Bishop Francis Alleyne, OSB | Message to Catechists, September 2024

Dear Catechists,

Greetings from the North West.

I am unable to join you this Sunday, Catechists’ Sunday, but certainly will be with you in spirit. I value these events as it offers me the opportunity to personally, meet you, thank you for the ministry that you carry out in the faith communities and to hear from you, the Catechists, the hopes, the joys and expectations that you hold out to yourselves and those in your care.

A dominant characteristic of Jesus’ ministry is catechizing; always engaging people in order to draw them into God’s mysteries, draw them into the teachings and the ways of God’s Kingdom.  It was always engaging, Jesus told stories, he looked them in the eye he fixed his gaze on them offering them truths and insights which were barely present or altogether absent in the wider world. His listeners marveled and wondered why they had not heard this before. In our own time the language and the concepts of the Gospel are, to a great extent, absent from everyday conversations and absent in the media. The Catechist can play a huge role in introducing and making proficient in young people the vocabulary and the language of faith just as Jesus did and I encourage you to bring this to the young persons as you facilitate a faith formation in them.

In today’s Gospel Jesus asks his disciples the question “Who do you say I am?”(Mk 8:29). Beyond hearsay and popular opinion he is enquiring of them what they understand, what they believe, what is there conviction.  Peter answers “You are the Christ”. In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus replies to Peter’s response saying “Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that has revealed this to you but my Father in heaven” (Mt 16:17). This is where we want to point those entrusted to us for catechesis, this is the kind of engagement we want to foster in formation; for them to know Jesus well, intimately, and to put them in touch with that which is beyond flesh and blood, experiencing God’s mysteries.

May your coming together on this Catechists’ Sunday be rich and formative for you. These moments offer the opportunity for mutual support, the sharing of best practice and the deeper grasp of how vital your ministry is in the wholesome development of our young people.

Again, thank you for what you do. May the Lord continue to bless you, accompany you in your ministry as you accompany those entrusted to you.

Sincerely in Christ,

+ Francis Alleyne OSB