The kerygma is the heart of the Catholic faith. It is the first proclamation, the same basic message of the Gospel that the Apostles preached.
Kerygma is a Greek word that is associated with a victory announced by a messenger. It came to mean preaching in the Bible.
Although it is the foundation that everything else is based on, the kerygma does not focus on morality, doctrine, or customs. It proclaims salvation in the most important and simple way:
God created you and loves you unconditionally. He sent his only Son to die on the Cross to save you from sin and restore your relationship with Him. If you let Him, He will guide you and protect you throughout your life so that you can spend eternity with Him in Heaven.
By embracing and sharing the kerygma, Catholics can develop a deeper faith, discover a more personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and lead others to life in Him.
Proclaiming who Jesus Christ is:
A word than means preaching:
The core and heart of the faith is not difficult:
All Christian formation consists of entering more deeply into the kerygma, which is reflected in and constantly illumines, the work of catechesis, thereby enabling us to understand more fully the significance of every subject which the latter treats. It is the message capable of responding to the desire for the infinite which abides in every human heart. The centrality of the kerygma calls for stressing those elements which are most needed today: it has to express God’s saving love which precedes any moral and religious obligation on our part; it should not impose the truth but appeal to freedom; it should be marked by joy, encouragement, liveliness and a harmonious balance which will not reduce preaching to a few doctrines which are at times more philosophical than evangelical.
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, November 24, 2013
The Good News is the foundation of the faith:
An introduction to the person of Christ and his Gospel:
The transmission of the Christian faith consists primarily in proclaiming Jesus Christ in order to lead others to faith in him. From the beginning, the first disciples burned with the desire to proclaim Christ: “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”‘ And they invite people of every era to enter into the joy of their communion with Christ.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 425
The love of a savior:
Deepening our personal relationship with Jesus:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life – the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us – that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing this that our joy may be complete.
1 John 1: 1-4
Preach like an Apostle:
Sharing the same message of the early Church:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
“His instincts were very Catholic.”:
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