I had the opportunity today to get into the room in which I’ll be teaching 6th grade religious education this year! It is on the 2nd floor of St. Cajetan school…a nice spacious room with carpeted floor and dry erase boards! I’m looking forward to my first session this Tuesday evening!
One of the challenges we face in catechesis is reaching out to those with special needs to help them encounter Christ in a meaningful way. Loyola Press is proud to be contributing resources to this effort, namely, the Adaptive Kits for First Eucharist and Reconciliation. Now we have proudly added a kit for Confirmation! The Adaptive Confirmation Preparation Kit was designed to help individuals with autism and other special needs enter fully into the faith experience, […]
One tool that I encourage every catechist to invest a couple of bucks in is a 2 inch roll of clear shipping/packaging tape. I call it the “poor man’s” laminator and I use it constantly to “laminate” things for my sessions in order to extend their life. For example, this year, I have decided that for my closing prayer for each session, we will pray the Confiteor (“I confess to Almighty God…”) from the Penitential […]
During our Webinar, Forming a 3-Dimensional Catechist, I asked participants to think of the best teacher they ever had and then invited them to type in one word or phrase that describes a quality or skill they had that made them so effective. Here’s what people had to say: Most Effective Teacher Traits What quality or skill are you asking the Holy Spirit to gift you with as a catechist this year?
As we gear up for the new year of faith formation, here’s another great way to connect with fellow catechists—even those far from your parish home! The Catholic Faith Formation Facebook page from Loyola Press brings the conversation to Facebook, that popular social media channel. Ask questions of each other and find links to resources from around the Web. For monthly planning ideas and catechist development articles, subscribe to the Catholic Faith Formation e-newsletter. This […]
The theme for Catechetical Sunday (September 15, 2013) this year is… It just so happens that St. Ignatius of Loyola holds the key to unlock and open the “Door of Faith!” St. Ignatius taught that the most effective way to persuade someone to your way of thinking is to “enter through their door but be sure to leave through your door.” What he means by this is that we need to make a connection between […]
It’s hard to believe that tomorrow evening is the first catechist meeting of the year for the 2013-14 catechetical year! I will once again be teaching 6th grade (Finding God), however, I will be doing so at a new parish! I will now be at St. Cajetan Parish on the far southside of Chicago, about 5 minutes south of my home in Evergreen Park. With the retirement of Arlene Astrowski, the DRE at Most Holy […]
In his book, Growing An Engaged Church (Gallup Press), Albert L. Winseman explains that, without true engagement, volunteers burn out quickly. He identifies 3 ways to make an immediate impact on the level of engagement of church members: clarify the expectations of membership help your members discover what they do best create small groups I think these can (and should) be easily applied to catechists, who, without engagement, do indeed burnout quickly. Those catechists who […]
Recently, we began a series here on my blog about the six tasks of catechesis, focusing on the notion that God is calling each of us to fulfill a role that he has planned for us. Just as actors rely on certain strategies to immerse themselves in character, we too rely on certain strategies to “immerse” ourselves in the role that God is calling us to fill: the “best version of ourselves” (to borrow a phrase from […]
Recently, we began a series here on my blog about the six tasks of catechesis, focusing on the notion that God is calling each of us to fulfill a role that he has planned for us. Just as actors rely on certain strategies to immerse themselves in character, we too rely on certain strategies to “immerse” ourselves in the role that God is calling us to fill: the “best version of ourselves” (to borrow a phrase from […]
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