Being a Catechist Archives - Page 126 of 142

8 Reasons to Bring Your Child Regularly to Mass

One of the biggest frustrations that catechists have is the fact that so many of our students are not attending Mass (because their parents are not attending). Here is a helpful resource I recently came across titled, “8 Reasons to Bring Your Child Regularly to Mass.” It is in a parent “magazine” called “Together: Preparing at Home for First Eucharist” ((written by Tom McGrath) that is a part of the God’s Gift: Eucharist program (Loyola […]

Learning Outcomes

Joe Paprocki

Too often, when we catechists plan for our lessons, we concentrate on what it is that WE will be doing. “I’ll cover chapter 10, then play Jeopardy to review the main points of the lesson, then I’ll lead prayer, and so on…” It’s important to remember that, in our planning, the focus should be on what the participants will be doing. Today, most catechist manuals use the phrase learning outcomes to identify what the participants […]

Catechesis as Courtship

Joe Paprocki

Does anyone remember courtship? Back in the day, the process of a young man and a young woman entering into an ever-deepening relationship followed a pattern. For some, this pattern still exists, however, with society’s casual attitudes about sex, for many the process is “out the window.” Anyway, courtship follows a definite pattern: the couple meet and introduce themselves the couple spends time getting to know one another as a relationship develops, the couple learns […]

An Excerpt From My New Book!

Joe Paprocki

Here is an excerpt from my new book, A Well-Built Faith: A Catholic’s Guide to Knowing and Sharing What We Believe: Shortly after the events of September 11, 2001, there was a great deal of tension between Muslims and non-Muslims in many parts of the United States. In an effort to respond to the situation with Gospel values, I invited the Imam of a local Muslim community in the Chicago suburbs to meet with a […]

The "Itch" to Return

Joe Paprocki

Lots of stories in the sports pages today about Brett Favre getting the “itch” to return to football after announcing originally that he planned to retire. Around this time of the summer, I get the “itch” for the religious education year to begin! Being off (from teaching) for May and June and having a wonderful vacation in Marco Island, Florida, works wonders for restoring one’s energy. Don’t get me wrong…I still look forward to having […]

Time to Let the Brain Lie Fallow

Joe Paprocki

It’s vacation time for me, my friends! Time to allow the brain to lie fallow. That means no posting for a couple of weeks. I’ll post again right after the Fourth of July weekend (July 7 to be exact). I hope you enjoy the start of summer and I’ll see you back here in a few weeks. Peace. -joe

Catechists Have Authority to Expel Unclean Spirits

Joe Paprocki

I was struck by a line in yesterday’s Gospel that I think speaks to catechists: “Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority to expel unclean spirits…” (Mt 10:1) Two things in particular strike me. One is the notion of authority. Catechists need to know that they have been given authority to teach. All authority belongs to God, who is the Author of all of creation. God, in turn, has given all authority […]

Become a Catechist

Joe Paprocki

Here’s a link to a nice effort by some folks to recruit catechists for their parish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90OcnKfpURk

Summer Intensive R.E.

Joe Paprocki

I’m hearing that some parishes are experimenting with a catechetical model that employs a summer intensive religious education program for K-8 (usually 3 weeks) while throughout the year, offering periodic intergenerational events and a weekly children’s liturgy of the Word. Sounds to me like an interesting alternative. This is not to be confused with a Vacation Bible School. it is the formal religious education program taking place in a 3-week intensive model. Instead of having twenty- […]

Catechists in Rwanda, Part II

Joe Paprocki

Here is more of my dialogue with an Anglican minister from Rwanda who has been sent to the United States to do missionary work and to form catechists: Joe, I feel similarly blessed by this contact. The reason why the Rwandan curriculum wouldn’t work in scope (it would to some extent in sequence) is that the general education level in Rwanda is very low and catechist, according to the canons, only have to be able […]