When we gather with our young people for religious education classes, it’s not always easy for them to make the transition from their day into “the sacred.” One strategy is to emply some discussion starters to break the ice: questions that are non-threatening, fun, and substantive. I recommend a product created by my friends Tom McGrath and Bret Nicholaus called The Meal Box. The Meal Box is a set of 52 cards featuring questions designed to “spice up conversations and get parents and kids talking” around the dinner table. I think these would work very well in a catechetical setting as well.

Here are some samples:

If you could build a private bridge or tunnel that would take you directly from your home to any place at all, what would it connect to?

*   *   *

If you could transport yourself back in time and experience first-hand any story in the Bible, which one would it be?

*   *   *

If you asked five people who know you to write down the one word that they think best describes you, what do you think would be the most common answer? (consider the answer carefully from their viewpoint, not yours)

*   *   *

If you could literally jump into the pages of any book you’ve ever read and experience the action along with the characters, which book would you choose?

*   *   *

If you were in charge of planning for and building a brand-new museum, what specific theme would be the focus of the museum and where do you think would be the best place to build it?

These questions could be especially helpful at the start of the year as you attempt to break the ice and get to know your students and help them to get to know one another if they don’t already.

Check it out: The Meal Box

Over the past year, I have picked up a number of handy suggestions from various catechists…little things they do in their classes that I think make a BIG difference. Here are the “top ten” things that you can do on a regular basis to help you become a more effective and engaging catechist right now without adding tons of additional planning time to your preparation for class!

1. Greet your students at the door each week with a task they need to complete (e.g. hand them an index card and have them write down the most significant event/experience of their past week). Keeping them on task from the moment they enter is a form of “preemptive” discipline.
2. If your class is reading a long block of material from the text book, call on the first volunteer to read and then tell him/her to pick the next reader and so on…it adds a little twist that kids find fun.
3. If you’re leading a class discussion, bring in a foam ball and toss it to someone as a prompt for him/her to respond to a question you’ve asked. Invite him/her to toss it (gently) to the next student they wish to have respond.
4. Begin class by asking the young people to mention something good that happened in the past week (use the foam ball mentioned in #2!)
5. Follow that up by asking them to mention someone or some situation that needs our prayers. “Gather” all of these thoughts into your opening prayer.
6. At the end of class, go around and ask each young person to name at least one thing they learned before they leave (wow, you can use the foam ball again!)
7. As the young people leave your class, stand at the doorway with a bowl of holy water and have them bless themselves (or you can bless them) .
8. Create a simple Prayer Box (a shoe box, wrapped in nice paper, and a slit cut on the top) and place it in the room. Invite the young people to write prayers at any time on small slips of paper and to drop them into the box. Designate a time for reading the prayers out loud.
9. Have the young people set up your prayer center at the start of every class (table, cloth, Bible, crucifix, candle, flower, etc). Make a ritual out of it.
10. Invite the young people to bring their own symbols to add to the prayer center as the year goes on.

What other LITTLE ideas would you suggest that catechists can do on a regular basis that can make a BIG difference in their teaching?

I’m preparing for my next week’s class when we will be exploring the first 3 Commandments which focus on love of God.

I’ve put together a worksheet that I’ll invite them to work on in small groups. The worksheet includes numerous examples of actions that “violate” these 3 Commandments as well as virtuous actions that are done in the spirit of these 3 Commandments. In their small groups, the young people will work together to identify which Commandment the example pertains to as well as whether it is a sinful or virtuous action. I’m happy to provide the student worksheet along with a catechist copy with answer key.

I will tell them that this is not a test but an exercise that will lead us to discuss these Commandments in greater detail. After they have finished in their small groups, I’ll lead them in discussion using the worksheet as a guide.

I invite your feedback and suggestions. I intend to follow up with a worksheet on Commandments 4-10 which focus on love of neighbor. Stay tuned.

p.s. I also intend to explain to them how the seriousness of an action is determined by 1) the object chosen; 2) the intention; and 3) the circumstances of the action. I want to emphasize that, in morality, it’s not all just black and white. Life involves gray area which is what makes morality so complex.

I spent this past Saturday morning with about 100 catechists in the Diocese of Joliet (south and west of the Archdiocese of Chicago) focusing on the topic of catechists and the Bible. I was honored to “share the bill” with Bishop Peter Sartain and to meet and speak with so many catechists from so many parishes.

After a beautiful morning prayer, I was introduced and spoke about 5 ways to “dramatically increase your students’ Bible IQ.” In particular, I focused on the following 5 points:

1. providing students with Bibles and using them frequently
2. teaching them how to “decipher” biblical citation (i.e. 1Pt 2:2-5 = First Letter of Peter, chapter two, verses two through five)
3. providing them with a timeline and a chronology of salvation history
4. dividing the Bible into smaller pieces (using the bookmarks from my book, God’s Library: A Catholic Introduction to the World’s Greatest Book) to increase familiarity with the location of passages
5. understanding the role of figurative language in the Bible

After a break, Bishop Sartain then gave a very inspirational talk on how catechists can make “scripture practical in our daily lives.” He focused on three main ideas:

1. resources available to help us gain better access to the Word of God (daily devotionals, Bible commentaries, etc.)
2. the use of sacred art in meditating on Scripture stories
3. Lectio Divina as a way to pray with the Word of God

I’d like to send a great big shout out to all of the many fine catechists I met at St. Martin of Tours parish in Kankakee, IL in the Joliet Diocese on Saturday and I wish them continued blessings and success in increasing their students’ Bible IQ and in making Scripture more practical in their daily lives and in the lives of those they teach.

A slightly blurry pic of me with Bishop Peter Sartain of the Diocese of Joliet