First published in an article by Ronald Haynes in the Clifton Diocesan Justice & Peace Newsletter, January 1996 (available on the World Wide Web at: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Ronald_Haynes/ ). Prepared for discussion in a Diocesan meeting of people affected by the Neo-catechumenate.
The progress and the development of people is in Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit. This is a completely different line from social action, so fashionable now, which tries to develop man before speaking to him about Jesus Christ and the Gospel. As though Jesus Christ were not true man, or as if the Holy Spirit and His grace wouldn't act upon humanity
- (First Day, page 5)
This task (to intervene directly in the political structuring and organization of social life) is part of the vocation of the lay faithful, acting on their own initiative with their fellow citizens. Social action can assume various concrete forms. It should always have the common good in view and be in conformity with the message of the Gospel and the teaching of the Church. It is the role of the laity 'to animate temporal realities with Christian commitment, by which they show that they are witnesses and agents of peace and justice.'
- Section 2442 (with reference to Sollicitudo rei socialis 47)
Man's vocation to eternal life does not suppress, but actually reinforces, his duty to put into action in this world the energies and means received from the Creator to serve justice and peace.
- Section 2820 (with reference to Gaudium et spes 22,32,39,45 and Evangelii nuntiandi 31)
I want to say something important to safeguard the unity of the Catechumenal Way. God, whether we like it or not, even if some one might call me presumptuous - is acting through a series of persons to whom He is giving charismas and services, in this Way. ..... the door to the Kingdom is very small; only the children and those who make themselves like children can pass through it. THE KINGDOM OF GOD COMES WITH US. ..... Jesus is passing by and may be He will never pass again. Take this opportunity now and cry out to Him now that He is passing - Jesus will stop. Jesus is passing: WITH US JESUS IS COMING. And who does Jesus cure? THOSE WHO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEY ARE BLIND. JESUS IS PASSING BECAUSE HE IS COMING WITH US. But maybe you don't believe that the one that is passing is Jesus, because you don't believe that an imbecile like me can bring Jesus.
- (First Day, page 7,10,12)
The kingdom of heaven was inaugurated on earth by Christ. 'This kingdom shone out before men in the word, in the works and in the presence of Christ' (Lumen gentium 5). The Church is the seed and beginning of this kingdom. Its keys are entrusted to Peter.
- Section 567
The Decalogue, the Sermon on the Mount, and the apostolic catechesis describe for us the paths that lead to the Kingdom of heaven. Sustained by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we tread them, step by step, by everyday acts. By the working of the Word of Christ, we slowly bear fruit in the Church to the glory of God.
- Section 1724 (with reference to the parable of the sower: Mt 13:3-23)
The Kingdom of God has been coming since the Last Supper and, in the Eucharist, it is in our midst.
- Section 2816
... those who no longer go to Church, those who have left the Church, do not have faith ... Here arises the question of the signs of faith. We must find a presence of Christ wherein faith is not necessary, where a man who is a pagan, an atheist, a desacralized man, a technical or pragmatic man, who does not have faith in Jesus Christ and who no longer comes to Church, by seeing this presence, this sign may come to know Jesus Christ. ..... we are about to form in the parish a Christian community that may be a sign. This community will end up by changing the pastoral work and the structure of the parish. ..... Thus we arrive to a new type of parish, an atomical parish, made up of small Christian communities all in a way of conversion, on a Catechumenal Way, reliving the Baptism in a Christian community.
- (Second Day, page 3,9,11)
(The Bishops of England and Wales' message following the 1980 National Pastoral Congress in Liverpool, England):
We were glad to recognise in the voice of the Congress an insistence upon the parish as the natural and most effective apostolic community within the life of the Church. Whatever be its size, the parish is seen as a communion of Christian communities made up of all the faithful, whether lapsed or practising their faith, and coming together for prayer, liturgy and the eucharist, the study of the scriptures, for works of charity and mercy, or for social celebrations. Small communities of this kind are a source of strength to the parish as a whole, and must not be exclusive in themselves nor seen as an alternative to parish commitment. Much depends upon the priest in the parish as to how fully these small groups are in fact integrated into the parish community.
- Paragraph 120
"Liturgical diversity can be a source of enrichment, but it can also provoke tensions, mutual misunderstandings and even schisms. In this matter it is clear that diversity must not damage unity."
- Section 1206 (with reference to Vicesimus quintus annus 16: John Paul II)
It is clear that you cannot invent the signs of faith. Either they exist, or else they don't. Thus, in many of your communities, it may be that there is Jesus Christ, or maybe not. ... Who knows this? The Apostle. ... It is not you who know if you are Christian, if you are still in the Catechumenate. Perhaps what you think to be signs of Jesus Christ are only a sign of your honesty, of your human qualities, which a Marxist can give as well or better than you. Moreover, during the Catechumenate, you cannot give the signs of an adult faith. It is the apostle, the catechist, the one who leads you in the Catechumenate: it is he who must watch over the Way, as an elder brother, given that it is supposed that the Bishop has recognized him in this charisma, to bring you to the faith. Without doubt this brother is the one who knows.
- (Second Day, page 11)
'In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them "their own position of teaching authority"'. Indeed, 'the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time.'
- Section 77 (with reference to Dei Verbum 7,8, St. Irenaeus and others)
Faith is certain. It is more certain than all human knowledge because it is founded on the very word of God who cannot lie.
- Section 157
Catechumens 'are already joined to the Church, they are already of the household of Christ, and are quite frequently already living a life of faith, hope and charity.' 'With love and solicitude mother Church already embraces them as her own.'
- Section 1249 (with reference to Ad Gentes 14, Lumen Gentium 14 and others)