be "an authentic introduction to lectio divina, that
is, to a reading of the Sacred Scriptures done in accordance to the Spirit who
dwells in the Church". (436) "In this sense, to describe
Tradition and Scripture as sources for catechesis means that catechesis must
imbibe and permeate itself with biblical and evangelical thought, spirit and
attitudes by constant contact with them. It also means that catechesis will be
as rich and as effective only to the extent that these texts are read with the
mind and heart of the Church". (437) In this ecclesial reading of
the Scriptures, done in the light of Tradition, the Catechism of the
Catholic Church plays a most important role.
128. Sacred Scripture and the
Catechism of the Catholic Church are presented as two basic sources of
inspiration for all catechetical activity in our time.
– Sacred Scripture as, "the word of God
written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit", (438) and the Catechism
of the Catholic Church, as a significant contemporary expression of the
living Tradition of the Church and a sure orm for teaching the faith, are
called, each in its own way and according to its specific authority, to nourish
catechesis in the Church of today.
– Catechesis transmits the content of the
word of God according to the two modalities whereby the Church possesses it,
interiorizes it and lives it: as a narration of the history of salvation and as
an explicitation of the Creed. Both Sacred Scripture and the Catechism of
the Catholic Church must inform biblical as well as doctrinal catechesis so
that they become true vehicles of the content of God's word.
– In the ordinary development of catechesis
it is important that catechumens and those to be catechized can have trust in
both Sacred Scripture and the local catechism. Catechesis, by definition, is
nothing other than the living and meaningful transmission of these
"documents of faith". (439)
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