Mystagogy can be defined simply or in its complexity.
For a simple one-sentence definition of mystagogy I nominate,
The first three periods of the catechumenate prepare people for life as baptized Catholic Christians, and the fourth period, mystagogy, forms them so that they can competently live their faith for the rest of their lives. I will grant you that although that this is my promised one-sentence definition of mystagogy. However, as the reader will see unpack it will be a very long-term project.
For a more complex one-sentence definition of mystagogy I nominate,
Mystagogy as period is a life-long process of living the social dimensions of the Communion of saints. Though I have nominated and will stand by these two sentences as definitions of the simplicity and the complexity of mystagogy, at the very least they point out the need for lots of unpacking to understand them.
One way to start that unpacking will be to define some of the terms in those two one-sentence definitions.
The first term to define is the word “Catechumenate.” To capture the understandings of the word I resorted to a Google AI search and got these responses:
In the Catholic Church, the catechumenate is the process of preparing catechumens for church membership through religious instruction. The word "catechumen" comes from the Greek word for "one who sounds out something".
The catechumenate is the second of four periods in the RCIA process. [For those unacquainted with the catechumenate process, I will add that the first three periods are 1) inquiry, 2) instruction, and 3) the celebration of lent and Easter culminating in the Easter Vigil. Mystagogy is the fourth period in that process.]
The overall catechumenate process involves:
The parish family
Sponsors
Catechists
A pastoral team
Community worship
Christian charity and service
The catechumenate is a spiritual journey that helps catechumens: discover their Christian vocation, deepen their spiritual lives, and find their place in the faith and community.
The development of faith (in the catechumenate) takes time, and the catechumenate usually lasts one to two years. The length of time depends on the candidate's background and spiritual maturity.
Notice how even using a Google AI definition of common usage of the word “catechumenate” raises exponentially more questions than it answers, such as,
“What are the first three periods about?”
“What about the elements of the catechumenate process such as ‘parish family,’ ‘sponsors,’ ‘pastoral team,’ ‘community worship,’ and ‘Christian charity and service’ mean in operational terms?
What does ‘spiritual journey’ mean for Catholic Christians in terms of ‘discovering their vocation,’ or ‘deepening their faith,’ or ‘finding their place in the faith’ or ‘finding their place in the community’ actually mean?
What does it mean that ‘development of faith’ takes time? Why does ‘it’ take time? Why one to two years? Why not less or more time? How are we to assess a person’s background and spiritual maturity?
So, even a basic AI reflection on one word, “Catechumenate,” from my first simple attempt to define Catholic mystagogy led into so many other questions, what about my second, more complex, summary definition of mystagogy? Namely,
Mystagogy as period is a life-long process of living the social dimensions of the Communion of saints.
If we thought we had a lot to unpack with my first proposed definition of mystagogy, where might we even start with the second?
How about starting with the results of yet another of my Google AI searches, this time of the usage of “Communion of saints” that encompasses Catholic, Protestant, and common language usages, namely,
Maybe a double or triple “WOW!” is called for here.
If the first, simpler, definition of mystagogy I proposed,
The first three periods of the catechumenate prepare people for life as baptized Catholic Christians, and the fourth period, mystagogy, forms them so that they can competently live their faith for the rest of their lives.
led to more and more questions and issues to unpack, then the second, more complex definition of mystagogy I proposed, namely,
Mystagogy as period is a life-long process of living the social dimensions of the Communion of saints.
promises to leave our heads spinning. If the Lord grants me days, I ardently hope to unpack and develop some of the implications of the communion of saints for the Catholic Church past, present, and future.
So, mystagogy can be as simple as my two sentences. However, unpacking what those two sentences can mean promises to be a long process. This first blog is my beginning step in elaborating all that mystagogy can be.