It was an ordinary day.
A chance encounter.
A life changed!
That’s the scenario in last Sunday’s gospel, the “Woman at the Well” from John 4:5-42. This gospel has profound implications for catechesis and evangelization. Let’s take a look.
What exactly is the business of catechesis?
Most catechists assume catechesis is about education in the Faith. Education is important but it’s not really the goal of catechesis. It’s more like the means to the goal.
John Paul II once wrote that “the definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ” (On Catechesis in Our Time, 5).
Doctrine is God’s revelation of himself to us. Our students must know and understand this. But it can’t end there. We need to make doctrine the starting point for encountering God. This is more like formation than simply education.
If a catechist can arrange a transformative encounter with Christ through their teaching, they’ll keep their students coming back for more. Then the learning will continue long after they leave the class.
I think this is the business of catechesis.
My encounter with Revelation
I experienced something similar to this in my own conversion. I grew up in the Catholic Faith but pretty much rejected it until I was around 30 years old. Through a series of events involving Tokyo, an Australian New Age healer/channeler gone bad and Ricardo Montalban (it’s a very long story), I was awakened to the Catholic Faith.
Soon after, I began studying and fell in love with Church teaching. It was the answer to all my questions about life. The month before this encounter with Revelation, I could not have cared less about anything Catholic. Afterwards, I couldn’t get enough!
It’s a similar experience to story of the Woman at the Well.
He told me everything I ever did
The Woman at the Well is from the wrong side of the tracks, so to speak. Married multiple times and currently shacking up, she’s a recognized sinner. But she’s thirsting!
She dives into theological debate with this Jewish rabbi. She knows the Scriptures and the prophesies. Is she eagerly awaiting the Messiah?
When she’s awakened by this encounter and understands the truth of who Jesus is, she becomes a very effective evangelist. She tells everyone in the village and her testimony is so good, they all go out to see him.
The most interesting part to me is after verse 40. The Samaritans of the village meet Jesus, ask him to stay for two days and believe in him “because of his word.” It continues, “They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world” (Jn 4:42).
Catechetical Takeaway
The villagers first heard about Jesus from the Woman. Her passion and obvious change compelled them to take a look. However, they believed by hearing “his word” not hers.
The point? Jesus does the converting. It’s our job to do the introductions.
The catechist’s job is to facilitate transformative encounters with Christ. This can be done in many ways through our teaching. But we have to understand the teaching is the means and not the end. The end is the encounter.
If you can arrange that, you’ll create a student for life. They’ll hear it for themselves and know that Jesus is indeed the Savior of the world.
- Does this fly in the face of your ideas about catechesis?
- What problems are there in this theory?
- What are some ways you could facilitate encounters with Christ?
Hat tip to Samantha Thomeczek for the awesome comment on my last post that inspired me to write this one.
Ricardo Montalban?! PLEASE tell me you will write that story up some day!
Great post, Marc — this hit the nail on the head:
“The catechist’s job is to facilitate transformative encounters with Christ. This can be done in many ways through our teaching. But we have to understand the teaching is the means and not the end. The end is the encounter.”
Coming from that generation that got little teaching, I sometimes (often!) put too much emphasis on content and not on relationship — thanks for the reminder!
Thanks Jonathan! I definitely don’t advocate being all touchy-feely. Doctrine is the foundation of our relationship with God. However, there does need to be a balance and we need to fight being overly intellectual. Moderation in all things.
Yeah, I should write that story someday. 😉
Ow ow ow it hurts to laugh because of this coughing! PLEASE…we demand to know the role that Ricardo Montalban played in your conversion. Pronto!
Seriously – another great post in a great series.
Here’s my thing – how do we do that – facilitate those transformative encounters – without it becoming “I will set up the perfect conditions for you to have a certain emotional response, and we’ll call that an encounter with Jesus.” You know what I mean?
I do know what you mean.
I’m not really talking about setting up emotional highs. Retreat experiences, TEC and the like have their place but it’s not necessarily catechetical. I think that kind of experience tends to only last for that time or place. When you come away from it, you enter a different realm and the emotion goes away.
Perhaps what I’m thinking is less grand than what I made it sound like. Let me explain.
First, I think every catechesis should be accompanied by an application. The catechist needs to apply the teaching to real life and connect the dots for the students. They may come up with different applications on their own, but you need to guide them toward that. It should never just be about the information. The catechesis should always lead toward something else.
A lot of the techniques for these transformative experiences are things I’ve talked about in other posts. Giving testimonies, witnessing to the the way the teaching as affected you in your own life, and having students make connections to their own lives. All of these done within the context of relationships can have the effect of opening your students eyes to Jesus–making them interesting to “go and see for themselves” who this man is.
Prayer experiences can be very important. Guided meditations, Scripture prayer, group lectio divina or some other type of reflection based on Scripture. Also, the lives of the Saints, para-liturgical activities and devotions can be good.
By far the most important thing is for the students to participate in the sacraments well. Or, at least be well prepared for that. The Eucharist is the transformative experience par excellence. And, with that, adoration. I’ve heard some amazing things with kids and adoration.
So, those are some of my ideas. They are ways to extend the teaching so it doesn’t become overly intellectual and makes a devotional, worshipful, love connection to the doctrine. We always want to be drawing the students toward love. Augustine said all the doctrine of the Church must always be oriented to “the love that never ends.”
“It’s more like the means to the goal.” Yes. As JP2 put it, Fides et Ratio.
“If a catechist can arrange a transformative encounter with Christ…” Yes. Well, I suppose I try to give the kids enough of a visceral understanding of Catholicism that when they do have encounters with Christ, they can get the most out of them.
Yes, I think you’ve got the understanding I was trying to convey.
Where is that quote in Fides et Ratio? I’d like that one.
Oops it’s not in F&R; I meant to convey that your theme of Faith & Education lies within the realm of JP2’s Faith & Reason: that education isn’t enough; there must be faith as well, an encounter with Jesus.
That’s a very good connection. Yes, Faith and Education! Thanks!
OK I too had to stop reading and jump straight to the comments regarding Ricardo Montalban! N-I-C-E. More serious comment after I scarf down this hot dog and finish Deadliest Catch…
OK…Now I’ve gotten my pre-Friday meat fix I’ve reread this thing and am ready to be serious.
“The point? Jesus does the converting. It’s our job to do the introductions.
The catechist’s job is to facilitate transformative encounters with Christ. This can be done in many ways through our teaching. But we have to understand the teaching is the means and not the end. The end is the encounter.”
OK brother, this might be the best seven sentences of yours I’ve read so far. And I don’t think anyone willing to read enough of your posts to get an overall gist of your thinking, is going to think you’re “touchy feely.”
Thanks so much Roy! Glad you understood what I was getting at.
I like what Pope John Paul II said in CATECHESI TRADENDAE #20…
“Catechesis aims therefore at developing understanding of the mystery of Christ in the light of God’s word, so that the whole of a person’s humanity is impregnated by that word. Changed by the working of grace into a new creature, the Christian thus sets himself to follow Christ and learns more and more within the Church to think like Him, to judge like Him, to act in conformity with His commandments, and to hope as He invites us to.
To put it more precisely: within the whole process of evangelization, the aim of catechesis is to be the teaching and maturation stage, that is to say, the period in which the Christian, having accepted by faith the person of Jesus Christ as the one Lord and having given Him complete adherence by sincere conversion of heart, endeavors to know better this Jesus to whom he has entrusted himself: to know His “mystery,” the kingdom of God proclaimed by Him, the requirements and promises contained in His Gospel message, and the paths that He has laid down for anyone who wishes to follow Him.”
We help those we catechize to “understand” what our Faith teaches so that they may be brought to a deeper “conversion”. We are always seeking to foster a “change” of heart that has encountered and continues to encounter Christ.
My favorite part is that we develop the understanding so we can be changed to think like Christ. Understanding and change! Those are the two essential aspects of catechesis. We need those encounters to get that.
Thanks for including that quote! It’s very appropriate.
“John Paul II once wrote that “the definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ” (On Catechesis in Our Time, 5).” Amen to that Blessed JPII!
I keep saying that we need to teach people to pray, it all has to move from the head to the heart, into a relationship. The relationship is formed by spending time together. People are so hungry for this that they will go to New Age spirituality programs trying to find it. The Catholic Church has the real thing!
We need to be teaching Lectio Divina/Discursive Meditation/Ignatian prayer…in the parishes. I was so HUNGRY for that as a new Catholic and it wasn’t easy to find….
Great post, Marc.
Thank you for saying that! I’ve been saying the same thing for years. Teresa of Avila said the doorway to entrance into the mansions is prayer. The thing people need most in their spiritual lives is to learn how to pray better, deeper and more intimately. However, I’ve found a bit of resistance to it. Most people don’t think they need to learn this right off the bat. Or, they do think they need to learn it but they don’t have the discipline to stick with it.
I agree that lectio/discursive meditation is the what we need to be teaching in parishes. I’ve given several classes on this in the parish over the years. I usually get a very good attendance but when I talk to people later they have a hard time sticking with it. I guess there needs to be support groups to offer accountability and help. I’m working on that.
I think people need to be educated on the need for prayer and the benefits. And, there needs to be support for them after they commit to it and start. I haven’t found the perfect mix yet but I’m working on it. 😉
Hello Marc. Amanda Rose thought I might be interested in your site.
For me it is impossible to teach our Faith to the students without it being Christ centered. I never thought of it any other way. How can you teach about Our Lord without it being Christ centered. Every point you made involves a story/information as the basis from your own conversion to all other conversions, including those in the bible. Prayer/talking to God is essential for our students of any age to encounter Christ. To get close to anyone, you must spend time with them – period. It doesn’t happen any other way. The students know they need to spend time with another person in order to get to know them and become friends with them. Students Love stories, and they are hungry for good stories founded on the truth.. Students are sharp today and ask good questions when given the opportunity to express themselves, which is key for me in teaching my students (whatever age). We meet the students where they are, with the motivating stories from their ancestors to their own present day stories. You are right that we introduce them to Jesus and then Jesus takes care of the rest!
Hi Paul! Thanks for visiting! I’m glad Amanda sent you over.
I think you’re right. Christ must be the center of all our catechesis. I’m working on a post right now that says that very thing. You may not talk about Christ at every lesson but you should have in the back of your mind that every lesson is leading your students closer to him.
I also think you’re right that it’s important to meet the students where they are with stories that introduce them to Jesus. The stories draw them deeper into the relationship with him.
Thanks for the comments!
Hello Marc.
I believe you are trying to say we are not about teaching religion. Personally, I never could think of my Faith in God as a religion. It is simply a matter of fact and not some fabricated ideology. To share with children, of any age, about our Faith is to share Christ. It is impossible without him. And if we do not recognize Christ in us, we are certainly not going to be able to share him with others. It is only through prayer(Talking to God) that we come into being with Christ! Just as we come into any relationship, it takes spending time with that person. Any friendship you ever had took an effort on both parties. Children understand this. Your conversion and every conversion there ever was involved an encounter of some kind. Sometimes directly with Our Lord but more often through other human beings and experiences. Children love stories, especially when they are based in the truth. Jesus taught with stories. Children are sharp and hungry for the truth! As we all agree; Our job is to introduce them to Our Saving Lord, and Jesus will take them from there!
P.S. Amanda Rose, from Little Steps Along The Way, thought I should visit your site. Say hi to her for me. Thanks and keep up the good work.
Yes, I’m saying we’re not simply about teaching religion but that everything works toward building encounters with Christ. After they meet him for themselves in a meaningful way, the relationship can follow.
Great insights on prayer, relationship and using stories too!
Thanks for the comments!
Hi Marc. I never intended for both posts to be entered. I didn’t think the first post made it. If I could, I would have deleted the first one since they both say pretty much the same thing.
“It is only through prayer(Talking to God) that we come into being with Christ! ”
Paul, I like the way you said this…it is so very true. Prayer is the essential and seems so often to be forgotten.
I agree! Very well said and very true.