Church's Emphasis on Adult and Family Catechesis
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The Church’s Emphasis on Adult and Family Catechesis
The magisterium of the Church has consistently taught the importance of ongoing faith formation for adults as well as that aspect of formation unique to parents of young children, family catechesis. Footnote 118 of Pope John Paul II’s Catechesi Tradendae is especially instructive on this point. He cites three provincial councils since the Middle Ages to show the long history of this teaching. He then goes on to cite Popes Pius XI, Pius XII, and four texts of the Second Vatican Council, with special significance given to section 3 of Gravissimum Educationes.
The purpose of this document is to explain the central importance of adult and family catechesis through three recent documents: Catechesi Tradendae by Pope John Paul II, the Second Vatican Council’s Lumen Gentium, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Each of these documents, in turn, cite the ancient tradition stretching back not only to the Middle Ages, but also to the formative time in the Early Church when the New Testament was being written. Both Sacred Scripture and Tradition give voice to this teaching.
The Essential Nature of Adult and Family Catechesis
The Family Faith Formation (FFF) program is built on a foundational assumption stressed by Pope John Paul II in Catechesi Tradendae:
… the catechesis of adults … is the principal form of catechesis, because it
is addressed to persons who have the greatest responsibilities and the
capacity to live the Christian message in its fully developed form.
He cites three sources supporting his point, and one of them is of the highest authority in the Church, a decree from the Second Vatican Council. Consequently, FFF is open to all adults in the tri-parish community. Adults whose children are older, have left home to begin lives of their own, or who do not have children can provide great support and encouragement to parents with younger children.
On the topic of faith formation in the family, Pope John Paul II continues:
Christian parents must strive to follow and repeat, within the setting of family life,
the more methodical teaching received elsewhere. The fact that these truths
about the main questions of faith and Christian living are thus repeated within a family setting impregnated with love and respect will often make it possible to influence the children in a decisive way for life. The parents themselves profit
from the effort that this demands of them, for in a catechetical dialogue of this
sort each individual both receives and gives.
The first sentence of this quote describes perfectly the structure of FFF. During the course of a typical month, parents repeat at home the catechetical themes of the month. FFF provides the “teaching received elsewhere” during the first week of that month at the family gathering. The quote goes on to explain why such a structure for catechesis is so beneficial. It not only makes “it possible to influence the children in a decisive way for life,” but also benefits the parents themselves. The structure of FFF ensures that all members of the family and all adults in the community profit as well.
The Domestic Church
The Second Vatican Council revived the ancient concept of the domestic church, the church of the home. Lumen Gentium, in section 11 states:
The family is, so to speak, the domestic church. In it parents should, by their
word and example, be the first preachers of the faith to their children …
Pope John Paul II cites this very passage when he speaks to anti-religious legislation and widespread unbelief or invasive secularism in section 68 of Catechesi Tradendae:
… "the church of the home" remains the one place where children and young people can receive an authentic catechesis. Thus there cannot be too great an
effort on the part of Christian parents to prepare for this ministry of being their
own children's catechists and to carry it out with tireless zeal.
Paragraph 1655 the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) provides a glimpse into the ancient roots of the domestic church:
Christ chose to be born and grow up in the bosom of the holy family of Joseph
and Mary. The Church is nothing other than "the family of God." From the
beginning, the core of the Church was often constituted by those who had
become believers "together with all [their] household." When they were
converted, they desired that "their whole household" should also be saved.
Perhaps no image of the domestic church is so inspiring as that of the holy family, which most certainly was the ideal domestic church. The early Church depended upon the church of the home to grow. It seems clear that without a lived faith in each of those households, the faith would not have been passed on. It is no less important in our times to pass on the faith in this way.
Note in the following passage, quoting paragraph 1657 of the Catechism, the importance of each parent:
It is here that the father of the family, the mother, children, and all members of
the family exercise the priesthood of the baptized in a privileged way "by the reception of the sacraments, prayer and thanksgiving, the witness of a holy life,
and self-denial and active charity." Thus the home is the first school of
Christian life and "a school for human enrichment." Here one learns endurance
and the joy of work, fraternal love, generous - even repeated - forgiveness, and above all divine worship in prayer and the offering of one's life.
The Catechism doesn’t say “the parents;” it says “the father of the family,” and “the mother.” The father is given a place of primacy in this passage as demonstrated by both position in the sentence and the added words “of the family.” While this does not diminish the role of the mother in families today any more than it diminishes the importance of Mary in the holy family, it does underscore that both parents must be actively involved, and that the father has a place of special importance in leading the domestic church, just as a priest does in leading his flock. This importance is underscored by a study done by the Swiss government in 2000. According to secondary sources analyzing this study, a child is 22 times more likely to remain active in the faith as an adult if the father attends church regularly and is active in his faith.
The remainder of the passage details the principle activities of the domestic church, and here prayer receives the place of primacy as further underscored in paragraph 2685 of the Catechism, which is part of the section on prayer:
The Christian family is the first place of education in prayer. Based on the sacrament of marriage, the family is the "domestic church" where God's children learn to pray "as the Church" and to persevere in prayer. For young children in particular, daily family prayer is the first witness of the Church's living memory as awakened patiently by the Holy Spirit.
The passage emphasizes not only “education in prayer,” but also, “in particular, daily family prayer.” Many families today do not pray together, yet developing this virtue is essential to family formation and transmission of the faith to future generations. In short, family prayer is the heart of Family Faith Formation.
Conclusion
In summary, citing teachings of the Church of the highest authority, this document has established the following conclusions:
- Adult catechesis is the principle form of all catechesis
- Catholic parents should prepare for the ministry of being their own children’s catechists and carry it out with tireless zeal
- Like the formation Jesus received in His human nature in the Holy Family, all Catholic children should be nurtured within the domestic church, the church of the home
- The father’s role in passing on the faith is of the utmost importance
- Daily family prayer is essential to nurturing faith in the domestic church
In Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, citing the General Catechetical Directory, section 275, said, “Adult faith formation … is ‘the axis around which revolves the catechesis of childhood and adolescence as well as that of old age.” That says it all. Family Faith Formation seeks to live by these truths by focusing on adult faith formation, especially in nurturing the irreplaceable role of the father and the mother, in order to keep our rich faith alive for the next generation.