“If I Were a Church Hymn”

This is an activity that I like to do with older participants (especially adults) who have a little more knowledge of the Church’s repertoire of hymns. I call it “If I Were a Church Hymn” and it basically invites participants to think of which Church hymn they would choose as either: their theme song the hymn that best captures the state of their spiritual life at this moment their all time favorite hymn The activity […]

Catechizing Digital Natives

I came across the following recording of a webinar that looks interesting. I haven’t had the time to participate in it myself but I intend to. In the meantime, let me know what you think. Catechizing Digital Natives from Jonathan Sullivan on Vimeo.

BKD in The Big Easy

This past Saturday, I had the joy and privilege of conducting a Being, Knowing, and Doing professional development workshop for a wonderful group of catechetical leaders (and a few catechists as well) in New Orleans. It was my first trip to the Big Easy and it was SO enjoyable. Many, many thanks to the great folks who made me feel so at home there and contributed to a most productive day of looking at how […]

A Peek at My Springfield Trip

Over the past few days, I’ve enjoyed a visit to Springfield, IL, for the installation of my brother Tom as bishop. We had a wonderful time and it was a fantastic celebration. Here are a few pics. In the sacristy after the Installation Mass with just part of the family.           A visit from Abraham Lincoln at the reception at the Old State Capitol               […]

The 4 Pillars of Our Faith: Prayer

This week, I’m featuring short excerpts from my book, A Well-Built Faith, focusing on the 4 pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Here’s a brief look at the fourth pillar: Prayer. A survey conducted years ago asked people in successful marriages to identify the top ten qualities of a healthy marriage. One might think that sex, given all the attention it is given in our culture, would have been the number one quality. […]

The 4 Pillars of Our Faith: the Moral Life

This week, I’m featuring short excerpts from my book, A Well-Built Faith, focusing on the 4 pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Here’s a brief look at the third pillar: the Moral Life. Country and Western songs tend to be filled with heart ache, telling tales of good loving gone bad. Two people in love are supposed to treat each other in a certain way and when that doesn’t happen, relationships faith. Just […]

The 4 Pillars of Our Faith: Sacraments

This week, I’m featuring short excerpts from my book, A Well-Built Faith, focusing on the 4 pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Here’s a brief look at the second pillar: the Sacraments. To be sacramental is to express beyond words. Catholics are sacramental because human beings are sacramental. Humans express love in a variety of ways beyond words. We do not feel that our love is fully expressed unless we can reach out […]

The Four Pillars of Our Faith: the Creed

This week, I’m featuring short excerpts from my book, A Well-Built Faith, focusing on the 4 pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Here’s a brief look at the first pillar: the Creed. Believing is something that we do, not only with our heads, but with our hearts. The following story illustrates this. A stunt man was thrilling crowds gathered at the Niagara Falls, making his way across a tightrope that stretched from one […]

Who Taught You to Pray?

One of the best discussions we had at the Being, Knowing, and Doing seminar in Seattle, WA, last week and Rockville Centre, NY, this week centered around the questions of “who taught you to pray? and what are your earliest memories of prayer?” These are good questions to spark a discussion with catechists to get them thinking about how they pray as an adult (so that they in turn are more conscious of how they […]

What the DREs Are Saying

I spent a very enjoyable and productive day today with about 45 DREs in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, NY, talking about caring for our catechists. We looked specifically at how we can offer them formation in the areas of being, knowing, and doing, as outlined in the General Directory for Catechesis. In the course of our day, the folks offered lots of thoughts and comments. Here is a summary of just a few thoughts […]

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