FAMILY AS THE LOCUS FOR

CATECHESIS
General Directory for Catechesis,255
 FAMILY

 Family means having someone to love you unconditionally in spite of you and your
shortcomings.
 Family is loving and supporting one another even when it's not easy to do so.
  Family is unrelenting, it's secure and reliable. Family isn't just important, it's what is most
important!
 CATECHESIS

  basic Christian religious education of children and adult converts to Christianity. ... It might
also be a pastor or priest, religious teacher, or other individuals in church roles. The primary
catechists for children are their parents or communities.
 LOCUS

 A person's "locus" (plural "loci", Latin for "place" or "location") is conceptualized as internal (a
belief that one can control one's own life) or external (a belief that life is controlled by outside
factors which the person cannot influence, or that chance or fate controls their lives).
 A source or place,of something such as power or activities.
WHY FAMILY IS THE LOCUS FOR
CATECHESIS

 The witness of Christian life given by parents in the family when it comes to children with tenderness and
parental respect. Children thus perceive and joyously live the closeness of God and of Jesus made manifest
by their parents in such a way that this first Christian experience frequently leaves decisive traces which last
throughout life. This childhood religious awakening which takes place in the family is irreplaceable (167). It
is consolidated when, on the occasion of certain family events and festivities, “care is taken to explain in the
home the Christian or religious content of these events” (168). It is deepened all the more when parents
comment on the more methodical catechesis which their children later receive in the Christian community
and help them to appropriate it. Indeed, “family catechesis precedes...accompanies and enriches all forms of
catechesis”
HOW CAN WE BE A GOOD CATECHIST

• Brush up on classroom management—How are we going to arrange seating, have children move from one
activity to the next, or deal with children who misbehave?
• Study our catechist’s manuals, whether they are new to us or are old familiar texts. We need to be familiar
with the design of each lesson and aware of the overall theme of the book.
• Attend catechist meetings and adult classes; read professional articles and other Catholic publications, and
review articles from the Catechism of the Catholic Church that pertain to our subject matter.
• Sync our personal calendars to the religious education program calendar to ensure we’re available for each
session or have gotten a sub for any session we can’t attend, and that we can be free from regular duties on
class day, in time to arrive early for class.