Miscellaneous

My next session with my 8th graders will focus on the Holy Spirit as our guide. It’s almost impossible to speak of the Holy Spirit without using metaphors. In our Tradition, we have many powerful metaphors that help us to know the Spirit: water, oil, fire, wind, a dove, and so on. Most importantly, however, I want to be sure that the young people come away from the session knowing that the Holy Spirit is […]

A rousing “Happy Catechetical Sunday!” to all of my fellow catechists!!! Today is a day to celebrate our ministry and to pray that we may be inspired by the Holy Spirit to help those we teach to encounter the Living Christ!

I’m off to Peosta, Iowa, to meet with about 200 catechists from the Dubuque archdiocese! I look forward to talking with them about catechetical skills and strategies from The Catechist’s Toolbox. I’m glad I have a session of religious education under my belt so that I have some fresh experiences to draw on. While there, I plan to visit the “Field of Dreams”….the baseball field built in the middle of a corn field for the […]

Here’s a copy of the e-mail I sent to my catechist aide, Kris, outlining the “game plan” for our first session which takes place this evening: Hi Kris, Fasten your seatbelt..opening day is here! Here’s the plan for tomorrow: We’re in room 24 I’ll be there by 6:40 itching to get into our room First one there (you or me) should pick up our bin and bring it to the room I’ll also pick up […]

This coming Monday is my first session (I don’t like to use the word “class”) with my 8th graders this year. I have 7 boys and 7 girls! How nice! Of course, this means that I’ll be spending a few hours this weekend planning my session. There’s always so much to do on the first day. My goal will be to be welcoming and engaging, to focus on getting to know their names, to lay […]

I’m fulfilling my civic duty today: reporting for jury duty. I’ll be back tomorrow (unless I’m on some sequestered jury!)

Last night, I spent the evening with about 50 catechists from the O’Hare cluster of parishes (northwest side of Chicago and northwest suburbs) and had a wonderful time talking about the Old Testament with them. In the course of the evening, I met 2 catechists who have been serving in this ministry for over 30 years each! One had been a catechist for 33 years and another for 38 years! What a wonderful witness they […]

My wife and I took our daughter to college today. Everything went well but needless to say my mind is not on catechesis at the moment. I’ll post tomorrow. God bless all of our children going back to school.

We hear time and again that parents are the first catechists of their children…and rightly so. I try to remember this when I am teaching, reminding myself that I am an ally of parents. Of course some parents are more invested in their children’s religious formation than others. My job is to do all that I can to provide parents with opportunities to embrace their role as the primary catechists of their children. Having said […]

Psychologists at the University of Texas have released the results of a study of nearly 2000 people that identifies 237 reasons why people have sex. Now I know that there are lots of things about the results of this survey that are bothersome, not the least of which is the casual approach to pre-marital and extra-marital sex that is so prevalent in our culture. However, I’d like to focus on a different perspective. I’m bracing […]