Amazing Catechists

Teaching and learning the faith together

You and Me and the CCC

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The CCC is the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and it is one of the handiest reference tools available to the catechist, clergy, and laity for reviewing the tenets of the Faith.
Why read the Catechism?  The Catechism of the Catholic Church is one of the greatest gifts to the Church from John Paul II’s pontificate.  It is the definitive reference resource on faith and morals for Catholic Christians; a comprehensive summary of all the Church believes, celebrates, lives, and prays. This explains the Deposit of Faith—what has been handed down since the time of the Apostles—and it is part of our divine inheritance as believers!

Let’s face it, the Catechism is a textbook in size and scope. But I prefer to think of it as a deep treasure chest of gems and nuggets that that will enrich our faith and our love of God and the Church.

The first question I’m usually asked is: Can I read the Catechism on my own? The short answer is yes. The longer answer is, at times you may feel daunted by the dense language of the Catechism, depending on the depth of your religious education regarding terms and doctrines. While the Catechism is suited for those who formally teach the Faith in the Church and in the classroom, John Paul II declared it is for all who wish to deepen their knowledge of salvation.

I recommend applying the same prayerful trust to the Catechism that we bring to reading the Bible. Even though the Catechismis not Holy Scripture, ask the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you as you read. (And remember it doesn’t hurt to look up unfamiliar words in the glossary or a dictionary!)

This space is designed to be a friendly introduction to topics within the Catechism in an easy-reader style. We’ll define terms as needed, and apply real life examples to what we read.

It is important to note that many books cover the Catechism in greater depth and with more excellent scholarship than a short article can provide. Again, the column will introduce and explore topics that I hope will draw you into deeper study.

This column stands on three principles:  first, that God, in the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, is the source of all Truth and communicates by Divine Revelation in the form of Tradition and the Scriptures. Second, our task as believers is to respond to God in faith in the fullest way we can.  Third, the Magisterium (the teaching authority) of the Church, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is to be trusted as a worthy guide as to how we make that response in faith.

Therefore, as we better embrace the Catechism, Church teaching becomes an avenue for our Christian growth.  And all of us are called to on-going conversion.

It is my hope that as you open the CCC more and more, you’ll begin to embrace its teachings in an ever-deeper way. As Catholics, we all need to “get our arms around” what the Church teaches, so that we can live it more faithfully.  This is essential for every Christian, and vital for catechists. But, we must acknowledge that such growth is a process for each person. Some of us are ready to devour chapters of the Catechism at a time, or may have already. Some may have heard of it, but have never had a reason to open the book.  All are welcomed here!

Even the Catechism itself declares that we should seek to embrace the truths of our Faith as we find in paragraph 2104 (also known as CCC 2104):

“All… are bound to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and his Church, and to embrace it and hold on to it as they come to know it.” [Emphasis mine.] 

The embrace of God
Now, human persons, we all know about the power of an embrace.  When you love someone, it leads to a loving embrace. The love between spouses, or parents and children, or family members and friends, all find validation in a loving, warm, embrace.

An embrace presumes knowledge of one another. And there are degrees of that knowledge. The marital embrace, for example, represents the deepest of unions and the most complete knowledge of the other person. Such an embrace in a marriage presupposes a longer process preceding the embrace.

There was the first look and notice of each other. Becoming acquainted led to the first conversation, the first mutual understanding, and eventually, the first kiss.  Slowly, as love builds, more is revealed… what the person believes, how they live, what they celebrate, and yes, perhaps even what they pray about.

When love leads to marriage, two people join as one. Yet they also join families. When I married, as I embraced the one I loved, I also embraced by extension his entire family.

A similar process took place in my relationship with Jesus Christ. I was baptized as an infant into the family of God, but it took me many years to grow up and get acquainted with Christ. As I teenager, I experienced a deep conversion to Christ. From there, a friendship grew—a meeting of minds and hearts—until finally, my life with Christ became an ongoing committed love relationship.

Over the course of my life, my love for Christ compelled me to know “more” of him. Like a lover wooed, I wanted to experience the “breadth and length and height and depth” of the love of Christ. (See Eph. 3:17-19.)

What I discovered was that, over time, I embraced not only Jesus Christ as Lord, but I also embraced his family—the Holy Trinity, his mother Mary, his foster father Joseph and all the saints in heaven, and his Church here on earth. My embrace of Christ and his family—and especially the Church and what she teaches—grew slowly by degrees.

The Catechism states that “a person discloses himself in his actions, and the better we know a person, the better we understand his actions.” (CCC 236.)

Therefore, where Christ is concerned, it is best that we closely examine his actions. And let us be imitators of who and what He embraces…

As noted earlier, God revealed Himself to the world through Divine Revelation. As we read the story of God’s Revelation from the Old Testament to the New, we come to understand God’s deep and devoted love for humankind. God is most perfectly revealed in his Son, Jesus. When Christ took on flesh, he took on a form that, as a Bridegroom, he is permanently wedded to the Bride, the Church, the People of God. We find this imagery in the Catechism, paragraph 796 (CCC 796):

The theme of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church was prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist. The Lord referred to himself as the “bridegroom.” The Apostle [Paul] speaks of the whole Church and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride “betrothed” to Christ the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him. The Church is the spotless bride of the spotless Lamb. “Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her.” He has joined her with himself in an everlasting covenant and never stops caring for her… 

Returning to the image of the nuptial embrace of the marital union… we find that it images for us, if somewhat imperfectly, the union the Holy Trinity longs to have with us.  Check out CCC 772:

It is in the Church that Christ fulfills and reveals his own mystery as the purpose of God’s plan: “to unite all things in him.” St. Paul calls the nuptial union of Christ and the Church “a great mystery.” Because she is united to Christ as to her bridegroom, she becomes a mystery in her turn. 

Christ’s actions of loving the Bride (the Church) are worthy of our imitation. We are called to love all the Church believes, celebrates, lives, and prays.  We are to embrace the Bride as we embrace the Bridegroom, Jesus. As we progress in our union with Christ, we will naturally desire to more perfectly align ourselves with His Bride (the Church) and what she teaches. And what she teaches is found most succinctly in the Catechism.

Embracing the Catechism means learning it, understanding it, and living it. Our sole motivation for doing so is love: that we may respond in faith and better embrace Christ and His Church in all its fullness.  So that, one day, we may be embraced at last, by the Holy Trinity itself in heaven, as we find in CCC 260:
The ultimate end of the whole divine economy [God’s creation of the world and his salvation of the world through Christ] is the entry of God’s creatures into the perfect unity of the Blessed Trinity. But even now we are called to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity: “If a man loves me”, says the Lord, “he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.” [See John 14:23.]

©2010 Patricia W. Gohn

This article was adapted from a previous released article at Catholic Exchange. 

Catechism Trivia

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Seventeen years after its first publication, The Catechism of the Catholic Church continues to fascinate and instruct readers around the world. Today’s column enumerates a few of the things that inspire and delight me about The Catechism. Call it Catechism trivia if you like.

The Catechism is  a Monumental Achievement

The idea for the Catechism of the Catholic Church came in the first days of the Extraordinary Synod in Rome in October 1985. John Paul II convened this meeting of the world’s bishops, who were the presidents of their national bishops’ conferences, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Vatican II.

The bishops discerned that, as the world has become a “global village,” there was a growing need for the one faith of the Church to be proclaimed in a single universal volume. Not that there weren’t already catechisms available. But there had not been a UNIVERSAL catechism, or major catechism, in over 400 years, since the Roman Catechism of 1566, following the Council of Trent.

Historically speaking, this was a big deal for Catholics. And a major undertaking of faithfully handing on the Deposit of Faith, as received from the Apostles through the ages. It required a systematic catechetical overhaul of the Roman Catechism, while maintaining integrity of content. Plus it must incorporate the enormous wealth of two millennia of Christian experience. The goal was to create a universal resource that made the teachings of the Catholic Church accessible both for the modern Catholic, and for generations to come.

(And just for a moment, consider that this global task began in the late 80s before widespread use of email and electronic reference texts and tools existed. Not only that, you pretty much would want to hire a spiritual Superman for the job, given the impact this work is going to have. Imagine the job description: Wanted: Excellent communicator with a genius level understanding of Catholic doctrine and theology, coupled with a passionate fidelity to orthodoxy. Candidate should possess a pastor’s heart and concern for those who teach and learn the faith. Success as a published author a must!)

In 1986, following the Synod’s recommendation for a new universal catechism, John Paul II assigned Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger to lead a commission of bishops and Cardinals to develop the next universal catechism. Ratzinger, a renowned theologian and author in his own right, and the Pope’s go-to man as Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, would later become Pope Benedict XVI.

Over 6 years, the new catechism received the input of over 1000 bishops worldwide – a true work of collegiality between the bishops, the pope, with the Holy Spirit. Over 24,000 modifications were assimilated into the text from the bishops’ suggestions through the skillful editing and writing style of Christoph Schönborn, (a former Ratzinger protégé, now Cardinal of Vienna, Austria.)

Finally, the first edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church was presented in October 1992 in French. It was the 30thanniversary of the opening of Vatican II. The English edition arrived later in 1994. The official Latin version was published in August 1997.

To date, The Catechism has been translated into over 50 languages.

The Proportions of the Text

The Catechism is both concise and comprehensive. It uses a numbering system, as do many ecclesial texts, to reference its subject matter. There are 2865 numerical paragraphs in total.

There are four parts, sometimes called “pillars”, of The Catechism:

· Part One (beliefs or creed) represents 39% of the content, and covers paragraphs 1-1065.

· Part Two (sacraments) = 23% and covers paragraphs 1066-1690.

· Part Three (the Christian life) = 27% and covers paragraphs 1691-2557.

· Part Four (prayer) = 11% and covers paragraphs 2558-2865.

The actual doctrinal portion of The Catechism covers about 700 pages, depending on font size of the version you read. It’s multiple indices and glossary are 100-200 pages.

In June 2005, Benedict XVI released the Compendium, a shorter, more concise format of The Catechism, using a question and answer format. It does not replace The Catechism, but serves as a faithful introduction to the doctrines presented in the larger work.

Citations

Each page of doctrine is heavily footnoted and cross-referenced. (One gets a good education just by meandering through The Catechism’s many sources!)

Scripture is the most frequently cited source in The Catechism. In fact, 40 out of 46 books of the Old Testament are cited, and all 27 books of the New Testament are quoted. It is a wonderful to discover the biblical underpinnings of Catholic doctrines. I recommend having a bible nearby when reading The Catechism for referring to the scriptures found in the footnotes. (Or use the resource below.)

The Documents of Vatican II are the second most quoted source. (You might want to have a copy of that handy too! Or use the resource below.) Sixteen other ecumenical councils from history are also quoted.

The writings from 22 popes are quoted, as is Canon Law, and numerous other ecclesiastical documents.

Hundreds of quotes from over 50 saints, Church Fathers, and Doctors provide a wealth of inspiration for one’s meditation. By the way, 6 of which are women: St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Rose of Lima, St. Joan of Arc, St. Catherine of Siena, Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, and the Christian mystic Julian of Norwich.

The most quoted saint in The Catechism is St. Augustine with 87 citations, followed by St. Thomas Aquinas with 61.

The Catechism and Related Works On-line

To conclude, allow me to share useful websites for your reading. While I always encourage Catholics to buy copies of The Catechism for their personal reading, I realize that many Catholics find their reference needs online. The sites below are worthy of bookmarks in your browser.

1. My favorite source for The Catechism on-line is the website sponsored by St. Charles Borromeo’s Parish. This is a wonderful apostolate, and their site has a very user-friendly search engine: https://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm.

2. The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops also has The Catechism online, but the search engine is difficult to use. However, their site provides the glossary to The Catechism, which is handy, and not always found on other sites:https://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/.

3. The Vatican website, naturally, has any reference work you might need. The search engine, while comprehensive, is a little tedious for beginners. But here’s what you can find:

The Catechism: https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

The Documents of Vatican II: https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/index.htm

The Compendium:

https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html

4. The Catechism uses the Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible in its text. To browse or search the RSV Bible, go here:https://quod.lib.umich.edu/r/rsv/.

 

©2009 Patricia W. Gohn

This article first appeared at CatholicExchange.com.