1. The Church's Vision of Catechesis in the Directory for Catechesis

Focus

• Exploring the catechetical vision of the Catholic Church as expressed in the Directory for Catechesis and integrating that vision into parish catechetical ministry

Reading: Vision of Catechesis

• Read Chapters 1 and 2 in the Directory for Catechesis
• Read Chapter 1 in Guided by the Directory

Activity #1: Applying the Directory for Catechesis to Parish Life

Assessment Tool 

To explore how the Directory for Catechesis informs the vision and practice of catechesis with all ages and generations in your parish community, complete the Assessment Tool. For each characteristic from the Directory indicate how true that characteristic is in the actual practice of catechetical ministry in your parish community. 

You may want to do this activity with your catechetical team and leaders in your parish. If you are doing this activity with a group, develop a composite score of the group’s ratings.

Rating: How well does this characteristic describe catechesis in your church: 1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=neither agree nor disagree, 4=agree, and 5=strongly agree.

Reflection

Using the results from your assessment, reflect on the following questions (alone or with your leadership team):  

• How well does our catechetical ministry embrace and apply the vision of catechesis in these ten characteristics from the Directory for Catechesis?
• What are the areas of strength in our community?
• What are the areas for improvement or enhancement in our community?
• What did you learn about the Directory for Catechesis from this assessment?