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 […]
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 […]
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
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 […]
Here’s a link to a nice effort by some folks to recruit catechists for their parish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90OcnKfpURk
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- […]
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 […]
What an amazing world we live in today where I am engaged in a dialogue with an Anglican minister from Rwanda about catechist formation!!! See below: Good morning, Joe. First, a little background. I’m a missionary priest with the Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda. In an ironic circumstance which could only come about by the providence of God, the missionary jurisdiction to which I’m assigned is here in North America—Africa is sending missionaries […]
Lots of Catholics are talking about the controversy over Fr. Michael Pfleger’s politically and racially charged talk last week at Trinity United Church. Unfortunately, lots of knee-jerk reactions are happening. I have met Fr. Pfleger on a number of occasions over the years and have great respect for the way he has taken the Gospel to the streets. On the other hand, I also have many reservations about his tactics. It’s important for us as […]
I’m pondering a different kind of homework for my religious education students for next year. Typically, we think of homework as completing some type of worksheet, writing an essay or a paragraph, or reading a chapter and answering questions. I’m talking about a different kind of homework: assignments that amount to practicing what we preach. In other words, we hope that what we teach our young people will have an impact on how they live […]
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