The definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with

Jesus Christ: only He can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of

the Holy Trinity (Pope John Paul II, On Catechesis In Our Time, n. 5).

The specific aim of catechesis is to develop, with God's help, an as yet initial faith, and to advance in

fullness and to nourish day by day the Christian life of the faithful, young and old. It is in fact a matter

of giving growth, at the level of knowledge and in life, to the seed of faith sown by the Holy Spirit with

the initial proclamation and effectively transmitted by Baptism. (Pope John Paul II, On Catechesis In Our Time, n. 20)

Catechesis aims, therefore, at developing understanding of the mystery of Christ in the light of God’s

Word, so that the whole of a person’s humanity is impregnated by that Word. Changed by the

working of grace into a new creature, the Christian thus sets himself to follow Christ and learns more

and more within the Church to think like Him, to judge like Him, to act in conformity with His

commandments, and to hope as He invites us to. (Pope John Paul II, On Catechesis In Our Time, n. 20)

To put it more precisely: within the whole process of evangelization, the aim of catechesis is to be the

teaching and maturation stage, that is to say, the period in which the Christian, having accepted by

faith the person of Jesus Christ as the one Lord and Saviour and having given Him complete

adherence by sincere conversion of heart, endeavours to know better this Jesus to whom he has

entrusted himself: to know His "mystery," the kingdom of God proclaimed by Him, the requirements

and promises contained in His Gospel message, and the paths that He has laid down for anyone who

wishes to follow Him. (Pope John Paul II, On Catechesis In Our Time, n. 20)

It is true that being a Christian means saying "yes" to Jesus Christ, but let us remember that this "yes"

has two levels: It consists in surrendering to the word of God and relying on it, but it also means, at a

later stage, endeavouring to know better-and better the profound meaning of this word.

(Pope John Paul II, On Catechesis In Our Time, n. 20)