This weekend is catechetical Sunday, the weekend in which the Church asks us to call forth those who have been chosen to be catechists in our parish, to bless them and commission them for the upcoming year. These are the teachers at our parish school, All Saints; these are the parish staff and volunteers who work with the children and teens in the many youth faith formation ministries of the parish. They are more than teachers, they are catechists. What does that mean? They do teach, certainly. which is a worthy calling in and of itself, but today we recognize that the work they do goes beyond teaching. The word catechist comes from the root word “catechesis,” an ancient Greek word meaning “to echo.” A catechist is one who echoes the faith, who makes faith resound. God speaks to us all the time— in Scripture, in the words and actions of the Mass, in the sun that finally breaks through the smoky sky, in the loving embrace of a parent and child, in the support of a community when tragedy strikes. God speaks to us each moment of the day in many and varied ways. It is the ministry of the catechist to echo God’s voice, to repeat it over and over, so that our children have no doubt that God loves them, that God cares for them, that God offers them a share in the divine life. Each of the people to be called forth today has been entrusted with that sacred task. This day is also a time for them to rededicate themselves to their mission of handing on the faith and being a witness to the Gospel. But it is also a day for all of us, the baptized, to reflect on our role in handing on the faith, in echoing God’s love. After all, as important as the ministry of the catechist is, it is secondary to the role of parents and family. Parents are the primary catechists in their children’s lives, and we who are catechists assist parents in their sacred task of handing on the the faith. Together, we are to echo in unison the great song of love that God sings to the world, to the universe, to all of creation. We are to listen to God’s Word and speak it to our children. And God’s greatest Word is the gift of his Son. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” There’s a lot of noise in the world today— the honking horns and blaring sirens of fear; the screams of hatred and intolerance; even the whispers of temptation. Our children are drenched in messages that are contrary to God’s message of love, or that simply drown it out. On this Catechetical Sunday, we recommit ourselves to countering those messages with God’s message of hope, acceptance, and compassion— messages that say yes, there is a life of eternal joy after this world is done; messages that say yes, you belong, just the way you are; messages that say yes, you are loved more deeply than you can imagine. With the events of just a few days ago at Freeman High School, could there be a more important time to echo our faith to our children? This is the moment to set aside time in our homes to share our faith stories, to talk about our brother and best friend Jesus. To echo God’s love. “But what do I say?” we might ask. “I’m not a trained teacher. I’m no theologian.”