Growing as a Catechist Archives - Page 5 of 9

Lawn Chair Catechism at CatholicMom.com Featuring A Well Built Faith!

I’m excited and flattered that my book, A Well-Built Faith, has been chosen for CatholicMom.com’s Lawn Chair Catechism this summer! I’ve had fun working on the promotional materials with them for this endeavor (see left and below!). Here is how they describe the experience: Welcome to the second “Lawn Chair Catechism” at CatholicMom.com! This is an opportunity for you to kick back while you study along with us. We’ll be using A Well-Built Faith: A […]

A Catechist’s Self-Assessment

Joe Paprocki

With the end of most religious education program years occurring, this is a good time for catechists to do a little bit of self assessment. Feel free to use the following by yourself, with a peer or group of peers, or with your DRE. 1 = poor/I disagree 2 = fair/I somewhat disagree 3 = good/I somewhat agree 4 = excellent/I agree I became more aware of my vocation as a catechist 1 2 3 […]

How to Lead Spontaneous Prayer – As Easy as Ber-a-khah!

Joe Paprocki

For many Catholics, the thought of being called upon to lead a spontaneous prayer can darn near bring on a panic attack! Never fear! Our Judeo-Christian heritage provides us with a simple formula to follow that will guide you in organizing your thoughts into a cohesive, intelligent, and heart-felt spontaneous prayer. First, take a look at his prayer offered by King Solomon (2Chronicles 6:14-17). At first, it looks like a lot of words, however, we’re […]

Catechizing Like Colbert

Joe Paprocki

For some years now, I have been a fan of Stephen Colbert, host of “The Colbert Report” (pronounced Col-behr Re-pohr) on Comedy Central. Colbert makes no secret of his Catholicism and uses his show, from time to time to do some unconventional catechizing. Below is one of my favorites Now, America Magazine has done a feature on Colbert titled “Truth and Truthiness: What Catholic catechists can learn from Stephen Colbert.” In short, the article emphasizes how Colbert […]

Under the Influence of Jesus – My New Book is Now Available!

Joe Paprocki

Yesterday was my first day back at work after the Christmas break and it turns out that Santa was still in the giving mood! I was surprised to receive a copy of my new book, Under the Influence of Jesus: The Transforming Experience of Encountering Christ. I believe this book will be a wonderful tool for the New Evangelization! In it, I capture the essence of what happens to a person when he or she […]

The Ignatian Key to Opening Doors of Faith – or – Going Contagious with Ignatius!

Joe Paprocki

The theme for Catechetical Sunday (September 15, 2013) this year is… It just so happens that St. Ignatius of Loyola holds the key to unlock and open the “Door of Faith!” St. Ignatius taught that the most effective way to persuade someone to your way of thinking is to “enter through their door but be sure to leave through your door.” What he means by this is that we need to make a connection between […]

The Engaged Catechist: Forming Catechist Enrichment Groups

Joe Paprocki

In his book, Growing An Engaged Church (Gallup Press), Albert L. Winseman explains that, without true engagement, volunteers burn out quickly. He identifies 3 ways to make an immediate impact on the level of engagement of church members: clarify the expectations of membership help your members discover what they do best create small groups I think these can (and should) be easily applied to catechists, who, without engagement, do indeed burnout quickly. Those catechists who […]

The Six Tasks of Catechesis #6: Promoting a Missionary Spirit

Joe Paprocki

Recently, we began a series here on my blog about the six tasks of catechesis, focusing on the notion that God is calling each of us to fulfill a role that he has planned for us. Just as actors rely on certain strategies to immerse themselves in character, we too rely on certain strategies to “immerse” ourselves in the role that God is calling us to fill: the “best version of ourselves” (to borrow a phrase from […]

The Six Tasks of Catechesis #5: Preparing to Live in Community

Joe Paprocki

Recently, we began a series here on my blog about the six tasks of catechesis, focusing on the notion that God is calling each of us to fulfill a role that he has planned for us. Just as actors rely on certain strategies to immerse themselves in character, we too rely on certain strategies to “immerse” ourselves in the role that God is calling us to fill: the “best version of ourselves” (to borrow a phrase from […]

The Six Tasks of Catechesis #4: Teaching to Pray

Joe Paprocki

Recently, we began a series here on my blog about the six tasks of catechesis, focusing on the notion that God is calling each of us to fulfill a role that he has planned for us. Just as actors rely on certain strategies to immerse themselves in character, we too rely on certain strategies to “immerse” ourselves in the role that God is calling us to fill: the “best version of ourselves” (to borrow a phrase from […]