Catechesis
on the year of faith
The
transmission of the faith is a very complex, dynamic process which totally
involves the faith of Christians and the life of the Church. Christ “called to
him those whom he desired; and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, to be
with him, and to be sent out to preach. The Gospel can only be transmitted on
the basis of “being” with Jesus and living with Jesus the experience of the
Father, in the Spirit; and in response, “feeling” compelled to proclaim and
share what is lived as a good and something positive and beautiful.
The
responsibility of announcing and proclaiming is not the work of a single person
or a selected few, but a gift given to every person who confidently responds to
the call of faith. Nor is transmitting the faith a specialised work assigned to
a group of people or specifically designated individuals, but an experience of
every Christian and the entire Church. “The lay faithful, in virtue of their participation
in the prophetic mission of Christ, are fully part of this work of the Church.
(12)
Fruits
of transmitting the faith
To
make the Church a community of witnesses of the Gospel, Pope Paul VI states: :”She is the community
of believers, the community of hope lived and communicated, the community of
brotherly love, and she needs to listen unceasingly to what she must believe,
to her reasons for hoping, to the new commandment of love. She is the People of
God immersed in the world, and often tempted by idols, and she always needs to
hear the proclamation of the ‘mighty works of God’ which converted her to the
Lord; she always needs to be called together afresh by him and reunited. In
brief, this means that she has a constant need of being evangelised, if she
wishes to retain freshness, vigour and strength in order to proclaim the
Gospel.”
Another
fruit of transmitting the faith is the courage to speak out against infidelity
and scandal which arise in Christian communities as a sign and consequence of
moments of fatigue and weariness in the work of proclamation.
Other
fruits of transmitting the faith include: the courage to recognise and admit
faults; the capacity to continue to witness Jesus Christ, as we recount the
continual need to be saved; the exercise of penance, a commitment to the work
of purification and the will to atone for the consequences of our sins; an
unfailing trust that the hope which has been given us “does not disappoint us,
because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit
which has been given to us.” (17)
Source: The New Evangelisation
for the Transmission of Faith, Paulines Publications Africa, 2012
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