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

The Way of Faith

Explain that poverty is a moral scandal that we cannot tolerate.

In the news

ROME ““ The global financial meltdown has pushed the ranks of the world’s hungry to a record 1 billion, a grim milestone that poses a threat to peace and security, U.N. food officials said Friday. (World hunger reaches 1 billion mark)

In the readings

Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer. So whoever is in Christ is a new creation. (2 Cor 5:14-17)

In the tradition

The century and the millennium now beginning will need to see, and hopefully with still greater clarity, to what length of dedication the Christian community can go in charity towards the poorest.

If we have truly started out anew from the contemplation of Christ, we must learn to see him especially in the faces of those with whom he himself wished to be identified: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me” (Mt 25:35-37).

This Gospel text is not a simple invitation to charity: it is a page of Christology which sheds a ray of light on the mystery of Christ. By these words, no less than by the orthodoxy of her doctrine, the Church measures her fidelity as the Bride of Christ. (Pope John Paul II, “At the Beginning of the New Millennium,” 49)

The Way of Faith

Explain that Catholics have a commitment to peacemaking.

In the news

TEHRAN — Taking an unequivocal stand against days of mass protests, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sternly warned opposition supporters on Friday to stay off the streets and raised the prospect of violence if their defiant, vast demonstrations continued. (Iran’s Ruling Cleric Warns of Bloodshed if Protests Persist)

In the readings

A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up…. [Jesus] woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was great calm. (Mk 4:35-41)

In the tradition

Peacemaking is not an optional commitment. It is a requirement of our faith. We are called to be peacemakers, not by some movement of the moment, but by our Lord Jesus. The content and context of our peacemaking is set, not by some political agenda or ideological program, but by the teaching of his Church. (The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response, 333)

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The Way of Faith

Explain that God has made a covenant with the Jewish people and that the gifts of God are irrevocable.

In the news

White supremacist James von Brunn will be charged today with murder in the shooting death of U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum security officer Stephen Johns, said Cathy Lanier, chief of the Metropolitan Police Department. (Holocaust museum suspect faces murder charge)

In the readings

Taking the book of the covenant, [Moses] read it aloud to the people, who answered, “All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do.” Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words of his. (Ex 24:3-8)

In the tradition

Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any [person], the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone. (Nostra Aetate, The Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, 4)

The Way of Faith

Explain that the Eucharist commits us to the poor.

In the news

Nearly 20 million children now receive free or reduced-price lunches in the nation’s schools, an all-time high, federal data show, and many school districts are struggling to cover their share of the meals’ rising costs. (More students on free lunch programs)

In the readings

While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.” (Mk 14:12-16, 22-26)

In the tradition

But the presence of those who hunger because they lack bread opens up another profound meaning of this petition [in the Lord's Prayer]. The drama of hunger in the world calls Christians who pray sincerely to exercise responsibility toward their brethren, both in their personal behavior and in their solidarity with the human family. This petition of the Lord’s Prayer cannot be isolated from the parables of the poor man Lazarus and of the Last Judgment. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2831)

The Way of Faith

Explain that “faith in God’s love encompasses the call and the obligation to respond with sincere love to divine charity” to all people (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2093).

In the news

President Barack Obama called on the Muslim world to respect people’s right to choose their religion in his Cairo address on Thursday. (Obama upholds religious freedom in Muslim speech)

In the readings

“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…. (Mt 28:16-20)

In the tradition

A basic duty every human person owes to God is regular worship. Because of this, and because of the basic longing each person has for God, a fundamental human right is the right to worship freely. No one should be prohibited from a free exercise of their faith, either in public or in private, and no one should ever be forced to worship in a manner that violates their beliefs and convictions. Because freedom of religion and worship is such an important and fundamental right, governments need to enact and enforce laws that respect and protect this right. (U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults, p. 420)

The Way of Faith

Explain that the fifth commandment requires us to value all human life as sacred.

In the news

“Our bishops’ conference and all its members have repeatedly and publicly denounced all forms of violence in our society, including abortion as well as the misguided resort to violence by anyone opposed to abortion,” Cardinal Rigali said. “Such killing is the opposite of everything we stand for, and everything we want our culture to stand for: respect for the life of each and every human being from its beginning to its natural end. U.S. Bishops Express “˜Profound Regret’ about Shooting Death of Abortion Doctor

In the readings

You must keep his statutes and commandments that I enjoin on you today, that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may have long life on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever. (Dt 4:32-34, 39-40)

In the tradition

Every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake in the image and likeness of the living and holy God. The murder of a human being is gravely contrary to the dignity of the person and the holiness of the Creator. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2319-2320)

The Way of Faith

Explain that God will always provide for our needs, no matter how bleak things may seem.

In the news

With companies in no mood to hire, the unemployment rate jumped to 9.4 percent in May, the highest in more than 25 years. But the pace of layoffs eased, with employers cutting 345,000 jobs, the fewest since September. (Jobless rate hits 9.4 percent in May; layoffs slow)

In the readings

Brothers and sisters: For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a Spirit of adoption…. (Rom 8:14-17)

In the tradition

The witness of Scripture is unanimous that the solicitude of divine providence is concrete and immediate; God cares for all, from the least things to the great events of the world and its history. The sacred books powerfully affirm God’s absolute sovereignty over the course of events: “Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases.” And so it is with Christ, “who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens.” As the book of Proverbs states: “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will be established.”

We firmly believe that God is master of the world and of its history. But the ways of his providence are often unknown to us. Only at the end, when our partial knowledge ceases, when we see God “face to face”, will we fully know the ways by which – even through the dramas of evil and sin—God has guided his creation to that definitive sabbath rest for which he created heaven and earth. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 303, 314)

Have you seen other breaking news this week that needs to be discussed? Click on comments to share your thoughts.

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

The Way of Faith

Explain that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be with us and guide us to the truth.

In the news

During her nearly three-month detainment in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran, the American born journalist had turned to God in prayer. However, at a certain point she felt that God had “abandoned” her and gave into her interrogators’ demand that she confess she was an American spy. (Saberi Felt God Still With Her; Recanted Confession)

In the readings

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were….
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…. (Acts 2:1-11)

In the tradition

Before his Passover, Jesus announced the sending of “another Paraclete” (Advocate), the Holy Spirit. At work since creation, having previously “spoken through the prophets”, the Spirit will now be with and in the disciples, to teach them and guide them “into all the truth”. The Holy Spirit is thus revealed as another divine person with Jesus and the Father. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 243)

The Way of Faith

Explain that life in the Spirit is a life that imitates the forgiving nature of Jesus. Jesus gave the apostles his own power to forgive sins.

In the news

A London pastor who was ambushed in his car by an armed gang last October is to tell thousands of Christians this Sunday that the answer to ridding the capital of gun and knife crime lies in offering forgiveness and hope to the perpetrators. (London pastor urges forgiveness for perpetrators of gun and knife crime)

In the readings

[H]e breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.” (Jn 20:19-23)

In the tradition

During his public life Jesus not only forgave sins, but also made plain the effect of this forgiveness: he reintegrated forgiven sinners into the community of the People of God from which sin had alienated or even excluded them. A remarkable sign of this is the fact that Jesus receives sinners at his table, a gesture that expresses in an astonishing way both God’s forgiveness and the return to the bosom of the People of God.

In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. This ecclesial dimension of their task is expressed most notably in Christ’s solemn words to Simon Peter: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”45 “The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of the apostles united to its head.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1443-1444)

The Way of Faith

Explain that the Holy Spirit gives different gifts to each of us to accomplish the mission of the church.

In the news

For advocates of women’s rights, adding another female justice is not about diversity for diversity’s sake. It’s about bringing women’s perspectives and life experiences into interpretations of law, and about helping the male justices see things through their eyes. (What another woman would bring to Supreme Court)

In the readings

To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.

As a body is one though it has many parts,
and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. (1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13)

In the tradition

Believers who respond to God’s word and become members of Christ’s Body, become intimately united with him….

The body’s unity does not do away with the diversity of its members: “In the building up of Christ’s Body there is engaged a diversity of members and functions. There is only one Spirit who, according to his own richness and the needs of the ministries, gives his different gifts for the welfare of the Church.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 790-791)

Have you seen other breaking news this week that needs to be discussed? Click on comments to share your thoughts.

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

The Way of Faith

Explain that our love of and knowledge of Christ compells us to tell others about him.

In the news

The Vatican is linking one of its websites to the popular social networking site Facebook as part of a drive to harness internet technology in reaching the world’s one billion Catholics. (Vatican Reaches Faithful with Facebook )

In the readings

Jesus said to his disciples: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mk 16:15-20)

In the tradition

The transmission of the Christian faith consists primarily in proclaiming Jesus Christ in order to lead others to faith in him. From the beginning, the first disciples burned with the desire to proclaim Christ: “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” And they invite people of every era to enter into the joy of their communion with Christ….

From this loving knowledge of Christ springs the desire to proclaim him, to “evangelize”, and to lead others to the “yes” of faith in Jesus Christ. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 425, 429)

The Way of Faith

Explain that “taken up into heaven” is symbolic language and that heaven is not a “place” that we go “up” to. It is a way of living in union with Christ.

In the news

Fr. Donald Cozzens, who has produced arguably one of the most candid examinations of the contemporary Catholic priesthood and hierarchical culture in the United States in a series of four books published since 2000, believes the church will submerge in many ways before any emergence occurs. (The church will submerge before any emergence)

In the readings

So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs. (Mk 16:15-20)

In the tradition

This biblical expression ["who art in heaven"] does not mean a place (“space”), but a way of being; it does not mean that God is distant, but majestic. Our Father is not “elsewhere”: he transcends everything we can conceive of his holiness. It is precisely because he is thrice holy that he is so close to the humble and contrite heart.

“Our Father who art in heaven” is rightly understood to mean that God is in the hearts of the just, as in his holy temple. At the same time, it means that those who pray should desire the one they invoke to dwell in them. “Heaven” could also be those who bear the image of the heavenly world, and in whom God dwells and tarries. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2794)

The Way of Faith

Explain that racism is a sin and all people are equal.

In the news

Racially segregated proms have been held in Montgomery County — where about two-thirds of the population is white — almost every year since its schools were integrated in 1971. Such proms are, by many accounts, longstanding traditions in towns across the rural South, though in recent years a number of communities have successfully pushed for change. (A Prom Divided)

In the readings

[L]ive in a manner worthy of the calling…one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Eph 4:1-13)

In the tradition

The equality of [all people] rests essentially on their dignity as persons and the rights that flow from it:

Every form of social or cultural discrimination in fundamental personal rights on the grounds of sex, race, color, social conditions, language, or religion must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God’s design. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1935)

Have you seen other breaking news this week that needs to be discussed? Click on comments to share your thoughts.

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

The Way of Faith

Explain that the Catholic Church “deplores the hatred, persecutions and displays of anti-Semitism directed against the Jews at any time and from any source” (Nostra Aetate).

In the news

When Pope Benedict XVI sets foot in Jerusalem today, he will be only the third pope in history to do so. The visit comes at a crucial time for both Catholics and Jews. (The Catholic Church and Judaism: a way forward)

In the readings

Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. (1 Jn 4:7-10)

In the tradition

Looking to the future of relations between Jews and Christians, in the first place we appeal to our Catholic brothers and sisters to renew the awareness of the Hebrew roots of their faith. We ask them to keep in mind that Jesus was a descendant of David; that the Virgin Mary and the Apostles belonged to the Jewish people; that the Church draws sustenance from the root of that good olive tree on to which have been grafted the wild olive branches of the Gentiles (cf. Rom 11:17-24); that the Jews are our dearly beloved brothers, indeed in a certain sense they are “our elder brothers”.

At the end of this Millennium the Catholic Church desires to express her deep sorrow for the failures of her sons and daughters in every age. This is an act of repentance (teshuva), since, as members of the Church, we are linked to the sins as well as the merits of all her children. The Church approaches with deep respect and great compassion the experience of extermination, the Shoah, suffered by the Jewish people during World War II. It is not a matter of mere words, but indeed of binding commitment. “We would risk causing the victims of the most atrocious deaths to die again if we do not have an ardent desire for justice, if we do not commit ourselves to ensure that evil does not prevail over good as it did for millions of the children of the Jewish people … Humanity cannot permit all that to happen again”.

We pray that our sorrow for the tragedy which the Jewish people has suffered in our century will lead to a new relationship with the Jewish people. We wish to turn awareness of past sins into a firm resolve to build a new future in which there will be no more anti-Judaism among Christians or anti-Christian sentiment among Jews, but rather a shared mutual respect, as befits those who adore the one Creator and Lord and have a common father in faith, Abraham. (We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah)

The Way of Faith

Explain that the Eucharist commits us to the poor.

In the news

“There’s this squeeze going on,” John E. Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corporation, said. “We still have job losses. We still have a lot of pressure. And now you’re going to tell me that a lot of these basic commodities are rising? People’s real income is going to get squeezed.” (Jump in Food Costs Drives Up Prices)

In the readings

This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (Jn 15:9-17)

In the tradition

The Eucharist commits us to the poor. To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren:
“You have tasted the Blood of the Lord, yet you do not recognize your brother,…. You dishonor this table when you do not judge worthy of sharing your food someone judged worthy to take part in this meal…. God freed you from all your sins and invited you here, but you have not become more merciful.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1397)

The Way of Faith

Explain that social justice is linked to the common good and the exercise of authority.

In the news

The scholars say their studies found that religious people are three to four times more likely to be involved in their community. They are more apt than nonreligious Americans to work on community projects, belong to voluntary associations, attend public meetings, vote in local elections, attend protest demonstrations and political rallies, and donate time and money to causes — including secular ones. (Religious citizens more involved—and more scarce?)

In the readings

I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another. (Jn 15:9-17)

In the tradition

The principle of solidarity, also articulated in terms of “friendship” or “social charity,” is a direct demand of human and Christian brotherhood.

An error, “today abundantly widespread, is disregard for the law of human solidarity and charity, dictated and imposed both by our common origin and by the equality in rational nature of all men, whatever nation they belong to. This law is sealed by the sacrifice of redemption offered by Jesus Christ on the altar of the Cross to his heavenly Father, on behalf of sinful humanity.”

Solidarity is manifested in the first place by the distribution of goods and remuneration for work. It also presupposes the effort for a more just social order where tensions are better able to be reduced and conflicts more readily settled by negotiation. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1939-1940)

Have you seen other breaking news this week that needs to be discussed? Click on comments to share your thoughts.

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

Of the half dozen different ways I’ve tried to learn Spanish, the one that has worked best is living in Mexico for a month with people who only spoke Spanish. There are a least a half dozen ways to teach the faith to catechumens, but which do you think will work best? Immersion into the life of faith is clearly the most effective, just as immersion into a Spanish-speaking country is the most effective way to learn Spanish.

When I was in Mexico, I did take formal language classes. But class was always a reflection on my experience. What is my name? Where do I come from? How long have I been here? What did I eat today? What will I do tonight? What are the names of the people I am living with?

I had to work hard every day outside of class, not only remembering the things I did, but remembering them in Spanish.

RCIA teaches a new way of thinking

When we are teaching faith to the catechumens, we have to give them more than the vocabulary of faith. We have to teach them how to think in a new language and put that new language to use even when they are not in a formal catechetical session.

The place catechumens learn to think and act in the language of faith is in the liturgy. Immersing the catechumens in the liturgy is like moving to Mexico to learn Spanish. They begin to learn the faith by being in a place in which only the language of faith is spoken.

As RCIA catechists, we very often use the Word of God proclaimed in the liturgy as the primary teaching tool. That’s a good thing. But the Word is not the only way in which faith is “spoken” in the liturgy. If we think of “language” more broadly, we begin to understand that everything that happens in liturgy is part of the grammar of faith. So gestures, symbols, rituals, silences, music, and nonverbal behaviors all “speak” about the faith as much as the words do.

A catechetical challenge for RCIA teams

Here is something to exercise your teaching muscles. Take your catechumens to a liturgy that is not Mass. It can be a wedding, an infant baptism, a funeral—anything but Sunday Mass. Then gather sometime later to ask them questions about what they remember and what they learned about faith from that memory. If they are brand new catechumens, they might not have a lot to say, just as I didn’t when I was first learning Spanish. And just as my teachers did, you will need to keep refining your questions, making them simpler and also using them to lead the catechumens to statements of faith.

So, for example, if someone remembers all the beautiful flowers at a wedding liturgy, you might ask the group why flowers would be important to have at a wedding. Do they remember any scripture stories or stories from our tradition that talk about flowers? Do flowers tell us anything about who God is? (See the Catechism of the Catholic Church on “beauty.”) You might also ask if flowers are necessary for a wedding. If not, what do they think is necessary? They might say the vows, after which you can ask what stories from scripture or our tradition talk about promises and covenants. What does making a promise and staying faithful to a promise teach us about God or about Christian discipleship?

Flowers can teach faith

You can go on like that as long as you like. The point is not to cover every aspect of the church’s teaching on marriage. That would be like trying to teach me how to conjugate verbs into the past perfect form when I’m still trying to learn how to say, “Good morning.”

Rather, the point is to teach the catechumens to begin to think sacramentally. Flowers are not just flowers; they are part of the grammar of faith. Vows are not just vows; they are a symbol of God’s promise of salvation. By repeatedly immersing the catechumens in the liturgy and reflecting their experience back to them in the language of faith, they’ll be fully fluent Christians in no time.

• Call your mother: Human experience as a locus for catechesis

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

The Way of Faith

Explain that illness and suffering have always been among the gravest problems confronted in human life and that as disciples we are called to offer compassion and healing.

In the news

MEXICO CITY ““ Global health authorities warned Wednesday that swine flu was threatening to bloom into a pandemic, and the virus spread farther in Europe even as the outbreak appeared to stabilize at its epicenter. A toddler who succumbed in Texas became the first death outside Mexico. (WHO warns swine flu threatening to become pandemic)

In the readings

Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (Jn 10:11-18)

In the tradition

[Christ's] compassion toward all who suffer goes so far that he identifies himself with them: “I was sick and you visited me.” His preferential love for the sick has not ceased through the centuries to draw the very special attention of Christians toward all those who suffer in body and soul. It is the source of tireless efforts to comfort them. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1503)

Moved by so much suffering Christ not only allows himself to be touched by the sick, but he makes their miseries his own: “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” But he did not heal all the sick. His healings were signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. They announced a more radical healing: the victory over sin and death through his Passover. On the cross Christ took upon himself the whole weight of evil and took away the “sin of the world,” of which illness is only a consequence. By his passion and death on the cross Christ has given a new meaning to suffering: it can henceforth configure us to him and unite us with his redemptive Passion. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1505)

The Way of Faith

Explain that there is only one faith and that faith is necessary for salvation.

In the news

Americans are fickle consumers of religion, with about half changing religious affiliations at least once in their lives as they drift away from childhood traditions or stop believing in the teachings of their faiths, according to a national survey released Monday.
(Study delves into why Americans change religions)

In the readings

[Jesus] is the stone rejected by you, the builders,
which has become the cornerstone.
There is no salvation through anyone else,
nor is there any other name under heaven
given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” (Acts 4:8-12)

In the tradition

“Indeed, the Church, though scattered throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, having received the faith from the apostles and their disciples…guards [this preaching and faith] with care, as dwelling in but a single house, and similarly believes as if having but one soul and a single heart, and preaches, teaches and hands on this faith with a unanimous voice, as if possessing only one mouth.”

“For though languages differ throughout the world, the content of the Tradition is one and the same. The Churches established in Germany have no other faith or Tradition, nor do those of the Iberians, nor those of the Celts, nor those of the East, of Egypt, of Libya, nor those established at the center of the world. . .” The Church’s message “is true and solid, in which one and the same way of salvation appears throughout the whole world.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 173-174)

The Way of Faith

Explain that God blesses those who come to the aid of the poor and rebukes those who turn away from them.

In the news

After returning to school, [Doc] Hendley realized that just by using his ability to bartend and create relationships with people, he might be able to help the problem. At the bars where he worked, he solicited evenings to host wine tastings and provide information about the global crisis. By graduation, Hendley’s “Wine to Water” events had yielded enough funding to implement water projects in the developing world. (Bartender helps turn wine to water in developing world)

In the readings

Beloved, we are God’s children now;
what we shall be has not yet been revealed.
We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is. (1 Jn 3:1-2)

In the tradition

The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2447)

Have you seen other breaking news this week that needs to be discussed? Click on comments to share your thoughts.

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

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

The Way of Faith

Explain that all of human life is sacred and that we are forbidden from killing.

In the news

The release … of the so-called “torture memos,” in response to a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union, has renewed debate in this country about whether torture, or “enhanced interrogation,” was useful or justified as part of what officials then called the “war on terror” following the 9/11 attacks.(Editorial: “Torture memos” a chance to learn)

In the readings

The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses. (Acts 3:13-15, 17-19)

In the tradition

Torture which uses physical or moral violence to extract confessions, punish the guilty, frighten opponents, or satisfy hatred is contrary to respect for the person and for human dignity…. In recent times it has become evident that these cruel practices were neither necessary for public order, nor in conformity with the legitimate rights of the human person. On the contrary, these practices led to ones even more degrading. It is necessary to work for their abolition. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2297-2298)

The Way of Faith

Explain that respect for life means we must have peace of heart and rid ourselves of anger and hatred.

In the news

Arguing with siblings or cousins is how we learn to negotiate with the world. Sure, kids do it badly at first, they are outraged about things that seem ridiculous to us. And they can get physical; then we have to stop them—teach them to use words, and later teach them to use fewer cruel words. But sometimes you just have to let them fight it out. (In Defense of Bickering)

In the readings

While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” (Lk 24:35-48)

In the tradition

Earthly peace is the image and fruit of the peace of Christ, the messianic “Prince of Peace.” By the blood of his Cross, “in his own person he killed the hostility,” he reconciled [all] with God and made his Church the sacrament of the unity of the human race and of its union with God. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2305)

The Way of Faith

Explain that the fifth commandment forbids the intentional destruction of human life.

In the news

As the Taliban tightened their hold over newly won territory, Pakistani politicians and U.S. officials Thursday sharply questioned the government’s willingness to deal with the insurgents and the Pakistani military’s decision to remain on the sidelines. (Taliban’s advance raises concerns)

In the readings

Those who say, “I know him,” but do not keep his commandments are liars, and the truth is not in them. But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. (1 Jn 2:1-5a )

In the tradition

Because of the evils and injustices that accompany all war, the Church insistently urges everyone to prayer and to action so that the divine Goodness may free us from the ancient bondage of war…. All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2307-2308)

Have you seen other breaking news this week that needs to be discussed? Click on comments to share your thoughts.

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

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

The Way of Faith

Explain that the seventh commandment forbids us from stealing.

In the news

Battered by the recession and the deepest and most widespread budget deficits in several decades, a large majority of states are slicing into their social safety nets—often crippling preventive efforts that officials say would save money over time. (States Slashing Social Programs for Vulnerable )

In the readings

The community of believers was of one heart and mind,
and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common…. There was no needy person among them…. (Acts 4:32-35)

In the tradition

St. John Chrysostom vigorously recalls this: “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.” “The demands of justice must be satisfied first of all; that which is already due in justice is not to be offered as a gift of charity”:

When we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not ours. More than performing works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice.

(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2446)