Joe Paprocki, Author at Catechist's Journey

The Engaged Catechist: Forming Catechist Enrichment Groups

In his book, Growing An Engaged Church (Gallup Press), Albert L. Winseman explains that, without true engagement, volunteers burn out quickly. He identifies 3 ways to make an immediate impact on the level of engagement of church members: clarify the expectations of membership help your members discover what they do best create small groups I think these can (and should) be easily applied to catechists, who, without engagement, do indeed burnout quickly. Those catechists who […]

More Iowa Smiles!

Joe Paprocki

I received another pic from my visit to Iowa the other day! This one is from Melissa Holthaus who writes: “Awesome day yesterday Joe!!! Attached is our Great picture from yesterday!!! Thank You for All our your very Inspiring words and thoughts!!!” You’re welcome, Melissa, and thank you!

“Is this heaven?” “No, it’s Iowa!”

Joe Paprocki

It seems that most years, I resume my travel schedule (after the summer lull) with a beautiful 5 hour drive to Iowa! This year, my destination was Waterloo, IA, where I met with about 160 Catholic School Administrators and Parish Faith Formation Leaders as they kicked off their year. I also had the privilege of meeting the new Archbishop of Dubuque, the Most Reverend Michael O. Jackels, who celebrated a beautiful Mass for the whole […]

The Six Tasks of Catechesis #6: Promoting a Missionary Spirit

Joe Paprocki

Recently, we began a series here on my blog about the six tasks of catechesis, focusing on the notion that God is calling each of us to fulfill a role that he has planned for us. Just as actors rely on certain strategies to immerse themselves in character, we too rely on certain strategies to “immerse” ourselves in the role that God is calling us to fill: the “best version of ourselves” (to borrow a phrase from […]

The Six Tasks of Catechesis #5: Preparing to Live in Community

Joe Paprocki

Recently, we began a series here on my blog about the six tasks of catechesis, focusing on the notion that God is calling each of us to fulfill a role that he has planned for us. Just as actors rely on certain strategies to immerse themselves in character, we too rely on certain strategies to “immerse” ourselves in the role that God is calling us to fill: the “best version of ourselves” (to borrow a phrase from […]

The Six Tasks of Catechesis #4: Teaching to Pray

Joe Paprocki

Recently, we began a series here on my blog about the six tasks of catechesis, focusing on the notion that God is calling each of us to fulfill a role that he has planned for us. Just as actors rely on certain strategies to immerse themselves in character, we too rely on certain strategies to “immerse” ourselves in the role that God is calling us to fill: the “best version of ourselves” (to borrow a phrase from […]

The Six Tasks of Catechesis #3: Promoting Moral Formation

Joe Paprocki

Recently, we began a series here on my blog about the six tasks of catechesis, focusing on the notion that God is calling each of us to fulfill a role that he has planned for us. Just as actors rely on certain strategies to immerse themselves in character, we too rely on certain strategies to “immerse” ourselves in the role that God is calling us to fill: the “best version of ourselves” (to borrow a phrase from […]

The Six Tasks of Catechesis #2: Promoting Knowledge of Liturgy & Sacraments

Joe Paprocki

Recently, we began a series here on my blog about the six tasks of catechesis, focusing on the notion that God is calling each of us to fulfill a role that he has planned for us. Just as actors rely on certain strategies to immerse themselves in character, we too rely on certain strategies to “immerse” ourselves in the role that God is calling us to fill: the “best version of ourselves” (to borrow a phrase from […]

The Six Tasks of Catechesis #1: Promoting Knowledge of the Faith

Joe Paprocki

Yesterday, we began a series here on my blog about the six tasks of catechesis, focusing on the notion that God is calling each of us to fulfill a role that he has planned for us. Just as actors rely on certain strategies to immerse themselves in character, we too rely on certain strategies to “immerse” ourselves in the role that God is calling us to fill: the “best version of ourselves” (to borrow a phrase from […]

The Six Tasks of Catechesis: Immersing Ourselves in Character

Joe Paprocki

The Role of a Lifetime In the Beatitudes, Jesus said that it was “blessed” to be “single-hearted.” (Mt 5:8). Often, this verse is translated as “pure of heart” or “clean of heart,” both of which lose punch in translation. To most people, to be “pure of heart” or “clean of heart” means to not have any thoughts that are tainted by impurity or hatred. True enough, however, the real meaning of being single-hearted is to […]