You searched for pop-up catechesis - Page 20 of 20

girl holding pot in front of family working at a soup kitchen - fstop123/E+/Getty Images

Service Opportunities for Families During Lent

The Directory for Catechesis reminds us that the family “is indeed a Christian education more witnessed to than taught, more occasional than systematic, more ongoing and daily than structured into periods.” (227) Lent is a perfect time for parents to give witness to their children of the importance of serving others. During Lent, we make efforts to pray, fast, and give alms. Almsgiving is an activity that the whole family can participate in, because it […]

mother-daughter hug - Syda Productions/Shutterstock.com

Ritual and Remembering in Preparation for the Eucharist

Jayne Ragasa-Mondoy

When my daughter Catherine was in elementary school, we developed a school drop-off and pick-up ritual. Before leaving the car, I’d look lovingly into her eyes, smile, and trace the sign of the cross on her forehead, saying, “Blessings upon your day!” When I’d pick her up from the after-school care program at the end of the day, she’d often be playing with friends at the farthest corner of the school yard. The playground supervisor […]

Equipping Parents to Share Eucharistic Adoration with Their Children

Darcy Osby

Several years ago, I was redesigning my First Communion retreat to make it more experiential, especially the portion where I have the parents by themselves for a few moments while the children are participating in another activity. I was contemplating how I could not only teach the parents about, but also allow them to experience the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, so that they could pass that gift on to their children. […]

girl in stillness - photo by Jaren Jai Wicklund/Shutterstock.com

Cultivating Stillness

Julianne Stanz

In the First Book of Kings, we read an interesting story about how God makes himself known to us. The prophet Elijah is told to go out on a mountain and wait for the Lord to pass by. A mighty wind passes by, “but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was […]

Trinity - art © Loyola Press. All Rights Reserved.

Praying with the Trinity

Darcy Osby

The Trinity is a beautiful mystery that cannot be fully explained or understood through human language, which makes it a challenge to communicate to children when we rely on words in our catechesis. The early Christians came to know God as trinitarian through their lived experiences of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We can help children to identify their own experiences of the Persons of the Trinity and therefore come to a […]

Presentation - Detail from "The Fifteen Mysteries and the Virgin of the Rosary" by Netherlandish Painter (possibly Goswijn van der Weyden, active by 1491, died after 1538), ca. 1515–20, public domain via The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Joyful Mysteries: The Presentation and Carrying the Light

Joe Paprocki

Today, we continue our reflections on the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary by looking at the Fourth Joyful Mystery: the Presentation. One of the distinguishing features of the Christmas season is lights. As December rolls along, more and more homes light up inside and out with Christmas lights, which serve to dispel the darkness of winter. As each Sunday of Advent reaches us, an additional candle is lit on our Advent wreaths, increasing the light […]

stained glass of the Assumption of Mary - detail of the Glorious Mysteries - image by Daniel VILLAFRUELA, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Glorious Mysteries: The Assumption of Mary

Julianne Stanz

We reflect this Easter season on the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. One of my favorite stained-glass windows is in St. Nicholas Cathedral in County Galway, Ireland and echoes the words of Pope John Paul II, who declared that “the future of humanity passes by way of the family” (On the Family, 86). Entitled The Window of the Holy Family, it beautifully depicts Jesus, Joseph, and Mary in a very ordinary way. Joseph is depicted […]

Crucifixion - image by Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Sorrowful Mysteries: The Crucifixion and a Curtain Torn from Top to Bottom

Joe Paprocki

As we draw near the end of Lent, we pause to reflect on the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary: the Crucifixion. Growing up in a very Catholic family, in a very Catholic neighborhood in Chicago, and attending a Catholic school ensured that I was in church every Friday afternoon of Lent for the Stations of the Cross and on Good Friday for services that included the reading of Jesus’ Passion. Among the many things that I […]

Jesus carrying the cross - image by Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Sorrowful Mysteries: The Carrying of the Cross and the Heaviness of Discipleship

Joe Paprocki

As we continue our Lenten journey, let’s reflect on the Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: the Carrying of the Cross. When Jesus was sentenced to death by Pilate, he was made to carry his Cross—most likely a wooden cross beam weighing about 75–100 pounds, which would then be attached to a wooden pole already in the ground on Calvary. The Gospels and the Stations of the Cross remind us that, under this burden, Jesus, in his weakened […]

Crowning with Thorns - image by Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Sorrowful Mysteries: The Crowning with Thorns and a Different Kind of King

Joe Paprocki

Today we pause to reflect on the Third Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary: the Crowning with Thorns. According to the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ Passion, Jesus was mocked by the Roman soldiers. One of these acts of mockery was to place a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head to ridicule the king of the Jews. This mockery went further with the placing of a purple robe on Jesus’ wounded body and a sign placed above his […]