1 YOUCAT - Catechism for Young People

YOUCAT: Youth Catechism

Youcat is a catechism designed for young people.  Like the Compendium it is organised using a series of questions and includes references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  There are quotes from a wide range of people and examples from everyday life.  Youcat is supported by a website, Facegroup study groups, with videos, quizzes, materials.

Question of the Month

Click image to read other questions

Did you know, Youcat is organised in the same sections as the Catechism and Compendium? 

CCC 13 The plan of this catechism is inspired by the great tradition of catechisms which build catechesis on four pillars: the baptismal profession of faith (the Creed), the sacraments of faith, the life of faith (the Commandments), and the prayer of the believer (the Lord's Prayer).

Quiz Time Why not have a go at the YOUCAT QUIZ

1 Compendium of the Catechism

The Compendium has:
* the same four sections as the Catechism of
  the Catholic Church (CCC)

   1) “The Profession of Faith”,  lex credendi, 
   2) “The Celebration of the Christian
       Mystery”, lex celebrandi 
   3) “Life in Christ”, lex vivendi
   4) “Christian Prayer”,  lex orandi

* a question and answer format and has
   references to the CCC
* sacred art -  which on the basis that a
  picture paints a 1000 words, is another way    we can learn about our faith. 

CCC 11 This catechism aims at presenting an organic synthesis of the essential and fundamental contents of Catholic doctrine, as regards both faith and morals, in the light of the Second Vatican Council and the whole of the Church's Tradition. Its principal sources are the Sacred Scriptures, the Fathers of the Church, the liturgy, and the Church's Magisterium. It is intended to serve "as a point of reference for the catechisms or compendia that are composed in the various countries".

Wednesday Words of Witness WWW
On the Cathedral Parish blog we have a new series starting for the Year of Faith. To find out more about WWW click here and to read more of our first entry by Sr Zela Procter click here.

1 Catechism of the Catholic Church

Our first object of faith is the Catechism of the Catholic Church. See our links page for electronic links to this book which contains all the teachings of the Catholic faith.

It was first suggested that a Catechism should be written at a Meeting of Bishops in 1985 and on 11^th October 1992, Blessed Pope John Paul II gave the Catechism to the Church to be used as a tool to help Catholics live out their faith. Many Bishops worked together to write the Catechism which is used in the Catholic Church throughout the world. It has four sections which are referred to as the four pillars of the faith: 

1. The Profession of Faith (the Creed), 
2. The Sacraments of Faith, 
3. The Life of Faith (the Commandments) and 
4. Prayer in the Life of Faith (including the Lord's prayer). CCC13

When referencing sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church the initials CCC are used, and then followed by a number which refers to a paragraph in the catechism.  

CCC 11 This catechism aims at presenting an organic synthesis of the essential and fundamental contents of Catholic doctrine, as regards both faith and morals, in the light of the Second Vatican Council and the whole of the Church's Tradition. Its principal sources are the Sacred Scriptures, the Fathers of the Church, the liturgy, and the Church's Magisterium. It is intended to serve:

 "as a point of reference for the catechisms or compendia that are composed in the various countries".

Objects of Faith

Lancaster Cathedral Display INSPIRE

During the Year of Faith we will be exploring objects linked to our faith.  Some of the core objects of faith are already displayed at the back of the Cathedral in our display INSPIRE.  We will be looking at these more closely in the weeks ahead,
Each week we will introduce a new object and give links to the Catechism of the Catholic Church which helps explain what the Church teaches and believes.  For a list of the objects that will appear each week click the objects page.

When referencing sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church the initials CCC are used, and then followed by a number which refers to a paragraph in the catechism.

Council of Jerusalem

Events
Curious about Vatican Council starts on Tuesday 16th October at 7.30pm 

For further details see this copy of the Curious about the Vatican Council programme.  

St Walberge’s Chapel, Balmoral Road, Lancaster, next to the Cathedral, parking in the Pastoral Centre and Social Centre.

All Welcome

Year of Faith begins

Today is the official start to the year of faith.  Like so many of the images and objects at Church, the logo for the year of faith has great symbolism. The boat is the sign of the Church.  The cross is the sign of love, it’s the sign of our faith. The sun which is behind the sails represents the Eucharist which is the centre of our lives of faith. 

The logo is composed of a square, bordered field on which a boat, symbolizing the Church, is represented as sailing on a graphically minimal representation of waves. The main mast of the boat is a cross from which sails are displayed in the form of dynamic signs which compose the trigram of Christ (IHS). The background to the sails is a sun which, associated with the trigram, refers also to the Eucharist. (Description from the official Year of Faith website)

How long is the Year of Faith?
This is not a trick question, and surprisingly the answer is not what you might expect.  In fact it is more than a year, 409 days, or 58 weeks and 3 days, or 9816 hours, 588,960 minutes, 35,337,600 seconds to be precise.  In recent weeks we've had a clock counting down to the start of the Year of Faith, see right for our new clock to count down the year of faith.

Day of prayer
Throughout the day At the Cathedral there is a day of prayer to which everyone is welcome to attend. 

For a full programme and details of the Angelus which we will say at 9.00am, noon, and 6.00pm click here.  

The day will end with compline (night prayer).  If you aren't able to come, you may want to join in using the two videos below to say night prayer.

        

The Wall of Faith

The timeline for the Year of Faith continues to grow as details about Popes, Church Councils (special meetings of the Church which we will be writing about in future posts), and Cathedrals around the world, are added to the timeline.

This first image shows St Peter the first Pope, and an image from the stained glass windows in the Cathedral that show his life. The image is of the First Council in Jerusalem.  
We hope that during the year many who visit the Cathedral will have time to come and look at the timeline.

.   
The 400 shows what was happening 400 years after Jesus was born.  Just above each century there is a boat, which is the logo of the Year of Faith, more about this on Thursday when the Year begins.  Here we see a Map of Invasions of the Roman Empire and images of the 39th Pope, St Anastasius 1

The Cathedral parish website includes activities for children (and adults!), these include questions, crosswords, and things to find out.  Look out for this sign and a link to future challenges. Can you find out how many Pope's have there been since St Peter?

Remember all are welcome to join us for a day of prayer as we begin the Year of Faith. Thursday 11th October starting with the Angelus and Mass at 9.00am and ending with Compline (night prayer) at 9.00pm.  There will be exposition of the Blessed Sacrament throughout the day.

Sharing faith with children

Sharing our faith starts at an early age.  Parents are the first teachers of the faith, on Friday 20th September we showed catechists preparing for primary school visits. 

Claire and her daughter 

Throughout the August training, catechists were joined by our youngest trainee!

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

CCC 2226 Education in the faith by the parents should begin in the child's earliest years. ...

CCC 2252 Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children in the faith, prayer, and all the virtues. They have the duty to provide as far as possible for the physical and spiritual needs of their children.

When referencing sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church the initials CCC are used, and then followed by a number which refers to a paragraph in the catechism.  There will be more about the Catechism of the Catholic Church in October.

For ideas of things to do with children see Cathedral blog and consider following up some of the opportunities for adults to deepen their knowledge of the faith.  See adult page for some plans for the year ahead.  

If you have an idea of how you share faith with children that you'd be willing to share, please use our contact us page to get in touch.