2017 - Page 4 of 26 - Catechist's Journey

Thanksgiving: Gratitude Is a Prerequisite for Discipleship

As Thanksgiving is fast approaching, I’d like to share a few thoughts about gratitude. Today, more than ever, we are hearing the term discipleship used in Catholic circles, as we seek to breathe new life into the Church and advance the New Evangelization. It occurs to me that a prerequisite for discipleship is an attitude of gratitude—a virtue that leads us away from cynicism, pessimism, and indifference and toward hope, faith, and love (charity). I’m sure […]

Little Lessons From the Saints: 52 Simple and Surprising Ways to See the Saint in You by Bob Burnham

St. Martin of Tours Video

Special Contributor

In honor of the approaching feast of St. Martin of Tours, Bob Burnham talks about wielding God’s weapons of peace, joy, and love. Burnham is the author of Little Lessons from the Saints. How are you incorporating lessons about the saints in your classes this month? Don’t forget Fr. Solanus Casey will be beatified on November 18, 2017. Download Burnham’s reflection and meditation on Fr. Solanus here.

Advent in Action: Bringing a Calendar to Life

Sophie Lorenzo

Catechists and Catholic school teachers are responsible for what can seem like daunting tasks each liturgical season: being creative with lessons that get children excited and involved, and incorporating technology in the classroom. Keven Rinaman of Calvert Catholic Schools in Tiffin, OH, took an approach during Advent 2016 that included both efforts. As Director of Technology and former teacher at Calvert Catholic, Rinaman came up with an Advent calendar project after brainstorming with Barb Gilman […]

Relaxing Prayer

Denise Gorss

I prepared my students to pray with a guided reflection, telling them that using their imaginations to have a conversation with God might take some practice. I gave them permission to “not get it” the first time. This was important for establishing trust and tone. I then played the “Called by Name” prayer track from the CD that came with our Finding God program and sat down with my students to participate in the imaginative […]

Active Learning That “Sticks”

Joe Paprocki

I’ve always been a proponent of active learning—making sure that learners are actively involved in the process of accessing new information—and I’ve written about this here previously. Now, let me give you a specific example that I find very effective. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved stickers! Who doesn’t? I know that my wife and I found stickers to be one of the best ways of keeping our kids occupied on car rides. […]

New DRE FAQ

Darcy Osby

Navigating your first year as a catechetical leader can be exciting and daunting. I remember facing many hard questions during my first year as a DRE; I’m sure that many new DREs have faced similar ones. Some of the questions I frequently asked myself have helped me grow as a DRE. What am I doing here? I remember thinking that I had gotten in way over my head. Who was I to think that I […]

Saints in the Classroom

Barb Gilman

My classroom is filled with statues, icons, and pictures of saints. These holy men and women who lived heroic lives of virtue and great charity constantly inspire me. I hope they inspire my students too. I am always looking for ways to help my students learn about the saints. Our school celebrates All Saints Day with a kindergarten parade. They dress up as their favorite saint or as a saint who shares their name. (The […]

Strengthening Your Spiritual Life

Vinita Hampton Wright

A healthy and vital spirituality defines who we are and helps us to grow and develop along the way of faith. The way we express our spirituality should be a support and a consolation to us; it should also afford enough challenge to keep us moving forward and to help us avoid complacence. —A Faith Interrupted, p. 127 The crucial thing to understand is that faith needs to be nurtured. No matter where I am […]

The First World Day of the Poor—Loving with Deeds Rather Than Words

Joe Paprocki

In my humble opinion, Pope Francis believes that the most effective way for the Church to have a greater impact on the world is to speak less and to act more. Knowing that the Church has lost a lot of credibility in recent decades because of scandalous actions on the part of some clergy and bishops, he has been calling for the Church to re-assert its moral authority through actions instead of through pronouncements and […]

Helping Parents Connect Faith and Daily Living

Joe Paprocki

One of the saddest things I hear is when people explain that they don’t practice their Catholic faith because they don’t find a connection between it and daily living. I believe that it is the job of every catechist and every homilist to show how our faith connects with daily living. Too often, when we talk about getting parents more involved in their child’s faith formation, we jump to the fact that they don’t know […]