Methodology

August 21, 2008

Before Class

• Read paragraphs 18, 21, 22, 27, 41, 63, & 75 from On Evangelization in the Modern World
• Read all of On Catechesis in Our Time (Catechesi Tradendae)
• Read handouts (optional)

Homework

• Read Chapters 23, 24, 31, 34 of U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults
• Read the following handouts:
  • Social Teaching of the Church
  • The Priesthood of the Faithful
  • Evangelization
• Read other handouts (optional)

To Make Up an Absence

If you are unable to attend this class, please submit to the instructor at the next class written responses to a total of four questions from below (at least one from each section). Each response should be 2-3 paragraphs in length and address the question completely. Include the question (not just the number) at the top of your response.

Overview: Evangelization and Catechesis

1. Give a definition of evangelization from On Evangelization in the Modern World. Why is a comprehensive understanding of evangelization necessary? What are the dangers of an incomplete conception of evangelization?
2. Give a definition of catechesis from Catechesis in Our Time. Why is a comprehensive understanding of catechesis necessary? What are the dangers of an incomplete conception of catechesis?
3. What is the relationship between evangelization and catechesis? Cite specifically from each of the two documents in your response.

On Evangelization in the Modern World

1. "Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses" (no. 41). Why is this? Give examples. Describe the necessity of both implicit and explicit preaching of the Gospel.
2. Describe at least three examples of mass media used in the service of the Gospel. How can the challenge this poses mentioned by the Holy Father (no. 45) be observed? How does this highlight the importance of the witness of life and other forms of evangelization?
3. Consider the need to proclaim the Gospel to a dechristianized world. What distinct needs and challenges does this task entail, as compared to evangelizing those who have never heard the Gospel?
4. What are some consequences to content and method of recognizing each act of evangelization as ecclesial in nature?
5. How is the Holy Spirit both the principal agent and the goal of evangelization?

Catechesis in Our Time

1. What is the relationship between catechesis and the initial proclamation of the Gospel? Why–and how–must catechesis allow for the fact that this initial proclamation and conversion has often not taken place? Give examples.
2. Describe the books of the New Testament as evidence of catechesis. Use at least two examples to describe the relationship between evangelization and catechesis in the New Testament.
3. Both routine and improvisation can be detrimental to effective catechesis. Describe how this is true, using at least one real-world example of each.
4. Why is the catechesis of adults the principle form of catechesis? Explain why "nobody in the Church of Jesus Christ should feel excused from receiving catechesis" (no. 45).
5. "Throughout sacred history, especially in the Gospel, God Himself used a pedagogy that must continue to be a model for the pedagogy of faith" (no. 58). Describe God's teaching method and how catechists can model their way of teaching on it.