Catechists: Inspired by the Herald Angels

As we celebrate this Christmas season, let the Herald Angels be an inspiration for us catechists. To be a herald is to be a bearer of the Good News. Each time we teach, we bring tidings of great joy: God is with us in Jesus Christ! We are, indeed, privileged to be heralds of the Gospel. May the Herald Angels inspire you this Christmas season and throughout the New Year! God’s blessings during this Christmas […]

Receiving is Nice Too!

I know that it is better to give than to receive, but receiving is nice too! I was touched to receive Christmas gifts from several of my students (I’m sure it was their parents who put them up to it!). What a nice gesture to express appreciation for the partnership we catechists enter into with parents. I was also delighted to receive a beautiful leather bound New American Bible from my DRE, Arlene. It will […]

Confirmation Intensive: Success!

Last night’s Confirmation Intensive, a 2-hour session with the 8th graders, was a resounding success! The kids were not surprisingly curious and anxious about what they were going to do for “2 WHOLE HOURS!!!” We had them on the move for the whole 2 hours and they were delightfully engaged in their mini-sessions (20 minutes with each of the 4 eighth grade catechists. For my sessions, we met in my room in the school and […]

Confirmation Intensive Tonight

This evening is the first of 4 Confirmation “Intensives” planned for our 8th graders. Normally, our sessions are 75 minutes long. The intensives will be 2 hours, giving us a chance to do a variety of things and go into more depth with our young people. For tonight’s session, we will begin by having a prayer service in which we present the young people with their copies of Confirmed in the Spirit, their confirmation text […]

Lively Conversation on Intergenerational Catechesis

Rather than post something new, I’d like to direct your attention to the lively conversation that is going on over my December 7 post on Intergenerational Catechesis (inspired by an intergenerational event I recently attended). Several of the folks from the coordinating team of the host parish left some insightful and challenging comments and questions and we’ve engaged in a very productive conversation over the last couple of days. I’m most impressed by the passion […]

Remembering Dad

Today is the 10th anniversary of my Dad’s passing into eternal life. My Dad was a pharmacist, owner of his own store Paprocki Pharmacy which he inherited from my grandfather who started the business in1919. The picture below is of the store’s 2nd (more contemporary-looking) location, taken in the mid-1980’s when the store literally became a “mom & pop” operation. All of us children (there were 9 of us) were grown and moved away and […]

Happy Blogaversary to Me!

Today is my First Blogaversary! One year ago today, on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I posted for the first time on Catechist’s Journey. Since that time, I have posted 249 times and you good folks have posted 534 comments! It’s hard to believe that 1 year has already passed. I just want to take this moment to thank all of you for visiting and posting comments and I invite you to continue […]

My High School Religion Teacher

Yesterday, I had the privilege of reuniting with one of my high school religion teachers, the great Fr. Mark Link, S.J. Fr. Mark is one of the most prolific Catholic writers around, having sold millions of books including These Stones Will Shout, The Seventh Trumpet, The Still Point of the Turning World, You, Vision 2000, Challenge, Path Through Scripture, and Path Through Catholicism, just to name a few (over 60 titles in all). During my years […]

Want E-Mail from the Vatican?

A colleague of mine sent me the following interesting bit of information just a short while ago and I’m happy to pass it along to you: The Congregation for Clergy has just started an email service for priests, deacons and catechists through which you can sign in to receive via email all documents issue by the congregation. To sign up go to:  http://www.clerus.org/pls/clerus/cn_clerus.h_start_consult_ext?dicastero=2&tema=-1&argomento=-1&sottoargomento=-1&lingua=2&Classe=1&operazione=ges_email&rif=&rif1=&vers=2  They also have a new page http://www.clerus.org/bibliaclerus/index_eng.html which contains the Bible in many […]

Intergenerational Catechesis

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending an intergenerational catechetical event at St. Raphael parish in Naperville, Illinois. The DRE, Jane Ehrlich, does a fantastic job of catechizing the entire parish! I was amazed at the amount of planning and coordination that must go into such an event for about 700 people! The evening began with dinner (pizza and salad) in the gym followed by an opening experience in the church. This experience served […]

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