“We are entering a period of new vitality for the Church, a period in which adult Catholic laity will play a pivotal leadership role in fulfilling the Christian mission of evangelizing and transforming society. For adults to fulfill their role in this new era of the Church, their faith formation must be lifelong, just as they must continue to learn to keep up in the changing world.” (Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us: A Pastoral […]
Since September, 2008, I’ve been writing a column for CATECHIST magazine entitled What’s Your Catholic IQ? It’s been a very enjoyable experience and I’m told it is one of the most popular features in the magazine (it already was before I took over writing the column from Page Zyromski). These quizzes are a fun way for catechists to wrap your own head around the vast treasury of knowledge that the Catholic faith offers us. Likewise, […]
“Catechesis must make it clear that the person of Jesus Christ offers a realistic alternative to immediate gratification and the satisfaction of personal deeds.” (The National Director for Catechesis, 4C)
The effective catechist knows how to use just about any event as an opportunity for catechesis. Some Catholics feel that because Dr. King was not Catholic, it’s not proper to hold him up as a role model and to reflect on his life, his words, and his accomplishments. Nonsense. God works through all people and God’s grace worked through and continues to work through the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Resources […]
In this weekly feature, I post a particularly significant quote from a particularly significant catechetical document, for inspiration and edification. The primary and essential object of catechesis is, to use an expression dear to St. Paul and also to contemporary theology, “the mystery of Christ.” Catechizing is in a way to lead a person to study this mystery in all its dimensions: “to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery…comprehend with […]
Once a week, I plan to post a particularly significant quote from a particularly significant catechetical document, for inspiration and edification. I hope you enjoy this new feature! Catechesis acquires certain characteristics in virtue of being an “essential moment” in the process of evangelization, in the service of Christian initiation. It is [a] comprehensive and systematic formation in the faith. [T]his comprehensive formation includes more than instruction: it is an apprenticeship of the entire Christian […]
Now that my blog is coming up on its 2nd anniversary, it’s time to give my site a little “face-lift!” In just a few days, you’ll notice that Catechist’s Journey has a new look to it while maintaining the same quality content that you’ve come to enjoy. In addition to the new look, my blog will also be integrated into the new Loyola Press Web site www.loyolapress.com. For the past 7 years, I have had […]
I’m still interested in hearing more suggestions about how kids can evangelize (in the spirit of St. Paul) in practical everyday ways…see my post from yesterday. We have to find ways of helping kids to be authentic evangelizers and Christian witnesses. One thing they fear greatly is being stereotyped. They don’t want to be viewed as a type of “Flanders” – the character from The Simpsons who (along with his kids Rod and Todd) is the […]
Lots of people have been asking me about resources for the Year of St. Paul to use with kids. To be honest, most of the resources I have come across are simply books or articles. Good stuff, but not a lot about activities we can do with kids. Lo and behold, this coming Monday, the chapter I’m teaching is about Peter and Paul telling the world about Jesus! So now I’m searching far and wide for something […]
I am preparing 5 learning stations on Jesus to use in my next session. The 5 learning stations are the following: The world of Jesus The people of Jesus The words of Jesus The actions of Jesus The death and resurrection of Jesus I’ve drawn these 5 categories from the book Jesus: A Gospel Portrait by Fr. Donald Senior (Paulist Press, 1992). I plan to make these available as PDFs for anyone interested. First, I […]
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