Answering Your Kids’ Toughest Questions: Learning from Julianne Stanz

Join me for a webinar with Julianne Stanz on Thursday, January 25, at 10 a.m. CST, as she talks about her newest book, The Catholic Parents’ Survival Guide: Straight Answers to Your Kids’ Toughest Questions. This will be a great opportunity for parents, grandparents, catechists, and other interested adults to learn how to speak to children about Catholic beliefs, ethics, morality, and faith practices. It will also be a great chance for you to get […]

Archbishop Hughes on the Impact Parents Have on Their Children’s Faith Formation

One of the leading voices about the critical importance of effective catechesis in the life of the Church has been Archbishop Alfred Hughes, Archbishop Emeritus of New Orleans. Archbishop Hughes, who serves on the U.S. Bishops’ Subcommittee on the Catechism, was recently asked to share some insights about the role of parents in their children’s faith formation. He told the most wonderful story about his own father’s role in his and his siblings’ faith formation. […]

Celebrating Pope Francis’s 10th Anniversary

Do you remember where you were on March 13, 2013? I was sitting in class for my Doctor of Ministry program at the University of St. Mary of the Lake (Mundelein Seminary), when the seminary’s chapel bells started to ring; a new pope had been elected! It’s hard to believe that was already ten years ago, and here we are, celebrating Pope Francis’s 10th anniversary as pope! This occasion is a great opportunity for catechists […]

Our 15th Anniversary Online Scavenger Hunt

This year we’re celebrating the 15th anniversary of the launch of Catechist’s Journey and publication of The Catechist’s Toolbox. We’ll have fun throughout 2022 marking these occasions, and today we kick off the party with an online scavenger hunt—with prizes! Three lucky winners will receive the books, The Catechist’s Toolbox and Beyond the Catechist’s Toolbox. To enter, play our scavenger hunt. The 15 questions in honor of 15 years of this website invite you to […]

9/11 Twenty Years Later: The Importance of Remembering Even When It Hurts

The notion of “forgive and forget” sounds nice, but the forgetting part is not realistic and, more importantly, it’s not healthy. Remembering is an important part of our spirituality. Presently, as a country, we are remembering the events of September 11, 2001, as we mark the 20th anniversary of this tragedy. We remember, not in order to hold on to anger and hatred, but as a way of honoring those who died and as a […]

Pope Francis Announces Major Recognition of Lay Catechists

Pope Francis has announced that the role of catechist will now be recognized as a formal instituted ministry in the Church! While many, if not most Catholics, already considered the role of catechist to be a ministry, the Pope’s announcement in the apostolic letter Antiquum Ministerium raises it to a level of official recognition by the Church as an instituted ministry. The Pope’s letter making the role of catechist an official ministry in the Church is not […]

The Bible Blueprint 10th Anniversary Giveaway

I was thrilled to learn recently that Pope Francis has declared the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time as “Word of God Sunday,” with the first observation of this taking place on January 26, 2020. What a great way to highlight the role of Scripture in the faith lives of Catholics! It is through Scripture that God reveals himself to us as a God who seeks to rescue, restore, and reassure us. This is our story—our […]

My Living the Sacraments Book Wins Gold!

I’m thrilled to pass along the news that my most recent book, Living the Sacraments: Finding God at the Intersection of Heaven and Earth, has been awarded a Gold Medal in the Catholic category of the Illumination Book Awards! The Illumination Book Awards are designed to honor the year’s best new titles written and published with a Christian worldview. Here’s how Loyola Press describes my book: Too many Catholics view the sacraments as isolated rites […]

Looking Forward to the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress 2019

Mark your calendars and make plans to attend the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, which takes place this March 21–24, 2019. I recently had the joy and privilege of getting together with a team of amazingly talented co-presenters as we planned and prepared for our “extravaganza” on Saturday, March 23, from 3:00–4:30 pm (session 6-22): How to Renew, Re-energize, and Transform Your Parish NOW! We will be drawing from my book, A Church on the Move: 52 […]

Synod on Young People—Learning from Tony Bennett

As the Synod on Young People is taking place in Rome this month, my mind turns to 92-year-old singer Tony Bennett. Why? Over the past several years, this ageless crooner has taken to doing duets with young talent, most notably Lady Gaga (and currently, Dianna Krall, who, though not as young as Lady Gaga, is still nearly 40 years Bennett’s junior!). I’ve used the Tony Bennett-Lady Gaga example on numerous occasions to encourage those of […]

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