October 2010 - Page 2 of 2 - Catechist's Journey

If You Have a Moment

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Using Current Events – Rescue in Chile

Joe Paprocki

A very effective way to begin any religious education class is to focus on some current event and use it as an opportunity to segue into your lesson. The current story of the amazing rescue of trapped miners in Chile is a perfect example. I had no class this week because of Columbus Day however I have no doubt that I will find a way to use this story in my class for this upcoming […]

How Old Do They Think I Am?

Joe Paprocki

During last week’s class, as the kids were playing with the Play-Doh I had set out for them, I commented that, when I was a kid, I loved playing with Play-Doh. One of the boys asked, most sincerely without being a smart-aleck, “They had Play-Doh back then?” Ugh! 🙂

Leading Spontaneous Prayer, Part 3: You, Who, DO, Through

Joe Paprocki

During our recent Webinar – Leading Prayer as a Catechist – we explored a formula to help us lead spontaneous prayer: remembering the words YOU, WHO, DO, THROUGH. Liturgical/Eucharistic prayer includes these 4 elements: YOU (we address God and praise him using divine titles), WHO (we describe the great things that God has done), DO (we pray for God to do something for us now), THROUGH (we pray to the Father, through his Son, Jesus, with the […]

A Shout Out to Peoria!

Joe Paprocki

Here’s a great big SHOUT OUT to the many wonderful catechists I met last night in Peoria, IL!!! Peoria is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from the south suburbs of Chicago where I live so it was a very nice peaceful ride. A number of parishes banded together to gather over 80 catechists for a great night of enrichment that included a delicious dinner. I enjoyed the evening with you and look forward to […]

Leading Spontaneous Prayer, Part Two – You, WHO, Do, Through

Joe Paprocki

During our Webinar – Leading Prayer as a Catechist – we explored a formula to help us lead spontaneous prayer: remembering the words YOU, WHO, DO, THROUGH. Liturgical/Eucharistic prayer includes these 4 elements: YOU (we address God and praise him using divine titles), WHO (we describe the great things that God has done), DO (we pray for God to do something for us now), THROUGH (we pray to the Father, through his Son, Jesus, with the […]

Leading Spontaneous Prayer – You, Who, Do, Through

Joe Paprocki

During our Webinar – Leading Prayer as a Catechist – we explored a formula to help us lead spontaneous prayer: remembering the words YOU, WHO, DO, THROUGH. Liturgical/Eucharistic prayer includes these 4 elements: YOU (we address God and praise him using divine titles), WHO (we describe the great things that God has done), DO (we pray for God to do something for us now), THROUGH (we pray to the Father, through his Son, Jesus, with […]

Good Voices & Bad Voices

Joe Paprocki

The most successful part of yesterday’s class was our discussion of which voices we should listen to in order to shape a good conscience and which voices we need to avoid or “erase” in order to avoid temptation. First, I brought in a mini-cassette recorder and passed it around so that each child could say something which they really enjoyed. I played it back and they all got a kick out of listening to themselves […]

God Asks Us to Obey

Joe Paprocki

Here’s my plan for this coming Monday’s session: Monday, October 4, 2010 Theme: God Asks Us to Obey Big Idea: We shape and form our conscience so that we can know right from wrong and be faithful followers of Jesus Engage (15 mins) As kids enter, provide them with a small container of Play-doh and invite them to create a shape Opening prayer ritual Review of last session – show broken popsicle stick and rock […]

Shout Out to Eastern Penn DREs!

Joe Paprocki

These are just some of the happy faces at the 28th annual Eastern Pennsylvania DRE Gathering which took place over the past few days at the Golden Inn in Avalon, NJ. I was privileged to be the presenter for the event, offering 3 presentations over a couple of days, focusing on the theme of “Immersed in Christ – Proud to be Catholic.” What a wonderful event. Over 100 DREs gather for this formational and fun getaway […]