MESSAGE FOR CATECHETICAL SUNDAY 2021
September 24, 2021
A MESSAGE TO ALL THOSE ENGAGED IN THE IMPORTANT MINISTRY OF CATECHESIS
Glory be to Jesus Christ!
"Were not our hearts burning within us?" (Luke 24:32)
Dear Catechists!
I greet all of you as we begin a new Catechetical Year! And I express my gratitude to you on behalf of our bishops and pastors throughout the world for your beautiful ministry!
As we begin a new Church or Liturgical Year, I rejoice with you in the promulgation this summer of our new Youth Catechism, We Walk with Christ, by His Beatitude, Patriarch Sviatoslav.
In We Walk with Christ, Fr Andriy, a spiritual guide - who is really Christ himself - accompanies several youth from around the world in their "Emmaus Walk," that is, their faith journey, as they set off on a pilgrimage to some of the largest and most famous Ukrainian shrines in the world.
I pray that our young people may have the experience of those very two disciples who on the road to Emmaus meet the Risen Lord, and in encountering him, the disciples rejoice with one another, saying "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" (Luke 24: 32).
As we begin a new Catechetical Year, I invite you to discover our new Youth Catechism. And may your hearts also burn within you in your love for Christ and for the Church. May you then in turn accompany our young people in their own faith journey as they discover God's love for them and for the world around them.
May the Holy Spirit bless you and your catechetical ministry.
Truly, We Walk with Christ!
In Christ,
Bishop David Motiuk
Chair, Patriarchal Catechetical Commission
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