In our time there are two ways of doing this. One way is the catechesis (at all ages), especially in the parish and in the family, aimed at initiating or deepening the Christian life. Another way is the school religious Education , which parents freely choose for their children or which is given at a higher level, in other educational institutions, university, diocesan, etc.; this training is aimed at integrating religious culture with the rest of the subjects of a school or university curriculum .

On September 27, Pope Francis met in Rome with several hundred catechists from all over the world. He told them that "the catechesis is a master pillar for the Education of faith, and good catechists are needed".

After thanking them for this important service, he underscored the beauty of this task: "Even though it can be difficult at times, even if we work hard, with a lot of effort, and do not see the desired results, educating in the faith is beautiful. It is, perhaps, the best inheritance we can leave: faith. To educate in faith, to make it grow. Helping children, young people, youth and adults to know and love the Lord more and more is one of the most beautiful educational adventures: the Church is being built.

It is not just a matter of working as catechists but of "being" catechists, he added. This is so because guiding the meeting with Jesus can only be done with words and with life, with testimony; that is, with a life consistent with one's own faith. "The words come... but first the testimony: that people see in your life the Gospel, that they can read the Gospel." And this requires love for Christ and for people; a love that is a gift from the Lord.

He explained that this "walk from Christ means to remain with Christ, and from there, to go out to the meeting of others, to open new paths of faith.

First, to be familiar with Christ, to remain in him, united to him, in his love, as he asked at the Last Supper, speaking of the vine and the branches, because only in this way can we bear fruit. The walk with Christ, which lasts a lifetime, presupposes an attitude of looking at Him and letting oneself be looked at by the Lord, in order to feel what is true, that He is close to each one of us and loves us. This can be done by talking with Him in prayer and before the Tabernacle. The important thing is to seek and have that time for the Lord.

This is why the Pope asks, "Are there moments when I place myself in his presence, in silence, allow myself to be watched by him? Do I let his fire inflame my heart? If in our hearts there is not the warmth of God, of his love, of his tenderness, how can we, poor sinners, inflame the hearts of others?"

Secondly, to walk with Christ means "to imitate him in going out of oneself and going to the other's meeting ". It is an experience, says the Pope, that "whoever puts Christ at the center of his life, becomes decentered. The more you unite yourself to Jesus and he becomes the center of your life, the more he makes you go out of yourself, decenters you and opens you to others".

 This is the true dynamism of love already in God himself, which is gift of self, relationship, life that is communicated. "Where there is true life in Christ, there is openness to the other, there is going out of oneself to go to meeting of the other in the name of Christ."

The Pope points out that this is the task of the catechist - and the same could be said in general of the educator in the faith: "To go out continually out of oneself out of love, to bear witness to Jesus and to speak of Jesus, to preach Jesus. This is important because the Lord does it: it is the Lord himself who urges us to go out.

It is like the movement of the heart with its two phases "systole and diastole" (impulse of the blood that carries oxygen and entrance of the blood that must first be purified): "Union with Jesus and meeting with the other. It is the two things: I unite myself to Jesus and I go out to meeting with the others. If one of these two movements is missing, it no longer beats, it cannot live". To receive in order to be able to give. It is a exchange of the gift: a gift received and a gift transmitted.

Such is the nature of the kerygma or advertisement of faith: "a gift that generates the mission statement, that always pushes beyond oneself". When St. Paul said "The love of Christ compels us", this - Pope Francis points out - can also be translated as "possesses us". Translated for the catechist: "love draws you and sends you out, catches you and submission you to others". It is in this tension that the heart of the Christian moves, especially the heart of the catechist.

This is why the Pope invites the educator to ask himself if the heart beats in this way in union with Jesus and in tension towards meeting with the other. "Is it nourished in relationship with Him, but in order to bring it to others and not to keep it for himself?"

Thirdly, to walk from Christ means "not to be afraid to go with him to the peripheries". And at this point the Pope evokes the biblical figure of Jonah: a pious man, with a quiet and orderly life, but who judged others in a rigid, inflexible way. When the Lord asks him to go to preach in Nineveh, the pagan city, Jonah resists and flees.

The story of Jonah, says the Pope, teaches us "not to be afraid to go out of our schemes to follow God". As he is not afraid to go to the peripheries, and if we go there, there we will find him. He is always faithful and creative, he is not closed in, he is not rigid. God welcomes us, goes out to us meeting, understands us. Also the catechist - the Christian educator, in fact every Christian, because we all have to be interested in forming others - we have to be faithful and creative; and for this we have to know how to change.

"And why do I have to change?" the Pope asks himself. And he answers: "To adapt myself to the circumstances in which I have to proclaim the Gospel. To remain with God, you have to know how to go out, not to be afraid to go out".

Anything else - to let fear win, to remain impassive - would be cowardice and comfort, to be like "museum statues", parchment-like and sterile.

And here Pope Francis takes up one of his frequent arguments, and it is worth reproducing the whole paragraph: "When we Christians close ourselves in our group, in our movement, in our parish, in our environment, we remain closed and what happens to everything that is closed happens to us; when a room is closed, it begins to smell musty. And if a person is closed in that room, he gets sick. When a Christian closes himself in his group, in his parish, in his movement, he is closed and gets sick. If a Christian goes out into the street, into the peripheries, what can happen to anyone who walks on the street can happen to him: a mishap. Many times we have seen accidents on the streets. But I tell you one thing: I prefer a thousand times a Church with an accident, and not a sick Church. A Church, a catechist who dares to take the risk of going out, and not a catechist who studies, knows everything, but always stays locked up: he is sick. And sometimes sick in the head..."

To remain in Christ, to go out of oneself, to dare to go out to the peripheries. This is how Pope Francis sees the fascinating adventure of being an educator in the faith.