So, after we spent some time in discussion and praying for their classmate Joe who had died suddenly last Friday (as I described yesterday), I transitioned the young people into a guided reflection. I had planned on doing the guided reflection first this week as opposed to saving it to the end of class. It turns out that this was probably a good thing since they were already in a prayerful state of mind. Thank […]
In many ways, last evening was a typical class. At the same time, it occurred to me just how much can take place in the 75 minutes we spend together! As a result, I have a lot I’d like to tell you about concerning last evening’s class, so I’ll spread it out over the next couple of days. First… As the young people were gathering, one of the young men asked, “Are we going to […]
Last week, a National Symposium on Adolescent Catechesis was held in Baltimore with 100 invited guests (academics, bishops, practicioners, and leaders of various disciplines related to adolescent catechesis). The goals of the symposium were: to identify factors that affect adolescent faith formation and their implications, to develop a common language that will help establish standards for effective adolescent catechesis and its assessment, to establish tools for addressing the creation of comprehensive youth faith formation programs. […]
As many of you know, I like to use a contemporary song (my “song of the week”) to snare the kids’ attention and introduce the theme of a particular class. This coming Monday, I’m going to focus on the role that Saint Paul played in changing the face of the Church and the world by proclaiming the Gospel to the Gentiles. For my song of the week, I’ve chosen John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World […]
Last night, we introduced the 8th graders to the topic of Church history, by way of a Powerpoint presentation. All 5 classes came together once again and all 5 catechists divided up the presentation, each of us taking a time period and highlighting some of the major events that took place during that time. Throughout the presentation, the young people were filling in a worksheet with key names and dates. For me, the highlight of […]
Well, I still look the same but my blog has a new look! I hope you enjoy this new look. To mark the 2nd anniversary of Catechist’s Journey, my site has undergone a little “face-lift.” In addition to the new look, my blog has also been integrated into the new Loyola Press Web site (www.loyolapress.com). I hope you take a moment to explore the site and the wealth of resources that Loyola Press now offers […]
It’s hard to believe that we are already moving on to the 3rd unit of our text book this year – Church history. The challenge, of course, is making history relevant for kids. I’ve always been a bit of a history buff (In college, I double-majored in theology and history!) and I feel that history provides us with many lessons for life. Perhaps the best image that I can think of for approaching the concept […]
I hate the phrase “catch-up” catechesis but you know what I’m talking about…kids who come to R.E. programs having missed some years of R.E. and having missed reception of First Penance, First Communion, or Confirmation. Think this is a small problem for DREs? Think again. I recently asked a number of DREs to share some thoughts on this issue and here is a glimpse of what I got. You’re welcome to add your thoughts and […]
I’m still interested in hearing more suggestions about how kids can evangelize (in the spirit of St. Paul) in practical everyday ways…see my post from yesterday. We have to find ways of helping kids to be authentic evangelizers and Christian witnesses. One thing they fear greatly is being stereotyped. They don’t want to be viewed as a type of “Flanders” – the character from The Simpsons who (along with his kids Rod and Todd) is the […]
Lots of people have been asking me about resources for the Year of St. Paul to use with kids. To be honest, most of the resources I have come across are simply books or articles. Good stuff, but not a lot about activities we can do with kids. Lo and behold, this coming Monday, the chapter I’m teaching is about Peter and Paul telling the world about Jesus! So now I’m searching far and wide for something […]
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