The catechumenate is designed to train catechumens to become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. However, it’s easy to get caught up in delivering the curriculum and lose sight of the ultimate goal—the conversion of the catechumens.

What we do matters, and if we are doing something that matters, that means we are creating change. So, how do we bring about change in the catechumenate? What is the catechumenate trying to change?

Heal the wounds

The first step is to identify who needs things to change. The people who most need change are those who are seriously wounded. Pope Francis compared the church to a field hospital, saying that:

It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. Heal the wounds, heal the wounds…. And you have to start from the ground up.

America Magazine, September 30, 2013

If we understand the church as a field hospital, that will help us know what the catechumenate is for. The catechumenate matters, and if it matters, that means we are trying to change something when we do it. The thing we are trying to change is making wounded people whole.

Do your inquirers and catechumens know that this is what we are trying to do? Do your parishioners know? Does your catechumenate team know? If you haven’t been telling everyone that’s the plan and the goal of the catechumenate, they may not know. And even if you have told them, they may not agree with you. Most people don’t like change. Even inquirers—who presumably come to us because they want to change—can sometimes misunderstand what the catechumenate is for.

Most people don’t like change. Even inquirers—who presumably come to us because they want to change—can sometimes misunderstand what the catechumenate is for.

Show them why it matters

Catechumenate team members can also misunderstand what the catechumenate is for for the same reason. Providing a lecture or video series on the same topics year in and year out does not require change. Finding people who are lost and need to encounter Jesus’s saving love requires almost daily change.

To help everyone in your community know what the catechumenate is for, you have to both show them why it matters to them and build your credibility with them. Some of the ways to do that include clearly communicating:

• The change that can happen in their lives
• The benefits that will accrue
• The outcomes and results of the discipleship journey

As a catechumenate minister, your primary objective is to accompany catechumens on their path to becoming disciples of Jesus Christ. You can make a profound impact on their lives by getting them into the parish and into the neighborhood, learning how to do the work of discipleship. That work is mostly looking for people on the peripheries who are wounded and need the healing mercy of God’s love. Above all, that is what the church is for, and that is what the catechumenate is for.

Can you help me out?

I’d love to know how this is landing. Can you share a word or a phrase about how this article resonates with you? Does it speak to your experience? Share your thoughts in the comments box below. Thanks for being part of the conversion!