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Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Craft of Catechesis

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This work is immensely helpful to faithful catechists because it underlies the strengths of the "Cathechism of the Catholic Church," which is much more than a key and utterly reliable reference for the faith, because it is so carefully crafted by the bishops of many nations in its compilation and writing and faithfully represents a 2000 year old Tradition of the Church. It builds upon the important insights given by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn in their lucid and penetrating "Introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church."

The authors, who are among the most distinguised catechists in the Church, believe that the Catechism is "a place of personal encounter (see CCC 2563)and it is through this encounter that a truly Spirit-led pedagogy can emerge and inspire one's teaching methods, a pedagogy flowing directly from one's prayerful understanding of the Faith. It is in and through this encounter that the authentic craft of catechesis can arise."

Hence they show how the Catechism itself reflects the craft of catechesis or the teaching of the faith. They remind us that the very word "catechesis" coming from a Greek word, means "to re-echo." They believe "it is structured, organized and written to support a deeply contemplative appreciation of the doctrines of the faith." It is carefully reasoned yet like the faith itself, cannot be fully grasped without "a gaze of faith" that comes from the grace of the Holy Spirit.

They, show for example, how the Catechism is focused upon four pillars and around the following personal realities:

"1)God, a unity of three Persons, and his gracious plan of salvation.

2)The Person of Christ, true God and true man.

3)The Paschal mystery, the work of our redemption, handed on in the

Church through the work of the Holy Spirit.

4)The human person, created and graced."

Whatever the subject being taught, it should be related to one or more of these realities. Like the Church's "General Directory for Catechesis" it reflects the fact that the faith is inseparable from the pedagogy of God and catechesis should follow this pedagogy. Christ, was after all, the master teacher and his pedagogy is the pedagogy of God.

In an age that is prone to lose itself in methods of teaching, methodology as foremost, this work dares to restore the primacy of the master teacher, whose principles it strives to faithfully reveal. Some have so lost confidence in what they are to teach that they teach only what their new methods permit, leaving the systematic and comprehensive scope of the teaching of Christ and His Church barely reflected. It ends with a chapter on "Prayerful Pedagogy."

In sum, this work goes a long way towards restoring the balance and is highly recommended.