We come to the 3rd Task of Catechesis: Moral Formation. Moral Formation is not as much making sure we don’t sin and do wrong (even though that is important) as it is catechizing others in an understanding of what our natural response should be to God’s gifts and invitation to belong to Him and live in Him.
The General Directory for Catechesis speaks of this 3rd task as follows:
“Conversion to Jesus Christ implies walking in his footsteps. Catechesis must, therefore, transmit to the disciples the attitudes of the Master himself. The disciples thus undertake a journey of interior transformation, in which, by participating in the paschal mystery of the Lord, “they pass from the old man to the new man who has been made perfect in Christ”. The Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus takes up the Decalogue, and impresses upon it the spirit of the beatitudes, is an indispensable point of reference for the moral formation which is most necessary today. Evangelization which “involves the proclamation and presentation of morality”, displays all the force of its appeal where it offers not only the proclaimed word but the lived word too. This moral testimony, which is prepared for by catechesis, must always demonstrate the social consequences of the demands of the Gospel. (Paragraph #85)
This paragraph puts the emphasis on living outwardly that transformation which has taken place inwardly. Notice that the morality section of the catechism is the 3rd section only after the Creed (The faith professed) and the Sacraments (the faith celebrated/encountered). The first two parts of the Catechism are about God’s Gift of faith and grace and only afterwards does the Church point to our response to it. It is here that we see how we are called to respond to God’s gifts and as the GDC says, live “a journey of interior transformation”.
In our work of catechesis we must proclaim how we are called to live and practice those truths. The Catechism, in paragraph 1697, speaks of what our catechesis in morality should include:
Catechesis has to reveal in all clarity the joy and the demands of the way of Christ.22 Catechesis for the “newness of life”23 in him should be:
• a catechesis of the Holy Spirit, the interior Master of life according to Christ, a gentle guest and friend who inspires, guides, corrects, and strengthens this life;
• a catechesis of grace, for it is by grace that we are saved and again it is by grace that our works can bear fruit for eternal life;
• a catechesis of the beatitudes, for the way of Christ is summed up in the beatitudes, the only path that leads to the eternal beatitude for which the human heart longs;
• a catechesis of sin and forgiveness, for unless man acknowledges that he is a sinner he cannot know the truth about himself, which is a condition for acting justly; and without the offer of forgiveness he would not be able to bear this truth;
• a catechesis of the human virtues which causes one to grasp the beauty and attraction of right dispositions towards goodness;
• a catechesis of the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and charity, generously inspired by the example of the saints;
• a catechesis of the twofold commandment of charity set forth in the Decalogue;
• an ecclesial catechesis, for it is through the manifold exchanges of “spiritual goods” in the “communion of saints” that Christian life can grow, develop, and be communicated.
Catechists should keep these points in mind, especially when discussing morality. We are assured with God’s grace the ability to live out the demands of the Gospel which lead us to freedom, truth and life.
In your catechesis what do you find is important to communicate as you teach about morality?
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