Joe Paprocki believes that to truly engage catechumens, catechists should use what he calls a language of mystery.
The author and national consultant for faith formation at Loyola Press spent two days last week training catechists and catechetical leaders of the Archdiocese of Louisville.
The evening of Oct. 4, he met with catechists at St. Margaret Mary Church and the following morning, he spent time with catechetical leaders at the Maloney Center.
The language of mystery, Paprocki said, is a eucharistic language that Catholics are accustomed to hearing during Mass.
“We have sign and symbol and ritual and movement and gesture, we have all these different ways that we express ourselves,” Paprocki explained. “Because that’s how God reveals himself to us, through sign and symbol.”
However, catechism classes — tasked with introducing newcomers to the church — can become all talk without “touching the deeper part of the human being, the heart and soul, just the language of mystery.”
The solution: Make catechesis more like Mass than class, according to Paprocki.
He suggests catechists and catechetical leaders create a learning space that “speaks of the sacred” and incorporates the language of mystery — music, song, silence, sign, symbol, movement, gesture, ritual and storytelling.
He also reminded catechists of their unique calling: Catechists aren’t the teachers of a subject, “they are facilitators of an encounter,” Paprocki said.
Everything a catechist does, he said, comes down to conveying the three Rs, as Paprocki calls them.
“Our good news is a message of rescue, restoration and reassurance.”
- Rescue: “God has come to rescue us from sin.”
- Restore: “He restores us to fullness of life.”
- Reassurance: “He reassures us that we’re not alone.”
The Office of Faith Formation is supported by the Catholic Services Appeal.
