The Excitement of a New Catechetical Year – And a New Parish!

Joe Paprocki Being a Catechist

It’s hard to believe that tomorrow evening is the first catechist meeting of the year for the 2013-14 catechetical year!

I will once again be teaching 6th grade (Finding God), however, I will be doing so at a new parish! I will now be at St. Cajetan Parish on the far southside of Chicago, about 5 minutes south of my home in Evergreen Park.

With the retirement of Arlene Astrowski, the DRE at Most Holy Redeemer parish, where I’ve served as a catechist these past 6 years or so, I thought it was a good opportunity for me to change venues as a way of providing you with as many diverse experiences in catechesis as possible here on my blog. The DRE at St. Cajetan, Deb Breakey, was kind enough to offer me a spot and so I look forward to this new experience! I don’t encourage this kind of jumping around for most catechists, however, I am in a unique position of “reporting” on the life of a catechist from the inside through my blog. I look forward to keeping you up to date with my experiences beginning with tomorrow evening’s catechist meeting!

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About Joe Paprocki 2742 Articles
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.

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4 Comments

  1. Good luck on your new adventures. I grew up very close to there at Christ the King and wish you all the best. St. Cajetan, St. Barnabas and St. Walters were our worthy rivals of the football field. But that was a long time ago.

    Reply

  2. I’m going to be involved in middle-school catechesis at two parishes this year. Should be interesting to see how things translate at the new gig. The fun starts tomorrow evening.

    Reply

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