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The biblico-theological formation of the
catechist
240. Besides being a witness,
the catechist must also be a teacher who teaches the faith. A
biblico-theological formation should afford the catechist an organic awareness
of the Christian message, structured around the central mystery of the faith,
Jesus Christ.
The context of this doctrinal formation
should be drawn from the various areas that constitute every catechetical
programme;
– the three great eras in the history of
Salvation: the Old Testament, the life of Christ and the history of the Church.
– the great nuclei of the Christian message:
the Creed, the Liturgy, the moral life and prayer.
In its own level of theological instruction,
the doctrinal content of the formation of a catechist is that which the
catechist must transmit. For its part, "Sacred Scripture should be the
very soul of this formation". (218) The Catechism of the
Catholic Church remains the fundamental doctrinal reference point together
with the catechism proper to the particular Church.
241. This biblico-theological
formation must contain certain qualities:
a) In the first place, it should be of a summary nature and correspond to
the message to be transmitted. The various elements of the Christian faith
should be presented in a well structured way and in harmony with each other by
means of an organic vision that respects the "hierarchy of truths".
b) This synthesis of faith should be such as to help the catechist to
mature in his own faith and enable him to offer an explanation for the present
hope in this time of mission: "The situation today points to an
ever-increasing urgency for doctrinal formation of the lay faithful, not simply
for a better understanding which is natural to faith's dynamism, but also in
enabling them to ?give a reason for their hope' in view of the world and its
grave and complex problems". (219)
c) It must be a theological formation that is close to human experience
and capable of correlating the various aspects of the Christian message with
the concrete life of man "both to inspire it and to judge it in the light
of the Gospel". (220) While remaining theological it must in some
fashion adopt a catechetical style.
d) It must be such that the catechist "will be able not only to
communicate the Gospel accurately, but also able to make those being taught
capable of receiving it actively and of discerning what in their spiritual
journey agrees with the faith". (221)
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