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.
This weekend, along with 30,000 of my best friends, I’ll be attending the Religious Education Congress of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles! I’m doing a presentation on Sunday morning titled “The Spirituality of the Catechist: Re-igniting the Flame.” I look forward to meeting lots of fellow catechists and catechetical ministers as well as seeing many long-time friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. The RE Congress is an exciting celebration of all things Catholic and I look forward […]
One of the Two-Minute Drills that I organized for my class on Monday evening involved a demonstration using water, food coloring, and bleach. You fill a clear glass with water (about half full), add a drop or two of food color to represent sin, stir, and then add bleach to make the color disappear, representing the effect of God’s grace. Many catechists and Sunday school teachers use this demonstration to show how grace dispels sin. […]
So last evening’s class was kind of a mixed bag. The main focus was on the “Ten Commandments Two-Minute Drills” that I wrote about yesterday. Here’s the scoop: All ten students were present and in good spirits. During opening prayer, one of the boys prayed for Brian Campbell, Blackhawks’ defenseman, who suffered a broken collar bone and cracked ribs as a result of a vicious hit by Alex Ovechkin on Sunday. I thought that was […]
I’m pretty excited about this one! I want to do something to reinforce the Ten Commandments as we move in to this last unit on Morality. I also want to place more responsibility on the kids now that they are confirmed, so that they sense a difference between how I taught them before Confirmation and how they are learning now. As a result, I’ve come up with something I call The Ten Commandments Two-Minute Drills! […]
I’m honored that Loyola Press has translated 3 of my books into Spanish! I’ve always had a deep affection for the Hispanic community, having grown up in a part of Chicago that became increasingly Hispanic as my formative years progressed. Over the years, I picked up only a few phrases in Spanish to help me serve Spanish-speaking customers in my Dad’s drugstore. So, you can be sure that I am not the person who translated […]
I was recently made aware of a very nice review of my book Living the Mass (co-authored with Fr. Dom Grassi) by Jen at Happy Little Homemaker. Thanks Jen! This Sunday is the Fourth Sunday of Lent. Be sure to take a look at The Sunday Connection for ideas about how to break open the Word for this Sunday. You’ll also find the following there: The Fourth Sunday of Lent is traditionally called Laetare Sunday. […]
I had the pleasure of enjoying a business lunch the other day with colleagues and friends to talk about the challenges and opportunities that Anglos encounter when catechizing in Latino culture. My Loyola Press colleague, Santiago Cortés-Sjöberg, is preparing to do a workshop on this topic at the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership in Las Vegas in April (I will also be speaking at this conference, but on a different topic…I was along for the fellowship […]
We had a very nice class last night with 8 of 10 students present for their first class session after Confirmation (and the DRE received calls explaining the 2 absences). The kids had a very pleasant attitude about Confirmation…they seemed genuinely proud and there was no resentment about being back in class – the message had been conveyed that Confirmation is not the end! The post-confirmation guided reflection went very nicely! Several of the other […]
Congratulations to all of the 8th graders who were Confirmed yesterday, including my class of 10 students! I pray that they will feel the abundant graces of the Holy Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit, flowing in and through them all the days of their lives! As promised, I put together a guided reflection that I’m going to use tonight to help the young people reflect on yesterday’s experience. I think this will give […]
This Sunday, my 8th graders will celebrate their Confirmation! I look forward to the opportunity to participate in this wonderful celebration and to witness the completion of their Christian Initiation, knowing that I had a hand in bringing them to this day. Thank you Jesus! On this coming Monday evening, we cross our fingers and hope that they all come back for class! Luckily, the DRE has established a culture over the years that expects […]
