The Good News here is understood to be the revelation of Godself to human beings through Scripture. It is about God’s relationship with us, and our relationship with God. It is fundamentally and joyfully… Good! The story of Jesus and the first disciples is told in the New Testament. The revelation of God to the Hebrew people, which forms the foundation for Jesus’ life and teachings, is told in the Old Testament. The Bible is part of everybody’s story. The theologian Karl Rahner wrote that each person’s Baptism is a page from the history of Jesus’ life(1). However, a knowledge of Scripture is important for all young people, not only those committed to the Catholic faith. The Jewish and Christian scriptures are foundational documents for many cultures and find their expression in art, music, literature and law.

Young people need to develop familiarity with the stories and messages of the scriptures, but also need to develop knowledge and skills to make sense of

what they read. The NZ Catholic Bishops write that “Authentic Gospel and moral values are ‘seeds of the word’ which ‘are sown in human society and diverse cultures’(2)“. At appropriate age levels it is important that the young people have informed understanding of the origins and formation of the texts. Young people need to gain some understanding of the world and traditions from which the scriptures emerged, but at the same time understand how they are relevant and speak to their own lives now.

(1). Karl Rahner. (1966). Watch and pray with me. New York: The crossroad Publishing Company. pp. 27-28.

(2). NZCBC. (2012). Sharing the Gospel Today: The Catechetical Directory for Aotearoa New Zealand. p. 38.