Each year, the third Sunday of September has been designated by the U.S. Catholic Bishops as Catechetical Sunday, a celebration that honors those involved in catechetical ministry. The theme for this weekend's celebration is "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church."

"Catechetical Sunday is a way that we draw attention to the church's catechetical ministry," says Jonathan Sullivan, director of Catechetical Ministries for the Springfield diocese. "Just as we have Catholic Schools Week in January, this is a time where we can stop and reflect about what our parishes are doing as we catechize our young people and adults - just everyone within the community."

Catechesis really arises from the church's evangelical mission. "It is a piece of evangelism," Sullivan says. "Jesus gives the great commissioning, ‘Go out and make disciples of all nations, teaching them the things I have handed on to you.' There is a strong teaching component to evangelism.

"And, of course, John Paul II reminded us that we need to be evangelizing ourselves, too. It's not just enough to go out and talk about (teaching) others. We ourselves have to be constantly open to conversion.

"That's one of the things that gets me excited about Why Catholic?.  It's a way for us to re-catechize ourselves. I think we're doing a much better job nowadays as far as being consistent across our various programs," says Sullivan. "The U.S. bishops tell us that the four purposes of Catholic education are evangelization; participating in the sacraments; cultivating a life in Christ, particularly a life in prayer; and service, especially to the poor."

Why does the church teach? "It's primarily about cultivating the faith, instilling a good sense of morality in people," Sullivan answers. "It's not about creating the smartest people. It's about creating the most faithful people - a faithful community that's joyful."