Youcat commented through CCC. Question n. 11.

YOUCAT Question n. 11 - Why do we hand on the faith? 

(Youcat answer) We hand on the faith because Jesus commands us: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19).      

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 91) All the faithful share in understanding and handing on revealed truth. They have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who instructs them (Cf. 1 Jn 2:20, 27) and guides them into all truth (Cf. Jn 16:13).    

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) No genuine Christian leaves the transmission of the faith exclusively to specialists (teachers, pastors, missionaries). We are Christ for others. This means that every genuine Christian would like God to come to other people, too. He says to himself, “The Lord needs me! I have been baptized and confirmed and am responsible for helping the people around me to learn about God and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4b).” Mother Teresa used a good comparison: “Often you can see power lines running alongside the street. Unless current is flowing through them, there is no light. The power line is you and I! The current is God! We have the power to allow the current to flow through us and thus to generate the light of the world: Jesus—or to refuse to be used and, thus, allow the darkness to spread.”   

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 123) Christians venerate the Old Testament as true Word of God. The Church has always vigorously opposed the idea of rejecting the Old Testament under the pretext that the New has rendered it void (Marcionism).     

(The next question is: How can we tell what belongs to the true faith?)