Catechists and teachers from across The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington flocked to Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School in Takoma Park, Maryland to attend Catechetical Day 2022 titled “(Re)Discover the Beauty of the Eucharist” on Oct. 29. More than 600 people participated in the gathering.

The day kicked off with a keynote address and morning Mass celebrated by Cardinal Wilton Gregory at Our Lady of Sorrows Church next door to the school. The cardinal began his remarks by noting that when he first spoke at a Catechetical Day in 2019 he was the “new kid on the block,” just five months into his tenure as the archbishop of Washington. 

The cardinal’s keynote address touched on the essential role catechists have in the Catholic Church, and how, even during trying times of the pandemic, catechists continued to teach the faith. 

“Thank you very much for all you have done, I know it has not been easy, as pandemic requirements took hold, you pivoted mid-year in 2020 from classrooms to computer screens for teaching,” Cardinal Gregory said. 

The cardinal commended catechists on their role in keeping families involved in the Church. 

“In this pandemic environment, your role in teaching children and adults about the Good News was essential in helping our people know that Jesus continues to be transformative, even when receiving the Eucharist was on hold for a moment,” Cardinal Gregory said. 

Cardinal Gregory pointed out that the official Catechism of the Catholic Church “is not a textbook” but rather, the “raw material in which textbooks…are grounded in. I encourage you, and all of us, [when you] teach the faith, to use the raw material of the catechism.”

The main focus of the day was the return to the Eucharist. The cardinal spoke about how some people have said they do not feel welcome in the Church. 

“We must remind our fellow Catholics of what they are missing, that this is the nectar with Christ Jesus in the Eucharist, and the human connection of gathering together to celebrate the Mass,” Cardinal Gregory said. 

According to Cardinal Gregory, it is vital to encourage people to get back into the habit of attending Mass.

Cardinal Gregory celebrated the Mass alongside concelebrant Father Shaun Foggo, the pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows, and the masters of ceremony, Father Joseph Tyson Murphy, the interim director of the archdiocese’s Office of Worship, and Father Charlies Cortinovis, the cardinal’s priest secretary. 

The Mass was celebrated in both English and Spanish, an effort that was also seen in the event’s program and workshops following the Mass. 

During his homily, Cardinal Gregory said he believes there is importance in catechists teaching modesty and humility to students in the modern era. 

“Are there any unspeakable inquiries left in our society? Public modesty seems to have been thrown to the wind. Nothing is too embarrassing to be examined in our society. And no person is too important so as to avoid being asked the most immodest questions,” Cardinal Gregory said. 

The cardinal reiterated his point in both English and Spanish that “modesty, humility, and meekness are not values that we find too often in today’s world.” 

Cardinal Gregory called on faith formation teachers to be “willing to probe the sublime mystery of the humility of the Cross with your students.” 

Following the Mass, catechists had two sessions of workshops aimed at improving the classroom experience and providing direction on approaching certain issues, with lecture titles such as “Will they stay Catholic after Confirmation?”; “The Eucharist as the Key to Lifelong Discipleship;”  and “Recovering Our Identity: The Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.”

Father Conrad Murphy, the chaplain at the Catholic Student Center at the University of Maryland in College Park, led a workshop titled “Lift up your Hearts: Participating Fully in the Mass.” The session’s popularity was evident; attendees were instructed to turn away any latecomers once all of the classroom desks were taken. A few stragglers were accepted as they sat on the cabinets in the back of the classroom.

Father Murphy discussed how many people may not have the tools to fully understand the Mass and pray during it.  

 “How many times, like my friends with four kids, are just trying to survive, much less teaching their kids how to actually pray the Mass,” Father Murphy said. Most people, he said, are taught with an emphasis on attending Mass.

Father Murphy shared a quote from Pope Francis on understanding and rediscovering the Paschal Mystery. 

A cornerstone of “plunging back into the Paschal Mystery” is consistent teaching, which dates back to theologians and leaders of the Church centuries ago, Father Murphy said.

He also stated that individuals must rethink their alternatives for being involved and participating in the Mass.

“When we think about full, active participation in the Mass, your first instinct is almost certainly going to be ‘I’ve got to be an usher, a lector, an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, I’ve got to be an altar server, or I’ve got to sing, and if I can’t do one of those actual things, then I’ve just got to sing and sing louder,’” Father Murphy.

Father Murphy spoke about the virtue of religion and understanding that there is no way to repay God for what He has given, so the closest people can get is devoting their lives to Him.

Toward the end of his workshop, Father Murphy said a devoted heart is crucial to receiving the Eucharist, quoting St. Thomas Aquinas who said “devotion leads us to receive more in the Mass.”

To further explain his point, Father Murphy gave a visual analogy.  

“I pour water on the rock, some of the water gets into it but not very much, I pour water into a piece of wood, more of the water gets into the wood, but it's still not very much. I pour water into a sponge, a lot of the water gets soaked up. A devout heart is like a sponge,” Father Murphy said. 

During the following workshop session, Ed Kent who serves as an instructor in Faith Foundations with the Archdiocese of Washington led a workshop on “Christ’s Presence in the Digital Realm.”

Kent’s workshop focus was primarily on digital materials catechists could use in their programs, including the streaming platform Formed.

Catechists Nyle Grimes and Stefanie Miles attended Kent's session and discussed it as well as the day's activities.

Grimes has just started as a catechist at St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Washington, D.C. She is following in the footsteps of both her mother and grandmother, who were also catechists.

Grimes said the day surpassed her expectations, as she thought it would be a smaller and less attended event. 

“I really liked the theme, I liked the way it was interwoven into each of the workshops, constantly returning back to that theme of why we have the Eucharist, why we participate in the Eucharist, the importance (of that), how to relay that to your students,” Grimes said. 

While Grimes appreciated the workshop, she did think there would be more digital approaches addressed in the workshop.

“I thought it would be more than just one strategy, streaming, which is one strategy…maybe Instagram, Twitter, I follow a few accounts on Instagram that are short Catholic videos on the catechism, which I thought my students would like because that is where they live,” Grimes said.  

Grimes also feels that the digital techniques that the church had to adopt during the pandemic should still be used because that is how her contemporary students relate to the Mass.

Miles is a catechist with the Church of the Incarnation in Washington, D.C., and serves as a staff member of St. Mary of the Mills in Laurel, Maryland. 

She said that just as God sent messages through different media such as a burning bush and tablets which contained the Ten Commandments, technology serves a role in teaching the faith.

“That’s a TikTok right there in my opinion, or an Instagram post,” Miles said. “It all depends on how you use it…so having a TikTok, having an Instagram, having even a podcast, there are some awesome Catholic podcasts out there.”