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A copy of the Universal Catechism of the Catholic Church should be in every Catholic home. The Catechism is an excellent reference book for Catholic teaching. For instance, when we watch network news or CNN and a Catholic teaching is brought up in the context of current events and American culture, the catechism provides a logical and cogent explanation on the particular issue addressed.
The Catechism's prologue reminds us: "Periods of renewal in the Church are also intense moments of catechesis." Studying the Catechism helps us to become both well-informed and well-informed Catholics. As a result, we can be vibrant disciples of Christ, ambassadors of the New Evangelization.
The 688 pages of the work can be intimidating at first. But as we study and pray over small sections of the Catechism at a time, we discover it reads as much like a meditation as it does a formal exposition of Catholic doctrine and teaching.
The Catechism can give a strong boost to our daily struggle to remain faithful to a plan of life for prayer. We know, from our daily experience, our career and time management and our goal-setting, that sacrifice and self-discipline are necessary to progress in any phase of life.
How true this is in daily prayer as well. Athletes remind us that if there is "no pain," there is "no gain." We need to carve out from our often frenetic daily schedule a certain amount of "quality time" for heart-to-heart conversation with Christ. This sacrifice of time should be seen as invaluable investment in the health of our marriages, our relationships with our children, as well as our happiness and productivity at work.
In his "Treatise on Prayer", St. Peter of Alcantara describes the benefits of consistent prayer: "In mental prayer the soul is purified from its sins; nourished with charity; confirmed in faith; and strengthened in hope; the mind expands; the affections dilate; the heart is purified; truth becomes evident; temptation is conquered; sadness dispelled; the senses are renovated; drooping powers revive; tepidity ceases; the rust of vices disappears. Out of mental prayer issues forth, like living sparks, those desires of heaven which the soul conceives when inflamed with the fire of divine love. Sublime is the excellence of mental prayer, great are its privileges; to mental prayer heavenly secrets are manifested and the ear of God ever attentive."
Take some time to meditate upon those words, to let them sink in and deepen our conviction about the need to pay the price for the pearl of Christ's presence within us. His presence within us leads us to an interior peace that surpasses all understanding.
The fourth section of the Universal Catechism called "Christian Prayer" is full of practical advice about how to pray in a culture that often makes prayer the last priority on our daily agenda and to-do lists.
In his introduction to the Catechism, the Holy Father writes: "Therefore, I ask all the church's pastors and the Christian faithful to receive this Catechism in a spirit of communion and to use it assiduously in fulfilling their mission of proclaiming the faith and calling people to the Gospel life...(It) is offered to every individual who asks us to give an account of the hope that is in use (cf. 1 Pet 3:15) and who wants to know what the Catholic Church believes."
So if you have not purchased the Catechism, go out and buy it! If you have not opened the Catechism, break it open. Mark it up. Dog-ear it. Open it and begin to read and pray.
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