Books

A Different Kind of Leadership

Following is an excerpt from Catechetical Leadership by Adrián Alberto Herrera. As you peruse a bookstore or browse books online, you will find no shortage of titles on leadership. The books you find, however, will tend to be confined to three areas: business, sports, and politics. If you are looking to run a corporation, coach a championship team, or rule the world, you’ll be in luck! Unfortunately, those books don’t translate well to the world […]

Leo's Gift book cover
Books

In-House Service Experiences: Reading Books to Young Children

It’s not always easy for young people to arrange to participate in service experiences, since they rely on adults for transportation. Likewise, as a catechist or teacher, it can sometimes be difficult logistically to plan opportunities for your students to participate in off-site service experiences. One solution is to arrange for older children to spend some time reading books to younger children! Young children love to be read to. In addition to that, reading aloud to […]

Called by Name - The Effective Catechetical Leader series
Books

Cultivating the Right Kind of Heartburn: The Effective Catechetical Leader Series

I have some expertise in the area of heartburn. Not because I suffer from it personally, but because, growing up, I worked in my dad’s pharmacy and learned which medications to recommend for various maladies that customers described. When folks complained of heartburn, there was one and only one remedy: Paprocki’s Antacid Powder! (Yes, back in the day, pharmacists used to develop their own concoctions!) Since entering a life of ministry, however, I’ve come to […]

Christmas Bible Story Booklet
Christmas

Christmas Bible Story Booklet

To help you share the Christmas story with children, we’re happy to share a Christmas Bible story booklet with you. The text of the booklet is from the Loyola Kids Book of Bible Stories by popular Catholic children’s author Amy Welborn. Print out the booklet and share with your class in a session on the birth of Jesus, or send copies home for families to enjoy together. Use copies as Christmas cards to your students, […]

O Come Emmanuel - By Einsideln (http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/sbe/0611) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Advent

Emmanuel, the Great Catechist

During Advent, we sing the traditional hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” a beautiful song based on the “O” Antiphons from the Liturgy of the Hours (Vespers) for the octave (eight days) before Christmas (beginning December 17). One verse of that song is of particular interest to catechists, because it speaks of our longing for being taught to live according to God’s way: O come, Thou Wisdom from on high, Who orderest all things mightily; To us the […]

Ocean City retreat folks
Comings & Goings

A Shout Out to Baltimore Catechetical Leaders!

I had the privilege of leading a retreat for catechetical leaders from the Archdiocese of Baltimore earlier this week. In addition to being with such nice folks for a couple of days, we were located in Ocean City, MD, right on the ocean! What a blessing! Here’s a picture of the great folks I enjoyed my time with.

Leo's Gift book cover
Books

Permit Me to Introduce You to Leo’s Gift!

Who is this good-looking young man peeking around the corner of Catechist’s Journey? Why, it’s none other than Leo, the star of the new children’s book Leo’s Gift, written by Susan Blackaby and my friend and colleague (actually, she’s my boss!) Joellyn Cicciarelli and beautifully illustrated by my colleague Carrie Schuler. Leo is creative, shy, and in search of a special talent he can share with the world. He wonders how he’ll know what his […]

Pieter Brueghel the Younger - St. John the Baptist Preaching
Advent

John the Baptist’s Marketing Strategies

Whenever I propose an idea for a new book to Loyola Press, one of the questions that I am asked by our marketing people is, “How is this different from anything else that’s on the market?” The better job I do of differentiating my work from anything else available, the better chance the book has of being successful. Is it possible that John the Baptist had a degree in marketing? When you consider his message, his […]

Christ Our Life Family Catechesis computer components
Family Catechesis

Tools to Assist Parents in Family Catechesis: Interactive Session Reviews

As we talk more and more about family catechesis, it is important to assure parents that we are equipping them with tools they can use to help them form their children in faith. Most parents are not professional teachers and can be intimidated by the prospect of teaching their children the faith. To help them teach effectively, we need to provide them with user-friendly tools that can help them engage their children in their faith-formation […]