Catechist's Journey

Preparar corazones y mentes - libro por Joe Paprocki

My Most Recent Book Now Available in Spanish! Preparar corazones y mentes

Our Church is blessed with incredible diversity, and we are privileged to be experiencing rapid growth in the presence of Hispanics/Latinos in the U.S. Church. In fact: Hispanics account for 71% of the growth of the Catholic population since 1960. 40% of all Catholics in the U.S. have a Hispanic background. Six out of ten Catholics under the age of 18 are of Hispanic background. U.S.-born Hispanics make up two-thirds of the Hispanic population. On […]

Photo of Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan next to a picture of his book "I Am With You"

Lent in a Time of Pandemic: Déjà Vu

Joe Paprocki

As we enter the month of February, 2021, with the realization that Ash Wednesday and Lent are just a few weeks away, we will no doubt begin experiencing a sense of déjà vu—that sense that we have lived through the present situation before. And while we have all lived through Ash Wednesday and Lent before, this will be the second year that our Lenten experience takes place within the context of a worldwide pandemic (although, […]

preschool faith formation program - God Made Everything

Nurturing Imagination and Creativity in Young Children

Joe Paprocki

I’m sure you’ve seen little children opening presents on Christmas or a birthday and being more enamored with the box and the wrapping paper than the actual gift! Somehow, young children are able to look at a plain cardboard box and imagine that it is a car, an airplane, a boat, or a spaceship. It is that imagination that we must tap into when it comes to early childhood faith formation. According to Webster’s Dictionary, imagination […]

Little Lessons from the Mystics - book cover and image of author Bob Burnham

Mystical Catechesis: Little Lessons from the Mystics

Joe Paprocki

“Religion is belief in someone else’s experience. Spirituality is having your own experience.” —Deepak Chopra This quote pops up frequently on social media, and it speaks an important truth: spirituality is an experience of a relationship with the Divine. Such an experience is one of mystery. Another word we use for such an experience is mystical. Unfortunately, in our culture, the word mystical has come to be synonymous with the word magical: something beyond the […]

The 12 Books of Christmas from Loyola Press

12 Books of Christmas: A Respite from Screen Time

Joe Paprocki

Parents and children are no doubt eager to catch a break from all of the screen time that comes with working and schooling from home during the pandemic. The Christmas holidays provide just the kind of respite that is so needed—an opportunity for families to gather around something other than a computer screen! I’d like to suggest reading books as a family as the perfect option for the Christmas holidays. Loyola Press is making that […]

Pope Francis Says covers in English and Spanish

Experiencing Screen Fatigue? Engage Children with Books This Fall!

Joe Paprocki

Let’s face it: as a result of social distancing, many of us and our children are spending a lot more time sitting in front of a screen these past few months! While convenient, it does indeed result in a kind of fatigue. Do yourself and your children a favor this fall, and get your hands on some great books in hard-copy form. One of my favorites, and a book that my wife and I read to […]

Confronting Racism: Everyone Belongs

Joe Paprocki

I’ve always found John 4:4 to be a strangely intriguing passage. The passage tells us that Jesus left Judea and returned to Galilee and that, to do so, “he had to go through Samaria.” The reason it is intriguing is because he did not have to go through Samaria. There were, in fact, other ways to get from Judea to Galilee. While passing through Samaria was the shortest route, it was a route that many Jews avoided, because […]

Bringing Sports and Faith Together: “All In” by Coach Porter Moser

Joe Paprocki

Early on in my career, I was once gently criticized by a colleague for using too many sports metaphors in my writing and speaking. Having taught religion for a decade in an all-boys high school, I found that references to sports resonated with my students, and so I relied on them quite often. My colleague suggested that sports references were “masculine” and excluded the girls. Perhaps there was a time when this was true, but we […]

Books Make for Wonderful Christmas Gifts!

Joe Paprocki

According to Pew Research, roughly a quarter of U.S. adults (27%) indicate that they haven’t read a book in the past year. A great way to remedy that is to gift those you love with books this Christmas! There are many benefits to reading books, including mental stimulation, stress reduction, exposure to knowledge, inspiration, escape, vocabulary expansion, memory improvement, and more! Loyola Press is happy to provide you with a Christmas Gift Guide to help you […]

Start with Jesus by Julianne Stanz - author and book pictured

Our “Why” Is a “Who”—Start with Jesus by Julianne Stanz

Joe Paprocki

Popular author and speaker, Simon Sinek, made a splash a few years ago with his book, Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. His point is well-taken: people won’t truly buy into a product, service, movement, or idea until they understand the why behind it. For Christians, our “Why” is a “Who!” OK, I know this is beginning to sound like the old “Who’s on First?” bit by Abbott and Costello, […]