The Aim of Christian Instruction

There is an important narrative that many Catholic educators neglect to present to their students when introducing, teaching, and discussing the Catholic faith. The narrative in question is typically associated with the following question: Why did Jesus come? The nature of this Incarnational question is fundamental because it connects all human beings to the Father by way of the Son, who is both human and divine, and the Word made flesh. If we were to develop a direct and simple response to the proposed question, it would be something as follows:

“Jesus came because God loves us and has a desire to know us more intimately by way of His Son, Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. He wants us to know Him and trust him and was willing to reveal Himself to us through his son, even though he did not have to. He first loved us before we loved him, and in loving us, provided us with a path to know and love Him and our neighbor more intimately.”

The nature of any instructional setting should resemble a community of disciples and not a classroom of students. The development of the Christian message involves the Christian proposal to seek the love of God in all things and reciprocate that love to God and your neighbor. A fundamental point in the aim of Christian instruction is the instruction in Christian living. The premise of a Catholic school or parish school of religion is to introduce, affirm, and provide the opportunity to live an authentic Christian life first, through a process of how to communicate with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Hence, the moment a student enters the community (classroom), he is inundated with an atmosphere of joyful welcoming where the Catholic educator in the Catholic school or parish school of religion emanates a genuine love for Jesus Christ that is both intriguing and infectious to the student.

In no mental and or academic capacity can a student, I argue, begin to understand and embrace the concept of God’s love for them. Especially through the son, without first providing an atmosphere for the student to ask about who God is and why Jesus came. In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul provides us with a clear biblical context of how to begin our Christian instruction,

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore, it is said, “When he ascended on high, he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; so that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.[1]

St. Paul’s message alludes to another important facet of the aim of Christian instruction: we teach to prepare the student for the coming of Christ. This is called the history of salvation, which specifically explains why Jesus came and what awaits us when He comes again. Thus, when a central focus of Christian instruction is the Gospel, explain the meaning behind the Gospel and not just recite the Gospel story without providing a proper context of its meaning. This means a demonstration of the evidence of the Gospel is vital toward providing sound Catholic Christian instruction that connects both the Old and New Testaments and how we got to the point in our Christian life right now.

The Catholic educator within this educational ethos serves more as an evangelist, catechist, and messenger in the name of Jesus Christ. The institution of the Divine narrative of salvific love from God, to Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, is paramount in Catholic Christian instruction. It is important to establish the catechetical idea that the primary responsibility of a Catholic educator is to provide both spiritual and academic nourishment that helps the student desire a relationship with Jesus Christ. 

If the instructional environment is set to provide an opportunity to engage in conversation with Christ, then it begins with the Catholic educator (Catechist) and their commitment to witness their own relationship with Christ to their students. As the Catechist exhibits a love for Christ, then, it stands to reason that the student will inquire about the love witnessed between the Catechist and Christ. It is vital that at the core of our Christian instruction lies the heart, where, as St. Francis De Sales reminds us, the “heart leads to the heart.” The Catechism reminds us of this important ingredient of Christian formation by quoting St. John Marie Vianney,

I love you, O my God, and my only desire is to love you until the last breath of my life. I love you, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving you than live without loving you. I love you, Lord, and the only grace I ask is to love you eternally. . . . My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love you, I want my heart to repeat it to you as often as I draw breath.[2]