The General Instruction of the Roman Missal says the homily should be “an exposition of some aspect of the readings from Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary or from the Proper of the Mass and should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners” (65, emphasis added).

The same can be said of your extended catechesis. You can base your process on a liturgical text other than the readings, taking the needs of the catechumens into account. If you intend to base your catechesis on this prayer, be sure to alert the presider to use it on Sunday.

Alternate opening prayer

Let us pray
[with minds fixed on eternal truth]

Lord our God,
all truth is from you,
and you alone bring oneness of heart.
Give your people the joy
of hearing your word in every sound
and of longing for your presence more than for life itself.
May all the attractions of a changing world
serve only to bring us
the peace of your kingdom which this world does not give.

Grant this through Christ our Lord.

The way of faith

• The Word of God is a light for our path. We must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. This is how moral conscience is formed.
  (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1802)
• God has revealed God’s self to us by gradually communicating God’s own mystery in deeds and in words.
  (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 69)
• God has endowed us with a spiritual soul, with intellect, and with free will. We are, from our very conception, ordered to God and destined for eternal beatitude.
  (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1711)

To see how you might use one of these three points in your catechesis, see “How to lead a 90-minute catechetical session.”

• Teaching secrets from the ancient church
• The Four Essential Doctrines the Liturgy Teaches

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