Adapting Catechesis:
A Look at the
General Directory for Catechesis  

by Nick Wagner

Catechesis has to be "contextualized" or adapted so that it adequately meets the needs of those it seeks to serve.

This is crucial for an effective catechetical process. Putting people in touch with Jesus is not only the goal of the religious educator but of every Christian. Helping others know Jesus is the heart of the Christian mission. The General Directory for Catechesis says there are three "essential moments" of evangelization (49):

1. missionary activity directed toward nonbelievers,
   
2. initial catechesis for seekers and catechumens,and
   
3. pastoral activity directed toward the Christian faithful.

In order for a catechetical process to be effective, religious educators need to understand that this three-fold evangelization process takes place in a diverse and changing world -- even if that world is as small as your parish neighborhood. It is increasingly likely that within your parish boundaries there are people who have never heard the Gospel, people who are fervent believers, and people who are baptized but separated from the church. Your catechetical efforts have to be adapted to fit the needs of each of these groups.

The General Directory for Catechesis tells us that the catechetical activity directed at these three different groups is not supposed to be three separate programs. The efforts overlap, merge, and enrich one another. The primary task of the church, however, has always been outreach to those who have never heard the Gospel. Our catechetical efforts have to be designed around this paradigm. To that end, the General Directory for Catechesis says that the model for all catechesis -- even to the fervently faithful -- is the baptismal catechumenate. "This catechumenal formation should inspire the other forms of catechesis in both their objectives and in their dynamism" (59). And, the document stresses, adult catechesis is to be considered the chief form of catechesis.

In short, our catechetical processes should be oriented primarily to adults who have never heard God's word, and the rest of our efforts -- toward the faithful and the fallen- away Christians -- should be modeled on and inspired by the catechumenate.

This is both frightening and freeing. It is frightening because most of us do not have programs like this. The General Directory for Catechesis calls us to do something radically new. (New for most of us, but ancient in the history of the church.) It is freeing because in our heart of hearts it is what most of us want to be doing. We want to tell the Good News to people who have never heard it and experience anew with them the complete joy we experienced when we first came to faith.

Tossing the baby with the bath water?

Obviously we cannot quit cold turkey on all our current structures. Maybe there are some we shouldn't quit on at all. But the real secret to doing effective catechesis is to direct all those current programs toward an outreach to all the potential catechumens in our neighborhoods. "In this way catechesis, situated in the context of the church's mission of evangelization and seen as an essential moment of that mission, receives from evangelization a missionary dynamic which deeply enriches it and defines its own identity (59)."

In other words, if parishioners believe they have a real stake in "an essential moment" of the church's mission, if they believe what they do makes a difference, catechesis will naturally become dynamic. People will seek it out so they will be able to make a more effective contribution to the mission. Wasn't that what happened to you? Didn't you one day wake up and realize you could make a difference? And didn't you then go seek out the training you needed to do the job you thought needed to be done? If we can convince some of our parishioners there is a job to be done -- through whatever structures we now have in place -- their enthusiasm will spread. They will tell fellow parishioners. They will tell their fallen away friends and family. If you've worked with catechumenate teams, you've seen this happen. The General Directory for Catechesis is asking that we move our evangelization efforts beyond just the small group that runs the catechumenate and make it the primary effort of the entire parish. If we can do that, we will have no problem creating effective catechetical programs.

Given that outreach to unbelievers is the model for all parish activity, the catechumenate becomes the model for all catechetical activity.

Inspiration for adaptation

• The catechumenate serves as a constant reminder to the whole parish of the vital importance of initiating new people into the community. The essential components of initiation are catechesis and the celebration of the initiation sacraments -- baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist.
• The catechumenate is the responsibility of every member of the parish. This is a radical decentralization of the missionary activity of the church and requires every Christian to think of himself or herself as an equal partner in the work Jesus left us.
• The catechumenate is steeped in the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection. Therefore everyone involved in the work of initiation must work hard to clearly reveal the paschal nature of our faith. The Easter Vigil is the source and inspiration for all catechesis.
• The catechumenate is also an initial starting point for inculturation. The Son of God became human in a concrete place and time in history. That is to say, Jesus had a culture. Therefore, we accept and celebrate the cultures of all those who seek to become members of our church. Different cultures hear the word of God in different ways, and it is our job to find ways of incorporating all those different styles of hearing into the catholicity of the church.
• Finally, we understand the catechumenate to be " a process of formation" (91). The catechumenate is not a textbook to be gotten through nor a series of meetings to attend nor a required number of service projects. It is a comprehensive formation, gradually accomplished in definite stages. It is marked and celebrated in "meaningful rites, symbols, biblical and liturgical signs" (91). Most of all, it is a formation handed on by us, the Christian faithful, the Body of Christ.

It is these principle elements of the catechumenate that the General Directory for Catechesis says should inspire the catechesis we provide for the faithful and the fallen-away Christians. You can use these central elements of the catechumenate as a kind of checklist for your parish. Do your catechetical efforts focus the parish toward initiation as the central mission of the parish? Do your catechetical efforts empower your parishioners to take up their cross of responsibility for the success of the parish mission to unbelievers? Do your catechetical efforts focus passionately on revealing the paschal mystery that we celebrate in its fullness in the Easter Vigil every year? Do your catechetical efforts instill in your parishioners a respect for and a joy over the various cultures in your community and neighboring communities? Finally, do your catechetical efforts make up a comprehensive, gradual formation process that takes place in well-marked stages, celebrated in the signs and symbols of the liturgy?

When designing your other catechetical efforts, you are not supposed to slavishly imitate the catechumenate, and you always have to remember you are dealing with baptized people. However, the central elements of the catechumenate -- as outlined in the General Directory for Catechesis -- can enrich your efforts to adapt how you do catechesis in your parish.
-- Nick Wagner