b) THE NEED FOR THE CATECHISM

"Religious instruction ‑- in other words, catechism"

So we must have instruction, religious instruction!  In other words, catechism.  For the catechism is, in truth, the foundation of this instruction.

I wish I could make you realize all the greatness and importance, all the power this book deserves!

The catechism is the keystone of Christian life.  In the beautiful words of one of the most learned writers of our times, it is the book of books.  Though it looks like a rather modest booklet, yet, except for the Bible, it towers above all other books.  The reason is simple: this book contains, in germ, the most holy and profound teachings left by Jesus Christ to the Church as the most precious of his treasures.  So, not just everything the Pope and bishops teach today but everything they will ever teach, not just Christian dogma but also theology, philosophy, and Catholic literature are the fruits of those catechetical seeds or germs, without which all those fruits would never have come

to light and from which, even now, they draw nourishment and life.  Whoever wants to know all the goodness and beauty of the Catholic catechism must be like one who has a few seeds in his hands.  He is not satisfied with just looking at the seeds but imagines the powers hidden in them.  He considers that those seeds, planted in favorable conditions, will open up gradually and become immense trees, laden with branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits.

The catechism!  Examine it briefly but closely and you will see that this marvelous book, this code of popular wisdom, though  small in volume, contains in itself whatever we most need to know, namely, the knowledge of our purpose in life as well as the means to achieve this purpose.  The catechism adapts itself to all ages, answers the needs of people of all conditions and intelligence, solves all the problems of life in a clear and sure way and is itself capable of forming good Christians and honorable citizens.  With clear, brief, and precise formulas that gradually unfold and expand, this book calls forth faith in children, nourishes it in adults, strengthens and reinforces it in mature people.⁹

"Catechize everywhere and always"

First Communion and Confirmation are the most common occasions.  But they are not enough.  You must catechize the children in church, at home, in the streets, in school, during domestic conversations, during sermons, everywhere and always.  You must be concerned not only with the poor and the peasants, though for these you must have a very special love, but also with the high-born and the middle-class people because all are equally sons and daughters of Jesus Christ and of the Church.  Before the minister of Christ, there are no rich or poor, highborn or plebeian.

Above all, however, you must overcome a serious misconception that has infected many people, namely, that catechism is taught only to children, as if, after having lovingly nursed us with the milk of holy doctrine when we were infants or children, Holy Mother Church were, later on, to leave us to our own devices.  Actually, the Church does not leave us to ourselves, not even for one hour of our existence because her maternity is abiding, constant, and untiring.  Every age and state of life needs special and more abundant doctrinal food.  So keep catechizing the adults.  The catechism must be a powerful

weapon in their hands for winning the terrible battles of life.  Above all, the catechism must teach them to flee from sin, to sanctify their afflictions by long-suffering, to live always with Jesus Christ, imitating his example, and finally to cherish the hope of eternal life.  Catechetical instruction that does not achieve these fruits is not worthy of a minister of Jesus Christ and of the Church.  This kind of catechesis is dead or almost dead.

But there are people who, in a special way, need very diligent and loving attention from you.  These people, as I have told you before, are the deaf-mutes who happen to be in your parishes.  With your help, may they also rapidly achieve knowledge of the truth and be able to sit down reborn at this feast of the spirits.¹⁰

"We must educate, we must educate!"

We must educate, we must educate!  With Christian education we can do anything.  Without it, of what use is everything else?  If society wants to see the arts, literature, and human disciplines flourish, faith must once again give new life to them.  If society wants true progress in science, it is important that the seed of heavenly teachings be scattered widely in the field of the Lord and that the teachings of the Catholic Church be instilled into the hearts of young people from their earliest years (...).

A false knowledge, which is the enemy of faith and of reason itself, must be countered with a knowledge founded on firm, unchanging principles that conform to reason and divine revelation because the dictates of faith and reason cannot contradict each other since God is the supreme Author of both.  Now, the foundation of true knowledge is the catechism: do not forget it.

Catechism must be taught by the parents at home, by the priests in church, by the teachers in school.  From the catechism the children will learn to love their parents, who are the image of the heavenly Father.  From the catechism, subjects will learn to respect authority in their rulers, an authority that comes from God.  From the catechism everyone will learn the love that makes us like God and makes us useful to our brothers and sisters.¹¹

"Let the catechism return to the schools and God with it"

Allow me to speak with the freedom that no one can deny a bishop.  Allow me to express a hope, nay, to address to all of you in the name of God, for the salvation of souls and for the good of civil society itself, a prayer that wells up from the bottom of my heart at this moment.  Let religion return, let the priest return, let the catechism return to all our schools.  Let the catechism return not like a beggar who is hardly allowed to cross the threshold of our home but like a faithful friend, like an old benefactor thrown out in a fit of irritation and unjust anger.

Let the catechism return to the schools and let God return with it!  For where God is not present, there is only darkness.  Where God is not present, there is only the thickest darkness of moral principles.¹²

"Perfecting the human faculties harmoniously"

Instruction, even of the intellect alone, whose first step is the alphabet, is a blessing, a blessing to be spread as widely as, and even more than, other benefits, like a clean environment and personal hygiene.  This instruction is an enrichment of the person, in fact one of the most noble enrichments.  He who opposes it is guilty of treason to humanity.  But just as there is a measure and purpose in everything, instruction must be adapted not only to the various classes of people but also be in harmony with all the perfection a person is capable of.  Perfecting the human faculties harmoniously is called educating, and education comprises body and spirit, the heart, the feelings, the imagination, the will as well as the intellect (...).

Whenever one does not try to religiously train human nature and human dignity in a child; whenever one neglects to form in a child the human being as God intended him, the human being as God created him, the human being as God wanted him to be formed and brought to perfection; whenever one does not pay attention to these things, he betrays, he violates the respect due to a child and to his original greatness.  In fact, by nature human beings are born imitators, as well as free spirits.  Anyone not acquainted with those great truths that find deep resonance in a sincere heart ‑- for the heart is naturally Christian, says Tertullian ‑- anyone not formed to examples of godliness and religious practices will grow up deformed, like a little wild plant bearing

very bitter fruit.  And this is a very hard situation to turn around.  In fact, shaping a young heart to virtue and goodness is easy, but extirpating vices ingrained through the years is so very, very hard.¹³

"Parents should wake up"

But all the efforts and pains of our pastors and our venerable clergy, all the efforts of our good and hard-working teachers of Christian Doctrine will continue to bear very little fruit until such time as parents wake up, realize their sacred responsibility to their children and do something about it.  So I turn to the parents and with all my heart implore them to wake up and remember the serious obligation they have to educate well the children Divine Providence has entrusted to them as a precious deposit.  "Teach your son," says the Holy Spirit (Eccl 30:30).  And St. Paul writes: "Bring up your children with the training and instruction of the Lord" (Eph 6:4).  Parents are always to remember that success or failure in training a human being depends mainly on the first years of a person's life.  God has assured us and experience confirms it every day, one might say, that, once a child takes a certain path, he will never stray from it, not even when he is old (Prov 17:6).

So, fathers and mothers, with the very heart of Jesus Christ, I implore you: do not be like those miserable parents who are concerned with educating their children for temporal comforts and benefits and with making them learn foolish and perhaps harmful things but do not care about their real spiritual and eternal good.  They are more concerned with forming their children to the spirit, the ideals and all the ways of the world than to sentiments of religion, piety and faith.¹⁴

"You parents are to be the first teachers of catechism"

The new needs of the people call for new methods and ways for instilling the Christian spirit into children, strengthening their will for good, illuminating their consciences and turning them toward virtue, refining the children's sentiments, forming ‑- in the sublime words of the Apostle Paul ‑- Jesus Christ in their souls, and lifting up their souls even unto God.  Youngsters are the men and women of tomorrow.  In a few years they will be the fathers and mothers, the

workers, the well-to-do, the merchants, and the judges in our parishes and throughout the whole Diocese.  The easiest and surest way to reform everything is to win them over to God.  In times of peace and faith, good, ordinary pastors with average virtue will do.  But in our day, the cry of the ungodly is no longer heard from afar but is hounding us and wreaking havoc all around us.  The violent hurricane is raging and rampaging and, like an overflowing torrent, threatens to sweep everything away in its flood waters.  So it is necessary that the religious formation of children, stirred up by God in other periods, be brought back to life again in all its strength and that our zeal at least match the corruption of the times.

But, by and large, all the efforts and pains of the clergy will be utterly useless if you do not wake up, dear parents, and realize your obligation to your children and do something about it.  This responsibility, in our wretched times, falls exclusively on your shoulders.  You know that, even where we would expect to find seriousness of thought and good sense, we find instead frivolous and superficial people in abundance who despise all the ancient wisdom of their forefathers and mothers and tread underfoot the history and experience of past generations.  They look on the catechism as a mere nothing, as an old household tool that is now outmoded, an impediment and an obstacle to the prosperity and glory of nations.  As a result, many young people, perhaps brought up on other values, either do not understand the catechism as they should or, with unbelievable foolishness, soon forget it or despise it altogether.  So, parents, you must be the first catechists of your children, because, when you got married, you took this very serious obligation on yourselves.  You became the parents of your children according to the flesh so as to be their parents according to the spirit.¹⁵

"You fathers and mothers have the office and duty of communicating the Church's teaching to your children"

Mothers, I especially remind you that you are expected to give the first religious instructions to your children.  Since they are constantly with you and listen to your voice, they will believe you and obey you over anybody else.  I speak to you, mothers, because, in that mysterious instinct that adorns motherhood alone, you find the resources that make you better suited for this task than anyone

else.  As you make sure your children have food for their body, you must also make sure they have food for their spiritual life as well, by giving them their earliest catechetical instructions.  Those great truths received from the lips of mother will not be erased so easily from the minds and hearts of your children.  By fulfilling this glorious part of the Catholic apostolate entrusted to you, dear Christian mothers, you will make yourselves well-deserving of their souls and of the Church.  But engrave deeply in your hearts and minds, dear parents, that children live by imitation and that your example will do them more good than all your words.

So do not be content with sending your children to Christian Doctrine classes, but take them there personally and on time.  Attend Christian Doctrine yourselves so as to be better prepared to instruct them.  Even if you happened to know everything there is to know about the faith, remember that the more often you hear the truths of religion and reflect on them, the more you will discover in them heavenly light that illuminates and delights the soul.  Remember, too, that you must give your children an example of respect and obedience to the Church, of religious sentiments, and of Christian edification and thus prepare them for a blessed future.  Let these beautiful words of St. Augustine be the norm of your conduct: Priests have the office and obligation of teaching Christian Doctrine to you, dear fathers and mothers, in the house of God, which you are obliged to frequent.  But, in turn, you fathers and mothers have the office and duty of communicating the Church's teaching to your children and those who are entrusted to you.¹⁶