[Introduction] Liturgy and Catechesis by Fr. Atta Okyere Samuel

As St. John Paul II once said, ‘the catechesis that prepares for the sacraments is an eminent kind, and every form of catechesis necessarily leads to the sacraments of faith’ ( Catechesi Tradendae, 23).

It is for reasons like this that, principally, the Fathers of the II Vatican Council are believed to have called not just for the renewal of rites but also of minds and hearts (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14; 48) in the spirit of what Prosper of Aquitaine for instance, had earlier phrased as: Ut legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi (that the law of praying establishes the law of believing). The otherwise is also the case.

My subscription to this position is what basically convinces me that even though there may be other contributing factors to the decline of the Catholic population, if it were a game of chess, the lack of an intentional, proper, continuous, and effective catechetical (formation) structure would be the Queen!

For instance, without any attempt to be overly simplistic, if I have a fair understanding of the Church’s intrinsic essence as One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, organically tailored on the hypostatic nature (divine and human) of her Founder, I may easily appreciate that if the Church were a hospital, not all the patients would easily respond to treatment.

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All things being equal therefore, even though exemplary leadership is a sine qua non of credible institutions, I would not be led out of the Church because of someone’s scandal or weaknesses without, at worst, considering the thought of changing parish.

Why would I doubt the validity of the Eucharist merely because of a minister’s imperfections? Why would I abandon the Church because I wasn’t visited when I was sick or in difficulty? Why would I believe and even have a takeaway ‘Eucharist’ from someone who merely prays over a Coca-Cola drink or fruit juice and a loaf of bread?

Why would I leave the Church on the basis that our filial relationship with Christ’s mother is idolatry, yet join a faith group where the leaders are the centre of attraction, with their paraphernalia used as talismans? After allowing myself to be convinced of the so-called invalid nature of the forms of baptism like pouring and sprinkling, why would I not insist on being ‘rebaptized’ in the river Jordan (as Jesus did) and not in any fanciful water-filled barrel or lake?

Our consciousness of these and similar challenges may be a discussion for another day. Be that as it may, there is a need to address the obvious lacuna in the Church’s catechetical structure that contributes to securing the foundations of the ‘sacraments of faith’ as St. JP II alluded to. It is understandable that even after showing indifference to some intentional programmes like the ‘Laity Week’ organised for their own edification and continuous formation, some of Christ’s faithful still get the courage to chastise the ‘Church’ (who or what is the Church?) for not doing enough.

Especially with ministers who consistently invest enough time and resources in such faith-nourishing practices, such instances may be discouraging and discomforting. But can we ever have enough justification to restrain our best efforts in the fulfilment of our magistral duties? While maintaining structures like the ‘Laity Week’ and the encouragement of parish fraternity groups to be more catechetical, are there other explorable alternatives to effectively address the catechetical gap?

Yes, the fact of the mysterious and ‘contradictory’ (cf. Lk. 2:34) nature of the Object of our faith makes our belief challenging sometimes, as coupled with the seeming plague of ‘fashionable atheism’, religious indifference, rationalism, and materialism that threatens our generation. But materially, are these not signs of basic catechetical insufficiencies? Or we can sincerely, boldly, and in proud modesty claim that an appreciable number of the faithful (especially those who leave) fairly understand, can explain, and even defend what they appear to believe and celebrate?

We may have our own doubts, or we may even perceive the concerns raised as speculative scepticism, but the reality is that today’s generation does not merely embrace inherited belief systems or simplistic proposed beliefs as faith, dogma, or mystery.

For a good number of them, without malice or mischief, they yearn for an appreciable level of explanations that are systematically rooted in Sacred Tradition, Scriptures, and the Magisterium (cf. SC 24, 51; Dei Verbum 8-10), thereby seeking to know, for instance, the logical inspirations behind the belief in the communion of saints when placed on the famous Christological scale of John 14:6.

In the humble spirit of Fides et Ratio, desire simple but cogent knowledge about dogmatic items like the Trinity, the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption of Mary, and why the Catholic belief in transubstantiation and ordination is uniquely proper.

Again, amidst the many religious propagandas and fundamentalism, they seek Catholic celebrations that are rightly liturgical yet not lethargical. In the face value of Exodus 20:5, Psalm 115:4-8, and the temptation to loosely confuse Christian icons with those mostly found in the shrines of African Traditional Religion, they search for an understanding of why we are generally iconodulists and not iconoclasts.

Unfortunately, at times, those who show signs of need in these and similar matters of faith are unaware of their inadequacies or may care less even when aware.

Hence, the need to keep reminding ourselves fraternally that in as much as all of Christ’s faithful are to work for their own salvation with fear and trembling (cf. Phil. 2:12), and the fact that ‘under the direction of legitimate ecclesiastical authority, solicitude for catechesis belongs to all members of the Church according to each one’s role’ (Can., 774), ‘it is a proper and grave duty especially of pastors of souls to take care of the catechesis of the Christian people so that the living faith of the faithful becomes manifest and active through doctrinal instruction and the experience of Christian life’ (Can., 773).

Thus, in ‘the Church’s teaching, liturgy and life spring from this source and lead back to it, under the guidance of the pastors and, in particular, of the doctrinal magisterium entrusted to them by the Lord’ ( Catechesi Tradendae, 23). For God and humanity, may Christ, the teacher, inspire us to practically and prayerfully respond to the need to help raise active and practising Catholics.

To be continued…