Discipleship Archives - Page 4 of 7

Preparing Hearts and Minds: 9 Simple Ways for Catechists to Cultivate a Living Faith - blog series based on book of same title

Preparing Hearts and Minds Strategy 4: Invite a Leap of Faith

As we continue our summer series, Preparing Hearts and Minds: 9 Simple Ways for Catechists to Cultivate a Living Faith, we explore apprenticing those we teach in laying down their lives for others. Strategy #4: Invite a leap of faith. It is a fairly common practice in advertising to garner attention by making a claim about a product or service that is counterintuitive and requires a “leap of faith.” For example: a diet plan promises that you […]

Preparing Hearts and Minds Strategy 3: Proclaim Jesus’ Mighty Deeds

Joe Paprocki

As we continue our summer series, Preparing Hearts and Minds: 9 Simple Ways for Catechists to Cultivate a Living Faith (drawing from my new book of the same name), we move on to strategy #3. Strategy #3: Proclaim Jesus’ mighty deeds. Many ads and TV commercials include a claim about the product or resource being sold, followed by testimonials from satisfied customers, and finally an invitation to potential customers to “find out what _____ can do for you!” This strategy […]

Preparing Hearts and Minds Strategy 2: Introduce Jesus as Someone You Can Trust

Joe Paprocki

As we continue our summer series, Preparing Hearts and Minds: 9 Simple Ways for Catechists to Cultivate a Living Faith (based on my new book of the same name), we explore establishing a climate of trust. Strategy #2: Introduce Jesus as someone you can trust. Advertisements seek to gain your trust. The goal is to convince you that your money will be well-spent on whatever product or service is being sold. In a similar way, […]

Preparing Hearts and Minds Strategy 1: Focus on Brokenness

Joe Paprocki

Welcome to my summer series, Preparing Hearts and Minds: 9 Simple Ways for Catechists to Cultivate a Living Faith. Today we look at the first strategy for tilling the soil of people’s hearts and minds: Strategy #1: Point out that potential believers’ current “way” is broken or unsatisfactory and needs to be repaired or replaced. In other words, we need to begin the faith formation journey by drawing attention to our human brokenness, and we proclaim […]

Summer Series: Preparing Hearts and Minds

Joe Paprocki

Now that June is here, it’s time to welcome summer! And with summer comes the opportunity for me to share a new series with you: Preparing Hearts and Minds: 9 Simple Ways for Catechists to Cultivate a Living Faith, which draws from my new book of the same name. With the warmer weather, many of us are spending more time in our gardens. After a long, hard Chicago winter, I find that the soil in […]

Pop-Up Catechesis: Posting a Message of Faith on Social Media

Joe Paprocki

In today’s episode of Pop-Up Catechesis, we look at posting messages or pictures of faith on social media. St. Pope John Paul II famously referred to social media as the “new Areopagus,” referring to the cultural center or gathering place of the learned where St. Paul preached the Gospel in Athens. (Acts 17:16–34) Today, especially during a time of social distancing, we can use social media to proclaim the Good News of Jesus to the world. […]

Start with Jesus presentation panel - L.A. Congress 2020 - video screenshot

What a Team! Speaking in the Arena at L.A. Congress

Joe Paprocki

One of my favorite phrases at Loyola Press—”What a team!”—can be traced to our president emeritus, Fr. George Lane, SJ, who often reacted to success stories in this manner. This phrase captures the experience I shared earlier this year with a group of talented colleagues at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress. If you’re not familiar with the L.A. Congress, it is the largest religious education gathering in the country, drawing about 25,000 people over four […]

Start with Jesus in Your Parish

Joe Paprocki

Serving parishes in her diocese as the Director of New Evangelization, Julianne Stanz has recognized a practical and motivational way to restructure a parish’s mission: start with Jesus. To help you do that, Julianne’s book Start with Jesus is about people, process, and culture, rather than an emphasis on quick fixes or unsustainable efforts. Embrace discipleship in your parish by reading the book and using the additional resources that accompany it: implementation tools for parish […]

Finding God: Our Response to God's Gifts 2021 edition covers

Reclaiming the Fire: Six Keys to Making Our Faith Formation More Evangelizing

Joe Paprocki

Today, more than ever, faith formation needs to be more evangelizing—not only informing, but also transforming hearts and minds. In her book, Start with Jesus, author, speaker, and evangelist Julianne Stanz states that “too often our approach to our faith lacks the fire or energy that it deserves,” and she issues a call for us to “reclaim the fire.” With that in mind, I have identified six keys to reclaiming this fire so that our […]

The Seven Ds of Discipleship - illustration of people talking

The Seven Ds of Discipleship: #7 Doing

Julianne Stanz

This is the seventh and final post in a series about discipleship. We have explored the following keys of discipleship—desire, discernment, decision-making, discipline, dwelling in the Word, and dependence on the Holy Spirit. With this article, we will conclude our series by focusing on a key element of discipleship: doing. Essential to our growth in discipleship is our disposition (being) in relationship to God and how to put our faith at the service of others […]