I know that it is better to give than to receive, but receiving is nice too! I was touched to receive Christmas gifts from several of my students (I’m sure it was their parents who put them up to it!). What a nice gesture to express appreciation for the partnership we catechists enter into with parents. I was also delighted to receive a beautiful leather bound New American Bible from my DRE, Arlene. It will […]
Last night’s Confirmation Intensive, a 2-hour session with the 8th graders, was a resounding success! The kids were not surprisingly curious and anxious about what they were going to do for “2 WHOLE HOURS!!!” We had them on the move for the whole 2 hours and they were delightfully engaged in their mini-sessions (20 minutes with each of the 4 eighth grade catechists. For my sessions, we met in my room in the school and […]
This evening is the first of 4 Confirmation “Intensives” planned for our 8th graders. Normally, our sessions are 75 minutes long. The intensives will be 2 hours, giving us a chance to do a variety of things and go into more depth with our young people. For tonight’s session, we will begin by having a prayer service in which we present the young people with their copies of Confirmed in the Spirit, their confirmation text […]
Today is my First Blogaversary! One year ago today, on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I posted for the first time on Catechist’s Journey. Since that time, I have posted 249 times and you good folks have posted 534 comments! It’s hard to believe that 1 year has already passed. I just want to take this moment to thank all of you for visiting and posting comments and I invite you to continue […]
Yesterday, I had the privilege of reuniting with one of my high school religion teachers, the great Fr. Mark Link, S.J. Fr. Mark is one of the most prolific Catholic writers around, having sold millions of books including These Stones Will Shout, The Seventh Trumpet, The Still Point of the Turning World, You, Vision 2000, Challenge, Path Through Scripture, and Path Through Catholicism, just to name a few (over 60 titles in all). During my years […]
Last night, I had the pleasure of attending an intergenerational catechetical event at St. Raphael parish in Naperville, Illinois. The DRE, Jane Ehrlich, does a fantastic job of catechizing the entire parish! I was amazed at the amount of planning and coordination that must go into such an event for about 700 people! The evening began with dinner (pizza and salad) in the gym followed by an opening experience in the church. This experience served […]
Last night, I prepared the young people to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation by leading them in a meditative examination of conscience. First, we talked about the practical steps involved in going to confession. I was pleased to find that in general, they were very familiar with how to go to confession and very relaxed about it. This can be credited to the program offering the sacrament twice a year: Advent and Lent. For […]
Tonight, I’ll be preparing the young people for the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (next Monday). I like to take this opportunity to deal with the question that is foremost on their minds: “why do I have to tell my sins to the priest?” To answer this, it’s best to put this one sacrament in the context of our entire sacramental outlook as Catholics. To be sacramental is to see the presence of God reflected […]
Like many (most?) catechists, I share a learning space – a classroom – with a Catholic school teacher. I realize the tensions that can arise from one group using a room that “belongs” to another group. I was a Catholic school teacher for 9 years and recall my room being used by numerous groups for after-school activities, so I know this experience from both sides of the fence. I’d like to offer a few thoughts. […]
Oops…I almost titled today’s post Making Reading More Fun but then I realized that I had previously ranted about the obsession we catechists often have with making sure everything is fun!!! The key is to make learning more engaging (which makes it more fun anyway!) All that to say that last night’s activity made the reading of the textbook much more engaging. We sat around a long table with the Church history timeline spread out […]
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