Catechetical Leaders Archives - Catechist's Journey

The Catholic Parents' Survival Guide: Straight Answers to Your Kids' Toughest Questions by Julianne Stanz - author pictured next to book cover

Supporting Parents Beyond Baptismal Prep: The Catholic Parents’ Survival Guide

I’ve written previously about the importance of remaining connected with parents following the Baptism of their children and before the children reach catechetical age. Rather than simply requiring parents to attend a required class for Baptism and then check it off their list, we need to accompany them on their journey as they rise to the challenge of raising a family in today’s complex world. I’d like to suggest one great way that we can […]

Unparalleled Catechist Support: Christ Our Life 2024–25 Edition

Joe Paprocki

As long as I’ve been writing this blog, I have emphasized that catechist formation and catechist support in general is not just some act of kindness toward catechists. Rather, it is something the Church owes catechists! Imagine someone entering a religious community and being welcomed in and assigned a ministry without first going through a novitiate and formation process! The religious community that a person makes a commitment to owes it to its members to […]

Helping Parents Prepare Children at Home for First Eucharist and Reconciliation

Joe Paprocki

One of the things that we learned from the experience of the pandemic over the last few years was how to assist parents at home with the faith formation of their children. This help often took the form of providing parents with digital resources they could use at home with their children, utilizing them when their schedules allow quality time for faith formation. First Eucharist is one of the primary moments in the life of […]

bulletin board announcements - image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Part of Hospitality Is Avoiding Assumptions

Joe Paprocki

A huge part of evangelization is hospitality: the inviting and welcoming of people designed to put them at ease and to help them feel at home. For us Catholics, one of the major obstacles to our efforts at being more hospitable is making assumptions that people speak “churchese,” which, as the Urban Dictionary describes, is a language of “words that are common within the church setting and are familiar only to those who attend church.” […]

children on school bus - kali9/E+/Getty Images

Let’s Think Kerygma Rather Than Catch-Up

Joe Paprocki

In the great movie, A League of Their Own, Tom Hanks’s character, Jimmy Dugan, made famous the phrase “There’s no crying in baseball!” I have to admit that I’m coming very close to exclaiming, in that same incredulous voice, “There’s no catch-up in catechesis!” Now, you might attribute this to the fact that I was born and raised in Chicago, where there’s no ketchup on hot dogs, and I just don’t like the phrase “catch […]

number 10 sign - photo by Timo Müller on Unsplash

10 Things I’ve Learned in 10 Years of Ministry

Darcy Osby

This summer, I concluded my tenth year working as a Director of Faith Formation. As I reflect on my gratitude for all of the experiences of these past ten years in ministry, I have also been thinking of the lessons I’ve learned along the way. These are lessons I am continually learning, and sometimes I fail at them, but God never gives up on me! Pray or none of it matters. What good is my […]

Responding Compassionately to Families Whose Children Are “Out of Sequence” for Receiving the Sacraments

Jayne Ragasa-Mondoy

“Good morning! My son is in the fifth grade and hasn’t received his First Holy Communion yet. How can we get started?” “Hi there! My daughter is a senior in high school and would like to be confirmed before she leaves for college. What does she have to do?” For Roman Catholics, there is a traditional sequence to receiving the Sacraments of Initiation and First Penance and Reconciliation: Baptism in infancy, Reconciliation and Eucharist at […]

mother and daughter learning together - SelectStock/Vetta/Getty Images

Do We Need a Different Kind of Catechist for Family Faith Formation?

Joe Paprocki

As the catechetical landscape continues to shift and more faith communities are exploring and implementing various catechetical models—especially family catechesis models—it begs the question: Do we need to find a different kind of catechist for family faith formation? The answer is “Yes” and “No.” Let’s start with the “No.” Obviously, we still need people who are well-formed in their Catholic faith, who have a passion and desire for sharing God’s Word, and who possess good […]

Encontrando a Dios - Finding God Grados 1-6

Bilingual Faith Formation with Enhanced Multimedia: Encontrando a Dios

Joe Paprocki

I’ve shared previously about the enhanced media that is integral to the newest edition of Finding God Grades 1–6—the outstanding Loyola Press faith formation curriculum that is imbued with Ignatian spirituality. I’ve also shared about the same in Finding God Grades 7–8. Now, I am excited to announce that enhanced multimedia is available for families with two languages: English and Spanish! The newest edition of Encontrando a Dios/Finding God Grades 1–6 invites everyone to recognize God’s presence through the […]

From Marriage Prep to Accompanying Young Families

Joe Paprocki

One of my favorite suggestions from the new Directory for Catechesis is that we drop the phrase “marriage prep.” In essence, this phrase has come to refer to a few “hoops” that an engaged couple has to go through in order to “qualify” for the Sacrament of Matrimony. The new Directory is urging us to move away from a programmatic approach to an approach that is characterized by true accompaniment. Too often, after a perfunctory […]