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Catechists in Action

Catechists In Action – Meet Dan Ward!

It’s time to get back to our Catechists in Action series where we get to be a fly on the wall, observing everyday catechists performing their ministry. I’d like you to meet Dan Ward, a 7th grade catechist at Most Holy Redeemer parish in Evergreen Park, IL. Dan is a high school teacher and coach in the Chicago Public School system. I’ve been talking recently about the image of the catechist as coach and Dan personifies […]

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Approaches/Techniques

The Catechist as COACH

  I’m always amazed at how many men I see coaching their kids’ soccer, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and even lacrosse teams! And yet, so few men feel called to serve as a catechist when, in my mind, it is another form of coaching. Perhaps too many men view being a catechist as a feminine/nurturing role that they are not comfortable with. Fortunately, a growing number of men are discovering how to serve as catechists in […]

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Approaches/Techniques

A More Worshipful Catechesis

The General Directory for Catechesis (#85) tells us that the most effective catechesis takes place within a climate of prayer. With that in mind, I constantly urge catechists to do all they can to make their sessions resemble going to church more than going to school. We do this by incorporating the language of liturgy—a language of mystery that includes sign, symbol, and ritual—into our catechetical sessions. Following is a template that I offer to […]

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Growing as a Catechist

5th Anniversary Celebration – Guest Blogger #6: Lisa Hendey

Today’s guest blogger hosts one of the most popular blogs in the Catholic blogosphere! Lisa M. Hendey is the founder and editor of www.CatholicMom.com and the author of A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms and The Handbook for Catholic Moms. She hosts the Catholic Moments podcast and actively speaks around the country on faith, family life and social media topics.  In an email to me, Lisa said, “I am not a catechist (and never have […]

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Approaches/Techniques

5th Anniversary Celebration – Guest Blogger #5: William O’Leary

Today, I’m featuring William O’Leary as the 5th guest blogger for the 5th Anniversary celebration of my blog, The Catechist’s Journey. William, who lives in Kansas City, Kansas, with his wife and 3 children, blogs at Catechesis in the Third Millennium. William  works at the Church of the Ascension in Overland Park as the Director of Religious Formation, a program with approximately 1,000 students. He is a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville where he received a BA and MA in […]

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Approaches/Techniques

5th Anniversary Celebration – Guest Blogger #3: Lisa Mladinich

To help celebrate the 5th anniversary of my blog, The Catechist’s Journey, I’ve invited a number of people to be guest bloggers here over the course of a week! Today, I am featuring Lisa Mladinich, a Catholic wife and mother, catechist and workshop leader, and the author of the popular booklets, “Be An Amazing Catechist: Inspire the Faith of Children,” and “Be an Amazing Catechist: Sacramental Preparation” available from Our Sunday Visitor. She is the founder […]

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Approaches/Techniques

5th Anniversary Celebration – Guest Blogger #2: Jared Dees

To help celebrate the 5th anniversary of my blog, The Catechist’s Journey, I’ve invited a number of people to be guest bloggers here over the course of a week! Today, I’m featuring Jared Dees, the creator of The Religion Teacher, where he shares practical resources, activities, lesson plans, and teaching strategies for catechists and Catholic school religion teachers. He is the Digital Publishing Specialist at Ave Maria Press, where he manages websites, eBooks, and eTextbooks. He […]

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Approaches/Techniques

5th Anniversary Celebration – Guest Blogger #1: Gilles Côté

To help celebrate the 5th anniversary of my blog, The Catechist’s Journey, I’ve invited a number of people to be guest bloggers here over the next week! We start with one of the first people I “met” online when I began blogging, Gilles Côté, a Canadian living in Ottawa, who is the webmaster of 4CatholicEducators.com and of its sister site Resources for Catholic Educators. Gilles taught grades 7 through 12 for 23 years in Catholic […]

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Joe's Comings and Goings

Catechist’s Journey 5th Anniversary – Question #4

To celebrate the 5th anniversary of my blog, Catechist’s Journey, we’re hosting a little contest. Each day this week, I’m posting a video in which I ask a trivia question and, in order to correctly answer, you’ll need to go back and look at one of my posts. The first person to post a comment with the correct answer will win a prize! Here are the prizes: Monday: Three Children’s books by Amy Welborn: Book of […]

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Joe's Comings and Goings

Catechist’s Journey 5th Anniversary – Question #3

To celebrate the 5th anniversary of my blog, Catechist’s Journey, we’re hosting a little contest. Each day this week, I’m posting a video in which I ask a trivia question and, in order to correctly answer, you’ll need to go back and look at one of my posts. The first person to post a comment with the correct answer will win a prize! Here are the prizes: Monday: Three Children’s books by Amy Welborn: Book of […]