Doctrine is for Prayer

Ministry Tip of the Week

by Seth Evangelho

I'm a big fan of the catechism, and I've been reading it religiously (pun intended) for many years now, but something struck me recently, something I had never realized before. Have you ever noticed how it ends? The final section of the catechism is a line by line explanation of what we're really saying when we pray the Lord's Prayer (CCC 2759-2865). I knew this, but I experienced a kind of epiphany not to long ago. The entire body of Catholic doctrine, I realized, leads us to call God "Our Father." That's what all the teachings are for! Every doctrine is meant to draw us into this final event of faith where we unite fully with Jesus and call God "Father." 

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that, ultimately, the whole point of every teaching of the Church is to help us enter more perfectly into this father-daughter/son relationship with God. In fact, I think that's precisely what the Church is teaching us by arranging the tenants of faith in this way. It's all about cultivating "a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God" (CCC 2558). If we don't come to know him as Father, with the intimacy and affection of true sons and daughters, we've missed the point of everything Jesus came to reveal. His words and deeds, both during his earthly life and now through the life and teachings of his Church, are falling on deaf ears if we aren't coming to know the Father's love better through them. 

"In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a son" (Hebrews 1:1-2). "In giving us his Son, his only Word, he spoke everything to us at once...and he has no more to say" (St. John of the Cross, CCC 65). 

"He who has seen me has seen the father" (John 14:9). 

Doctrine is for prayer. If we don't see the catechism as a school of prayer, if each teaching doesn't in some way help us to grow in our relationship with God through the mystery of communion with Jesus Christ, we're misunderstanding our faith. And if we teach anything without directing our children, grand children, and students to a deeper relationship with the heavenly Father through it, we're misunderstanding catechesis.  

The God of love has come to give us life. Prayer is a surge of the heart (CCC2558) that opens us to receive this gift, the life of heaven that grows as we come to know more deeply the One whom Jesus reveals, the One he has taught us to call our father. Life is a prayer, a living acknowledgement of a God who loves beyond all measure, a trustful surrender into the tender embrace of our heavenly Father in and through every moment. The content of faith (i.e. doctrine) should foster an experiential knowledge of this reality. 

In hindsight, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Catechism begins with this end in mind: "FATHER,...this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3, CCC 1).