A SPECIAL DAY FOR CATECHISTS

CATECHETICAL SUNDAY: Lord, when did we see you hungry

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!” (Ps 118:24)

Catechetical Sunday is indeed a time to rejoice and be glad! This is the day when the Church invites us to affirm and bless our catechists — all those who share faith with children, young people, and adults in our parishes and Catholic schools. We thank them for saying “yes” to God’s call, and we offer our prayerful support as they carry out this most important ministry.

Why does the Church call these good people “catechists?” The word “catechist” has its roots in Greek, and refers to one who “thoroughly resounds” some message. In all that they say and do, catechists are those who “thoroughly resound” this ancient, yet ever-new proclamation:

“Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you.” (Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel §164)

Guided by the Holy Spirit, catechists accompany those who hear this message from them. With patience and love, catechists gradually lead them to know and to love Jesus, and to embrace a life of discipleship. What an awesome responsibility! What a graced opportunity! What a challenging ministry! It is no wonder that the Church sets aside this special day for catechists.

Further highlighting the importance of this day, each Catechetical Sunday has a theme that we are encouraged to use as a focus for the coming year. This year’s theme is “Lord, when did we see you hungry” and with it we have Kelly Lattimore’s beautiful and striking icon of Servant of God Dorothy Day inviting the Holy Family into one of her Catholic Worker communities.  

Dorothy Day’s remarkable life journey is one that shows how the Holy Spirit can work through catechists. By way of a number of experiences and people, she heard the message of Christ’s love for her. Baptized at the age of 30, she gradually began to live a life of courageous and profound discipleship. Ultimately, this led to her co-founding the Catholic Worker Movement with Peter Maurin.

As her cause for canonization continues, Servant of God Dorothy Day stands as a catechist for all of us, especially during this particular catechetical year. With food insecurity at record highs, she urgently reminds us that we must welcome and feed the hungry at our door.

Her witness, however, goes even deeper. Dorothy reminds us that embracing the message of Jesus, and the call to live as his disciples, is one that should always lead us out of our comfort zones and into the world — into the “peripheries,” those people and places in greatest need, so dear to Pope Francis’ heart. As we hear so clearly in this Sunday’s reading from the Letter of James, “So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (Jas 2:17).

Our faith requires that each one of us continually discover the “peripheries” where God is calling us to bring the light of Christ. Donating to a food pantry is certainly a fine and much-needed work of charity. However, is God perhaps challenging me to advocate with government entities on behalf of those living with food insecurity? Or, even more, to get to know them as fellow children of God, by listening to their stories with compassion and reverence?

And what about those who live on my “personal peripheries” that may hunger in other ways? Such as those who hunger — for some quality time amid my busy schedule; for my undivided attention even when I am tired; for an experience of authentic acceptance although I may not fully understand; for my sincere forgiveness even when I would rather hold on to some old hurt. No doubt, you can think of many other examples.

Although living out this theme is a year-round — indeed a lifetime — endeavor, perhaps we can make a special effort to live it out between Catechetical Sunday and World Day of the Poor (Sunday, Nov. 17) with its theme “The prayer of the poor rises up to God” (cf. Sir 21:5). As Pope Francis exhorts us in his message for this special day, “We are called in every circumstance to be friends of the poor, following in the footsteps of Jesus who always began by showing solidarity when dealing with the least among us.”

Pope Francis and Dorothy Day remind us that embracing the way of discipleship is neither comfortable nor easy. Like Peter in Sunday’s Gospel reading, we can declare with great conviction and heartfelt faith, “You are the Christ.” Yet, it is this same Christ who tells us, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Can we accept that call? Dorothy faced many challenges, doubts and fears along the way. So do we. She persevered and followed the Master. So must we.

We can only do this if we recognize that the same Jesus who asks us to take up our cross is also truly living at our side. He gives light to our path when the way seems dark and uncertain. He gives us strength when we are fearful of what lies ahead, or of what he is asking us to do. He gives us the inner freedom to keep saying “yes” without the need to count the cost ahead of time.

Most of all, Jesus offers us the grace to trust that his promises are true. He promises that all those who embrace the demanding path of discipleship will experience life in abundance, here and hereafter. Let us remember, though, that we do not live as his disciples for the sake of recognition or reward.

Rather, we live as Jesus’ disciples because of our baptism. We continue his mission today by proclaiming in word and deed, “Jesus Christ is alive, he loves you, and he can satisfy every hunger in your life.”

What a responsibility! What an opportunity! What a challenge! Let us rejoice and be glad!

David Amico is the diocesan director for the Office for Discipleship Formation.