October 25, 2007 St. Ambrose: Bozos need not apply
In his Wednesday audience on St. Ambrose, Pope Benedict quotes Ambrose on Catechesis: Whoever educates people in the faith cannot risk the role of playing the clown, trying to entertain his listeners. Who says that the Fathers of the Church are out of date? Ambrose hit this on the mark. There are many times that people leave Church remembering the joke the priest told in his homily, but not the message. If the key to good business is location, location, location, then the key to good catechesis is content, content, content. Too much wasted energy has been spent on catechetical “process” over the years, since some believe we have to make the faith “relevant.” It seems to me that if we present the faith as it is, and not some cheap watered down version, we don’t have to make it relevant. Jesus Christ, faith, Redemption, are always relevant.
