Being a Catechist Archives - Catechist's Journey

Equipping Parents to Share Eucharistic Adoration with Their Children

Several years ago, I was redesigning my First Communion retreat to make it more experiential, especially the portion where I have the parents by themselves for a few moments while the children are participating in another activity. I was contemplating how I could not only teach the parents about, but also allow them to experience the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, so that they could pass that gift on to their children. […]

Including Music, Ritual, and Drama in Religious Education for Preschoolers

Joe Paprocki

Kathryn Bojczyk, Ph.D., identifies five strategies for including music, ritual, and drama in religious education for three- and four-year-old children. Watch the below video for a preview of the strategies, and then read the full article that inspired the video: The Role of Ritual, Song, and Drama in Religious Education for Preschoolers.

Catechists as Mystagogues - text over watercolor background by Sergey Ryumin/Moment/Getty Images

Catechists as Mystagogues: Touching People’s Hearts

Joe Paprocki

In his research about why some things go viral on social media, author Jonah Berger discovered that one of the main reasons is that the item provokes emotion, whether good or bad. Emotions play a key role in decisions that people make in all areas of their lives. Aware of this reality, marketers often tap into emotions in their advertising. One of the reasons that our faith formation efforts are struggling is because they too […]

Catholic Teachers' Lounge with Jill and Colleen - a podcast by Catholic teachers for Catholic teachers

Catholic Teachers’ Lounge Podcast

Joe Paprocki

When I was a student at St. Ignatius College Prep, there was one room that I never explored: the teachers’ lounge. The teachers’ lounge was like a fortress or a sanctuary that no student was ever to enter (and rightly so). Several years later, when I returned to St. Ignatius to do my student teaching, I walked into the hallowed teachers’ lounge for the first time. There, to my astonishment, was my former Latin teacher, […]

Forgive Everyone Everything - book by Gregory Boyle, SJ (pictured)

Catechesis in the Urban Context: Using Urban Art to Reach Youth

Joe Paprocki

My inner child is an inner-city kid. I grew up and lived the first 23 years of my life on the near West Side of Chicago, just a few blocks from Cook County Jail. It was and still is a wonderfully gritty, blue-collar, ethnic (80% Hispanic) neighborhood. While the area did and continues to face many challenges, I have mostly wonderful memories of growing up there. One of my fondest memories is of the mural, […]

Catechists as Mystagogues: Inviting Others to Take the Next Step

Joe Paprocki

Part of the mystery of life is not knowing what the future holds for us. As mystagogues, we catechists lead others into their future life, a life clouded by mystery but with one thing crystal clear: God is with them on every step of their journey! I have said before that mystagogues are like sponsors in a 12-step program, who accompany their sponsee on his or her journey from one step to another as one […]

Sharing the Wisdom of Time Through Storytelling: Harry Dudley

Joe Paprocki

As we continue our occasional series of video reflections on Sharing the Wisdom of Time—reflecting on the wisdom learned from our elders—I invite you to enjoy a brief reflection from Harry Dudley, a consultant in leadership development, ministry formation, and curriculum. Harry retired in August, 2019 from his position as Assistant Director for Certification of Ecclesial Ministry in the Secretariat of Catholic Education of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He has had a long […]

A Video Game That Slows Children Down and Brings the Family Together?

Joe Paprocki

Two of the common gripes parents have about video games are that they often get children too riled up and they interfere with family time, since most games are played individually or with just one other player. Even when parents or grandparents volunteer to be the other player, we often find the game to be too fast for us to keep up with! Now, there is a video game that can actually help children to […]

Catechists as Mystagogues: Leading Others to Encounter the Risen One

Joe Paprocki

There’s a big difference between telling someone, “I can tell you a lot about __________” (Fill in the blank with the name of any celebrity.) and “I’d like to introduce you to ___________.” (Fill in the blank with the same name.) Often faith formation has been thought of and approached as a version of the first option above: a vehicle for telling others about Jesus Christ. This boils down to the teaching of a subject. […]

Celebrating Faith Formation: Catechetical Sunday

Joe Paprocki

In our secular calendar, we celebrate holidays such as Memorial Day, Labor Day, Dr. Martin Luther King Day, and Independence Day as ways of reminding us of people or events that represent the best of our core values: service, selflessness, human rights, freedom, etc. Similarly, in our liturgical calendar, we celebrate special days to remind us of people or events that represent our core spiritual values. On Catechetical Sunday, we call forth and commission those dedicated […]