Catechist's Journey

Poll: When Do You Celebrate Christmas with Your Faith Formation Group?

My wife taught for years at several different Catholic high schools, and she recalls how, in one school, the principal insisted that there be no Christmas decorations during Advent, while at another school, the principal wanted the school festooned with Christmas decorations so that visitors to open house could see them! As catechists, we want to celebrate Christmas with those in our faith formation groups; however, most often, we end up not seeing them for […]

Books Make for Wonderful Christmas Gifts!

Joe Paprocki

According to Pew Research, roughly a quarter of U.S. adults (27%) indicate that they haven’t read a book in the past year. A great way to remedy that is to gift those you love with books this Christmas! There are many benefits to reading books, including mental stimulation, stress reduction, exposure to knowledge, inspiration, escape, vocabulary expansion, memory improvement, and more! Loyola Press is happy to provide you with a Christmas Gift Guide to help you […]

Christmas and Catholic Identity (Video)

Joe Paprocki

Catholic identity is characterized by five traits that are integral to the Christmas story, and Christmas can help us to strengthen our Catholic identity. Learn more in the video below. Read the post that inspired this video: Christmas and Catholic Identity.

Christmas Gifts for Young Readers and Families from Loyola Press

How the Gifts You Give Can Help “Keep Christ in Christmas”

Joe Paprocki

You can always expect to receive certain kinds of Christmas presents from certain people. For example, I could always expect to receive gifts of some kind of clothing from my mom, because she felt it was her duty to keep me properly dressed. And she made no apologies for that! As catechists, we should make no apologies for offering gifts to others at Christmas that focus on the centrality of Christ. In other words, the gifts […]

Christmas Bible Story Booklet

Joe Paprocki

To help you share the Christmas story with children, we’re happy to share a Christmas Bible story booklet with you. The text of the booklet is from the Loyola Kids Book of Bible Stories by popular Catholic children’s author Amy Welborn. Print out the booklet and share with your class in a session on the birth of Jesus, or send copies home for families to enjoy together. Use copies as Christmas cards to your students, […]

Godparents: Get Your Godchild a Different Kind of Christmas Gift

Joe Paprocki

To be asked to be a child’s godmother or godfather is such an honor, because we know that we are being asked to play an important role in that child’s faith development. Unfortunately, we often feel at a loss for how to do that. This is especially true at gift-giving times when we often resort to giving money, which I’m sure the kids love, but which does not really express the depth of the relationship […]

Christmas Gift Ideas for Catechists: Books!

Joe Paprocki

People often ask me about making arrangements to purchase books at a special rate for teachers and catechists at Christmastime, which is right around the corner! I’m happy to say that Loyola Press has heard your request and is responding by making the following books available at a special rate ($5 each when you order 15 or more of the featured books in any combination) so that you can say “Merry Christmas” and show appreciation […]

Christmas and Catholic Identity

Joe Paprocki

The celebration of Christmas is unabashedly Catholic. I describe Catholic identity as being characterized by five traits: a sense of sacramentality a commitment to community a deep respect for the dignity of human life, leading to a commitment to social justice a reverence for tradition a disposition to faith and hope and not despair These five characteristics are integral to the Christmas story, and Christmas can help us to strengthen our Catholic identity. I offer […]

The Manger and the Message: The Real Story of Christmas in Less Than Two Minutes

Joe Paprocki

Here’s a resource from a friend of mine that I know you will like. Bret Nicholas worked with me at Loyola Press for a number of years and contributed greatly to the titling and marketing of many of my books and for that, I am eternally grateful. He runs his own publishing business and has authored an outstanding little resource called The Manger and the Message: The Real Story of Christmas in Less Than Two […]

Thank God for the Textbook!

Joe Paprocki

On pg. 40 of my book, The Catechist’s Toolbox, I mention that one of the top ten things that can go wrong for a catechist is “You’re done with your lesson and you still have 35 minutes to go!” Would you believe 50 minutes? That’s exactly what happened to me last night! We took our 6th graders to church for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and we were told to anticipate that it would take the […]