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.

Catechist's Journey 15th Anniversary Online Scavenger Hunt

Our 15th Anniversary Online Scavenger Hunt

Joe Paprocki

This year we’re celebrating the 15th anniversary of the launch of Catechist’s Journey and publication of The Catechist’s Toolbox. We’ll have fun throughout 2022 marking these occasions, and today we kick off the party with an online scavenger hunt—with prizes! Three lucky winners will receive the books, The Catechist’s Toolbox and Beyond the Catechist’s Toolbox. To enter, play our scavenger hunt. The 15 questions in honor of 15 years of this website invite you to […]

Pop-Up Catechesis: Teaching the Art of Discernment

Joe Paprocki

Among the many things that parents teach their children is how to make decisions. Today, more than ever, young people have many options available to them when making decisions. While having options is a good thing, it also creates more stress and anxiety for young people: How do I choose what’s best for me? How do I know which choice is the right one? Recognizing that making important decisions is a crucial skill in life, […]

Braving the Thin Places: A Webinar with Julianne Stanz

Joe Paprocki

With the start of a new year, many of us make resolutions related to losing weight and getting thin. Well, I can’t help you in that department, but I can help you start off the year by experiencing thin places! In her new book, Braving the Thin Places: Celtic Wisdom to Create a Space for Grace, the amazingly talented Julianne Stanz shares her profoundly personal insights and draws on her Irish-Celtic heritage to help us […]

The Three Rs of Our Salvation Narrative: #1 Rescue

Joe Paprocki

One of the goals of the New Evangelization is to simplify—without making simplistic—the central message of the Gospel so that it is accessible to all. A person shouldn’t have to be a theologian to understand the Good News! With that in mind, I have summarized the gist of our salvation narrative in three words: rescue, restoration, and reassurance. This is the heart of the kerygma—the primary proclamation of the Gospel. Through the life, teachings, miracles, […]

Pop-Up Catechesis: The Eighth Commandment and Honoring Truth

Joe Paprocki

One of the most profound statements that Jesus Christ made about himself is the following: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) In this statement, Jesus is not just describing himself as a truthful person. He is identifying himself as truth itself. This should make us think twice about how we do or don’t honor truth in our everyday lives and interactions with others. While humankind has always struggled with telling […]

From Marriage Prep to Accompanying Young Families

Joe Paprocki

One of my favorite suggestions from the new Directory for Catechesis is that we drop the phrase “marriage prep.” In essence, this phrase has come to refer to a few “hoops” that an engaged couple has to go through in order to “qualify” for the Sacrament of Matrimony. The new Directory is urging us to move away from a programmatic approach to an approach that is characterized by true accompaniment. Too often, after a perfunctory […]

Pop-Up Catechesis: The Seventh Commandment and Sharing God’s Abundance

Joe Paprocki

The Seventh Commandment teaches us that we need to share the abundance of God’s creation. We are called to respect what belongs to others and to be satisfied with what we have for ourselves, knowing that most of us have more than we will ever really need in this life. The Seventh Commandment, “You shall not steal,” reminds us to thank God for what we have, to share what we have with others, and to respect what belongs to others. […]

Finding of Jesus in the Temple - Detail from "The Fifteen Mysteries and the Virgin of the Rosary" by Netherlandish Painter (possibly Goswijn van der Weyden, active by 1491, died after 1538), ca. 1515–20, public domain via The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Joyful Mysteries: The Finding of Jesus in the Temple and Finding Him in Our Lives

Joe Paprocki

The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary lead us up to and through the birth of Jesus Christ and his childhood. For that reason, they make for wonderful reflections during the seasons of Advent and Christmas. Today, we look at the Fifth Joyful Mystery: the Finding of Jesus in the Temple. This mystery also includes elements of the Sorrowful Mysteries; there is nothing joyful about losing something, let alone losing a child! So much of Scripture, however, speaks […]

Pop-Up Catechesis: The Sixth Commandment and Relationships

Joe Paprocki

Take a moment to complete the following simple word analogies. Hot is to cold as up is to ___________. North is to south as east is to ___________. Good is to bad as small is to ___________. Those were easy! (The answers, of course, are down, west, and large.) Analogies are all about relationships between words. The Sixth Commandment, “You shall not commit adultery,” teaches us about relationships, not between words, but between people. Just […]

A Prayer for Catechists - text next to icons indicating forms of prayer

A Prayer for Catechists: Each Day Another Opportunity

Joe Paprocki

This prayer originally appeared in my book, A Well-Built Faith: A Catholic’s Guide to Knowing and Sharing What We Believe. Download a PDF version of the prayer here.