Catechist's Journey

This great idea came to me from a catechist by the name of Connie…thanks Connie! Hi Joe, Thanks for the Lenten calendar–I’m always looking for something new! Here’s something I did last night with my sixth graders, who are studying the Old Testament. We made our own Wailing Wall–which we will use throughout Lent. Before class, [...]

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 [...]

Since September, 2008, I’ve been writing a column for CATECHIST magazine entitled What’s Your Catholic IQ? It’s been a very enjoyable experience and I’m told it is one of the most popular features in the magazine (it already was before I took over writing the column from Page Zyromski). These quizzes are a fun way [...]

Looking for a creative Saint Paul activity to mark this Year of Saint Paul? My good friend and colleague, Jeanette Graham has put together a wonderfully informative and engaging play about the life of Saint Paul in three acts. This will be a great way to bring Saint Paul “to life” for your class, your RE [...]

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of presenting to about 150 high school teens and their group leaders at St. Francis Xavier in LaGrange. Our topic was Living the Mass and we had a very engaging experience together. One of the parts I most enjoyed was speaking about the Lord’s Prayer. Here’s what I did: I [...]

This coming Monday evening is our Open House for the School of Religious Education and we anticipate parents coming to sit in on their children’s sessions. Of course, we want to be sure that some very engaging things are going on that evening! I’ve decided to do a Bible activity with my group which is [...]