Diocesan Resources
Living as Missionary Disciples: National Directory for Catechesis Worksheets (2017)
Living as Missionary Disciples: National Directory for Catechesis Worksheets
Context and Tools to Assess and Enhance Catechetical Formation in an Evangelizing Spirit
Ten years have swiftly flown by since the publication of the National Directory for Catechesis in 2005, years which have seen considerable growth and change within the Catholic Church. In these years, the Catholic Church has experienced the pontificates of three popes—St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis and celebrated the Year of Faith, the Synod on the New Evangelization, and the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy.
Pope Paul VI reawakened the Church’s evangelizing mission, St. John Paul II heralded the call for the New Evangelization, and Pope Benedict XVI reproposed the encounter with the Risen Lord and the Church. Pope Francis, in the document that reflected the work of the Synod on the New Evangelization, Evangelii Gaudium, situates the ministry of catechesis within the process of missionary discipleship. By virtue of their baptism, the People of God have become missionary disciples. Pope Francis notes that “every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are “disciples” and “missionaries” but rather that we are always “missionary disciples.” As catechists who herald and echo the Gospel, this witness of life should call us “constantly to go forth to others out of love, to bear witness to Jesus and to talk about Jesus, to proclaim Jesus.” This missionary message is at the heart of the Gospel and was reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council, which asserted that “the pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father.”
This is clearly a time of immense possibilities for the Catholic Church in the United States as new directions for evangelization, catechesis, and missionary activity have been identified within the process of discipleship formation. The renewal of emphasis on evangelization and catechesis within the context of the new evangelization has produced many praiseworthy initiatives and efforts in the formation of youth, adults, and children. As such, it has been a remarkable period for the reorientation and promotion of evangelization and catechesis within the universal Church.