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Divine pedagogy and catechesis
143. Catechesis, as
communication of divine Revelation, is radically inspired by the pedagogy of
God, as displayed in Christ and in the Church. Hence, it receives its
constitutive characteristics and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it sets
out a synthesis to encourage a true experience of faith, and thus a filial
encounter with God. In this way, catechesis:
– is a pedagogy which serves and is included
in the "dialogue of salvation" between God and the person, while
giving due emphasis to the universal end of this salvation; with regard to God
it underlines divine initiative, loving motivation, gratuity and respect for
our liberty; with regard to man it highlights the dignity of the gift received
and the demand to grow continually therein; (495)
– it accepts the principle of the
progressiveness of Revelation, the transcendence and the mysterious nature of
the word of God and also its adaptation to different persons and cultures;
– it recognizes the centrality of Jesus
Christ, the Word of God made man, who determines catechesis as "a pedagogy
of the incarnation", and through whom the Gospel is to be proposed for the
life and in the life of people;
– it values the community experience of
faith, which is proper to the people of God, the Church;
– it is rooted in inter-personal relations
and makes its own the process of dialogue;
– it conducts a pedagogy of signs, where
words and deeds, teaching and experience are interlinked; (496)
– draws its power of truth and its constant
task of bearing witness to it, since the love of God is the ultimate reason for
his self-revelation, from the inexhaustible divine love, which is the Holy
Spirit. (497)
Thus catechesis takes the form of a process
or a journey of following the Christ of the Gospel in the Spirit towards the
Father. It is undertaken to reach the maturity of the faith "given as
Christ allotted it" (Eph 4,7) and according to the possibilities
and the needs of everyone.
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