PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST

From The Catechism of the Catholic Church

1697
Catechesis has to reveal in all clarity the joy and the demands of the way of
Christ.²² Catechesis for the “newness of life”²³ in
him should be:
-a catechesis of the Holy Spirit, the interior Master of life according to
Christ, a gentle guest and friend who inspires, guides, corrects, and
strengthens this life;
-a catechesis of grace, for it is by grace that we are saved and again it is by
grace that our works can bear fruit for eternal life;
-a catechesis of the beatitudes, for the way of Christ is summed up in the
beatitudes, the only path that leads to the eternal beatitude for which the
human heart longs;
-a catechesis of sin and forgiveness, for unless man acknowledges that he is a
sinner he cannot know the truth about himself, which is a condition for acting
justly; and without the offer of forgiveness he would not be able to bear this
truth;
-a catechesis of the human virtues which causes one to grasp the beauty and
attraction of right dispositions towards goodness;
-a catechesis of the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and charity, generously
inspired by the example of the saints; -a catechesis of the twofold commandment
of charity set forth in the Decalogue;
-an ecclesial catechesis, for it is through the manifold exchanges of
“spiritual goods” in the “communion of saints” that
Christian life can grow, develop, and be communicated.