Pope John Paul II wrote in his document on the Catechism, “DepositumFidei”, “I declare it [the Catechism] to be a sure norm for teaching the Faith…..Therefore I ask the Church’s Pastors and the Christian Faithful to receive this Catechism in a spirit of Communion and to use it assiduously in fulfilling their mission of proclaiming the Faith and calling people to the Gospel life.”
In the book of Timothy, Saint Paul instructs Timothy to “guard what has been entrusted to you.” (1 Tim 6:20 & 2 Tim 1:14) This exhortation does not apply only to Timothy, but to the whole church. Pope John XXIII had this call firmly in mind when he instructed the Fathers of Vatican II to guard and better present the heritages of our Faith. He wanted the Gospel teachings, and our rich Sacred Tradition (which together make up the complete Deposit of Faith) to be more accessible to the Christian people.
Pope Paul VI taught that the full presentation of these teachings must be at the heart of evangelization. Many of us want to know our Faith better - the Catechism is a large piece of this puzzle. It not only houses the Sacred Tradition of our Faith, it explains the Church’s teaching and interpretation of the Scriptures, and explains how Tradition and Scripture relate to each other. Many of us have friends and family members that have left the Church, and we would like to help bring them back. We must know our Faith to impart it to others - which again brings us back to the Catechism. Still more of us have hard questions asked of us, either by those that we are trying to guide back to the Faith, or by those who may be trying to place doubt in us about the Catholic Church. The Catechism guides us, utilizes Scripture, and explains our beliefs, making it possible for us to explain them to others - when we understand why we believe what we believe it opens up not only a whole new world of faithfulness to us, but a whole new world of evangelization to others.
We should always know why we believe what we believe. This is one of the most basic and most profound ideas behind the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Questions for Discussion
1. Are you familiar with the Catechism of the Catholic Church? How much of it have you read? When do you use it? ______
2. Do you know how to navigate inside the Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraph numbers, footnotes, cross references, indices, etc.)? Do you think of it as a reference work (like an encyclopedia or dictionary) or as spiritual reading? ______
3. What are your initial thoughts on why someone would read the Catechism of the Catholic Church? Do you think it is meant to be read by everyone, by catechists or just by “specialists”? ______
4. Pope Paul seemed to see the Catechism as a gift to the people - a way to make their faith more accessible. Consider your thoughts on what a gift is and what the word means. Do you consider the Catechism of the Catholic Church a gift intended personally for you? If so, how is it a gift? ______
Video Worksheet
Helpful Vocabulary
●Catechism - A catechism is a text which contains the fundamental Christian truths formulated in way that facilitates their understanding.
●Major Catechism - A resource for the development of Minor Catechisms.
●Minor Catechism- A local catechism - such as the Baltimore Catechism or the United States Catechism for adults.
●Universal Catechism - A universal catechism is a major catechism which is intended to be a resource or point of reference for the development of national or local catechisms and catechetical materials throughout the world.
Video Notes
●The Catechism explains to us why we are Catholic.
●The purpose of the catechism is:
-to convey the essential and fundamental content of Catholic faith and morals in a complete concise way.
-to be a point of reference for national and diocesan catechisms.
-to be a positive, objective and declarative exposition of Catholic doctrine.
-to assist those who have the duty to catechize, namely promoters and teachers of catechesis.
●The Catechism is intended for teachers of the Faith, but also very much for anyone who wants learn more, and go deeper into their faith and the reasons behind it.
●The Four Parts of the Catechism are Creed, Liturgy and Sacraments, Moral Life, and Prayer.
●“What we believe determines how we live.” The Catechism shows us why we believe what we believe, which inspires us to more fully live the Faith.
YOURNOTES
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For Next Week
For Next Week’s Lesson, “Man’s Desire For God”, please read the following paragraphs in the Catechism and the correlating Scripture that is listed next to them:
●31-33●44-49 ‘In Brief’ Summary
●51
●66-67
●68-73 ‘In Brief’ Summary / ●74-78 (Acts 2:14-42; 17:16-33)
●80
●84-87
●95-100 ‘In Brief’ Summary
Please also reflect on the following questions:
1.)What are they ways we can come to know God? (CCC 31-33) Describe a way that you have come to approach God. ______
2.)How did God reveal Himself and allow us to become sharers in the Divine Nature? (CCC 51) ______
3.)There will be no more Public Revelation until what event? (CCC 66) ______
4.)What is the role of Private Revelation? (CCC 67) Do you have a favorite Saint/private revelation devotion? ______
5.)What is meant by Apostolic Tradition? (CCC76-78) ______
6.)What is the relationship between Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition? (CCC 80) Think about the various ways you communicate to those not in close proximity to you (i.e. letter writing, phone calls). What is your favorite method?______
7.)To whom did the Apostles pass on our Heritage of Faith? Who in the Church has authority to interpret God’s Word in the form of Scripture and Tradition? (CCC 84-87) How do these words help you to understand the Church’s teaching authority? ______
8.)Who is someone who has inspired you to learn more about your Faith or practice it more deeply? What gets you excited about your Faith? ______
The Catechism/Scripture Connection
Catechism Paragraph # / Corresponding ScriptureCCC #32 / Romans 1:19-20;
Acts 14:15,17; 17:27-28
CCC #66 / 1 Timothy 6:14;
Titus 2:13
CCC #70 / Genesis 3:15
CCC #71 / Genesis 9:16
CCC #74 / 1 Timothy 2:4
John 14:6
2 Corinthians 1:20; 3:16-4:6
CCC #75 / Matthew 28:19-20
Mark 16:15
CCC #80 / Matthew 28:20
CCC #84 / 1 Timothy 6:20
2 Timothy 1:12-14
Acts 2:42
CCC #87 / Luke 10:16
Sacred Scripture, along with Sacred Tradition,
form the complete basis of Public Revelation.
Public Revelation ended with the death of the last apostle. Sacred Scripture points to the importance and validity of Sacred Tradition many times.
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
One common source... 80 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal."40 Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own "always, to the close of the age".41
... two distinct modes of transmission81 "Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit."42
"And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching."
82 As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.”
From Sacred Scripture:
Genesis to Revelation - Scripture never says that Scripture is the sole infallible authority for God's Word. Scripture also mandates the use of tradition.
Matt. 28:20 - "observe ALL I have commanded," but, as we see in John 20:30; 21:25, not ALL Jesus taught is in Scripture. So there must be things outside of Scripture that we must observe.
Acts 8:30-31; Heb. 5:12 - these verses show that we need help in interpreting the Scriptures. We cannot interpret them infallibly on our own.
2 Thess. 2:15 – “Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.” the fullness of the Gospel is the apostolic tradition which includes either teaching by word of mouth or by letter. Scripture does not say "letter alone."
Jesus condemns tradition???
Matt. 15:3 - Jesus condemns human traditions that void God's word. Some use this verse to condemn all tradition. But this verse has nothing to do with the Sacred Tradition we must obey that was handed down to us from the apostles. (Here, the Pharisees, in their human tradition, gave goods to the temple to avoid taking care of their parents, and this voids God's law of honoring one's father and mother.)