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Memories of Family Prayer

I have to admit that, although I grew up in a very Catholic family, our experiences of family prayer were usually somewhat formal and perfunctory, consisting primarily of saying Grace before a meal, going to Mass together, or praying silently at the gravestone of a deceased relative. I don’t recall experiences of spontaneous prayer in which my parents or anyone else, for that matter, bowed their heads and prayed extemporaneously about a situation we were […]

The Prayer List by Jane Knuth - online book club

An Interview About Prayer with Author Jane Knuth

Joe Paprocki

Joe Paprocki, D.Min., interviewed author Jane Knuth about prayer and her book, The Prayer List. 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 didn’t want to invest that much time in it. I was busy! I didn’t have time to […]

Supporting Your Catechists

Jayne Ragasa-Mondoy

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. […]

Ascension Leads to Looking at Summer Spiritual Experiences

Paul Gallagher

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’ […]

Take a Deep Breath in May

Kathy Henry

The month of May might just be one of my favorite times of the catechetical year. May provides an opportunity for DREs to take a deep breath, a momentary pause between the conclusion of the school year and the beginning of the summer. We delight in empty classrooms and suddenly open calendars. We return supplies to their places, clean out the clutter, and organize the paperwork. After all the Easter celebrations, May Crownings, First Communions, […]

Jesus: Not What the Church Teaches but Who the Church Lives

Julianne Stanz

“But how do we know Jesus was an actual person and not just made up?” John, one of my tenth-grade students, asked. “I know what the Bible says, but do we have any other evidence?” As catechists we are often asked this kind of question, and it can catch us by surprise. The temptation when faced with a question like this is to offer a standard response such as, “Well, the Catholic Church teaches us […]

Preparing for First Holy Communion

Cindy Coleman

Every year, the number one question from my second graders as they prepare for First Holy Communion is, “Mrs. Coleman, what does it taste like? My brother said it tastes like paper.” My typical response to this concern is, “Does your brother often eat paper?” My concerns as a catechist are a bit different than the children’s. The closer we get to First Eucharist, the more I worry: Are they ready? Do they truly understand? […]

Saint Peter: Flawed, Forgiven, and Faithful by Stephen Binz

Fishing for Men and Women

Special Contributor

If Jesus wanted to choose the ideal person to lead his church into the future, where would he look for such a person? We might suppose he could find such a person in Jerusalem, among the priests of the temple or perhaps among the educated and talented nobles of the city. Yet the person Jesus called for the task was not found among the religious leaders or the noble families of the capitol city. Simon […]

Holy Week: Entering the Passion Story

Joe Paprocki

As we journey through this holiest of weeks, and especially the Triduum, I invite you to reflect and respond to one or both of the following questions: Which character(s) in the Passion story do you find most intriguing (whether they are inspiring or tragic) and why? If you could paint a picture or create a sculpture of one moment in the story of Christ’s Passion, what would it be and why? I invite you to […]

Story, Art, and Prayer in Holy Week

Denise Gorss

Holy Week presents a perfect opportunity for catechists to change what might be the usual format for the session and create a retreat-like atmosphere to explore themes from this climax of the liturgical year. I do that in my seventh-grade classroom by focusing on several prayer experiences and activities aimed at helping the young people grasp the story of Jesus’ Passion and Death. I’ve written before about Preparing for Holy Week in Junior High, but […]