I’m always amazed at how many men I see coaching their kids’ soccer, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and even lacrosse teams! And yet, so few men feel called to serve as a catechist when, in my mind, it is another form of coaching. Perhaps too many men view being a catechist as a feminine/nurturing role that they are not comfortable with. Fortunately, a growing number of men are discovering how to serve as catechists in […]
The General Directory for Catechesis (#85) tells us that the most effective catechesis takes place within a climate of prayer. With that in mind, I constantly urge catechists to do all they can to make their sessions resemble going to church more than going to school. We do this by incorporating the language of liturgy—a language of mystery that includes sign, symbol, and ritual—into our catechetical sessions. Following is a template that I offer to […]
Today, I’m featuring William O’Leary as the 5th guest blogger for the 5th Anniversary celebration of my blog, The Catechist’s Journey. William, who lives in Kansas City, Kansas, with his wife and 3 children, blogs at Catechesis in the Third Millennium. William works at the Church of the Ascension in Overland Park as the Director of Religious Formation, a program with approximately 1,000 students. He is a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville where he received a BA and MA in […]
As we continue to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of my blog, The Catechist’s Journey, here is another guest blogger. Marc Cardaronella is the Director of Religious Education for Holy Cross Church in Champaign, IL. In a former life, he was a Naval Aviator but gave that up for a less thrilling and infinitely more satisfying career working for the Church. He has a Master’s Degree in Theology and Christian Ministry with a specialization in Catechetics […]
To help celebrate the 5th anniversary of my blog, The Catechist’s Journey, I’ve invited a number of people to be guest bloggers here over the course of a week! Today, I am featuring Lisa Mladinich, a Catholic wife and mother, catechist and workshop leader, and the author of the popular booklets, “Be An Amazing Catechist: Inspire the Faith of Children,” and “Be an Amazing Catechist: Sacramental Preparation” available from Our Sunday Visitor. She is the founder […]
To help celebrate the 5th anniversary of my blog, The Catechist’s Journey, I’ve invited a number of people to be guest bloggers here over the course of a week! Today, I’m featuring Jared Dees, the creator of The Religion Teacher, where he shares practical resources, activities, lesson plans, and teaching strategies for catechists and Catholic school religion teachers. He is the Digital Publishing Specialist at Ave Maria Press, where he manages websites, eBooks, and eTextbooks. He […]
To help celebrate the 5th anniversary of my blog, The Catechist’s Journey, I’ve invited a number of people to be guest bloggers here over the next week! We start with one of the first people I “met” online when I began blogging, Gilles Côté, a Canadian living in Ottawa, who is the webmaster of 4CatholicEducators.com and of its sister site Resources for Catholic Educators. Gilles taught grades 7 through 12 for 23 years in Catholic […]
As one of my “catechist-at-large” responsibilities, I did an introduction to the Bible last evening with the 6th graders at Most Holy Redeemer parish in Evergreen Park, IL. It was a very enjoyable experience. Here are the details: There were about 30-35 kids present along with their 3 catechists and 3 aides. Each child had a New American Bible (although there were 2 different editions which precluded me from relying on page numbers. I don’t mind, […]
We’ve been watching 5th grade catechist Nick Yonto as he did preparations for his lesson and then gathered the children for prayer. Now, watch as Nick jumps into his lesson which is on the Eucharist as: memorial, meal, and sacrifice. Watch for how Nick… begins with an engaging question, asking the kids to think of ways in their own lives that they try to remember things (setting the stage for talking about Eucharist as memorial). […]
Adult Catechesis is last on my list of webinars but certainly not least! In fact, the General Directory for Catechesis reminds us that Adult Catechesis is the primary form of catechesis!With that in mind, what advice would you offer to someone who is going to be a catechist of adults (e.g. RCIA, Bible study, adult faith sharing, Adult Confirmation prep, etc)? In particular, how is teaching adults different from teaching children? What learning needs to […]
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