Discover, through a series of 25 short readings, the basic elements of the catechism and the key landmarks of our beautiful religion. They are addressed to those who wonder where they come from and where they are going, to those who feel dissatisfied or unhappy, in search of firm support and a lighthouse of Truth to enlighten their lives.
Designed for teenagers as well as adults, these talks aim to present the Christian faith in accessible language and to offer concrete answers to the questions each person carries deep within the heart. They can also support parents who wish to instruct their children, while having themselves received only a fragmentary or distant religious formation.
Each reading offers a brief teaching, enriched with vivid anecdotes, to inspire prayer, reflection, and discussion in the family or among friends. Whether you are a beginner in the faith, eager to deepen your knowledge, or simply curious, this journey is meant to be a point of support so that you no longer remain in a void, but advance along the radiant path of Jesus Christ, who said: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
At this moment when the religion of Christ is besieged by countless attacks and the worst calumnies, one of the best ways to defend it is to enlighten minds. Indeed, a person who knows, if he or she possesses uprightness of heart, is quickly transformed into a person who believes.
For many long years now, most parents, being themselves ignorant of the basic truths of the Faith, feel neither the interest nor the need to provide religious instruction to their children. “The child, once grown, will choose the principles that suit him,” they say in their folly. Yet to protect and to cultivate the life of a child’s soul is the primary duty of father and mother, since it concerns nothing less than the child’s eternal salvation or irrevocable damnation.
Fathers and mothers, you will have to give an account to God –your Creator, your Lord, your Judge– both for your own souls and for the souls of the children God has entrusted to you.
If you saw parents give no food at all to their child, or let the child gorge on refuse and harmful substances, all while claiming the child will choose what suits him in due time, would you not hasten to report such criminals to the authorities?
The life of the soul is infinitely superior to the life of the body. Do we think about this?…
We pray that the Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, may guide you and make this study inviting and attractive to you. May She form your heart and dispose your mind to receive well the grace and the light of God.
The renowned President of the Republic of Ecuador, Gabriel García Moreno (1821–1875), would sometimes attend university examinations in order to judge for himself the abilities of future public officials.
One day, in a large hall filled with the solemnity of great occasions, a law student brilliantly passed his doctoral examination. The professors were satisfied, the assembly impressed.
The President then rose, approached the young graduate, and warmly congratulated him:
“Sir, you have just given us a striking proof of your excellent knowledge of the law. Are you equally well versed in the catechism? For you see, a jurist must first and foremost know the law of God.”
Then, with a calm seriousness that commanded respect, he asked him a few simple questions about religion. The young doctor, taken aback, stood speechless. He could not answer a single one.
“Sir,” the President continued, “I advise you to withdraw for a few days to the Capuchins and relearn your catechism. It will be of great benefit to you.”
And García Moreno, faithful to his convictions, forbade him to practice law until he had acquired this essential knowledge—the one that enlightens all things and gives meaning to human justice.