As I look forward to Monday’s session, I see that our next unit moves us into a look at Church history. The challenge is to make history relevant. Kids in general react to the notion of history as something that is boring. It’s already a challenge to make sure that they seen religion as relevant and not boring so I’m facing a double whammy! Personally, I love history and I look forward to helping the […]
I had a great evening in Naperville, IL, yesterday, with 150 catechists at St. Raphael Parish! We talked about the tools that catechists need to be more effective and the DRE, Jane Ehrlich, had copies of my book, The Catechist’s Toolbox available for sale. She also went out of her way to prepare a focal point that featured a couple of tookboxes, including a giant multi-drawer toolbox! To top it all off, she also placed tools on […]
Last night was a night of ups and downs. We began by reviewing how to pray the Rosary and then we moved into our reflective prayer and prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, connecting this to our last class when we learned about the Cross of Jesus. A couple of the young people were pretty hyper and couldn’t sit still. I even had to pause at one point to ask one of them to […]
A colleague of mine attended a workshop on adolescent ministry given by Dr. Robert McCarty, executive director of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry. She shared her notes with me and I was struck by one thing that Dr. McCarty emphasized over and over again: he said that we must teach our young people to live deep, not fast. I absolutly love that notion and I plan to share it with my young people […]
Over the last few days, a few comments about catechists have come from the Vatican. I have to admit to finding neither of them particularly inspiring. First, the Prefect for the Congregation for Clergy said that catechists are an “asset to parishes and a promising sign for the Church today.” He went on to express gratitude to catechists and to exhort them to a deeper relationship with God. That’s all well and good, but I […]
For next week’s session, I plan to do a review of what we have covered so far. We’re at a transition point between units and I’d like to be able to reinforce some of the important concepts that we’ve covered so far. The Finding God Catechist Guide that I’m using comes with Blackline Masters that include unit tests. The program I teach in does not do testing per se (except for an assessment at the […]
Last night’s session was excellent. We focused on the Cross of Jesus and how Catholics understand the role of suffering in our lives. Lots of good questions including one that stumped me momentarily. I had asked the young people what could possible transform the image of a crucified man into a symbol of victory. Eventually one of them responded correctly that Jesus’ Resurrection transformed the Cross into our symbol of victory over sin and death. […]
For my session tonight, I’m bringing in the one and only trophy I ever won in my life: a 2nd place trophy for floor hockey, earned when I was in junior high. My brother John and I ventured over to the Boys’ Club in our neighborhood and joined a team there and went all the way to the finals, coming up just a little bit short. The little 10-inch trophy stands proudly in my basement […]
I’m interested in picking up a new book titled Passing on the Faith: Transforming Traditions for the Next Generation of Jews, Christians, and Muslims (edited by James L. Heft, S.M., Fordham University Press). The book is reviewed by Thomas Groome in the October 15, 2007 issue of America magazine. it is a collection of essays from a symposium held at the University of Southern California that asked the question, “how do we pass on religious […]
Remember how Rodney Dangerfield would always use the line, “tough crowd, I tell ya, tough crowd”? Kevin Dooley via Compfight Well that’s how I felt after last night’s class! The kids were pretty wired for some reason. I think it had to do with the fact that they had the day off from the school district and spent the day at the mall drinking slurpies (sugar) and Pepsi (caffiene)! Having a fire drill 15 minutes […]
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