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.

2000 Years of Church History in 75 Minutes!

Joe Paprocki

Last night, we introduced the 8th graders to the topic of Church history, by way of a Powerpoint presentation. All 5 classes came together once again and all 5 catechists divided up the presentation, each of us taking a time period and highlighting some of the major events that took place during that time. Throughout the presentation, the young people were filling in a worksheet with key names and dates. For me, the highlight of […]

Welcome to My New Look!

Joe Paprocki

Well, I still look the same but my blog has a new look! I hope you enjoy this new look. To mark the 2nd anniversary of Catechist’s Journey, my site has undergone a little “face-lift.” In addition to the new look, my blog has also been integrated into the new Loyola Press Web site (www.loyolapress.com). I hope you take a moment to explore the site and the wealth of resources that Loyola Press now offers […]

Coming Soon: A New Look!

Joe Paprocki

Now that my blog is coming up on its 2nd anniversary, it’s time to give my site a little “face-lift!” In just a few days, you’ll notice that Catechist’s Journey has a new look to it while maintaining the same quality content that you’ve come to enjoy. In addition to the new look, my blog will also be integrated into the new Loyola Press Web site www.loyolapress.com. For the past 7 years, I have had […]

It's On to Church History

Joe Paprocki

It’s hard to believe that we are already moving on to the 3rd unit of our text book this year – Church history. The challenge, of course, is making history relevant for kids. I’ve always been a bit of a history buff (In college, I double-majored in theology and history!) and I feel that history provides us with many lessons for life. Perhaps the best image that I can think of for approaching the concept […]

Radio Interview

Joe Paprocki

Several weeks ago, I was interviewed by Frank Morock for Catholic Bookmarks Radio (sponsored by the United States Catholic Conference of Catholic Bishops) about my book A Well-Built Faith. That interview is now posted on the USCCB web site and the link is provided below. You’re welcome to listen if you have a chance. Program 845 By ccc@usccb.org (Catholic Communication Campaign) Interview with Joe Paprocki, author of “A Well-Built Faith,” A book to help Catholics […]

Catch-Up Catechesis – Kids Out of Sequence

Joe Paprocki

I hate the phrase “catch-up” catechesis but you know what I’m talking about…kids who come to R.E. programs having missed some years of R.E. and having missed reception of First Penance, First Communion, or Confirmation. Think this is a small problem for DREs? Think again. I recently asked a number of DREs to share some thoughts on this issue and here is a glimpse of what I got. You’re welcome to add your thoughts and […]

Authentic Evangelizers: You Don’t Have to Become Flanders!

Joe Paprocki

I’m still interested in hearing more suggestions about how kids can evangelize (in the spirit of St. Paul) in practical everyday ways…see my post from yesterday. We have to find ways of helping kids to be authentic evangelizers and Christian witnesses. One thing they fear greatly is being stereotyped. They don’t want to be viewed as a type of “Flanders” – the character from The Simpsons who (along with his kids Rod and Todd) is the […]

How Kids Can Learn from Saint Paul

Joe Paprocki

Lots of people have been asking me about resources for the Year of St. Paul to use with kids. To be honest, most of the resources I have come across are simply books or articles. Good stuff, but not a lot about activities we can do with kids. Lo and behold, this coming Monday, the chapter I’m teaching is about Peter and Paul telling the world about Jesus! So now I’m searching far and wide for something […]

An Evening of Getting to Know Jesus

Joe Paprocki

Last night, we spent the evening getting to know Jesus better. Here are some highlights. First we had a fire drill..all went well. I began by playing our “song of the week” – Shania Twain’s “Wanna Get to Know You.” (see yesterday’s post for some of the lyrics) I talked about how 2 people in love want to get to know one another and explained that this is our theme for the evening: we want […]

Jesus: Wanna Get to Know You

Joe Paprocki

This week’s “song of the week” for my 8th graders is a song from Shania Twain titled, Wanna Get to Know You. As we focus tonight on getting to know Jesus: his world, his words, his miracles, his people, and his death and resurrection, I thought this song would be appropriate. Here’s a sampling of some of the lyrics: I don’t wanna hurry I wanna take a lifetime to memorize your face Wanna know you […]