The start of the new catechetical year has always brought me much excitement for the graces that will come; it has also brought a little anxiety as I think about the ways that God will stretch me as I strive to serve my students. These feelings are magnified for me this year, as this new catechetical year also marks the start of a new chapter in my life. I recently left my position as the […]
It seems so simplistic to suggest that as leaders in catechetical ministry we need to be catechists to our catechists, but that is what the Lord calls us to be. Just as a catechist needs a manual to guide him or her through leading the sessions, so, too, we may also need to provide a spiritual handbook or other guidance along the way. St. Thomas Aquinas (patron of students) advises: “Hence we must say that […]
Now that summer is over and it’s back-to-school, I’d love to hear from some of you about your experience of teaching/coordinating Vacation Bible School (VBS). All too often, VBS can be thought of as just babysitting when, in reality, some wonderful and amazing things can happen to deepen the faith life of young people as well as those who teach them. A very interesting article appeared on Busted Halo entitled, “What I Learned From Teaching Vacation Bible […]
When children walk into faith formation sessions in your parish, what do they see: another classroom like they have been sitting in all day in school? Or is it an inviting space that makes it easy to form community, where matters of the heart and spirit can be shared? Does your faith formation space “speak Catholic” through sign, symbol, and a welcoming atmosphere? When Joe Paprocki suggests in Beyond the Catechist’s Toolbox that religious education […]
It’s back-to-school time for my children. We’ve spent weeks buying new clothes, backpacks, and school supplies. They went to school orientations, they met their teachers, and they even attended a pre-school pep rally. On the first day of school, our prep work paid off. They all knew where they were going and what to expect, and they were open to a new school experience. Just as my kids had to prepare to go back to […]
Not that long ago, I posted about my newly formed playlist of what I call “Go-To Hymns”—songs that are easy to sing along with and can be used easily for prayer services when a pastoral musician or song leader is not present and if you are not comfortable leading song. It occurred to me recently that another piece of music that should be a part of every Catholic playlist is a Litany of Saints. Talk […]
In an ideal world, all of our recruitment for catechists would have wrapped up early in the summer, so that now we could just move forward with training, formation, and the start of the catechetical year. In reality, however, we know that last-minute openings pop up, and catechetical leaders find themselves scrambling to do some last-minute recruitment of catechists. It’s important to remember that, while time is short, we must not compromise on our standards […]
There are many ways we can teach about the saints. We can ask young people to write a report about their favorite saints. We can have the class choose a patron saint. We can include facts about saints in our weekly lessons. But when I think about the way I talk about my friends, I don’t talk about them as if they were a collection of facts from a Wikipedia page. I don’t say what […]
In this election year, I’ve decided to use a general outline of the political process as a multi-week activity for my seventh-grade class to learn about the saints. I’ll frame this lesson as selecting a patron saint for our year together. This will be an opportunity to look to the saints as role models who exhibit heroic virtues worthy of examples of the Christian life. First, we’ll meet the pool of candidates. I’ll help the […]
Catechetical Sunday is less than a month away! This year’s theme is “Prayer: The Faith Prayed,” drawing from the fourth pillar of our Catholic faith (Creed, Sacraments, Morality, and Prayer). The National Conference for Catechetical Leadership (NCCL) has put together a Catechetical Sunday Digital Toolkit with links to a number of excellent resources, for not only Catechetical Sunday, but also for deepening the prayer lives of God’s People. Of course, the USCCB (United States Conference […]
Copyright © 2006-2024 Loyola Press. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution, or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of Loyola Press is expressly prohibited.