The
relationship between Preaching and Catechesis
There is an essential relationship between preaching and catechesis. Preaching has always been one of the primary vehicles of the Word of God. The kerygma, the proclamation at the heart of the preaching, precedes and accompanies catechesis. While there can be many means of communication used by the Church today the ‘foolishness of the preaching’ remains essential and irreplaceable. It is in this ‘foolishness’ (cf. 1 Cor 1:23) that the witness to the power of the Word Incarnate, Christ crucified, is made present, and men and women begin a conversion to faith. This personal meeting and dialogue with Jesus Christ, by means of the preaching, is irreplaceable; it initiates in the person a change of heart and draws the heart towards its true resting and delighting in the Truth and Life. This faith journey unfolds by means of a catechumenate.
Preaching Precedes
Catechesis
The General Directory for Catechesis taking note of the socio-religious situations of in the world today states: “In many of the great cities… a situation requiring ‘missio ad gentes’ can co-exist along with one which requires ‘new evangelisation’. (n.59). The preaching that initiates the journey towards faith in a catechumenate continues to be essential in the Church as she continues to move into areas where the Good News has never been announced.
Equally important is the place of preaching in the ‘old’ Christian countries where Christianity has become ‘culturised’ and there exists the situation of many baptised who have never received catechesis and so have remained without a personal encounter with Jesus Christ and only marginally attached to the Church. Both the General Directory for Catechesis in n.258 and the Catechism of the Catholic Church in n. 1231 acknowledge the necessity of a post-baptismal catechumenate.
Preaching accompanies
Catechesis and the Christian Life
The Christian life is a pilgrimage of faith. The General Directory for Catechesis n. 52 notes that ministry of the Word accompanies this whole journey through “the first announcement or missionary preaching, pre and post baptismal catechesis, the liturgical forms and the theological forms.” Because of the close proximity in some situations between the ‘missio ad gentes’ and the ‘new evangelisation’ the preaching may need to assume more than one function. The Directory goes on to note that “catechesis, for example, together with its initiatory forms, has frequently to discharge tasks of mission. The same homily, depending on circumstances, can take on both the functions of convocation and of integral initiation (n.52).”
Even where catechesis has brought a Christian community to a mature faith preaching continues to be essential. The Directory n. 57 notes that the place of the homily must be underlined as it “is characterised by being the necessary nourishment of which every baptised adult has need in order to live.”