Here’s an exchange I recently had with a catechist working in RCIA for children: Dear Joe, I am a catechist teaching RCIA for children. This is my first time teaching RCIA. If you could recommend some approaches to answering questions to children grades 3rd through 5th RCIA, I would really appreciate your help. Here are some of their questions: Why do we decorate the church with a barren looking tree during Lent? Who made God and […]
On Monday evening, one of the young people asked, “Would it have been better if Jesus didn’t die? Like, if I went into a time machine, went back in time and prevented him from being killed, would that have been better?” What a wonderful question! I responded by explaining that Jesus came to save us, not to be saved and that, by dying, he showed us the greatest love that anyone can have – selfless […]
Showing a segment of the DVD Jesus of Nazareth worked out beautifully last night. As I mentioned yesterday, I showed the segment beginning with the Way of the Cross, leading up to the end of the film as the Risen Christ assures his apostles (and us) that he will be with us always. This is about 40 minutes. I paused the video frequently, pointing out information and asking questions and inviting the young people to ask […]
For class tonight, I am going to show the final scenes of Zefferelli’s Jesus of Nazareth focusing on the death and resurrection of Jesus. (I had planned to do this a couple of weeks ago, but that night we were invited to attend a special presentation by the 6th graders). I’ve always thought that Jesus of Nazareth was a very good portrayal and is very educational for the young people without the uneccessarily extreme graphic […]
I had the pleasure of listening to Bishop Blase Cupich (pronounced soopich) of Rapid City, South Dakota, speak at the NCEA convention in Indianapolis the other day. He spoke about exploring “proven pathways” for facing the challenges that we face in the catechetical ministry in our culture and times. In particular, he presented an Augustinian model of passing on the faith, grounded in St. Augustine’s communications to Deogratias (A.D. 403) titled “On the Catechizing of […]
Maybe I’ll see some of you at the NCEA conference in Indianapolis! See you back here Friday!
A very blessed Easter to you all! My wife and I had the pleasure of attending the Easter Vigil at St. Clement parish on the North side of Chicago. It was a beautiful and moving experience. It was doubly special because a friend and co-worker was being received into the Catholic Church that night. Fr. Ken Simpson, the pastor, gave an excellent homily. He spoke about what he called “the angel with an attitude” from […]
I always found it interesting that society as a whole embraces the Christmas story…creche scenes abound and the story is told and sung of a child being born in humble surroundings. For Easter, we have bunnies, jellybeans, colored eggs, and flowers! And yet, the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place is because it is the birth of the one who died and rose from the dead. Without Easter – the Resurrection – there […]
Not too long ago, I offered information about my “new” DVD, Welcome to God’s Library. Read the details here: http://www.catechistsjourney.org/2008/02/10/welcome-to-gods-library-on-dvd/ I wanted to pass along some very nice feedback I received from a catechist by the name of Vera: Dear Joe, A few days ago I watched the Welcome to God’s Library DVD and was impressed with how you un-complicated the Bible. I’ve always thought that I had to memorize where certain stories were in […]
Last night, the 8th graders did the Living Stations of the Cross and they did a beautiful job. They showed a reverence that was very refreshing. 4 of my students had prominent roles: narrator, Simon of Cyrene, Veronica, and one of the women of Jerusalem. I was very proud of them and of all the 8th graders, including the rest of my group that behaved well as part of the assembly. Kudos to our DRE, Arlene, […]
Copyright © 2006-2026 Loyola Press. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution, or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of Loyola Press is expressly prohibited.