How essential is the Bible for evangelizing, kerygmatic catechesis?
The Bible is very essential. Few people would debate that. However, moving from theory to reality? That’s a bit harder. How do we embody what the Church calls us to in a thoroughly biblical adult catechesis?
Biblical adult faith formation is for all. Pope Francis writes:
The study of the sacred Scriptures must be a door opened to every believer. It is essential that the revealed word radically enrich our catechesis and all our efforts to pass on the faith. Evangelization demands familiarity with God’s word, which calls for dioceses, parishes and Catholic associations to provide for a serious, ongoing study of the Bible (Evangelii Gaudium, 175).
The Directory for Catechesis also emphasizes that the Sacred Scriptures are the living source of all of evangelization, which includes what we call adult faith formation, discipleship, or catechesis (para. 283).
Moving from the principle of valuing the Scriptures to actually immersing ourselves in a “serious, ongoing study of the Bible” is easier said than done.
In many parish settings, Bible study stays siloed or in a corner–a niche topic of interest for parishioners who want to read the Bible together, rather than an essential part of comprehensive and systematic adult faith formation. And, because the busy parish leaders feel fortunate just to have people volunteering to lead Bible studies, it doesn’t much matter how the Bible is studied. just so long as there is something called “Bible study” in the parish.
Can the Holy Spirit work through this approach? Absolutely. That’s the power of the inspired word of God.
However, the Church encourages us to dream bigger when it comes to adult faith formation and discipleship, to imagine adult catechesis that isn’t limited by a scarcity mentality where just having something is good enough.
Vision Guideposts: Directory for Catechesis, Craft of Catechesis, and More
The Church invites us to a richer, fuller vision of adult faith formation through her teachings. There’s the model of the Catechism of the Catholic Church itself (where 80% of the footnotes are Scripture passages), inspirational documents like St. John Paul II’s Catechesi Tradendae and St. Paul VI’s Evangelii Nuntiandi, and more practical guides like the Directory for Catechesis and those created by local bishops conferences.
In The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Craft of Catechesis authors Pierre de Cointet, Barbara Morgan, and Petroc Willey draw from these resources, offering twelve keys for entering into the pedagogy of God as a catechist (aka one who leads adult faith formation). I highly recommend the entire book. For our purposes, I’ll explore in three takeaways of how it applies to bringing the Bible more fully into adult faith formation.
Takeaway #1 – From start to finish, what we do “should be driven by Scripture and immersed in Scripture.”
Allowing Scripture to be the driving force behind all catechesis is important enough to de Cointet, Morgan, and Willey that it is one of the dozen “keys” of catechesis in The Catechism and the Craft of Catechesis (which I’ll call “Craft” for short).
When we allow our adult faith formation ministry to be driven by Scripture, we are yielding to the Holy Spirit and one of the most tangible ways God has chosen to speak to us. Allowing Scripture to be the driving force means that “it is not a mere add-on or afterthought,” something simply used “to confirm or elaborate the presentation” or added because we feel like we should (p. 110).
Instead, truly immersing our adult faith formation in Scripture means that we allow the truths to unfold through the intrinsic narratives, rhetoric, and details of the Bible. We keep Scripture as the “heart” of adult catechesis (p. 110). Immersing and soaking ourselves in the Scriptures means that we allow the internal shape, themes, and logic of the Scriptures to form us, rather than “dipping” in the Scriptures, disrupting their organic flow by jumping around too much to fit our own thematic or topical interests.
Takeaway #2 – We learn God’s plan and purpose for our salvation through the entire Bible, not just the Gospels we hear at Mass.
As catechists we are called to tell the story of God’s plan of salvation. With children, we often tell it in shorter, more concise ways to contextualize the elements of faith we are handing on to them. The continuing formation of adulthood, however, is an opportunity to become immersed in the story of salvation, within the pages of a Bible.
In Craft of Catechesis, Willey, Morgan, and de Cointet highlight the example of Jesus on the road to Emmaus, in the role of teacher and interpreter of Scriptures (p. 82). Jesus models that the entire Bible, not just the Gospels, reveals him.
And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Luke 24:27
In the Second Letter of Paul to Timothy, Paul reminds the young bishop, Timothy:
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)
Yet without intentionality and purposefulness as leaders and catechists in adult faith formation, it’s unlikely that most people in our parishes will naturally immerse themselves in the Bible–especially the less familiar parts.
Why? Because it’s the great unknown. And, there are lots of cultural forces (i.e. decline in reading as a past time among adults, perceptions that Catholics can’t/don’t/shouldn’t know the Bible, etc.) that make opening the door of the Scriptures to every believer a challenge.
Our task as leaders in adult faith formation is to open that door, and ensure that the “whole house” of God’s Word is explored, rather than merely the comfortable or popular books. When people only study the “highlight reel” of biblical events and passages, the grand narrative of God’s plan is harder to understand.
Think of your favorite movie or novel–imagine if you had only experienced it in short clips or excepts. You’d be missing out on the whole picture, and certainly not experiencing the story as the author intended. The same is true of the Bible. Through the Holy Spirit, God inspired human authors to write many many books, and each inspired book reveals God’s unified plan.
Takeaway #3 – The “we” of adult faith formation is active, two-way communication. Neither the catechist nor those being formed are passive.
We see from the examples in Craft of Catechesis:
- Jesus on the road to Emmaus, and
- Philip’s encounter with an Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40) who asks for someone to explain the Scriptures to him
that drawing near to God’s plan of salvation in the Bible is rarely done solo. Diving into the great and living waters of Scripture is meant to be done with two-way communication between the one teaching and the one listening, questioning, and receiving.
De Cointet, Morgan, and Willey write:
Be cautious about any suggestion that the road to Emmaus account encourages us to concentrate upon others telling their story to the detriment of the Church telling hers: rather, God has entrusted the Church with the revelation of his story, and she exists in order to communicate this to others…Catechists have received through the Church their own delegated authority to teach Christ’s truth (p. 82-83).
How often does our adult faith formation have a leader (aka a teacher, catechist, instructor, etc.) who is actively teaching Christ’s truth flowing from the Sacred Scriptures?
When there is a such a person, are there opportunities for them to listen to questions or stories of those receiving formation? To provide answers and insights in response to what the participants share?
Craft of Catechesis explains:
“it is only the catechist familiar with his own audience who can adequately discern the most appropriate [biblical] passage and who is able to deliver the unchanging truth of God to that specific audience in a way most suited to its situation” (p. 110-111).
It is only the catechist. It is only an actively engaged person who can fulfill the Church’s vision for adult faith formation. A “sage on the stage” style teacher who cannot easily listen and respond to those in formation, and participants in formation who are more of an “audience” than disciples engaging with truth are both examples of passivity that prevents the fullest realization of the Church’s vision of adult faith formation driven and inspired by the Scriptures in the life of the Church.
Interested in dreaming bigger in adult faith formation?
Maybe you have the spiritual gifts (charisms) and natural/acquired skills and talents to answer Pope Francis’s call: “for dioceses, parishes and Catholic associations to provide for a serious, ongoing study of the Bible” (Evangelii Gaudium, 175). If so, we’ve been attempting this true craft of biblically inspired adult catechesis in Michigan for over a decade and are sharing with others.
p.s. You’ll find zero subscription fees. No silver-bullet program. Just pedagogy and resources to allow the Scriptures to drive and soak your adult faith formation.
Catholic Biblical School Ministry 