Articles by Joe Paprocki

About Joe Paprocki

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.

It’s That Time of the Year Again: Time to Evaluate!

Joe Paprocki

As we reflect on and evaluate this past catechetical year, I thought it would be helpful to once again make available a Self-Evaluation tool that I put together a couple of years ago, based on seven “tools” drawn from my book, The Catechist’s Toolbox. I encourage you to share this evaluation with another catechist, a group of catechists, or with your catechetical leader. It’s always good for us to reflect on our experience to see […]

What Is the “19th Annotation?”

Joe Paprocki

I recently completed participating in a very enriching experience of the 19th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with a group of colleagues and friends here at Loyola Press. The Spiritual Exercises were originally designed for Jesuits to experience over a 30-day retreat. Realizing that most lay folks are unable to arrange for a 30-day retreat, St. Ignatius made an accommodation. In his notes or annotations to the Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius […]

Give Me One Good Reason I Should Consider Serving as a Catechist!

Joe Paprocki

Now that the catechetical year is coming to a close, it’s time for you to do whatever you can as a catechist to assist your catechetical leader in recruiting new catechists for next year. The best encouragement comes from people who are in the trenches doing the work of catechesis and finding such great rewards (in the midst of the challenges)! With that in mind, let’s all chip in and offer at least one good […]

Summer Is a Good Time for Your Parish to “Go Green”

Joe Paprocki

Summer is a great time for your parish to “go green,” and going green can be a very effective way of inviting young adults to explore their faith. Caring for the planet is an issue of great importance to young people, who increasingly view institutional religion as irrelevant and out of touch with important issues. In an article for America magazine (June 18, 2015), author and speaker Kerry Weber laid out an argument for why Laudato […]

Finding God and YouTube Videos

Joe Paprocki

Today, more than ever, young people expect video to be one of the ways they are engaged in education. While no resource can ever replace the person of the catechist, it is indeed crucial to utilize all of the tools available to us to engage young people in catechesis. To that end, we are proud to announce that our Loyola Press Finding God curriculum now includes links to YouTube videos (one for every chapter of grades […]

Adult Faith Formation: Don’t Go It Alone!

Joe Paprocki

One of the traps we often fall into when approaching adult faith formation opportunities is thinking that we have to do it on our own, in isolation from other neighboring parishes. In reality, just the opposite is what is needed: collaboration! Today, when parishes are dealing with limited resources, it may not be practical for every parish to have a full-blown adult faith formation program. Instead, parishes can collaborate on certain aspects of the adult […]

Let’s Give ‘Em Something to Talk About!

Joe Paprocki

Catechists are always looking for ways to get parents talking with their kids about what they learned in faith formation. Here’s a simple idea I came up with that can help you to review the main points of your lesson and to provide parents with something they can ask their kids about when they pick them up. It’s a half sheet of paper that you can distribute to kids near the end of class. Have […]

A Summer Reading List

Joe Paprocki

When it comes to adult faith formation at my parish, Christ the King in Chicago, I am often reminded that many folks go away for the summer. That doesn’t mean that we can’t plan adult faith formation opportunities during the summer months; it just means that we might need to adjust our expectations when it comes to attendance. Another option, however, is to find a way to “travel with” people as they scatter to the […]

A New Commandment and the Year of Mercy

Joe Paprocki

In the Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus gives his disciples and us the New Commandment. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34–35, NIV). So what is “new” about this commandment? The duty of loving neighbors is grounded in the Old Testament and had been at […]