MEDFORD -- Pop quiz: Do you know who the patron saint of catechists is? Or what year the Boston Tea Party happened? Or which of the three theological virtues orders the cardinal virtues toward ultimate happiness in God?

If you do, you might've stood a chance at the trivia portion of the Archdiocese of Boston's Jubilee for Catechists, which took place at St. Clement Church of Blessed Andrew Phu Yen Parish in Medford on Sept. 27 as part of the Jubilee Year of 2025. About 100 catechists from across the archdiocese participated in the celebration, which included a lunch of egg rolls and fried rice made by the parish's Vietnamese community.

The catechists answered questions about the Catholic Church and Boston history, forming teams with names like "Charlie's Angels," "Cate-catch Me if You Can," "Born to Evangelize," and the afternoon's winners, "Holy See, Batman!"

"It's fun to get together with all the other catechists, to meet other people, to hear new ideas of new ways of doing things, to get excited about the year," said Monica LaFond, director of faith formation at Our Lady of Sorrows in Sharon. Her team's name was "The Spanish In-Quiz-Ition."

Before becoming a catechist 22 years ago, she was a lawyer and stay-at-home mom. She's currently studying at the Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry.

"It's helped me grow my faith tremendously, and it's helped my family become more faithful, and it's brought me a lot of joy to be part of so many different families' lives," she said.

The jubilee celebration began with Mass celebrated by Archbishop Richard G. Henning. In his homily, he said that catechists are part of the mystery of Christ's incarnation, and that they are "living stones" to build up his church.

"The Lord Jesus, he speaks of living stones, right?" He said. "He's not so much concerned with the wealth of the world as he is the turning over of hearts, the recreating of hearts, but he understands very well that we live in creation."

He reminded them that at the heart of the faith they teach is the fact that they are not Jesus's servants, but his friends.

"I want us to make sure that what we do and what we say begins from the nature of who we are and who we are called to be," he said.

He asked three things of the catechists. The first was that they live the faith before preaching it.

"You know this from the experience of working with the young," he said. "The young do not like inauthenticity. They do not like hypocrisy. They spot it a mile off."

Second, he told the catechists to remain humble. He said that the goal of catechists is not to indoctrinate children or make them part of a bureaucracy, but to reveal the truth of the church's traditions. That, he said, means teaching them that truth, not the catechist's own opinions.

"How challenging is it these days, in the 24-hour news cycle, not to live by the demands of that news cycle and be always talking about everything that's on whatever station you happen to watch? That's the way the culture around us is. And look at the divisions, the anger, the chaos that it brings."

Third, he told the catechists to always remember their relationship with him. Upon being made a bishop, he said, the church gave him a three-word job description: Govern, teach, sanctify. Therefore, he is the chief teacher of the Archdiocese of Boston.

"I can't be the one there every Saturday morning in every parish, 250 parishes," he said. "I can't go to 100 different Catholic schools a week. I need partners."

Archbishop Henning recalled that St. Paul described such partners as "coworkers." The archbishop himself called them "those who are inspired by their faith to rise up and respond."

"Thank you for being here today," he said. "Your presence here today is itself a sign that you already understand you are a coworker, that you are part of that great castle, of the universal church."

After lunch, Stella Marie Jeffrey, part of the Catechetical Institute of the Franciscan University of Steubenville, spoke. The Archdiocese of Boston is one of the dioceses that partners with Franciscan for training catechists. Instructional materials from the university's Franciscan at Home catechesis training were made available for free.

She asked how many people in the room think of themselves as catechists.

"You should all be raising your hands," she said.

She then asked how many people are missionaries, how many are disciples, and how many are friends of Jesus. She said every single one should raise their hands.

"To be catechists is an amazing, amazing thing, and a tremendous gift that is given to us," she said.

She also gave a witness talk about her own faith journey, which began when she met some Catholic friends in the Army at age 18. She grew up working on her Catholic family's dairy farm and going to religious ed classes once a week but wasn't sure whether she truly believed. One day, she went to confession, and after "a great confession" a woman asked to pray with her.

"I'm from a German background, so anyone just, like, snuggling up to you is very uncomfortable," Jeffrey said.

Over the next few weeks, Jeffrey started attending daily Mass, Bible study, and prayer meetings.

"I feel like I encountered the Lord," she said. "And I thought to myself, 'I have wasted my life. Lord, how will I ever make it up to you?' Which is the wrong idea."

She later realized that she didn't need to earn God's love. All she needed to do was use the gifts he had given her, and she decided to use those gifts as a catechist. The term catechesis comes from the Greek for "echo," and Jeffrey used the word "ECHOES" as an acronym: Encounter the Lord, boldly profess Christ, Open your grace to others, Encounter again and again, and remember that you are Sent.

"You are missionaries, and you've been sent," Jeffrey said.