Chapter
1
Not Your Grandmother’s Catechism
In This Chapter
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defined
How to use the Catechism to further your understanding of Catholic faith and morals
The Catechism of today as compared to the early days
What the Catechism can mean for you
At first glance, just the concept of Catholic Catechism can seem overwhelming. It’s not just the sheer volume of material involved, because there is a load of it, but it’s also the subject matter. We’re talking about some pretty heavy-duty Church teachings that can at times be confusing, controversial, or simply over the heads of those who don’t have theology degrees.
Church Speak
The term Church in this book refers specifically to the Catholic Church.
But there’s one more important aspect of the Catechism that people too often overlook: the beauty of the teachings it contains. That’s right. The Catechism is a complete and beautiful explanation of Church teachings that many of us first learned about as children. By delving more deeply into these Catholic beliefs contained in the Catechism, you can come to a fuller adult understanding of what you’ve likely been professing, and living, for years.
If you’re not Catholic, some of the Catechism’s teachings may seem mysterious to you or the beliefs might seem unbelievable. So I can promise you this journey through the Catechism will certainly be enlightening. It will let you explore the depths of the Catholic faith and emerge with a deeper understanding of it and, hopefully, an appreciation for its beauty and breadth, whether you were raised Catholic or not.
What Catechism Is, and Is Not
Let’s begin with an understanding of what the term catechism means. The word catechism refers to any manual used to instruct others in faith. When it is used in the specific context of the Catholic Church, as will be the case throughout this book, it means, simply, the instruction manual for followers of the Catholic faith. The Catechism refers to the specific book used by Catholics that contains all the teachings of the Catholic faith.
The Catechism is so chock-full of the do’s and don’ts of life, it’s easy to think of it as the official Catholic rulebook, but it’s not. While there are some pretty specific do’s and don’ts set forth in the Catechism, it goes much deeper and is about so much more than rules. It is about the most basic and meaningful teachings of the Catholic faith.
It’s not about fire and brimstone. It’s not about judgment. It’s not about checking off where you hit or miss the mark in your life and thoughts. It’s about faith, hope, love, and the teachings that bring these things to life in the world around you. It’s about opening up the Christian faith in Catholicism in a way that invites all people to explore more deeply some of life’s most basic questions.
Church Speak
The word catechism refers to a summary or compendium of Catholic teaching that is used for instruction of the faith. Catechism, capitalized, refers to the most recently published volume, The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which contains all Catholic teachings.
When I think of the Catechism, I think of it as operating instructions for Catholics. Sure, there are plenty of rules spelled out in detail, but there are also entire sections explaining Catholic beliefs about everything from the creation of the universe to the coming of Jesus to the rhythm of prayer in our daily lives.
In his Apostolic Constitution at the beginning of the Catechism, Pope John Paul II wrote that the Catechism is “a statement of the Church’s faith and of Catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by sacred Scrip-ture, Apostolic Tradition, and the Church’s magisterium.” He then declared it a “sure norm for teaching the faith” and called on all of the faithful to use it to “deepen their knowledge of the unfathomable riches of salvation.”
In other words, what Pope John Paul II is saying is that the Catechism puts together in one nifty volume all the Church teachings and moral guidance you need to live a spiritual life, a righteous life, a life worthy of eternal salvation.
If you want to know what it means to be a Catholic and how to live a Catholic life, then the Catechism is the book for you.
Church Speak
Magisterium is the term that refers to the Church’s teaching authority, which rests with the pope, who is the successor of St. Peter and the head of the college of bishops (who are the successors of the apostles), and with the bishops, who are united with one another and with the pope in a unity of faith.
A New Approach
For some people there’s just no getting around the immediate—and sometimes visceral—response they have to anything related to catechism. All too often, particularly for those raised Catholic, the subject may conjure up images of the old Baltimore Catechism of pre-Vatican II days, or maybe boring religion classes once known as C.C.D. (Con-fraternity of Christian Doctrine). I was born too late to be formally educated with the Baltimore Catechism, but my grandfather made sure I had my own copy of this book. To this day, the first things that come to mind when I think of that catechism are the many illustrations featuring a stereotypical red-horned devil. It was not exactly a warm and fuzzy introduction to the faith, even if it was accurate in its theology.
The reality is that the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as the current book is referred to, is not a rehash of the Baltimore Catechism. It is not a question-and-answer, take-no-prisoners method of imparting the faith, but rather an expansive, in-depth discussion of beliefs and teachings.
The current Catechism presents a whole new way of looking at the Church, reflecting the work of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.
True Confessions
The Baltimore Catechism was commissioned at a meeting of the U.S. bishops in Baltimore in 1829, although the first edition did not appear until 1885. It became the standard religion text in the United States from the late 1880s until the 1960s, when the Church moved away from a strict catechism-based style of religious instruction. There is, however, a revised edition of the Baltimore Catechism in circulation today that is a perennial favorite of more traditional Catholics, who prefer the old-time religion.
Understanding Catechesis
Before we can get into the specifics of the Catechism, we need to take a step back to something called “catechesis” (pronounced cat-eh-KEY-sis), which is the education of children and adults in the faith. It’s more than catechetical instruction, or religion classes.
Catechesis is the “totality of the Church’s efforts to make disciples,” meaning that it doesn’t encompass only classroom education but every aspect of faith-building that helps others believe more fully in Jesus Christ and strengthens his Church on earth. (4)
The word catechesis comes from the Greek word katechizo, which means to teach orally.
You’re Absolved If …
You think catechesis is the equivalent of those religion classes you used to attend once a week in the parish auditorium. While those classes—and their modern-day faith-formation counterparts—are certainly one aspect of catechesis, the Church strives for a much more well-rounded and long-term approach to learning about the faith today. Adult faith formation, intergenerational faith formation, and many other styles of ongoing religious education are part of the wonderful world of catechesis.
What’s in It for You?
No stone was left unturned when this Catechism was written, and anyone who reads it cannot help but come away with a better understanding of the Catholic Church and the Catholic faith. In addition, the Catechism gets into a plethora of teachings that sometimes get a bad rap in society today because they are often taken out of their faith context.
If you go ahead and give the Catechism a chance, you are likely to find out things about the Catholic faith that you never imagined, or things that you thought you knew but maybe didn’t fully understand. There’s a reason the Catechism has been a bestseller since it was released, not only among Catholics but among the broader public as well.
Here are three off-the-cuff reasons for jumping into the Catechism with both feet:
Where else can you read about adultery, angels, and environmentalism all in one place?
If you are going to read only one book this month, why not make it a book that gets you thinking about the big stuff—heaven and hell, life and death, love and murder?
The next time you’re at a party and someone starts talking about those crazy Catholics, you’ll be armed with answers to questions about the Body of Christ, virginity of Mary, and authority of the pope.
True Confessions
The second edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church clocks in at a hefty 904 pages, including more than 200 pages dedicated to an extensive glossary, index of citations, and index by subject.
Just for kicks, I’ll pick a few random but consecutive entries from the index of the full Catechism, and I’d be surprised if you’re not intrigued:
lust, lying, magic
order, organ transplants, original sin
tenderness, terrorism, and tests
The subjects may seem odd or disconnected at first, but the wonder of the Catechism is that everything is put into a faith perspective, and everything is connected to Scripture and Tradition.
Just about any question you could possibly ask about the Catholic faith is answered in the Catechism. And if you decide you want to go even deeper into the subject than what’s provided in the main text, there are references to documents that can help you trace the belief or teaching back to its source.
It’s Not as Scary as It Looks
If you’ve seen the actual Catechism, then you know that it contains more than 900 pages of teachings grounded in the Bible, Church documents, canon law, and encyclical upon encyclical. It can be overwhelming and intimidating taken as a whole, but it doesn’t have to be.
The Catechism is divided into logical and easy-to-follow sections once you get the hang of it. We’re going to follow that basic structure in this book as well.
Teachable Moment
Throughout this book you will see numbers in parentheses. These numbers correspond to numbers throughout the full Catechism. If you want to know about a particular teaching, just look up the same number in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and you will find more than you ever imagined.
This is how the full Catechism breaks down:
Part I: The Profession of Faith, which covers basic Catholic beliefs about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Mary, and lots of other major topics.
Part II: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, which focuses on liturgy and the seven sacraments.
Part III: Life in Christ, which covers human dignity, morality, and the Ten Commandments.
Part IV: Christian Prayer, which includes a discussion of prayer in general and a detailed explanation of the Our Father.
We are going to work our way through the Catechism part by part, topic by topic, and break it down into smaller pieces that remain theologically accurate while being easy to understand and fun to read.
You don’t have to start at the beginning and work your way through to the end. You can begin with any subject you like or jump around from one chapter to another, depending on what piques your interest.
We’ll get more into the specifics of how to use the Catechism in the next chapter. For now all you need to do is keep an open mind and an open heart. If you can do that, everything else will be easy.
Pop Quiz
Whether you sat through 12 years of Catholic school or never darkened the doorstep of a Catholic Church, you probably have a strong idea or two about Catholics. Before we get to the heart of the matter, let’s take a little True-False quiz to see just how much you know about Church beliefs and teachings. Keep track of your answers and then take the quiz again after you’ve finished this book, and see all you have learned.
1. If you are divorced, you cannot receive Communion in the Catholic Church.
2. Angels are the spirits of those who have died and gone to heaven.
3. Respecting and caring for animals is part of the seventh command-ment against stealing.
4. When the bread and wine are consecrated at Mass, they become the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
5. The Immaculate Conception refers to the moment when Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb.
6. Catholics cannot hold that evolution is true, only the literal interpre-tation of the Genesis story of Adam and Eve.
7. Anointing of the sick, one of the seven sacraments, can be received only one time when someone is on the verge of death.
8. Chastity is expected of all people, even married couples.
9. Meditation is a Catholic form of prayer.
10. The Virgin Mary is sometimes called the “new Eve.”
11. A creed is a profession of faith.
12. The Holy Trinity is made up of God, Jesus, and Mary.
13. A deacon can baptize babies, bless marriages, and preside over funerals.
14. The “greatest commandment” is number five: You shall not kill.
15. Amen means, “So be it.”
So how do you think you did? Maybe you breezed right through these questions and feel pretty confident about your knowledge of all things Catholic, or perhaps you struggled with a few and hedged your bets with an educated guess or two.
Fortunately, it doesn’t matter how you did now because by the time you’re done with this book you’ll be able to answer these and just about any Catholic question someone throws at you. Even if you did answer all or most of these questions correctly, you can learn all the reasons behind these answers, and many, many others. We’ll get to all of them in due time and in great detail, but in the meantime, if you’d like to see how you did, here are the correct answers.
Survey Says …
Pat yourself on the back for being brave enough to take a pop quiz before you had a chance to study! Here are the answers to the quiz, with references to the chapters that will cover each topic in detail.
1. False (Chapter 20) Divorce alone does not prevent you from receiving the Sacraments.
2. False (Chapter 5) Angels are spiritual, noncorporeal beings.
3. True (Chapter 21)
4. True (Chapter 12)
5. False (Chapter 6) The Immaculate Conception refers the conception of the Virgin Mary without original sin.
6. False (Chapter 4) Catholics are allowed to hold that evolution is true as long as they also recognize God as the divine author of all creation and everything that evolved from it.
7. False (Chapter 13) Anointing of the sick can be received any time someone is seriously ill, preparing to undergo surgery, or near death because of old age.
8. True (Chapter 20)
9. True (Chapter 24)
10. True (Chapter 23)
11. True (Chapter 3)
12. False (Chapter 4) The Holy Trinity is God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
13. True (Chapter 14)
14. False (Chapter 16) The “greatest commandment,” as specified by Jesus, is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Jesus adds that there is a second commandment that is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:34)
15. True (Chapter 25)
The Least You Need to Know
The Catechism is not a question-and-answer rulebook but a complete and expansive discussion of Catholic beliefs and teachings.
Just about any question you have about the Catholic faith can be answered by the Catechism.
The Catechism is broken down into four distinct parts: Profession of Faith, Celebration of the Christian Mystery, Life in Christ, and Christian Prayer.
This book is designed to help you understand difficult theological concepts of the Catholic faith and be able to see and gain appreciation for the beauty of the teachings within it.