Joe Paprocki, Author at Catechist's Journey

Forming Disciples: Love One Another

As catechists, we work with the Holy Spirit to form disciples of Jesus Christ. With that in mind, we’ve been devoting attention to the concept of discipleship with help from Fr. Brice Higginbotham, author of Remaining with Jesus: Discipleship in the Gospel of John. In the below video, Fr. Brice explains what Jesus’ command to “love one another” has to do with discipleship. For more information about discipleship and our call to love one another, check out […]

Christmas: The Birth of Evangelization

Joe Paprocki

We often describe Christmas as “Jesus’ birthday” and rightly so. It is, also, the day on which evangelization was born, modeled for us by the angels, who proclaimed to the shepherds the arrival of a newborn king. Their proclamation moved the shepherds to go in search of this king and, after they encountered him, to return to their lives filled with joy and gratitude. Evangelization is, of course, intimately related to catechesis. The Directory for […]

Forming Disciples: Lessons from the Healing of the Man Born Blind

Joe Paprocki

As catechists, we work with the Holy Spirit to form disciples of Jesus Christ. With that in mind, we’ve been devoting some attention to the concept of discipleship with the help of Fr. Brice Higginbotham, author of Remaining with Jesus: Discipleship in the Gospel of John. Fr. Higginbotham has been recording short videos while pursuing a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. In this segment, Fr. Brice explains what we can learn […]

When a Child Tries to Get the Class Off-Track

Joe Paprocki

I know it might be hard to believe, but occasionally a catechist will encounter a young person who intentionally tries to get the class—and the catechist—off-track. I was recently at a reunion for the high school where I taught back in the 1980s, and the topic of conversation turned to a former teacher who was a favorite of many students back in the day. One of the alums gleefully remarked, “We used to get him […]

Catholic Seasons, Feasts, and Celebrations Froggy Jumps Game

Froggy Jumps: A New Game for Kids to Learn About the Church Year

Joe Paprocki

Shortly after each of my grandkids progressed from crawling to walking, they very quickly excelled at running and jumping, as most kids do! In particular, they suddenly became very adept at imitating frogs as they bounced around the house, jumping from sofa to couch, while saying, “Ribbit, ribbit!” I have no doubt, then, that they are going to love playing a new game from Loyola Press called Froggy Jumps—a game in which children help the […]

Pop-Up Catechesis: Practicing the Virtue of Charity

Joe Paprocki

In a previous episode of Pop-Up Catechesis, we looked at virtues as good habits that we practice in order to walk the path of holiness. Traditionally, the virtues have been identified as the Theological Virtues (faith, hope, and love) and the Cardinal Virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance). In this episode of Pop-Up Catechesis, we explore the third of the Theological Virtues: charity (aka, love). For more information about virtues and charity, check out the following links: The […]

Family Catechesis at St. Barnabas: Introducing Advent and Christmas

Joe Paprocki

Recently, we held our monthly Finding God Family Catechesis gathering at St. Barnabas to introduce the seasons of Advent and Christmas. Here is a summary of how things went. Attendance was good once again. It appears that families are getting into a groove as the year progresses. The families, especially the children, arrive with good energy and enthusiasm, and the space where we gather is always prepared by Patrick, the catechetical leader, to be warm […]

John the Baptist mosaic - MykolaIvashchenko/iStock/Getty Images

Advent: Sharing Stories of Hope, Part 3

Joe Paprocki

Welcome to the final installment of this brief series on sharing stories of hope during Advent. Previously, we’ve talked about how, through storytelling, we share our most important values, and how the stories we share, especially about people in need, must be stories of hope or “action motivators” rather than “action inhibitors.” During the holiday season, it is common to share stories about people in need of our charity and support. In his book, Cannonball […]

Cannonball Moments book by Eric A. Clayton (pictured)

Advent: Sharing Stories of Hope, Part 2

Joe Paprocki

In part one of this series, Advent: Sharing Stories of Hope, I wrote about how storytelling is a way of sharing our values (that which is most important to us) and how hope is a virtue that we highlight during the Advent season. Advent reminds us that we are to be a people of hope year-round, each and every day. We are to be people who carry and exude a confident and joyful anticipation of […]

family telling stories around Christmas tree with Nativity scene in front of them - ferrantraite/E+/Getty Images

Advent: Sharing Stories of Hope

Joe Paprocki

Recently, my wife Joanne and I went on a trip to Cabo, Mexico, for our best friends’ daughter’s wedding. We spent four wonderful days in Mexico with our best friends, and when we returned home, we gathered with them, just three days later, to look at pictures and share stories. That might seem like a strange thing to do, since we had just been together for this shared experience. However, it is human nature to […]