Catechetical Sunday 2018: Enlisting Witnesses for Jesus Christ

The theme for Catechetical Sunday 2018 is “Enlisting Witnesses for Jesus Christ.” The following articles by Joe Paprocki, Julianne Stanz, and other catechists and catechetical leaders explore themes of discipleship and evangelization related to that theme.

joyful gathering of people
Catechetical Leaders

Seven Principles of an Evangelizing Community

Julianne Stanz

The Church which “goes forth” is a community of missionary disciples who take the first step, who are involved and supportive, who bear fruit and rejoice. —Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, no. 24 How can we tell if our evangelization efforts are working? We know that many times we are called to scatter the seeds of Good News without ever reaping the harvest. Part of the difficulty in assessing evangelization efforts is due to the highly […]

No Picture
Catechetical Leaders

Discipleship Pledge Cards for Pentecost

Joe Paprocki

In planning for Pentecost, too often, we stop at the perfunctory: ask everybody to wear red, sing some Holy Spirit hymns, and invite people to read the Prayers of the Faithful in different languages. If we really want to form adult disciples, however, and honor this day for what it truly stands for, we can and must speak about mission and evangelization! Pentecost is the day on which the Church embarked on her mission: followers of […]

stories - the word
Approaches/Techniques

Show and Tell: Sharing Your Story of Faith

Julianne Stanz

Children ask a lot of pointed and profound questions about God that can be difficult for us to answer. Right up there with the question of “Why do bad things happen to good people?” has to be the question “What’s your story of faith?” or “Why do you believe in God?” While our students might not ask such questions using exactly these words, they will often try to ferret out from us why we believe […]

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Junior High

Being a Disciple Takes Practice

Denise Gorss

In a recent session, my class talked about being a disciple in the context of Ordinary Time. Since this Church season occupies most of the liturgical year, the discussion centered on how we can follow Jesus in everyday life. We focused on the works of mercy as ways to practice our discipleship. I set the stage by holding up a poster-sized copy of the liturgical calendar and gave a brief introduction to how we mark […]

The Spiritual Life of Catechists - text over image of person praying with Bible - manusapon kasosod/Moment/Getty Images
Growing as a Catechist

The Spiritual Life of Catechists: Missionary Zeal

Joyce Donahue

Have you ever met someone who was “on fire” for God? When you encounter someone who speaks about faith with contagious enthusiasm, that’s missionary zeal. It’s memorable—and contagious. Zeal is not a word we use much today. The dictionary defines zeal as “great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective,” but in Scripture it has a deeper meaning. It can describe a fierceness against those who oppose God (see 1 Kings […]