1. Christ-Centered Catechist
In Catechesis…
Christ is the Teacher
Christ is the Content
Christ is the Goal
Christ-Centered Catechist
Catechetical Summit Presentation
8/22/15
James J. Bitting Jr. M.A.

2. Christ-Centered in What Ways?
Christocentric Content
Christocentric Teacher/Catechist
Christocentric Goal

3. Christocentric Content (CT5-6)
at the heart of catechesis we find, in essence, a Person, the Person of Jesus of Nazareth, "the only Son from the Father...full of grace and truth,“ who suffered and died for us and who now, after rising, is living with us forever. (CT5)
It is therefore to reveal in the Person of Christ the whole of God's eternal design reaching fulfillment in that Person.
Accordingly, the definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ: only He can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity.
We must therefore say that in catechesis it is Christ, the Incarnate Word and Son of God, who is taught - everything else is taught with reference to Him…(CT6)

4. Content continued
The fact that Jesus Christ is the fullness of Revelation is the foundation for the "Christocentricity" of catechesis: the mystery of Christ, in the revealed message, is not another element alongside others, it is rather the center from which all other elements are structured and illuminated. (GDC 41)
Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father’s one, perfect, and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one. (CCC 65)
Maybe refer to foundational truths handout
CCC 65
“In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son.”26 Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father’s one, perfect, and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything; there will be no other word than this one. St. John of the Cross, among others, commented strikingly on Hebrews 1:1-2: (102, 516, 2717)
In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word—and he has no more to say... because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the All Who is His Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behavior but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty.27

5. Christocentric Teacher/Catechist (CT6)
Christocentricity in catechesis also means the intention to transmit not one's own teaching or that of some other master, but the teaching of Jesus Christ, the Truth that He communicates or, to put it more precisely, the Truth that He is.
… it is Christ alone who teaches - anyone else teaches to the extent that he is Christ's spokesman, enabling Christ to teach with his lips.
He will not seek to keep directed towards himself and his personal opinions and attitudes the attention and the consent of the mind and heart of the person he is catechizing. Above all, he will not try to inculcate his personal opinions and options as if they expressed Christ's teaching and the lessons of His life. Every catechist should be able to apply to himself the mysterious words of Jesus: "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me."

6. Union between Christ & the Catechist
Great Commission
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Mt 28:16-20)

7. Not WWJD but WIJD More than mere imitation…REAL UNION
The Church is in Christ in the nature of a sacrament (see LG 1).
“After His ascension into heaven, Jesus continues to act on earth through His disciples by giving them His Holy Spirit and enabling them to preach and heal in His name” (Fr. William S. Kurz S.J. commentary on Acts of the Apostles p. 13)
“The Church shares in and perpetuates in time and space the qualities of Christ…His salvific activity is continued in the actions of the Church” (Msgr. Paul Watson p. 3 in the The Pedagogy of God).
Christ can teach through the catechist because for their union.

8. Our Lord and His Herald
“Anyone who has been appointed and sent to teach religion by ecclesiastical superiors is, in the last analysis, appointed and sent out by Christ Himself; he is, then, Our Lord’s herald”
“No herald will continue to carry out his task effectively unless he is closely and personally attached to the master who sent him out”
“Our King is not far away from His heralds; He is always with us. While we are proclaiming His message, we are instruments in His hands; He works through us and in the souls of our hearers”
Hofinger Bio: JOHANNES HOFINGER, S.J. ( ): A Roman Catholic religious educator, was born in Tyrol, Austria on March 21, He began at the seminary in Salzburg at the age of 11, later studied philosophy at the Gregorian University in Rome, and entered the Society of Jesus on Sept. 7, Hofinger studied theology in Innsbruck, Austria, under the tutelage of the famous historian, liturgist and catechetical scholar, Josef Jungmann, S.J. Between 1953 and 1970, Hofinger impacted greatly Catholic liturgy, religious education and missiology in Asia, the Pacific Islands, Europe, the United States, Australia and South America. He also helped to develop the concept of "liturgical inculturation" both theoretically and practically (Clark, 1984, p. 103). After a distinguished career as a seminary professor, international conference organizer, international lecturer, workshop leader, popular writer and diocesan religious education leader, Hofinger died in New Orleans, LA, on February 14, 1984.

9. Christocentric Goal Road to Emmaus
Jesus accomplishes the aim of catechesis which is “to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ”
He does this by revealing Himself: “he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures” (Lk 24:27)
His catechesis results in them saying “stay with us” and the disciple were in intimate communion with Jesus, literally, when the received the Eucharist