Pope Francis releases his prayer intention for the month of December, inviting everyone to pray for catechists, “summoned to announce the Word of God,” that they might “be its witnesses, with courage and creativity, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, with joy and much peace.”
“Catechists have an invaluable mission for the transmission and growth of the faith,” says Pope Francis in The Pope Video for December.
Each month, the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network prepares The Pope Video, in which the Holy Father reveals his special prayer intentions for that month.
For December 2021, the Pope is praying “for the catechists, summoned to announce the Word of God: may they be its witnesses, with courage and creativity and in the power of the Holy Spirit, with joy and much peace.”
A vocation and a mission
In his video message, Pope Francis says, “The lay ministry of catechist is a vocation; it’s a mission… It’s an entire way of being.” He said the Church needs “good catechists who are both companions and teachers.”
Earlier this year, Pope Francis formally restored the lay ministry of catechists with the Apostolic Letter Antiquum ministerium, issued “motu proprio,” or on his own initiative. In this month’s video, the Pope explains that even today, “in many dioceses, on many continents, evangelization is fundamentally in the hands of a catechist.”
Proclaiming the Gospel with their lives
So, he said, the Church needs “creative people who proclaim the Gospel, but who proclaim it neither with a mute nor with a loudspeaker, but rather with their life, with gentleness, with a new language, and opening new ways.”
An example of this “new language” for catechesis is seen in The Pope Video for December, which shows catechists and young people working together on a mural representing the washing of feet.
An elegant gesture
In his message, Pope Francis invites the faithful to “thank catechists for the interior enthusiasm with which they live this mission at the service of the Church.”
Fr Frédéric Fornos, S.J., International Director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, commented on this month’s intention: “Francis dedicating this last message to catechists in the same year in which he instituted their lay ministry and in which the synodal journey began ‘as the pilgrim and missionary People of God’ is an eloquent gesture.”
Image: Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network
Below is a translation of the Pope’s video message
Catechists have an invaluable mission for the transmission and growth of the faith.
The lay ministry of catechist is a vocation; it’s a mission. Being a catechist means that you ‘are a catechist,’ not that you ‘work as a catechist.’ It’s an entire way of being, and we need good catechists who are both companions and teachers.
We need creative people who proclaim the Gospel, but who proclaim it neither with a mute nor with a loudspeaker, but rather with their life, with gentleness, with a new language, and opening new ways.
In many dioceses, on many continents, evangelization is fundamentally in the hands of a catechist.
Let us thank catechists for the interior enthusiasm with which they live this mission at the service of the Church.
Let us pray for the catechists, summoned to announce the Word of God: may they be its witnesses, with courage and creativity and in the power of the Holy Spirit, with joy and much peace.
The Diocese of Parramatta’s Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) supports the 47 parishes of the diocese by conducting training courses that accredit Catechists/Special Religious Education (SRE) Teachers who teach in state schools. In 2022, CCD is welcoming new volunteers to this ministry. Please contact your parish office or Maree Collis on (02) 8838 3486 or maree.collis@parracatholic.org.
With thanks to Vatican News and Christopher Wells, where this article originally appeared.
