1697 Catechesis has to reveal in all clarity the joy and the demands of the way of Christ. Catechesis for the "newness of life" in him should be:
- a catechesis of the Holy Spirit, the interior Master of life according to Christ, a gentle guest and friend who inspires, guides, corrects, and strengthens this life; - a catechesis of grace, for it is by grace that we are saved and again it is by grace that our works can bear fruit for eternal life; - a catechesis of the beatitudes, for the way of Christ is summed up in the beatitudes, the only path that leads to the eternal beatitude for which the human heart longs; - a catechesis of sin and forgiveness, for unless man acknowledges that he is a sinner he cannot know the truth about himself, which is a condition for acting justly; and without the offer of forgiveness he would not be able to bear this truth; - a catechesis of the human virtues which causes one to grasp the beauty and attraction of right dispositions towards goodness; - a catechesis of the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and charity, generously inspired by the example of the saints; - a catechesis of the twofold commandment of charity set forth in the Decalogue; - an ecclesial catechesis, for it is through the manifold exchanges of "spiritual goods" in the "communion of saints" that Christian life can grow, develop, and be communicated. |
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