Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, at a recent Mass he celebrated told the catechism teachers at the patriarchate’s schools that if faith is not meaningful in their lives, then it will not be meaningful in the lives of their students either.
The prelate offered the Mass on Saturday, Sept. 27, at St. Joseph’s Church in the town of Shafa’amr, Galilee. The parish’s priest, Father Ramez Twal, and Father Ibrahim Shomali, director of the patriarchate’s schools in Galilee, concelebrated the Eucharist.
Shomali told those present that “today, for the first time, we celebrate this special occasion that gives our schools a spiritual dimension, the very foundation of our educational mission.”
“The presence of his beatitude the cardinal among us today embodies the presence of the first teacher for all of us, Jesus Christ,” he added.
In his sermon, Pizzaballa emphasized that “the role of the catechism teacher is no less important than that of any other teacher. It carries a unique mission that requires facing challenges to preserve our Christian identity and deepen the awareness of our children.”
After noting that teaching catechism seeks to form new generations in faith, hope, and love, the cardinal emphasized that “catechesis means to encounter Jesus and to love him more. As teachers, you are witnesses to this faith; if it is not alive and meaningful in your own life, it will not be meaningful to your students.”
}
(async function() {
const most_read_url = ‘/most-read-api’;
var historyList = document.getElementById(‘mostread-3JOnyy7RDt’);
fetch(most_read_url).then((result) => {
var json_result = result.json();
json_result.then((data) => {
historyList.innerHTML = ”;
data.forEach((item, i) => {
var html = render(i, item.url, item.title);
historyList.innerHTML += html;
if ((i + 1) >= 5) {
return false;
}
});
});
}).catch((err) => {
console.error(err);
});
})();