Whether you work with little children, teenagers, or adults, you are not alone in catechetical ministry. These posts highlight stories from catechists and faith formation leaders in the field, sharing the ups and downs of their work.

Alex Trebek (or Art Fleming?) Tonight!

Tonight, we’re doing our Jeopardy-like review to help the kids get ready for their confirmation exam which will take place next week. Of course, for many years, the TV program Jeopardy has been hosted by Alex Trebek, but some of us older catechists 🙂 recall the original host, Art Fleming who hosted the program from 1964 through 1975 and again from 1978-79. Don’t forget that I have links on last Thursday’s post to the 4 rounds […]

A Jeopardy-Like Review

This coming Monday, we’re going to do a Jeopardy-like review with all 5 of our confirmation classes in preparation for the Confirmation exam they will take the following week. Our emphasis for this will be on “Catholic literacy” – the ability to talk about what you believe in and to be more familiar with Catholic vocabulary. We’re going to impress upon the kids that, in just a few short years, when they go off to […]

Kids’ Silly Behavior Plays Right Into My Hands

Every once in a while, it pays to be patient with kids’ silly behavior because it can play right into your hands. Last night was one of those occasions. As I was teaching about the anointing with chrism at Confirmation, I focused for a while on the fact that the chrism has a fragrance (sometimes referred to as “perfume for the soul”) which symbolizes how the Holy Spirit helps us to give off the “aroma […]

Exploring the Rite of Confirmation

Tonight is our final Confirmation Intensive for this year. It is also an Open House for parents to attend to see what their kids are up to every Monday evening…hope we get a good turnout. Anyway, for this evening’s intensive, we are reflecting on the Rite of Confirmation itself, taking each of the following five components of the Rite and putting them “under the microscope” for closer study in preparation for the sacrament which is […]

Helping Kids Write General Intercessions

From time to time, we invite kids to compose General Intercessions for a Mass or prayer service. Here’s a little something that can help get the wheels turning so that their intercessions are coming from their deepest desires. We’ll be using this in our upcoming Confirmation Intensive this Monday evening to have the kids compose General Intercessions for the Confirmation Mass. The activity begins by asking the kids to imagine that they have been granted 3 wishes […]

7 Deadly Sins, 7 Virtues, and 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit

For this evening’s Confirmation Intensive, we are doing the same session we did last year but with a new twist. The session focuses on SEVEN: 7 Deadly Sins, 7 Virtues, and 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit. The kick to the whole evening is that we explore all of these topics through popular music! We had a lot of fun doing this last year and we’re keeping the same songs at least for this year […]

Poverty Quiz Struck a Nerve

At the end of Monday evening’s session, I asked each of the kids to share one thing they learned that evening: spiritual and corporal works of mercy, social justice, service, and living the Beatitudes. I was struck by how many of the young people referred to the poverty quiz that they took in the social justice session with Chris. Many of them pulled the quiz out and quoted a fact or figure about poverty in […]

Works of Mercy Booklet

For last night’s session, we had the kids assemble Works of Mercy mini-booklets as you see pictured here. Depending on the time available, you can either have the kids assemble the pages of their booklets or you can do this ahead of time. Given the short time that I have for the mini-sessions, I chose to assemble the (blank) pages of the booklets at home. I made 60 of them in about a half-hour while listening to […]

Making a Statement – Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Happy New Year everybody!!! I hope, pray, and trust that this year will be filled with many blessings for you in your role as a catechist! Tonight, when I teach, I plan to wear my Blackhawks jersey, which I’m wearing here in this picture at last night’s Hawks’ victory (my daughter Amy’s first Hawks game). I want to point out that we make a statement by what we wear. I’ll then ask the kids to […]

On the Other Hand…

Yesterday, I provided a rather glowing summary of Monday evening’s Confirmation Intensive. Indeed, the evening overall went very well and was a positive experience. On the other hand, there are always a few moments that provide sobering reminders of the troubles that some of these kids have. The Confirmation Intensives allows me the opportunity to catch a glimpse, so to speak, of each of the five 8th grade classes. For the most part, each of […]

1 51 52 53 54 55 60