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Miscellaneous

Rest in Peace, Marco Matonich

I just found out that a very talented and loveable colleague passed away after a battle with cancer. Marco Matonich was a pastoral associate, liturgical musician, director of liturgy and evangelization at Divine Providence parish in Westchester, IL. Marco was a unique individual and he spread the love of Christ wherever he went. I am appreciative that he touched my life. May he rest in peace.

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Miscellaneous

11 Tips for Lesson Planning

Planning and preparation are key to the success of any catechist. Here are 11 tips to help you with your lesson planning: Long-Range Planning—The lesson you are planning is only part of a larger plan for the whole year. Make sure you get a picture of the whole calendar year and see how much time you have to carry out what you hope to accomplish. Get a good “feel” for how this lesson can build […]

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Webinars

Please note, we do NOT issue certificates for viewing recordings of Webinars. A New Catechesis for the New Evangelization: New Ardor, Methods, and Expression Catechists are at the forefront of the New Evangelization. We are called to “re-propose” the Gospel to the world, relying on an approach that is “new in its ardor, methods, and expression.” (St. John Paul II)In this Webinar, Joe Paprocki, DMin, will explore what a “new catechesis for the New Evangelization” […]

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Approaches/Techniques

Teaching Church Behavior

Last night, we had our end-of-the-year grade level meeting with Arlene, our DRE, and we talked about how things went this year and what we can do better next year. One of the main issues that came up was our concern over the kids’ behavior in church when we go over for prayer services or Mass. Each year, we go to the church probably five or six times: opening prayer for the year, Advent Reconciliation, […]

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Catechetical Leaders

Thanks for Helping Nancy!

A couple of days ago, I put up a post asking if folks could help Nancy in Puerto Rico who was asking about fees/tuition charged for parish religious education programs. Your response has been very generous! Here are more comments that came in by way of websupport: Hi Joe – I am a DRE in two parishes at the East End of Long Island which is part of the Diocese of Rockville Centre and I […]

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Teaching Skills

Reading from the Textbook: Breaking Up the Routine, Part Four

Most of us catechists are appreciative to have excellent catechetical textbooks from which we can draw forth the content of our rich Catholic heritage. That’s a fancy way of saying that in our lessons, we plan to have students read from the textbook. The problem is, that can become very routine and boring. Fear not! There are ways we can break up the routine while still reading from the textbook. I covered some of these […]

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Teaching Skills

Reading from the Textbook: Breaking Up the Routine, Part Three

Most of us catechists are appreciative to have excellent catechetical textbooks from which we can draw forth the content of our rich Catholic heritage. That’s a fancy way of saying that in our lessons, we plan to have students read from the textbook. The problem is, that can become very routine and boring. Fear not! There are ways we can break up the routine while still reading from the textbook. I covered some of these […]

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Teaching Skills

Reading from the Textbook: Breaking Up the Routine, Part Two

Most of us catechists are appreciative to have excellent catechetical textbooks from which we can draw forth the content of our rich Catholic heritage. That’s a fancy way of saying that in our lessons, we plan to have students read from the textbook. The problem is, that can become very routine and boring. Fear not! There are ways we can break up the routine while still reading from the textbook. I covered some of these […]

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Teaching Skills

Reading from the Textbook: Breaking Up the Routine, Part One

Most of us catechists are appreciative to have excellent catechetical textbooks from which we can draw forth the content of our rich Catholic heritage. That’s a fancy way of saying that in our lessons, we plan to have students read from the textbook. The problem is, that can become very routine and boring. Fear not! There are ways we can break up the routine while still reading from the textbook. I covered some of these ideas in […]

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Creative Moments

Passport to the Holy Land – Pics!

You may recall that during Lent, I passed along some info about a friend of mine, Victor Valdez (DRE at St. Athanasius, Mountain View, CA), who was organizing a special event for his religious education program titled Passport to the Holy Land, 2010. Recently, Victor sent me an email reporting that the event came off very nicely and he sent along the following description with some very nice pics of the event. Enjoy! Passport to […]