The heart of Christian life
I’m referring to the Paschal mystery of Christ, his passion, death and resurrection that is the sum and substance of his redemptive work and that we celebrate liturgically in the Paschal Triduum, starting evening of Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday.
At the moment, I’m just a bit bothered that many, especially among the young and even among the elders, do not know Christ’s passion, death and resurrection comprise the Paschal mystery. Much less do they know about its significance, background, purpose and implications in all aspects of life.
They can know a lot about computers and other branches of human knowledge, but sad to say, their knowledge of their faith is kept in the subsistence level, quite emaciated and incapable of doing anything other than merely existing, reduced almost to just a name or title.
The task of catechesis is becoming increasingly bewildering. On the one hand, there is a lot of competition for people’s attention. Truths of faith, since they require grace and effort, suffer and lag behind in people’s priorities. On the other, there seems to be fewer catechists, let alone competent catechists.
Of course, in the first place catechesis demands gigantic effort, since it is not only a matter of transmitting ideas, but of translating these doctrines into our life itself. A tall order indeed, since the goal is nothing less than to make God’s thoughts and will our thoughts and will too.
But there’s always hope. No use getting stuck with the negatives and the difficulties. Of course, we need to consider them to be realistic about things, but precisely with Christ’s death and resurrection, hope is always around, what is humanly impossible becomes possible with God’s grace.
We just have to do our part. God’s grace is never lacking. St. Paul reassures us: “Where sin abounded, grace has abounded even more.” (Rom 5,20) We need to have a firm hold of the situation to avoid getting frozen into inaction, or confused, or distracted.
For this, one thing we can do is precisely to slowly go through and relish the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord. We have to understand that in the whole gospel and, in fact, in the whole divine revelation, this part is the heart of it all. It is the last word on Christianity, its bottom line.
This is where Christian life springs from and tends to. This is where we should most intently and attentively listen to the Holy Spirit, because it is in the Paschal mystery that the fullness of God’s wisdom for us can be found.
Reading it, meditating on it with the full force of our faith and piety, in unity with the whole Church, can yield us precious insights that can enliven our soul and launch us into heroic action.
This is the part where death gives way to life, darkness to light, sin to grace. It is what engages us both in time and in eternity, immerses us both in the world and in heaven, in the small and the big things, the material and spiritual.
This is especially crucial in the continuing and arduous work of catechesis. Living the Paschal mystery converts ideas, words and intentions into action and life itself. What is old, traditional, cold-blooded and distant in the abstract becomes new, updated, warm-blooded and immediate in the flesh.
Living the Paschal mystery is what catches and discerns the spirit of the times, and enables one to mysteriously read the minds and hearts of people.
It is a “conditio sine qua non” in catechesis, that enables us to engage with the audience in a most natural way. For this, there’s a need to monitor and know people’s mentalities, and flow with the changes, being always flexible without compromising essential things.
So, it’s important to observe and take note of what they are thinking, what excites and worries them, etc., and to adapt the catechetical strategy to these circumstances.
We have to be clear about what is unchangeable in catechesis and what is incidental only and can and even should change. The aim is to engage the audience in a meaningful dialogue where the objective truths of faith get to be subjectively appreciated, loved and lived by the people.
This is, of course, a tough act, requiring nothing less than the full complement of our human powers and faculties, and absolute reliance on the grace of God. But it can be an exciting adventure, full of learning moments and enlightening surprises.
(Fr. Cimagala is the Chaplain of Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City. Email: roycimagala@gmail.com)
