You searched for reconciliation - Page 16 of 19

Year of Faith Retreat – Week 2, Day 4: We Are All Broken (The Sacraments of Healing)

WEEK TWO: Sacraments (Celebrating the Christian Mystery) DAY 4: We Are All Broken (The Sacraments of Healing) No doubt you are familiar with Horatio Alger. Horatio Alger, Jr. was a 19th century American author who wrote a number of what came to be known as “rags-to-riches” stories, which embodied what became known as the American Dream—that is, the idea that through hard work, determination, and courage, anyone could lift themselves up out of poverty. This kind of thinking is […]

What Are YOU Doing to Maintain Your Spiritual Wellness?

Joe Paprocki

In last night’s Webinar on The 7 Keys to Spiritual Wellness (if you missed it, a recording will be available here on my blog within a few days), I began by asking what folks are doing to maintain their spiritual wellness before I added my suggestions. Here’s a sampling of what folks are doing (I love the variety!) What are YOU doing to maintain your spiritual wellness? Daily mass Daily prayer active participation in […]

Catechists in Action – Fr. Matt Visits Steve’s Lascola’s 3rd Graders

Joe Paprocki

In this segment of Catechists in Action, 3rd grade catechist Steve Lascola welcomes the Associate Pastor, Fr. Matt to class to speak to the children about recieving the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Watch for the following: Steve has the children stand to greet Fr. Matt as he enters – a nice show of respect. Steve welcomes Fr. Matt as the “expert” on Reconciliation Fr. Matt goes over the sheet that outlines the procedure for going to […]

Catechists in Action – Steve Lascola Tells the Story of the Prodigal Son

Joe Paprocki

In this segment of Catechists in Action, 3rd grade catechist Steve Lascola tells the story of the Prodigal Son in preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Watch for the following: Steve introduces the story of the Prodigal Son as a love story To keep their attention from wavering, Steve continually pauses to add his own thoughts, to restate things in his own words, and to ask questions of the children. Steve summarizes the story and […]

Catechists in Action – Steve Lascola Teaches About the Lord’s Prayer

Joe Paprocki

In this segment of Catechists in Action, 3rd grade catechist Steve Lascola teaches about the Lord’s Prayer and forgiveness as he prepares the children for the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. Watch for the following: Steve reads some thoughts about the Our Father from a book about Our Lady of Medjugorje. (Steve agreed with me afterwards that this was above the kids’ heads and that things we personally find edifying may not always connect with […]

Catechists in Action – Steve Lascola the Storyteller

Joe Paprocki

In this segment of Catechists in Action, 3rd grade catechist Steve Lascola tells the children the story of Zaccaheus as part of their preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Watch for the following as Steve: asks for extra special attention reads the story slowly, pausing to comment as he goes along explains why Zacchaeus was not liked by others invites the children to think about a time when they had a fight with a friend […]

Catechists in Action – Meet Steve Lascola

Joe Paprocki

Welcome to another edition of Catechists in Action where we have an opportunity to watch real-life catechists teaching their weekly religious education sessions. Today, we meet Steve Lascola, a 3rd grade catechist at Most Holy Redeemer parish in Evergreen Park, IL. Steve’s “day job” is coaching so we have another opportunity to see how a guy with a coaching mentality translates that into catechetical ministry. It is especially unique to see a guy like Steve […]

40 Ideas for 40 Days

Joe Paprocki

For Lent 2025 resources, visit https://www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/liturgical-year/lent/. Ash Wednesday Wednesday, February 14 My Lenten Calendar: 40 Crosses Color a cross each day for 40 days showing good deeds done out of love for Jesus. Thursday, February 15 Lenten Actions Cards Encourage families to take practical steps toward practicing the traditional Lenten pillars of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Friday, February 16 A Prayer for Fasting Pray with young people to help them understand the purpose of fasting. […]

Catechists in Action – Katie Elwood Teaches About the Sacraments

Joe Paprocki

In this segment of Catechists in Action, we once again join 2nd grade catechist Katie Elwood as she prepares her children for their First Holy Communion. Watch as Katie… talks about the Sacrament of Baptism asks the children to name how many sacraments there are asks the children to name the 7 sacraments invites her aide to give a clue about Matrimony saying, “what happens when you’re older….your mom and dad did what?” Incredibly, a […]

A Little Rusty

Joe Paprocki

Last evening’s class went very nicely, however, I really felt like I needed to ovecome some “rust” after a few weeks of not teaching (because of interruptions in the schedule). For one, I forgot to include our little ritual gesture of marking our foreheads, lips, and hearts with the sign of the Cross at the start of class! Didn’t think about it till I got home and was reviewing in my mind how the class […]