For the first year of our Via Fidelis journey, we focused on proclaiming the faith. Now, our call is to deepen our understanding of that faith. So, the focus of this second year of Via Fidelis is catechesis. If you are not familiar with the term — or if it sounds vaguely familiar but you cannot exactly place it — catechesis is the term we use for religious education or faith formation. In future, we’ll take a closer look at what exactly we mean by the term “catechesis” and from whence it comes.

For now, it’s important to emphasize that catechesis (religious education, faith formation) is something that is for everyone. Too often, we identify catechetical formation with children’s learning and thereby think of it as something our kids do on Sundays. Yet, as Christians, we are called to be disciples and therefore to be constantly forming ourselves and allowing ourselves to be formed in our shared faith.

This deeper formation is the next logical step of our journey. We have spent a year reflecting on the kerygma, the proclamation of the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ. We have reflected on God’s love for us that is manifest in creation, persists despite our sinfulness, and gives us redemption through the Incarnation and Paschal mystery of Jesus Christ. This love is made tangible for us in the sacramental life of the Church.

As we turn to the next phase of our Via Fidelis journey, we do not leave behind anything we have focused on in the last year. Rather, we take it all with us and build on it as a foundation.

In this coming year together, we will see that every truth of the faith finds its root in the kerygma. When we look closely at the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we soon see that the Incarnation and the Paschal mystery are behind every corner. Every one of the Church’s teachings is aimed at salvation. The very logic of the entire Catholic faith is the logic of the kerygma — it is all Good News!

It is for this reason that catechesis is always kerygmatic, because the salvific message of the Gospel is at the heart of every catechetical endeavor. It is also the act of proclaiming the Gospel as an integral part of these endeavors. Every catechist is a Christian witness. Everyone who is catechized is being formed and called to also be a Christian witness.

The vision of the wider Church confirms this truth. Every catechetical document from the Vatican over the last half century or more has consistently connected catechesis and evangelization.

We can and do distinguish between an initial proclamation and our encounter with the Gospel and the subsequent catechesis that deepens our faith. But we also recognize that this deepening is an ongoing conversion. Catechesis must evangelize: the kerygma is never left behind. It is a fundamental truth of the faith, without which none of the other truths matter.

On April 27, 2021, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis adopted a vision of “evangelizing catechesis.” It can help us understand the particular ministry of catechesis and what it means to catechize and be catechized in everyday life. This vision tells us that evangelizing catechesis is rooted in the encounter with Christ in the Holy Spirit, proclaims the kerygma, accompanies people along the path of conversion, gives a systematic exposition of the faith and sends out missionary disciples.

As we walk along the second year of our Via Fidelis, this journeying together, let’s take this vision of evangelizing catechesis to heart. Let’s open our minds to understand and receive the wisdom of the Church so we may continue to proclaim it to others.