church Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Catechist's Journey

We Encounter Jesus through Signs

Here’s my lesson plan for Monday, November 15, 2010 Big Idea: We encounter Jesus through SIGNS (the Church and the Sacraments) Engage As the kids enter, hand them the Signs and Symbols worksheet and have them get busy with it. When all have gathered, do opening prayer ritual and then review correct answers for worksheet Explain that today we will be learning about signs and symbols of our faith Invite 3 volunteers to come forward for […]

Yesterday’s Class – Concern About Those Who Are Homeless

Joe Paprocki

Last evening’s session went very nicely as we looked at Jesus’ Law of Love (Love one another as I have loved you) and learned about how we are called to imitate Jesus’ love for others. Here’s a summary: We had a nice review of our last session which was 2 weeks ago. I held up a can of Play-Doh and asked, “Anyone remember what we learned?” and one girl said, “That we can shape our […]

Remembering Why I Drive 30 Minutes to Go to Mass on Sunday

Joe Paprocki

Recently, my wife and I got in the car to drive to church for Sunday Mass. We typically make this half-hour journey each week even though we have a half-dozen parishes within 10 minutes of our home! Why? Because we’re liturgical snobs! Seriously though, our experience of the local parishes has been mediocre at best, with liturgy celebrated (I hesitate to even use that word) in a very perfunctory manner. We typically seek 3 things: […]

Summary of My Session on 9/21/09

Joe Paprocki

I had a very enjoyable session last night! Here are the highlights: We began in church with an opening prayer service with the pastor. I met my group out in the parking lot and they were jovial and polite. I had a full class with the 2 absentees from last week being present. The kids were very well behaved in church…I was quite pleased to see that. My aide Lucy was there as well and […]

Off to a Good Start?

Joe Paprocki

Are you off to a good start this year as a catechist? Please share your comments with me and your fellow catechists about your first session (click on Comments below). My first session last night went very well, thank God! Today I’ll share some observations about the Engage step, which, being the first class, took about 35 minutes: My aide had a family issue to tend to and was unable to be there last night […]

Online Catechist's Retreat – Week 3: An Openness to the Church

Joe Paprocki

Welcome to Week 3 of our Online Catechist’s Retreat (The Spirituality of the Catechist) as we take a look at the second characteristic of our spirituality: An Openness to the Church. Thanks so much for insights posted last week on the theme of our openness to God! Your stories were very inspiring as we venture forth in this retreat. If you’re just joining us, you can go back and “catch up” and then come back to […]