The other day, my wife and I took our daughter to register for her first year of college at the University of Illinois, Champaign. Everything went very well and she got all of the classes she needed and we got to see a lot of the campus as well. While she was in the building registering, my wife and I had a chance to scope the grounds and find the Catholic Center! We weren’t about […]
It occurred to me that, as catechists, we teach a different way of knowing. Certainly we teach knowledge but we also teach wisdom which is a different way of knowing. Jesus said that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (MK 12:30). We are called to teach others to do just that and I think it is important to realize that the mind is only one way of knowing. […]
Here is a wonderful testimonial about my new book, The Catechist’s Toolbox (Loyola Press). This endorsement was written by Sr. Judy Dieterle, Associate Director of the Office for Catechesis and Youth Ministry in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Thanks Sr. Judy! Over many years now as an Archdiocese we have provided training for new catechists as they step before their first group of learners. Our “handout” packet was continually growing, along with major concerns about destruction […]
I’ve run across a story in the last couple of days about a group of Salesian nuns in San Antonio who are praying for the Spurs in the NBA finals. It makes for a fun story but there’s a part of me that bristles. My personal reaction is, “so what?” Stories like this pop up every so often. In Chicago, they pop up whenever the Cubs or Bears are in the playoffs…which isn’t often!) The […]
I met with my DRE last night and it was an excellent opportunity for us to talk about the ministry of catechesis, the parish program, and my role in it. We reviewed the “ups and downs” of the year and evaluated what went well and what could get better. Most of all, I talked about what I see as us trying to do “too much” in the program. Sometimes I think we feel that we […]
On Monday evening, I’ll be meeting with my DRE to talk about my role as a catechist for next year. I think it is a good practice for a DRE to have “interviews” with catechists each year. It is important for me, as a catechist, to know firsthand from the DRE what the vision of the program is and how God is calling me through the DRE’s leadership to serve that mission. It also gives […]
A recent innovation on the Internet is the popularity of Catholic video podcasts (a.k.a. vodcasts) that show up on YouTube and other media as a means to spread the faith. For example, Philadelphia’s archbishop Cardinal Justin Rigali used YouTube during Lent to provide brief video reflections on the gospels and recieved thousands of hits (visits). I’m wondering about how catechists might be able to use YouTube to reach those we teach, not in place of […]
On May 18, I began a 7-part series, offering some thougts about how to teach the Catholic faith to “Generation Me” (those born in the 70s through the 90s; Generation Me, Jean Twenge, M.D.).Click on the following to read: Part One: The Decline of Social Rules Part Two: Excessive Individualism Part Three: You Can Be Anything You Want Part Four: The Age of Anxiety Part Five: The Attitude of “Yeah, Right…No Point in Trying” Part […]
On May 18, I began a 7-part series, offering some thougts about how to teach the Catholic faith to “Generation Me” (those born in the 70s through the 90s; Generation Me, Jean Twenge, M.D.). Click on the following to read: Part One: The Decline of Social Rules Part Two: Excessive Individualism Part Three: You Can Be Anything You Want Part Four: The Age of Anxiety Part Five: The Attitude of “Yeah, Right…No Point in Trying” […]
Pardon me if I don’t blog for a couple of days…this weekend is my daughter’s high school graduation! I’ll be back on May 29.
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