CATECHETICAL SUNDAY: SEPT. 20
By Jayne Ragasa-Mondoy
Special to the Herald
This year, the church will celebrate Catechetical Sunday on Sept. 20. The 2020 theme is “I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you.”
Catechetical Sunday is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the role each person plays, by virtue of Baptism, in handing on the faith and being a witness to the Gospel, and for catechists to rededicate themselves to this mission as a community of faith.
A commissioning service for catechists and a blessing of parents and guardians (available at usccb.org) are intended to take place at the eucharistic liturgy on Catechetical Sunday. If this is not possible, the blessing and commissioning may be celebrated at Mass at another time, or it may take place in a small-group setting outside of Mass, perhaps with the praying of the Liturgy of the Hours or at a simple commissioning service.
Bishop Robert Barron, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis writes:
“This year, we also invite everyone who is involved in the work of catechesis to consider earnestly the importance of catechist formation. Since catechists are the instruments through which many come to encounter Christ and hear this invitation, they have a unique role in keeping people connected to the life of the parish.
“The new ‘Directory for Catechesis’ describes the following goal of catechist formation: ‘making catechists aware that as baptized persons they are true missionary disciples, meaning active participants in evangelization, and on this basis are enabled by the church to communicate the Gospel and to accompany and educate believers in the faith.’
“Therefore, catechists must first be accompanied by their pastors and catechetical leaders to encounter Christ, in order to facilitate encounters with Christ for others.”
