It was used for two intensive years of confirmation instruction and then placed on a shelf to collect dust. We memorized the catechism once. It wasn't very enjoyable and we were happy when it was over. We probably didn't spend much time with the catechism before our confirmation classes, and we haven't spent much time with it since. It's no wonder, then, that we have been inclined to think of the Small Catechism only as a textbook.
Textbooks tend to be dry and boring.
Few people fall in love with a textbook. He intended that the language and faith of the catechism be practiced daily in the prayers, devotions, conversations and life of the Christian. For Luther, the catechism passed on to us God's own language in God's own way. Through the pattern of language in the catechism, the Christian is brought to faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. He or she learns again and again how to listen to God's Word, what to expect from Him in the sacraments, how to worship, how to pray, how to confess one's sin, and how to live in his or her daily calling in the freedom of Christ's forgiveness.