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.

Looking Forward to the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress 2019

Joe Paprocki

Mark your calendars and make plans to attend the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, which takes place this March 21–24, 2019. I recently had the joy and privilege of getting together with a team of amazingly talented co-presenters as we planned and prepared for our “extravaganza” on Saturday, March 23, from 3:00–4:30 pm (session 6-22): How to Renew, Re-energize, and Transform Your Parish NOW! We will be drawing from my book, A Church on the Move: 52 […]

Making Our Faith Simple-Yet-Not-Simplistic: The Moral Life

Joe Paprocki

As we continue looking at the four pillars of our Catholic Faith (Creed, Sacraments, Moral Life, and Prayer) through the lens of my book, A Well-Built Faith: A Catholic’s Guide to Knowing and Sharing What We Believe, we now move on to the third pillar, the Moral Life. Our goal, once again, is to make our Catholic faith simple-yet-not-simplistic. So, how do we make the moral life “simple-yet-not-simplistic”? We need to be especially cautious in this […]

Christ Our Life Kindergarten: God Loves Us

The Importance of Kindergarten

Joe Paprocki

Among my earliest memories are the assassination of President Kennedy, the Beatles appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show, and my first day of Kindergarten. I think that says something about the significance of Kindergarten! I know that we sometimes can overdo these things, as if our children will not get into the prestigious college of their choice later on unless we get them into a world-class Kindergarten program now. On the other hand, studies continue […]

Making Our Faith Simple-Yet-Not-Simplistic: The Sacraments

Joe Paprocki

This month I’m revisiting my book, A Well-Built Faith: A Catholic’s Guide to Knowing and Sharing What We Believe, with the notion of keeping our faith simple without dumbing it down or making it simplistic. The truth is, while there have been many great thinkers and intellectuals throughout our Church history, the Church was founded by fishermen and tax collectors and a hodgepodge of men and women disciples who were everyday, common folks with little […]

preschool faith formation program - God Made Everything

Populating the Imaginations of Preschool Children

Joe Paprocki

When speaking about the roles of parents, godparents, grandparents, catechists, and teachers in forming the faith of children, my friend and colleague, Tom McGrath, often emphasizes the need to “populate the imaginations” of young children with stories, images, signs, and symbols of our Catholic faith. At a very young age, children develop a “worldview”—a way of seeing the world. Some develop a positive worldview that recognizes truth, beauty, and goodness as more potent than that which […]

Trinity - art © Loyola Press. All Rights Reserved.

Making Our Faith Simple-Yet-Not-Simplistic: The Creed

Joe Paprocki

I have often said that, if a non-Catholic asked you to explain the Catholic faith to him or her, and you responded by reciting the Creed, listing and describing the seven sacraments, listing and describing the Ten Commandments, and reciting the Our Father, you would deserve a passing grade! Creed, Sacraments, Morality, and Prayer are the four pillars of our Catholic faith. The goal of catechesis should always be to make those four pillars accessible, which […]

Sharing the Wisdom of Time - book that inspired the Netflix series Stories of a Generation with Pope Francis

Do the Elderly Need Catechesis? Yes!

Joe Paprocki

Back when the General Directory for Catechesis came out (1997), many aspects of it captured our imaginations and piqued our curiosity: the primacy of adult faith formation, the concept of apprenticeship, the catechumenate as the model for all catechesis, the importance of sacred art, and so on. One concept that caught my attention but I believe has been vastly overlooked is the attention given to catechesis for the elderly, or the “aged” as the GDC prefers. […]

Making Our Faith “Simple-Yet-Not-Simplistic”

Joe Paprocki

No doubt you are familiar with the “…for Dummies” series of books—instructional books designed to take complex topics and present them in a non-intimidating format for readers who are new to the subject. Ironically, the reason that these books sell so well is that readers know that the author will not treat them like dummies but rather as an apprentice in need of a mentor. The authors are experts in their fields, and the subject […]

How a Church on the Move Forms People in Faith: Theology by the Glass

Joe Paprocki

Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking at the Lay Ministry Assembly in the Diocese of Saginaw, MI, on the topic of A Church on the Move, drawing from my book of the same name in which I discuss how a Church “on the move” thinks, functions, worships, forms people in faith, and engages the world. In the section of the book on how a Church on the move forms people in faith, I wrote: […]

Leading Others to Epiphany (Video)

Joe Paprocki

The Feast of the Epiphany contains many messages and images relevant to catechists. Get an overview of the commonalities between the Magi and catechists by watching the below video. Read the post that inspired this video: Leading Others to Epiphany.