Bishop Larry Silva stood at the doorway to my office holding a tray stacked high with freshly baked brownies. “Jayne, I’m here to say hello and to thank you for your hard work! Care for a treat?” He served up a brownie, and we chatted amicably for a few moments. I watched him make his way down the hall, stopping at each office to offer a sweet treat, recognizing the efforts of his employees and […]
“I have called you by name, you are mine,” says the Lord. (Isaiah 43:1) This intimate connection we have with God is a gift to be celebrated. Being named Kathleen, I’ve gone through life with people automatically assuming I want to be called “Kathy” or “Kate.” I don’t want to be called something else; my name is Kathleen. When I meet my religious education students, the first thing I do is ask them their names […]
Cool-headed, analytical, driven—these words were often used to describe Scott, a veteran soldier in the United States Army. Yet, there he was, a shy grin on his face as he approached his pastor, who had called him forward to be recognized as a new catechist. He gratefully accepted his welcome gifts: the Holy Bible with his name engraved on the cover, a rosary carved from a native hard wood, and an official catechist name badge. […]
Welcome to the first installment of an eight-week series I’m doing this summer here on Catechist’s Journey on the Catholic sacramental vision. “Discovering the Nearness of God” will draw from my book, Living the Sacraments: Finding God at the Intersection of Heaven and Earth. I’d like to begin by stating emphatically that the most urgent message for us to spread today is the good news of the nearness of God! We live during a time […]
Editor’s note: In our online book club, we’re reading Jane Knuth’s The Prayer List…and Other True Stories of How Families Pray. Each Tuesday through August 7, 2018, we’ll bring you Book Club Bonus Days—sharing additional stories of family prayer, continuing the weekly conversation, and more. Find all the book club posts here. Family Rosary Daily prayer with a large family is a bit like being a circus performer where one has to keep a bunch […]
The Vietnamese Holy Martyrs Catholic Community in the Diocese of Honolulu have an annual youth camp. The core team had finalized their plans for 2018. The campsite was booked; the program content was finalized; the activities and their optimum placement were all mapped out: prayer service in the chapel, sessions in the common room, outdoor grilling for lunch, a Scripture-themed scavenger hunt on the playing field, skits and s’mores around the outdoor fire pit. Now […]
Editor’s note: In our online book club, we’re reading Jane Knuth’s The Prayer List…and Other True Stories of How Families Pray. Each Tuesday through August 7, 2018, we’ll bring you Book Club Bonus Days—sharing additional stories of family prayer, continuing the weekly conversation, and more. Find all the book club posts here. As we start our book club discussion of Jane Knuth’s The Prayer List, I’ve been invited to share my memories of family prayer. […]
Our online book club starts on Monday! As we get ready to read together The Prayer List by Jane Knuth, I asked Jane to share more about prayer and the book with us. Joe Paprocki: When you inherited your family prayer list, your first reaction was, “Uh-oh.” Tell us more about that reaction. Jane Knuth: Frankly, it looked like a lot of work to me. Aunt Kay spent hours each day praying for people, and […]
I was about to meet with a parent who had a reputation for being overly assertive. I was a little nervous, but as a catechetical leader, it was my duty to support my ministry team. This parent had upset a second-grade catechist; she had tried to reason with him to no avail. She pleaded with me to intercede. He sat across the table from me, whipped out his phone and rather ceremoniously set the timer. […]
As we celebrate the Lord’s Ascension, just about all of us have moved into the more peaceful period between the end of the religious education year and the start of Vacation Bible School. When I worked in a parish, I savored each and every one of those days, and as I was praying, I turned to St. Luke’s version of the Ascension story (Luke 24:50–53). What struck me in those few verses is that Jesus’ […]
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