Thread by @FrTotleben

I'm zooming into a USCCB meeting about a new "Institute on the Catechism" whose mission is to promote "evangelizing catechesis", and to implement the pope's directives about instituted catechists. (1)

So, I have some rough thoughts about the structure of what I think "evangelizing catechesis" is and what its structure should be. (2)

I think that "evangelizing catechesis" has 3 stages with a propadeutic stage. The three stages aren't meant to be rigidly temporally prior and posterior, but there is more of a logical order of priority and posteriority between them. (3)

The propadeutic stage needs to be "opening people to transcendence." This is mostly overlooked. We "religious" people rely on empty cliches like "we were made for more" or "our hearts long for more" -- but most people don't actually think like us. (4)

Most people are so buried in phones, social media, the luxuries of our prosperous culture, etc. that they simply reject outright the idea that "we long for more" or whatever. They are thoroughly satisfied with their lives as they are. (Karl Barth is really good on this point) (5)

So before you can even *start* announcing the gospel, you have to throw open the horizon of transcendence to people -- you can't assume they agree that "they long for more" -- you have to awaken that in them. (6)

No one is paying attention to this, and it's one of the biggest reasons why we fail. Everyone wants to talk about "discipleship" or "evangelization" or whatever -- but everyone assumes that this problem is solved. (7)

But the people we need to reach aren't just "spiritual but not religious", they are "not spiritual *and* not religious" they have no use for or even overt openness to the things of God, or even matters that transcend the horizon of the material (8).

So, openness to transcendence is the propadeutic phase that we are ignoring. Then there are three phases of "evangelizing catechesis" -- proclamation, participation, and mystagogy. (9).

The first stage is proclamation which has two parts: (a) the proclamation of the kerygma and (b) apologia, whereby we argue for the rational plausibility of the faith. People pooh-pooh this "philosophical" approach, but I find that it is extremely well received. (10)

People underestimate the intellectual hunger that people -- even teenagers and young adults have. I even heard a bishop once say dismissively, "kids don't ask questions like that" -- wrong, wrong, wrong. They love it, as long as you are not professoral (11).

The first stage of "proclamation" culmintates in an "invitation to participation." I proclaim the kerygma as a witness to it, and I give reasons for the hope which is within me, and then I invite people to participate in it. (12)

Now it is important to be bold in this. The biggest mistake you can make is to be embarassed about "selling" Jesus, or to shy away from seriously reasoning about the plausibility of our faith. (13)

So often the proclamation of Jesus as Lord is done apologetically. That's a mistake. Go for the full, hard sell. Propose the gospel and the unconditional following of Jesus as the sole way to be happy, without hesitation or qualification. (14)

Be bold and rich in articulating the rationality of the faith. Don't be embarassed about it! That's what we did in the past -- we were embarassed to proclaim Jesus and to argue for our faith boldly, settling for mere "church fun" which is dumber than real fun. (15)

The second stage is: "participation". This also has two parts (a) encounter with the mystery through participating it in adoration, contemplation, worship, and liturgy; and (b) encounter with the mystery as it is lived out in Christian community. (16)

It has to be a rich pull-out-all-the-stops form worship, that is unapologetic about fall-on-your-face adoration and the contemplative life. (It's not so much about traditional vs. modern). (17)

And the experience of Christian community is important, because one of the biggest obstacles that prevents people from discipleship is fear that being Catholic means becoming Ned Flanders, that Christianity sucks the joy out of life (18).

When people have an experience of Christian community, they see how since Jesus is the source of all good, he takes the good things of this life and makes them better -- you don't lose that good things of this life, you burn off the dross that makes them lose their luster (19).

And those good things get transfigures. (20).

Then the third step is "mystagogy." There are people who pooh-pooh and downplay the systematic presentation of Christian doctrine, but this is absolutely essential. The problem isn't that this is unimportant or that people don't want it. (21)

The problem is doing it outside the proper order. No one learns anything without a motivation. And when people have an experience of the Mystery in worship and community, they naturally want a systematic explication of the Mystery. (22).

So the problem isn't an *overemphasis* on the systematic presentation of Christian doctrine. I don't think it can be overemphasized. The problem is doing it outside of a mystagogical context. (23).

So (0) Opening people to transcendence; (1) proclaiming the mystery through the kerygma and giving reasons for the hope within us; (2) participating in the mystery through worship and christian community; and (3) explicating the mystery through systematic catechesis (24)

This is what I think "evangelizing Catechesis" means. (25)