Christocentric catechesis

    That title sounds pretty complicated, but in reality it is not, it is simple. All of our teaching centers around Christ! That's it in a nutshell. Christ is at the center of our teaching because He is at the center of our lives, of our beings, of our very existence. Christ was and is our shining perfect example in all things. But there is a second part to our teaching that is vital, because though we are indeed created in the image of God, we are by no means perfect copies. We must teach the active application of what we have learned about Christ, because we are called not only to know Christ, but to ACT! To teach about Christ is to teach about action! 

    I teach 7th Grade in my Parish School of Religion, or PSR for short. I like to perform this fun exercise to make it clear that knowing and doing are not always the same. (To do this you will need a chalkboard or a whiteboard and chalk or markers, nothing else.) I will ask the class to please raise their hands if they are Catholic. Of course everyone raises their hands, so that is a good start! Then I will say to them "Now keep your hand UP if you know how to "Catholic."" Usually all of the hands go down, and I will clarify by saying "if you know how to BE Catholic, that is if you know what to DO to BE Catholic, keep your hand up." Then you can have a conversation about what they think being Catholic means, and writing their answers on the board off to the left side is a great idea. (Keep room at the top for a heading, and also keep the right side of the board clear.) Once you have a good sized list of things that the kids define as being Catholic on the left, make a header above those items that says "KNOWLEDGE"  and then make a second header on the right side of the board that says "ACTION." 

    Now ask the kids to think of ways we actively apply what we ARE in action! So each item on the left will need at least one active application on the right. Draw an arrow from each KNOWLEDGE item in the left column to an ACTION in the right column. A good analogy to help this exercise along is to ask what is the difference between knowing how to play a sport and actually playing it. Knowledge is only useful if it can inform actions, whether those be thoughts or deeds. Making good decisions requires a base of good knowledge, and in our case that knowledge base is Christ! Christ did not just know what to do, he DID it! We can explore this emphasis of knowledge informing action more by looking at the Gospels, and one in particular. 

    The Gospel of Luke should hold a special place in the hearts of Catechists, for Luke conveys Christ's story in a way that emphasizes the ongoing and continuous operation of Christ's teachings in our daily lives. It isn't that Luke shifts the emphasis away from Christ, not by any means! Luke is as "Christocentric" as any Biblical author, but his Gospel emphasizes that the Church has an ongoing role to fulfill, one of teaching and guiding all people through the sharing of the Gospel. 

    The introduction to the Gospel according to Luke in the NABRE (New American Bible, Revised Edition) has this to say: 

"The prominence given to the period of the church in the story (Christ's story) has important consequences for Luke's interpretation of the teachings of Jesus. By presenting the time of the church as a distinct phase of salvation history, Luke accordingly shifts the early Christian emphasis away from the expectation of an imminent parousia to the day-to-day concerns of the Christian Community in the world. He does this by regularly emphasizing the words "each day" in the sayings of Jesus. Although Luke still believes the parousia to be a reality that will come unexpectedly, he is more concerned with presenting the words and deeds of Jesus as guides for the conduct of Christian disciples in the interim period between the ascension and the parousia and with presenting Jesus himself as the model of Christian life and piety." (NABRE pg. 1383)

    One can make the case that salvation history is still being written today! If we believe the Bible to be truth, and we believe in all that there is to believe surrounding Christ, then we are writing our own little tiny yet relevant and impactful chapters in salvation history right now, pertaining to ourselves and our families, and to those we teach. We must teach Christ as authentically and lovingly as possible to our kids, because we ourselves believe and we wish that same belief to take hold and grow in our future generations, for the purpose of fulfilling God's will on earth as well as for their own salvation. 

    Christ IS the center of our teaching, which means that we must act! We must teach our kids to apply what they learn the best that they can, in every subject of course but especially in terms of emulating Christ in our everyday lives. Christ must be our model, and He is indeed a model of action. 

    Do you even Catholic bro? Yes, yes I DO!