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40 Ideas for 40 Days—Lenten Activities: Avoiding Temptations

Avoiding Temptations Arrange the young people in pairs and invite them to brainstorm a list of temptations that young people their age can try to avoid during Lent. (Examples: gossiping, calling people names, being lazy, and so on.) Then, have them identify strategies for resisting temptation. (Examples: praying, doing another activity to avoid thinking about the temptation, talking to a parent, teacher, or older friend/relative, and so on.) Have each pair report their ideas to […]

Lent FAQ with Joe Paprocki – A Short Video

Joe Paprocki

With Ash Wednesday being only two weeks from tomorrow, I thought that now would be a good time to offer you a brief video titled Lent FAQ with Joe Paprocki. It includes some simple answers to some of the frequently asked questions about the Lenten season. Why do we have a season of Lent? Why is Lent 40 days? Why do we start Lent by wearing ashes? Why do we practice prayer, fasting, and giving […]

Lent is Just Around the Corner – Living Stations, Anyone?

Joe Paprocki

Lent is just around the corner (Ash Wednesday is February 25, 2009) and catechists are looking for lenten ideas and activities to mark the season. I have 2 very special plans for this blog: First, I am collecting scripts for the Living Stations of the Cross to make available to you through my blog. Many parishes involve their young people in the Living Stations of the Cross and write their own scripts that they develop […]

40 Ideas for 40 Days – Lenten Activities: Declaration of DEpendence – Photos and Directions

Joe Paprocki

Today’s idea is something that catechists of every grade level can take advantage of – I call it the Declaration of DEpendence. I originally came up with this idea when teaching about the Lord’s Prayer. It occurred to me that, with its seven petitions, the Our Father is clearly a prayer that expresses our complete dependence upon God. This is, of course, in stark contrast to the independence that we all strive for in our […]

Valentine's Day and Outward Signs

Joe Paprocki

I find Valentine’s Day to be a wonderful opportunity to talk about the Church’s sacramental life. A traditional definition of a sacrament is “an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.” For the most part, this is a good definition, especially the phrase “outward sign.” Catholic sacramentality basically expresses our belief that the invisible God can be recognized and encountered through the physical world. That’s why we use water, oil, bread, wine, flame, etc. […]

So, What Are You Doing for Lent?

Joe Paprocki

Catechists typically practice what they preach and, this time of the year, we are preaching Lent to our students. That leads me to ask, WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS LENT? What is your spiritual plan for growth? How are you practicing the Lenten disciplines? Let’s take the next couple of days to just share our thoughts, insights, and experiences around this question.

young woman looking at her reflection in pool - text: Reflecting on Our Individual and Communal Prayer Mini-Retreat - Malte Mueller/fStop/Getty Images

Reflecting on Our Individual and Communal Prayer Mini-Retreat: Pray Without Ceasing

Joe Paprocki

In preparation for the Jubilee Year 2025, Pope Francis has asked Catholics to prepare by dedicating time in 2024 to “promote initiatives to remind people of the centrality of both individual prayer and community prayer.” With that in mind, I invite you to a three-part mini-retreat devoted to reflecting on our individual and communal prayer. May your life of prayer be enriched and filled with abundant blessings! Pray Without Ceasing I’m sure you are familiar […]

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Visiting the Church in Different Seasons

Eileen Morgan

Instead of doing one long tour of the church with students, think of doing a church tour in pieces. Let students get up close and personal, asking questions about the place we celebrate our faith and sacramental life. One way to do this is to visit the church during the different seasons of the liturgical year or before special feasts. For All Saints Day, look at the images of the saints in and around the […]

Family Catechesis: Reporting from Inside the Home

Joe Paprocki

Recently, I had the privilege and pleasure of being invited into the home of a family to observe a mom working with her third-grade son on a Finding God faith formation lesson! I’m excited to share my observations of this wonderful experience. Mrs. K. is participating in the Finding God family catechesis program at St. Barnabas Parish. As regular readers know, I have been volunteering there this year to lead the monthly parent sessions. Mrs. […]

St. Barnabas Family Catechesis: Learning About Catholic Identity

Joe Paprocki

Yesterday, we had our March session of Finding God family catechesis, and our topic was Catholic identity (part of Finding God Unit 3, which focuses on the topic of Church). We had a very good session! Here are some highlights: We welcomed back Patrick McGowan, our catechetical leader, after a medical leave. Patrick remained with me to do the parent session since Deacon Andy was unavailable. One of the catechists stepped in to Patrick’s usual […]