The Hierarchy of Truths

The Deposit of Faith – much like a house – exists according to a Hierarchy of Truths, wherein some truths are more foundational than other truths.  The latter rest upon the former as the 2″ x 4″ studs constituting the frame of a home rest upon the concrete foundation and the plumbing.  Before the frame is built, the concrete must be poured, and even before the pouring, the first pipes for the plumbing must be set in place.  With regard to catechesis, the existence of a hierarchy of truths does not mean some truths are more true than others.  Rather, it means that for an effective pedagogy (or, method of teaching), the catechist must lay the foundation first and teach the remainder of the deposit with the foundation always in mind, connecting the pieces.

5 Foundational Truths

In order for RCIA participants to get a solid hold on the Deposit of Faith, it is critical to show them how all of the truths are grounded in several foundational truths. These truths are contained in one significant paragraph within the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

“God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.” (CCC, #1)

These five foundational truths of revelation are invoked throughout the Catechism and provide a framework in which all doctrine finds its proper context. They are:

1. The Blessed Trinity: God is an eternal loving communion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
2. The Person of Jesus: A divine person who took on human nature in the Incarnation
3. The Paschal Mystery: the suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ
4. The Dignity of the Human Person: made in the image and likeness of God
5. The Church: the Body of Christ brought to life in the Holy Spirit

Breaking It Down

Let’s take a look at each of these foundational truths individually.

What Does This Mean Practically?

The ordering of teachings within the catechumenal process requires a firm understanding of the foundational truths and the way in which all other truths flow from them. These foundational truths, then, should be laid out at the beginning and referred back to during subsequent sessions. In this way, the catechist can provide participants with an overarching framework in which the entire Deposit of Faith can and must be understood.

To break it down even further, if you’re looking for a system to put in place to make this work practically using a curriculum that respects the need for a year-round inquiry and a year-round catechumenate with the proper discernment of readiness before participants progress through rites… then be sure to check out our blog entry titled: “Integrating a Systematic Catechesis with a Year-Round Process.”

You may also be interested in these related blog entries:

• 8 Key Elements of Authentic Catechesis
• Analyzing Doctrines: What to Teach
• The Gospel Message in the Precatechumenate
• Catechesis in the Catechumenate

This presentation was given by Dino Durando and Stacy Phillips from St. Joseph Catholic Church in Modesto, CA at the Diocese of Sacramento’s Catechist Ministry Day on September 26, 2009 in Sacramento, California.

Handouts

This following handouts accompany this 65-minute video presentation. We recommend downloading and printing out all of these handouts before watching the above presentation. (If you prefer to download all of the handouts in one PDF document, we have compiled them as a download at this link)

• Paragraphs from the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC) and the RCIA
• How Long?
• 3-Cycle Structure
• 14-Week Inquiry Doctrine Cycle
• 14-Week Catechumenate, 3-Part Repeating Doctrine Cycle
• Using a Celebration of the Word of God in a Catechetical Setting

Background to the Presentation

The R.C.I.A. is a liturgical, catechetical, and pastoral process that requires signs and stages of conversion to take place before a participant progresses to the next stage (e.g. from Inquiry to Catechumenate). This necessitates a process that allows for an individual who is not ready to progress to remain in one period of the process while others who are ready to progress to move on to the next period of the process. This can only be facilitated by a year-round parish R.C.I.A. process.

Simultaneously, the catechetical documents of the Church clearly call for catechesis to be systematic and organic.

Systematic means that each successive teaching be linked to the teaching given beforehand, demonstrating the hierarchy of truths. A carefully laid-out systematic presentation of the faith does not leave any holes. It is complete. It does not skip over any of the essentials of the faith due to careful planning.

Organic means that each doctrine is linked to other doctrines, showing the integral unity of the Faith. Organic catechesis has more to do with how a lesson is presented, while systematic catechesis has more to do with how a curriculum or “doctrine cycle” is devised.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a prime example of a catechesis that is both systematic and organic. It systematically lays out the Deposit of Faith (what God has revealed in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition for the sake of our salvation) piece by piece, while at the same time, consistently demonstrating the unity of the Faith.

An example of systematic: The first section of the Catechism is structured around the 12 articles of the Apostles Creed and progresses from “Who is God?” to “The Four Last Things.”

An example of organic: While presenting the teaching on Mary (CCC 963-975), Mary is presented in relation to Jesus, the Church, the Holy Spirit, the life of faith, the Paschal Mystery, the resurrection of the dead, grace, and the list goes on!

Below are a number of quotations below from John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation titled: On Catechesis in Our Time (Catechesi Tradendae) (CT), which is quoted extensively by the General Directory for Catechesis as well as the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

All in all, it can be taken here that catechesis is an education of children, young people and adults in the faith, which includes especially the teaching of Christian doctrine imparted, generally speaking, in an organic and systematic way, with a view to initiating the hearers into the fullness of Christian life. (CT 18)

The specific character of catechesis, as distinct from the initial conversion-bringing proclamation of the Gospel, has the twofold objective of maturing the initial faith and of educating the true disciple of Christ by means of a deeper and more systematic knowledge of the person and the message of our Lord Jesus Christ. (CT 19)

In his closing speech at the Fourth General Assembly of the Synod, Pope Paul VI rejoiced ” to see how everyone drew attention to the absolute need for systematic catechesis, precisely because it is this reflective study of the Christian mystery that fundamentally distinguishes catechesis from all other ways of presenting the word of God” … I am stressing the need for organic and systematic Christian instruction because of the tendency in various quarters to minimize its importance. (CT 21)

Nor is any opposition to be set up between a catechesis taking life as its point of departure and a traditional, doctrinal and systematic catechesis.[52] Authentic catechesis is always an orderly and systematic initiation into the revelation that God has given of himself to humanity in Christ Jesus, a revelation stored in the depths of the Church’s memory and in Sacred Scripture, and constantly communicated from one generation to the next by a living active traditio. (CT 22)

Why?

We may ask the appropriate question: Why do the catechetical documents insist upon a systematic and organic catechesis?

When divine revelation is presented in this fashion, the student is able to better understand the big picture and see how each piece of the picture fits in its proper place.  This allows for greater ease of understanding and comprehension as previously learned truths shed light upon the truth at hand, which, in turn, leads to increased faithfulness (seeking holiness), which is the ultimate goal of Christian discipleship.  It also shows how the disciple cannot dispense from believing one doctrine without marring the integrity of all we believe.

On the contrary, when the Catholic Faith is presented in a merely topical fashion wherein the subjects from week to week in the catechumenate have no system that follows an order, the student is more prone to view Catholic doctrine as a smorgasbord of “beliefs.”

In Conclusion

The balancing act that the R.C.I.A. process must perform is this: It must present a systematic and organic catechesis while allowing for multiple points of entry and exit for participants.  We hope that the above video presentation with the accompanying handouts will give you, the viewer, a firm foundation to build from as you continually seek to improve and grow your own parish catechumenal process.

The viewer may also be interested in these related blog entries:

• 9-Month vs. Year-Round
• Catechesis in the Catechumenate
• Celebrations of the Word of God Held in Connection with Catechetical Instruction

A quote from the above article:

“Catechesis cannot be considered systematic and organic solely because it covers a great deal of material or is lengthy. A defining characteristic of a systematic and organic catechesis is its presentation according to the hierarchy of truths (see CCC 90, 234; GDC 114-115). Participants need to understand certain truths first in order to be able to understand others, and as catechesis proceeds, each truth needs to be linked to those taught previously.”

An example: In their catechesis, the catechumens and candidates must come to understand the person and work of Jesus before they explore the Marian dogmas. Then, when Mary is presented, her Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, Divine Motherhood, and Assumption are shown to have relevance insofar as to who her Divine Son is and what his plan is for her. “What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #487).

Related Blog Entry

Also, see the blog entry titled: “Analyzing Doctrines – What to Teach“