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.

Welcome, Drs. Groome and Farey to Our Catechetical Conversation

Joe Paprocki

Yesterday, I posted about a current hot catechetical topic which is the role of lived experience in the catechetical process and we’ve begun an excellent conversation (see the comments below that post). I am pleased and honored that Drs. Thomas Groome and Caroline Farey have responded to my invitation to contribute to the conversation. Dr. Groome asked me to post his email (since he doesn’t “do blogs”) and Dr. Farey will join in the conversation […]

Where Have You Gone, Thomas Groome? The Role of Experience in Catechesis

Joe Paprocki

When I was a mere “babe” in the catechetical ministry (early 1980s), I was introduced to the notion of the catechetical process. At the time, those 2 words could not be spoken without also mentioning the name of Dr. Thomas Groome and his groundbreaking work, Christian Religious Education: Sharing Our Story and Vision . At the heart of Groome’s approach is an unmistakable connection between lived experience and the faith Tradition of the Catholic Church. […]

They Left Singing!

Joe Paprocki

What a delightful evening last night with my 6th graders! I had an ambitious plan and I am happy to report that it came off without a hitch. When it was all over, some of them even left singing How Great Thou Art! More about that in a second. Here’s the summary: Since I was relying on a number of video segments, I needed to get there early to set up my laptop and projector. That’s […]

Entering the Stories of Genesis (Creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel)

Joe Paprocki

For Monday evening’s session, we will begin exploring the stories of Genesis, beginning with Creation, Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel. I’m going hi-tech for this session, showing a number of brief video clips from YouTube. Here’s the plan. BIG IDEA: God creates something from nothing and sin has consequences. Preliminaries (15 mins) Students enter and write down prayer intentions Procession to set up prayer center Opening Prayer ritual Engage (10 mins) Show video […]

What I Have Learned So Far – An Inspirational Video

Joe Paprocki

I just saw this very inspirational (and brief) video that shows Marquette University students reciting a poem by Mary Oliver – What I Have Learned So Far – that challenges us to be passionate about “the just, the ideal, the sublime, and the holy.” Beautiful. httpv://www.marquette.edu/inauguration/video-poem.php

A Laid-Back, Fun Night

Joe Paprocki

Monday’s session turned out very well! I have to say that I had a very laid-back and informal attitude going into this session and my overall goal was to keep it simple which I did. As a result, I actually finished everything I planned to do (for once!) Here’s a summary: Approaching the session, I continued to “downsize” my approach because of the fire drill which would take up time. I decided to set up […]

Celebrating Two New U.S. Saints!

Joe Paprocki

As you prepare your lessons for this week, you may want to include a little information about this coming Sunday’s canonization of 2 American saints: Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint, and Blessed Mother Marianne Cope, who spent the last 30 years of her life ministering to the sick on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. The canonization Mass will take place at the Vatican October 21, 2012. Included among the seven total saints […]

Session 5: Keeping it Simple!

Joe Paprocki

Knowing that we have a fire drill scheduled for Monday evening, I need to keep my lesson plan simple! The fire drill will probably eat up 10 minutes of the schedule which, if you do the math, is nearly 15% of a 75 minute class! With that in mind, I have a simple plan for this lesson which is to tie up some loose ends from the Learning Stations we did a few weeks ago. […]

A Year of Faith…So What?

Joe Paprocki

OK, that title above might be a little provocative. I am certainly not approaching the Year of Faith with a dismissive attitude. However, the “so what?” question is always key: we need to be able to explain what it is that we do as Catholics and why. So, a Year of Faith…faith in WHAT? Faith in whom? Simply put, our faith is not in a set of ideas or in an institution. It is in […]

Understanding the New Evangelization

Joe Paprocki

On this Columbus Day, it seems appropriate to talk about the New Evangelization. Why? Because the treks of Christopher Columbus and his contemporaries epitomize the “old” evangelization: the quest to bring the Gospel to foreign lands. For many centuries, evangelization was thought of as something relegated to missionaries who traveled to faraway exotic lands to convert pagans. Today, we are in need of a New Evangelization – an effort that includes ALL Catholics in “re-proposing” […]