Echo seeks to collaborate with dioceses and parishes to provide program apprentices with the opportunity to:
+ EXPERIENCE PARISH COMMUNITY LIFE AND SERVICE as they implement the Church’s catechetical mission in a variety of ministries with children, youth, and adults.
+ WORK CLOSELY WITH AN EXPERIENCED CATECHETICAL LEADER AS A MENTOR in areas of personal and professional development while gaining hands-on experience in parish catechetical ministry. Echo also provides ongoing professional development workshops for apprentices.
+ PURSUE A MASTER’S DEGREE IN THEOLOGY from the University of Notre Dame through summer study on campus and distance learning courses during the year.
+ LIVE IN AN INTENTIONAL FAITH COMMUNITY with other apprentices.
+ GROW IN FAITH through participation in faith formation retreats, spiritual direction, and workshops in prayer, spirituality, and community living.
What is Catechesis?
“Catechesis” is derived from a Greek term meaning “to echo” or “to resound.” Catechesis invites us to make our own the “attitudes of Christ” as we promote knowledge of the faith, engage in the Church’s liturgical life, embrace moral living, promote a life of prayer, focus on belonging to community, and enable our missionary spirit to come alive through Christian witness. As John Paul II indicates, “the definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but also in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ” (Catechesi Tredendae, 5).
“The parish catechetical leader is the person who organizes and directs the program of lifelong faith formation for all parishioners under the direction of the pastor and in collaboration with the pastoral staff” (National Certification Standards for Lay Ecclesial Ministers, National Conference for Catechetical Leadership). ECHO believe that to put people in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ, catechetical leaders must be involved themselves in ongoing faith formation, engaging in spiritual as well as intellectual development, gaining pastoral experience as well as academic knowledge |
