The following is an adapted and abridged version of a talk I gave at Benedictine College’s Symposium on Transforming the Culture on March 21, 2026.‍

In an informal poll of cradle Catholics in my Catechesis class last fall, not one of them had a personal experience of catechesis being beautiful or inspiring wonder. In fact, not only had they not had the experience, they didn’t think it was possible that catechesis could be anything but boring. Yet, boring Catechesis doesn’t make disciples, and it certainly doesn’t keep people in our catechetical programs. Parish catechetical leaders and catechists know the type: the people who can’t wait to get out, out of the session, out of the program, attending as little as possible to check the boxes and fulfill the requirements. But our catechesis doesn’t need to be this way; beautiful catechesis is possible. Good catechesis inspires wonder, awakens the religious imagination and keeps people coming back for more. While there are many considerations that contribute to the type of catechesis that draws people in, three essential aspects of this catechesis are common to good catechesis: it should be inspired by Divine pedagogy, rooted in salvation history and taking on a liturgical form.

The Directory for Catechesis tells us: “Catechesis also follows in the footsteps of God’s pedagogy” (157). To be inspired by Divine Pedagogy has two main aspects: recognizing that God is the primary teacher even though the human catechist is essential, and imitating His pedagogical methods. God’s pedagogy is efficacious, attentive to our ways of knowing, and gradual. Through revelation, God brings about our salvation. Catechists should be attentive to the idea that this is the goal, and that catechesis—and the catechist—is an instrument God uses to save His people. Further, God teaches through revelation and reason, and our catechesis should present the revealed truths of the faith in a way that engages the intellect and inspires faith. Finally, our catechesis should progress according to the intrinsic logic of the content, at each stage of natural development, mimicking the stages of salvation history through which God gradually revealed Himself to His people.

In section 108, the General Directory for Catechesis explains several features of catechesis that is appropriately rooted in salvation history. In the first place is a Biblical literacy, so that the “deeds and words” of revelation are known. But all other catechesis should be related to these. Because of this, the teaching of doctrine and morality should be “illuminated” by scripture, especially the Gospels. A mystagogical presentation of the sacraments should position them as a reliving of the events of salvation history in the present. By connecting the doctrine of the faith to the historical and theological realities presented in scripture, catechesis helps the believer move from the signs of revelation to the mystery these signs contain.

Finally, the National Directory for Catechesis indicates how Catechesis is liturgical in form: “[Catechesis and the liturgy] proclaim the Gospel; they call its hearers to conversion to Christ; they initiate believers into the life of Christ and his Church; and they look for the coming of the kingdom in its fullness” (110). Catechesis and liturgy are meant to work together to direct the people of God to eternal life. Liturgical catechesis is an apprenticeship that takes an incarnational approach. While it should make use of signs, especially those that appear in the liturgy and tradition, catechesis at all levels should move progressively deeper beyond the sense level to the mysteries the signs present. Liturgical catechesis needs more than one lesson on the Mass and the other sacraments, instead interweaving a liturgical way of living throughout all of catechesis. In this way, Christians are guided in the progressive living-out of the sacramental life of the Church in a type of apprenticeship, under the direction of a “master” who is at least a few steps ahead of them.

Catechesis that awakens religious imagination and inspires discipleship ultimately requires specialized catechists who embody the Christian life and are able to communicate the theological riches of the mysteries from their own experience of meditating on and living out the faith. These catechists understand divine pedagogy, the narratio of salvation history including their role in it, and live the liturgy of the sacraments in their daily lives, inside and outside of the Church. Renewing catechesis starts with forming catechists and the parents, grandparents, godparents, and teachers who all have a role in catechesis so they can deeply understand and live these things. To quote Pope Paul VI in Evangelii Nuntiandi: “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses (41)” because witnesses can draw people into the mystery to which they witness.