Whenever we recite the Nicene Creed, we say that we believe that God the Father is the creator “of all things visible and invisible,” which means that we believe in realities that exist beyond what the eye can see. Simply put, we believe, not only in the physical world, but also in the spiritual world. This means that we are called to be open to mystery. Unfortunately, our contemporary understanding of mystery does not do […]
Kathryn Bojczyk, Ph.D., suggests strategies to acknowledge the diverse cultures present in the classroom. Watch the below video for a preview of the strategies, and then read the full article that inspired the video: Recognizing and Appreciating the Cultural Diversity of Families.
Years ago, it was common for a young person to learn a trade by being apprenticed by someone who was a master in that trade. When it was published in 1997, the General Directory for Catechesis (#67) created some excitement by declaring that faith formation was to be understood as an apprenticeship. What does it mean to apprentice someone into the Catholic faith? To answer that, let’s look at the essentials of an apprenticeship: The […]
During the National Eucharistic Revival, let’s look at the parts of the Mass to reflect on what each part is calling us to do and be the other six days of the week. In this episode, we look at the Penitential Act, through which we acknowledge that we are sinners and ask for God’s forgiveness. We consider how the Penitential Act of the Mass calls us to embrace our brokenness and open ourselves up to […]
Did you talk about Christmas traditions with your group this year? Here, Julianne Stanz talks about two Irish holiday traditions. If Julianne’s Braving the Thin Places wasn’t in your stocking, get your copy here.
Every so often, a catechist will tell me about the challenges and difficulties he or she is having with the class one is teaching for faith formation. One of the first questions I ask is, “What’s your class size?” Too often, the reply is 20 or more participants! That may not sound like a lot; however, it is important to remember that most catechists are not professionally trained teachers, and handling a group of that […]
Scripture tells us that, when Jesus was born, the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will.” (Luke 2:13–14) In fact, in many of our Christmas carols, we sing of peace: “Sleep in heavenly peace.” (“Silent Night”) “And praises sing to God the king, and peace to men on earth.” (“O Little Town of Bethlehem”) “His law is love and His gospel is peace.” (“O Holy […]
Kathryn Bojczyk, Ph.D., suggests strategies to improve communication about faith formation and to encourage more parent involvement. Watch the below video for a preview of the strategies, and then read the full article that inspired the video: Eight Strategies for Communicating with Parents.
In the great movie, A League of Their Own, Tom Hanks’s character, Jimmy Dugan, made famous the phrase “There’s no crying in baseball!” I have to admit that I’m coming very close to exclaiming, in that same incredulous voice, “There’s no catch-up in catechesis!” Now, you might attribute this to the fact that I was born and raised in Chicago, where there’s no ketchup on hot dogs, and I just don’t like the phrase “catch […]
In this episode of Pop-Up Prayer, author Paul Mitchell talks about the need to let go and to allow prayer to be an emptying of ourselves. Paul has taught in Uganda, Chicago, Boston, and Egypt, and studied theology at the University of Notre Dame and the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. He is the author of The Examen Book, which uses thoughtful rhymes and beautiful illustrations to introduce children to the practice of […]
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