18 May 2023 · 2023-05 newsletter
The links between the Green Catechism and the Catechism of the Catholic Church
There are two life-streams that created the impetus to work with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Green Catechism. The first was a comment in an NCC meeting where Sr. Isabell said, modern man needs to get to know the catechism. The second was a continuous conversation in my Schoenstatt Pilgrim Mother Bible Group who kept drawing the ‘Green Catechism’ into conversation and it struck me as a baptised Methodist, confirmed Anglican, and a late comer to the Catholic faith, I had no idea about it at all. One lady, Maria, said to me that she had her daughter’s Green Catechism at home and she would bring it in for me – she told me I could keep it.
Looking at the childlike presentation of the faith in the Green Catechism particularly written as a rote learning aid, I thought it would be an uphill battle to just throw these ladies ‘under the bus’ and work with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Then another creative resultant happened in that I thought about what would the Green Catechism look like if the answers to the questions were put into paragraphs so that they could be read fluently.
Wow, three short paragraphs later, I sat there and thought this method has actually made me understand the first lesson of the Green Catechism really easily. The thought then came to me, ‘Where might I find the Green Catechism Lesson in the Catechism of the Catholic Church?’ So I did the research and got more and more involved in typing up the paragraphs that pertained to the Green Catechism topics of Lesson 1. 5,400 words later I had found the Green Catechism had been expanded into 183 paragraphs in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Intriguingly I found the 183 paragraphs were mainly based on Scripture. I was also fascinated by the number of encyclicals, writings of Saints, writings of Popes, and Councils that had been used to expand those three paragraphs into 183.
So then I got intrigued, being a Bible Study leader, with the biblical reference footnotes and picking up the Bible and looking at them I thought how wonderful it was that so many verses complemented each other and if I linked them together they told a cohesive story. Imagine my surprise when two and a half, A4 pages later in Calibri 11 font I had put together a very palatable (I thought) ‘Footnote Bible Story’ of “Creation and the World’ – the topic of the three paragraphs of the Green Catechism Lesson 1. I was fascinated to know who all the writers, councils, encyclicals etc. were, mentioned above, so I researched them and typed up another 2 pages of information about them all. All that was left was to have it vetted by my Bible Study Group who have fast become more aware of Theology let alone Scripture. In the back of my mind was the question “Can I present this in a course?”
Well, Wednesday we gathered as usual some 7 of us, – 2 missing including the lady who had given me the Green Catechism, both missing ladies having contracted Covid. When I gave them the sheets they literally said “What”!!!!!! Then in a Father Kentenich manner I asked them to be my ‘vetters’ and let me know what could be done better or need more explanation. They acquiesced and an hour later having worked through four pages with heaps of questions, and sharing of something that touched them we paused for Prayer as we always do praying the psalm – actually hymn for the day on that day from the Evening Prayer of the Psalter of the Divine Office which summarised what we had been doing quite succinctly.
Yet there is more, they enjoyed it so much they asked almost with one voice to do the pages we hadn’t done the next week. Needless to say I looked at Mary present in the Pilgrim Mother (we always have with us) and said ‘Who would have thought!” My question now is will it become a fortnightly or monthly task? If you are interested in hearing more please contact me: angandrickbenson@gmail.com
Angela
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