Catechetical Sunday 2022: The Eucharist and Kerygmatic Catechesis

The Eucharist and Kerygmatic Catechesis by Dr. James Pauley, Professor of Theology and Catechetics, Franciscan University of Steubenville. He has been appointed to the executive team of the Eucharistic revival. He is editor of the Catechetical Review and is author of two books focused on the renewal of catechesis: An Evangelizing Catechesis: Teaching from Your Encounter with Christ (2020) and Liturgical Catechesis in the 21st Century: A School of Discipleship (revised edition, 2022). 

Dr. James Pauley reflects on the U.S. Church’s ongoing Eucharistic Revival and argues that its success depends on catechesis that is deeply evangelistic and centered on the kerygma—the core proclamation of God’s saving love in Christ. Catechesis, he writes, must not only explain doctrine but invite a personal response of conversion and discipleship.

Dr. Pauley encourages catechists to embrace a kerygmatic, Eucharist-centered approach that leads learners to encounter the love of Jesus and respond with a wholehearted “yes.” The Eucharist fuels this transformation, enabling believers to live the adventure of Christian discipleship and inspire others through their witness.

1. Why a Kerygmatic Catechesis Is Needed

• The Church has long taught that catechesis is a “privileged stage of evangelization” and must place the first proclamation (kerygma) at its center.
• Pope Francis describes the kerygma as the message that must be heard “again and again… at every moment” of catechesis.
• Earlier magisterial teaching (Catechism, GDC, St. John Paul II) stressed that catechesis aims at leading people into intimacy and communion with Jesus Christ.
• The kerygmatic approach is not new: theologian Josef Jungmann emphasized as early as 1936 the need to present doctrine as an organic whole rooted in the joy of the Good News, prompting both gratitude and a loving response.

Key point: Catechesis must both announce God’s love and call for a response; neither element can stand alone.

2. A Call to Personal Response

• The example of Acts 2 shows that hearing the Gospel should elicit the question: “What are we to do?”
• Jesus’ own teaching always invited a concrete, personal response.
• Catechists today often struggle with unresponsive learners; a more exhortative (not merely explanatory) approach may awaken the desire for conversion and discipleship.
• Implication: Catechesis should consistently make space for the learner to say “yes” to Jesus.

3. Connecting the Kerygma to the Eucharist

• The Gospel is not just a message but a Person—the Son given by the Father (Jn 3:16).
• The Eucharist is the place where this gift becomes intimate communion: the very aim of catechesis.
• The Eucharistic Revival theme—“This is my body, given for you” (Lk 22:19)—is inherently kerygmatic: it expresses Jesus’ total self-gift.
• Both the Gospel and the Eucharist are proposals that require a free human response.

4. Living the Eucharistic Life

• Receiving the Eucharist should transform:
  • moral decisions
  • how we see the world
  • how we treat others, especially the most vulnerable (mothers and unborn children, the poor, the marginalized)
• The Eucharistic life is an adventure of discipleship, empowered by grace and oriented toward loving others as Christ loves.

The-Eucharist-and-the-Kerygma-DOC-Pauley.pdf