By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Archbishop Thomas Wenski's homily for Catechetical Day. St. Brendan High School, Oct. 24, 2026.
Welcome to Catechetical Day. This past Sunday was Mission Sunday, a call to support the Church’s work “ad gentes” in missionary lands where people had yet to hear the gospel. That’s important work and it responds to Jesus’ Great Commission: Go into all the world and preach the good news. But today because of growing secularism, all lands are “mission territory” and some of those you will catechize have not yet heard the gospel – or perhaps they think they have but in reality, they haven’t.
The theme of this year’s Catechetical Day "Go out into the deep with missionary zeal" evokes the day when Jesus told the apostles, “Duc in Altum”, go and cast your nets deep in the sea (where they made an abundant catch).
This might seem to contrast with the rather somber call to repentance and the “last chance” warning of the Fig Tree in today’s gospel reading. But they are very well connected to one another.
The "Deep" is a Call to Urgency. Going into the deep means leaving comfortable, shallow waters. Today’s gospel reminds us that time is short and the need for salvation is urgent. True missionary zeal is fueled by the realization that souls need Christ now.
Jesus addresses tragic current events and redirects the crowd from judging others to examining themselves: "Unless you repent, you will all perish as they did."
We cannot give what we do not have. Before we can launch out into the deep to evangelize others, we must allow the Holy Spirit to venture into the "deep" places of our own hearts.
Missionary zeal begins with personal, ongoing conversion (repentance). A catechist's most powerful tool is a life genuinely transformed by Christ.
In the parable, the owner wants to cut down the barren fig tree, but the gardener begs for one more year to cultivate it.
As catechists, you are gardeners. The classroom, the OCIA session, or the youth group is your orchard. Many of the students or parents you encounter may seem spiritually barren or disengaged.
Your missionary zeal is the labor of pouring grace, truth, and patience into souls that have not yet borne fruit. Zeal is not just aggressive action; it is patient, gritty accompaniment. Going into the deep means doing the messy work of "digging around and manuring”, answering tough questions, absorbing apathy with love, and offering another year of grace.
The ultimate goal is for the tree to bear fruit – the fruit of a vibrant faith: the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
True missionary zeal pushes us to help those we catechized move past just "living an okay life" into a deep, fruit-bearing relationship with Jesus.
