This is an excellent video produced by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City that helps to explain the process of evangelization and catechesis. Those involved in any type of church ministry within the Catholic faith should take a minute to watch it.
If you’ve been around ministry for awhile, you can probably skip over these terms. If you’re just starting out, it will be helpful to have a Catholic definition of these words before watching the video.
Catechesis – “Catechesis is nothing other than the process of transmitting the Gospel, as the Christian community has received it, understands it, celebrates it, lives it and communicates it in many ways.” (General Directory for Catechesis #105)
Evangelizing – “…evangelizing means bringing the Good News of Jesus into every human situation and seeking to convert individuals and society by the divine power of the Gospel itself.” – USCCB
Kerygma – “Kerygma is a term that is largely unfamiliar to most Catholics. Kerygma (from the Greek keryssein, to proclaim, and keryx, herald) refers to the initial and essential proclamation of the gospel message. The word appears nine times in the New Testament: once in Matthew (12:41), once in Mark (16:20), once in Luke (11:32), and six times in the letters of St. Paul (Rom. 16:25; 1 Cor. 1:21, 2:4, 15:14; 2 Tim. 4:17; and Titus 1:3).
To put it simply, the kerygma is the very heart of the gospel, the core message of the Christian faith that all believers are call to proclaim.” – Catholic Answers
Missionary Disciple – “People who are missionary disciples are men and women who have truly encountered Jesus Christ in a personal way and that encounter changes the course of their lives and forms their worldview.
Simply put, a missionary disciple is a person like St. Peter or St. Paul, or more recently Julia Greeley or St. Teresa of Calcutta – someone whose loving friendship with the Lord informs every decision they make and emboldens them to bring the Gospel to their everyday interactions.” – Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila
New Evangelization – “The New Evangelization calls each of us to deepen our faith, believe in the Gospel message and go forth to proclaim the Gospel. The focus of the New Evangelization calls all Catholics to be evangelized and then go forth to evangelize. In a special way, the New Evangelization is focused on ‘re-proposing’ the Gospel to those who have experienced a crisis of faith.Pope Benedict XVI called for the re-proposing of the Gospel ‘to those regions awaiting the first evangelization and to those regions where the roots of Christianity are deep but who have experienced a serious crisis of faith due to secularization.’1 The New Evangelization invites each Catholic to renew their relationship with Jesus Christ and his Church.” – USCCB
Watch and learn!
Questions For Reflection
- Does your parish implement this philosophy?
- How do you build disciples within your church community?
- Do you consider yourself a missionary disciple?
- What are your gifts?
Additional Resources
Discipleship Beyond The First Encounter by Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila
Forming Intentional Disciples by Sherry A Weddell
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