In today’s episode of Pop-Up Catechesis, we look at how to read the Bible together as a family with a focus on the Scripture readings for the upcoming Sunday, using the Sunday Connection. For more on reading the Bible as a family, check out the following: Using the Bible in Family Prayer: Praying with Young Children Leading Young Children in Prayer with the Bible Exploring the Good Word This Week as a Family
During this ongoing COVID-19 crisis, as families continue to find themselves hunkered down in their homes and unable to gather with others—including for church or faith formation—we at Catechist’s Journey thought it would be a good idea to provide some Pop-Up Catechesis. This is a new series of one-minute videos with bite-size suggestions for how to make faith alive in the home. These will appear here on Catechist’s Journey every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for […]
Like many catechists, I found myself in a strange, new place this spring when the coronavirus closed our parish and required us to suspend all activities. I was determined to find ways to stay connected with my first-grade class. I knew the parents were already feeling overwhelmed, so I wanted to create easy and engaging activities that would make them want to participate with their children. I also wanted to create something that had a […]
While we are accustomed to hearing the phrase, “Keep Christ in Christmas,” I think the bigger challenge is keeping Christ in Easter. After all, even secular society seems to enjoy or at least tolerate nativity scenes; no one feels threatened by a newborn baby. I always thought it would be interesting, however, if Christians decorated their homes for Easter by putting a scene of the empty tomb in front of their homes with figures of […]
This year, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and the cancelling of church services, families have the opportunity to observe the Triduum—the three days of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday—at home. Here are some ideas: Holy Thursday On this day, we recall the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, and the agony in the garden. To recall the institution of the Eucharist, the […]
I find it strangely ironic that, as catechists, we have always expressed a desire for parents to be more involved in their children’s faith formation and now, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, parents have been thrust into this role. The problem is, parents can feel as though they’ve been thrown into the deep end of the pool unless we provide them with the support they need and deserve to form their children in faith. One such […]
Recently, I shared some tips for parents teaching religion lessons at home during the COVID-19 crisis. Now, I’d like to take a moment to speak directly to folks using either of our Loyola Press programs, Finding God or Christ Our Life, for at-home lessons. As a Catholic publisher, our mission is to provide you with the resources you need to facilitate transformative experiences of God for the children and families you serve. In light of the current […]
In the midst of this COVID-19 threat, many parents find themselves in the position of doing a certain amount of homeschooling with their children, including teaching religion lessons that would normally be taught in Catholic schools or parish religious education programs. Teaching religion lessons is different from teaching other subject areas, because in faith formation, we do not teach a subject, we facilitate an encounter with Jesus Christ! With that in mind, here are 10 […]
This is a powerful paragraph from the Catechism about the role of parents in faith formation: Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. (CCC 2223) Education in the faith by the parents should begin in the child’s earliest years. This already happens when family members help one another to grow in faith by the witness of a Christian life in keeping with the Gospel. Family catechesis precedes, accompanies, and enriches other […]
The following is excerpted from All God’s People: Effective Catechesis in a Diverse Church by Donna Toliver Grimes. As a catechetical leader, you are called to form not just children but entire families. Moving forward, your task is to equip and empower families to once again embrace their role as the domestic church: a place where faith takes root and is nurtured. What approaches does the twenty-first-century catechetical leader need to take to make this […]
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