About Joe Paprocki
Joe Paprocki, DMin, is National Consultant for Faith Formation at Loyola Press, where, in addition to his traveling/speaking responsibilities, he works on the development team for faith formation curriculum resources including Finding God: Our Response to God’s Gifts and God’s Gift: Reconciliation and Eucharist. Joe has more than 35 years of experience in ministry and has presented keynotes, presentations, and workshops in more than 100 dioceses in North America. Joe is a frequent presenter at national conferences including the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, the Mid-Atlantic Congress, and the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership. He is the author of numerous books, including the best seller The Catechist’s Toolbox, A Church on the Move, Under the Influence of Jesus, and Called to Be Catholic—a bilingual, foundational supplemental program that helps young people know their faith and grow in their relationship with God. Joe is also the series editor for the Effective Catechetical Leader and blogs about his experiences in faith formation at www.catechistsjourney.com.

Lenten Webinar: Creative Lenten Ideas Shared by Participants

During last evening’s Lenten Webinar, I invited participants to share brief descriptions of some creative things they have done for Lent either for themselves or with a group they were teaching. SO MANY GREAT IDEAS! Thanks for sending them in. Enjoy perusing them! Lenten Webinar Participants Ideas

Lenten Webinar: Thanks for Participating!

Thanks so much for participating in my Lenten Webinar! I enjoyed spending the time with you exploring the disciplines of Lent in a fresh new way. Along the way, I promised that I’d post some links here for your convenience. Here they are: Praying Lent Praying the Rosary Multimedia Stations of the Cross for Children Liturgy of the Hours Catholic Prayers for Catholic Families The Meal Box Radical Compassion Send me an email once a […]

Lent: 40 Ideas for 40 Days!

Last year, during Lent, I offered 40 ideas in 40 days – 40 creative ways to engage those you teach in the mystery of the Lenten season. This year, I am happy to provide all 40 of those ideas in one convenient list with links to each of their descriptions! Enjoy and please share with me (us) how you’re using these ideas and any variations or ideas of your own that you’ve come up with!!! […]

Last Night's Class, Tonight's Webinar

Last evening, my students took their Confirmation exam. I haven’t had a chance to correct them yet, however, I can tell from a quick glance that there are no disasters awaiting me. In previous years, I had one or two kids who left full pages blank. Not this time. Before the exam, I gave them time to study and to quiz one another. I then told them that the Catholic faith was like a family […]

Wavin' Their Bibles in South Carolina!

Here’s a pic of about 100 happy catechists and DREs in Columbia, South Carolina, proudly waving their Bibles on Saturday! I enjoyed a wonderful day with them as we focused on the Catholic approach to Scripture…something that is much needed in the Bible Belt! Thanks to all the good folks who extended their always-warm Southern hospitality!

In My Mind, I'm Goin' to Carolina…

Actually, not only in my mind but also in my body! I’m off to Charotte, North Carolina for a couple of presentations before heading to Columbia, SouthCarolina for a presentation on Saturday! I look forward to meeting lots of catechists and DREs from the Carolinas. Thought maybe I’d catch a break from the Chicago weather for a few days but it sounds like our midswestern winter weather is following me there! Oh well, I’ll just […]

Not Bad!

Our experience of playing a Jeopardy-like review was not bad at all last night. Of course, games can rile kids up so we were walking a fine line between having fun and laying down the law last night. However, overall, I’d have to say that fifty 8th graders in one room behaved pretty well! The nice thing was that they did a pretty good job of answering the questions. All of us were pleased that […]

Alex Trebek (or Art Fleming?) Tonight!

Tonight, we’re doing our Jeopardy-like review to help the kids get ready for their confirmation exam which will take place next week. Of course, for many years, the TV program Jeopardy has been hosted by Alex Trebek, but some of us older catechists 🙂 recall the original host, Art Fleming who hosted the program from 1964 through 1975 and again from 1978-79. Don’t forget that I have links on last Thursday’s post to the 4 rounds […]

A Jeopardy-Like Review

This coming Monday, we’re going to do a Jeopardy-like review with all 5 of our confirmation classes in preparation for the Confirmation exam they will take the following week. Our emphasis for this will be on “Catholic literacy” – the ability to talk about what you believe in and to be more familiar with Catholic vocabulary. We’re going to impress upon the kids that, in just a few short years, when they go off to […]

Kids’ Silly Behavior Plays Right Into My Hands

Every once in a while, it pays to be patient with kids’ silly behavior because it can play right into your hands. Last night was one of those occasions. As I was teaching about the anointing with chrism at Confirmation, I focused for a while on the fact that the chrism has a fragrance (sometimes referred to as “perfume for the soul”) which symbolizes how the Holy Spirit helps us to give off the “aroma […]

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