I love this article that my friend and colleague Denise Gorss brought to my attention. It’s titled “Why I’m the Worst Catechist at My Parish, and Still Signing Up,” and it’s written by catechist Deirdre Mundy. What I love about it is her humility—something that is a great quality for every catechist to have. She is most definitely NOT the worst catechist, but the fact that she recognizes her own unworthiness and places her trust […]
When I was a student teacher back in the day, my cooperating teacher taught me that the goal of an effective teacher is to turn the spotlight away from yourself and onto your students. He emphasized that they were here to perform for you, not you for them! I’ve tried to follow that advice as much as possible as a catechist by creating activities that engage the young people in activities rather than having them […]
As a catechist, I rarely met a prop I didn’t like! Teaching sixth grade with its focus on the Old Testament gave me a number of opportunities to bring in a variety of props with which to engage the young people. One of my favorites was a lesson on David, Shepherd and King (Chapter 9 of Finding God), in which I brought in a bevy of props to help the young people understand the concept of […]
I am very excited to tell you about a new DVD series for sacramental preparation—a project that I was privileged to be intimately involved with from writing scripts to hosting segments! This new video series enhances instruction and parent involvement in sacramental preparation for First Reconciliation and First Eucharist. As part of the God’s Gift 2016 program, these DVDs are to be used in retreats, parent meetings, faith-formation sessions and more. There are five DVDs […]
It’s no secret that I love music! Over the years in my books and here on my blog, I have advocated for integrating music into catechesis in a variety of ways. This brings me to one of my favorite lessons: The Psalms: We Can Talk to God Under ANY Circumstances. Research tells us that young people (junior high and high school) listen to an average of 3.5 hours of music each day. Music is certainly […]
As we celebrate Independence Day, I am conscious of the fact that many people are taking advantage of the summer months to get away. And, if your destination includes traveling abroad, you need to have your passport with you. Well, here’s another kind of passport to take with you as you move about this summer: a Mercy Passport! The Archdiocese of Louisville, KY, has created and made available a Mercy Passport to encourage people to become intentionally conscious […]
One of the things that I enjoyed most about teaching sixth grade with a focus on the Old Testament, was using Old Testament themes to help the kids understand concepts of our Catholic faith. One particularly successful example was a lesson I did about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, drawing from the Old Testament example of the Jewish people recognizing the Temple as the locus of God’s presence in their midst. I began […]
St. Ignatius of Loyola founded a school of spirituality that is continued today by his community, the Jesuits, along with many others. Ignatian spirituality focuses on creating a deep bond with Jesus, as well as working to promote God’s plan and action in the world. Most important, Ignatian spirituality concentrates on “finding God in all things,” which integrates prayer and service, meditation and action, emotion and reason. Let our free poster and booklet introduce you […]
Last summer, I posted about some ideas for adult faith formation that were less “churchy” sounding but still unabashedly spiritual. I’m working from the premise that we too often approach adult faith formation as attempting to get adults to come to our turf (the parish grounds) to join groups we are forming to study some aspect of the Catholic faith. Instead, I’m proposing that we identify where and around what activities adults are congregating and invite […]
As I look back on my favorite lessons, this one really stands out because I love the idea of magic. I think, deep down, I always wanted to be a magician, but I was never any good at it! In this lesson for sixth graders, we were looking at the story of Creation, in which God creates all of creation out of nothing. The first thing I thought of was how magicians try to convince […]
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