Catechists Deepen Their Faith at Convocation

Bryan Pedraza clearly remembers the moment, a snapshot of life that so often molds a young mind.

As a college freshman in only his first week on campus, Pedraza was attending Mass in a chapel with nine other students when he was startled by a request from the celebrant. Following Mass, the priest called Pedraza to the altar and said “Now I’m going to invite Bryan up, and he’s going to tell you about the Bible studies that we’re starting.”

Admittedly, Pedraza had “no idea” about Bible study but those next few minutes proved to be the stepping off point of a career in catechesis. 

“(The priest) just threw me in,” said Pedraza, who is a professor at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University in Baton Rouge.

Pedraza shared his experiences during the 2021 Convocation Celebrating Catechists recently held at the Tracy Center Ballroom on the campus of the Bishop Robert E. Tracy Center in Baton Rouge.

Sponsored by the Office of Evangelization & Catechesis of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, the morning convocation led by Pedraza allowed catechists to deepen their own faith and learn how to accompany others on their spiritual journeys.

Pedraza introduced himself as someone who “labors in the vineyard with you.” 

“I’m so grateful for the efforts that you have already put in, whether you’ve been serving the church for less than a month as a catechist or have been serving for over 50 years,” he said. “How grateful I am that you are one of the people that God has called to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth.”

The theme of the talk, “Eucharistic Heart of Jesus as the Source and Summit Evangelization,” was divided into three “acts,” with Jesus as the “main actor.”

Pedraza related how he attended Mass on most Sundays with his family and strived to be a “good kid” but it did not have hold on him. It was through a friend who was a Protestant that he developed a love of the Bible.

He said his friend, whose name is Kirsten, noticed that Pedraza occasionally seemed sad and would be off to himself. She began dropping Bible versus in his locker and during the summer before their senior year of high school they would talk about Jesus while sitting on the back of a truck.

“For the first time in my life, I heard someone talk about Jesus Christ like he was alive,” Pedraza said. “It stopped me in my tracks the way she talked about him, and it was like, well, wait, you sound like you know him, like you talk to him now.”

“It stunned me,” he added. “Little did I know my life would be utterly changed because someone had finally spoken to me about Jesus like he was a person. And he was alive.”

Being introduced to the living Christ is not a new concept, Pedraza said. Rather, it dates to the shores of the Sea of Galilee, weaves its way through the early church, through the desert father of St. Augustine, the Middle Ages and “even finds its way right here to this ballroom in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.”

“The church is calling us to evangelize,” he said. 

Evangelization, as defined by the  Second Vatican Council, is the proclamation of Christ by a living testimony as well as by the spoken word. 

“Evangelization will be incomplete without proclaiming the very name of Jesus, which our church tells us is the only name that bears its presence with it,” Pedraza said. “And when we say his name, the demons tremble.”

He stressed the goal of all catechists is to put people in intimate communion with Jesus because only he can lead them to the love of the father in the Spirit and make one share in the life of the Trinity. He drilled home the fact that no believer in Christ, no institution of the church, can void this supreme duty.

“All of the church’s energies, no matter what ministry takes place, even if you’re an usher at the door, even if you are the person taking the phone call in the parish center, all of the church’s energies must be committed to evangelization,” he said.

Pedraza said that his favorite theologian, Pope Benedict XVI, says being Christian is not the result of a “lofty idea” but it’s the encounter with an event, a person who gives life a new horizon and decisive direction. 

“When this event happens, when you meet this person, it changes everything,” he said. “It changes the way you get up in the morning. It changes the way you treat the barista at the coffee house. It changes the way you teach your students. It changes the way you pray, the way you go to Mass, the way you love your family.” 

He said most important is a personal relationship with Christ for it is an encounter with the son of God that gives new energy to the whole of one’s existence.

Pedraza said Pope Francis called the first document he wrote as pope “The Joy of the Gospel” because, according to the pontiff, “We cannot have any more Christians who look like they’re leaving a funeral.”

“To teach the  faith, if this is the precious pearl, if this is the thing worthy selling everything for, then it must bring a deep, deep joy,” Pedraza said. “I invite all Christians, even catechists in Baton Rouge, at this very moment to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ. 

“Or at least an openness to letting him encounter them. I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day.”

He said life will not always be easy but it must be one that is deeply rooted in joy because one knows and has experienced the love of Christ. He said the love of Jesus is what must be the driving force on one’s ministry.

“Be brave,” he said. 

The morning also consisted of several breakout sessions where those in attendance were able to share reflections individually with each other.