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.

Catechists in Rwanda

What an amazing world we live in today where I am engaged in a dialogue with an Anglican minister from Rwanda about catechist formation!!! See below: Good morning, Joe. First, a little background. I’m a missionary priest with the Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda. In an ironic circumstance which could only come about by the providence of God, the missionary jurisdiction to which I’m assigned is here in North America—Africa is sending missionaries […]

Fr. Pfleger, the Holy Spirit, the Virtues, and Being Prophetic

Lots of Catholics are talking about the controversy over Fr. Michael Pfleger’s politically and racially charged talk last week at Trinity United Church. Unfortunately, lots of knee-jerk reactions are happening. I have met Fr. Pfleger on a number of occasions over the years and have great respect for the way he has taken the Gospel to the streets. On the other hand, I also have many reservations about his tactics. It’s important for us as […]

End-of-the-Year Meeting with DRE

Last night I attended my end-of-the-year meeting with Arlene, my DRE. She schedules grade level meetings to informally evaluate the year and to look at the schedule for next year. So I was with several of my fellow 8th grade catechists last night as we chatted about what worked and what we’d like to tweak for the coming year. It was a good opportunity to compare notes with colleagues and to hear how they dealt […]

A Different Kind of Homework for R.E.

I’m pondering a different kind of homework for my religious education students for next year. Typically, we think of homework as completing some type of worksheet, writing an essay or a paragraph, or reading a chapter and answering questions. I’m talking about a different kind of homework: assignments that amount to practicing what we preach. In other words, we hope that what we teach our young people will have an impact on how they live […]

What's Your Catholic IQ?

I’m proud to announce that I will be authoring “What’s Your Catholic IQ?” – a regular feature of Catechist Magazine, beginning with the September, 2008 issue! This feature – 20 multiple choice questions (and insightful answers) about all aspects of our Catholic faith – is a self-assessment for readers’ fun and enlightenment. For years, this popular feature has been written by Page McKean Zyromski. I’m honored to be following in her footsteps to provide this […]

Diocese of New Ulm

I’m in the Diocese of New Ulm, MN with their catechetical leaders and youth ministers. I’ll be back to posting on Wednesday. Talk to ya then! -joe

Knowing (Not Explaining) the Trinity

This Sunday is, of course, Trinity Sunday. One problem that we often fall into when it comes to the Trinity is that we are always trying to explain the Trinity. Early Christians did not occupy themselves so much with explaining the Trinity as they did with KNOWING the Trinity. We can KNOW someone or something without fully understanding or being able to explain that someone or something. I KNOW my wife and she KNOWS me […]

Congratulations, Graduates!

I just want to take this opportunity to offer congratulations to all of this year’s graduates that catechist’s are involved with in any way! From students we teach in Kindergarten, 8th grade, senior year high school and college to members of our own families who are graduating to all of the catechists who are completing formation programs and achieving certification by their dioceses! Praise God for these accomplishments and for the grace that enabled(s) all […]

The Gifts of Reverence (aka Piety) and Fear of the Lord

Two of the wonderful Gifts of the Holy Spirit are the gift of Reverence, also referred to as Piety, and Fear of the Lord. How sorely these gifts are needed in our society today! Both of these gifts lead us to recognize and accept the reality that we are humble creatures at the service of our Creator and others. Both of these gifts lead us to recognize the proper attitude and response to take in any […]

Teach Them to Pray

At the Catechetical Ministries Awards Banquet last evening (sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago, Office for Catechesis and Youth Ministry), Cardinal George gave the crowd some inside scoop on the Pope’s visit to the U.S. He told us that before the Pope departed, the bishops asked him some questions, one of which was, what his advice was about teaching young people in a culture of secularization. The Pope responded, “Teach them to pray!” I thought […]

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