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.

Catechetical Leaders

Resources for Catechetical Sunday, September 18, 2016

Joe Paprocki

Catechetical Sunday is less than a month away! This year’s theme is “Prayer: The Faith Prayed,” drawing from the fourth pillar of our Catholic faith (Creed, Sacraments, Morality, and Prayer). The National Conference for Catechetical Leadership (NCCL) has put together a Catechetical Sunday Digital Toolkit with links to a number of excellent resources, for not only Catechetical Sunday, but also for deepening the prayer lives of God’s People. Of course, the USCCB (United States Conference […]

Tips for Hosting a Book Club at Your Parish

Joe Paprocki

Book clubs continue to be a popular vehicle for social interaction while encouraging and motivating people to read, to encounter ideas they might not otherwise consider, and to talk about their own ideas and thoughts about what they’re reading. Parishes and faith communities can use book clubs to build a sense of community, invite new people to explore the Catholic faith, and experience faith formation. Book clubs can be an excellent vehicle for pre-evangelization and evangelization […]

Do Teens Have a Spiritual Life?

Joe Paprocki

The answer to the question, “Do teens have a spiritual life?” is, of course, YES! At times, however, it may seem to us as though teens do not have the capacity for spirituality. Nothing could be further from the truth. What they often do not have the capacity for is the ability to articulate their spirituality. Likewise, a spiritual life is not to be confused with a pious life. In his classic book, The Holy Longing, Fr. […]

Simple Tips for Leading a Simple Prayer

Joe Paprocki

While it is true that we can pray simply and spontaneously, at more formal gatherings, our prayer is to resemble how we pray at Mass. In other words, the prayer is meant to be liturgical, which means that it should have a basic structure. This means including parts for the assembly, including Scripture, and including elements of sign, symbol, and ritual. Many of us have never been taught how to prepare and lead a simple […]

Racism: Are We Cultivating a Patch of Weeds in Our Garden?

Joe Paprocki

Recently after Sunday Mass, my wife and I were chatting with our pastor outside of the church. He drew our attention to one of the gardens along the side of the church, pointed at a patch of green plants and said, “I’ve been meaning to ask someone, are these weeds? Should I be pulling them?” Joanne and I, with our limited knowledge of gardening, were not quite sure ourselves. Some weeds are easy to spot. […]

Communicating Expectations to Catechists

Joe Paprocki

My good friend Tom Quinlan, Director of the Catechetical Office in the Diocese of Joliet, IL, recently sent me a copy of something he shared with his catechetical leaders to help communicate expectations for catechists. I’ll let Tom do the explaining: As a former parish director of religious education, I found it important to provide catechists with a covenant each year. This catechist covenant would detail what was being asked and expected of them in their role […]

Pokémon GO: A Parish Primer

Joe Paprocki

In my book, A Church on the Move: 52 Ways to Get Mission and Mercy in Motion, I propose that parishes need to continually help people find connections between the Catholic faith and daily living, including hobbies or activities that people engage in: “This approach can be a wonderful form of pre-evangelization, a way of inviting people to begin getting a flavor of the Catholic way of life without being overwhelmed by anything that smacks […]

My Top Ten Favorite Lessons: #10

Joe Paprocki

It’s been a fun trip down memory lane this summer as I’ve recounted and shared ten of my favorite lessons from my experiences of teaching fourth, sixth, and eighth grade religious education over the last decade. Last but not least is a lesson I did several years in a row when teaching eighth grade; it is actually a string of lessons on Church history. This lesson was pretty labor-intensive, involving a PowerPoint presentation that I put […]

Celebrating the Canonization of Mother Teresa

Joe Paprocki

In just a few short weeks (September 4, 2016), we will be celebrating the canonization of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta—a saint who personifies and embodies the humble mercy we are focusing on during this Year of Mercy. This celebration is so timely and fitting as we find ourselves in the midst of a long and frustrating presidential campaign characterized by bluster, braggadocio, and bombast (How’s that for alliteration?!). Mother Teresa—all four feet and eleven inches […]

My Top Ten Favorite Lessons: #9

Joe Paprocki

Faith formation is not just about giving intellectual assent to a set of principles and doctrines. It is about placing trust in a relationship. Many of the sessions I have done with young people over the years have focused on the notion of trust—an issue that young people are grappling with as they discern who it is in this world that they can rely on. Scripture, of course, tells us that God can be trusted, […]