God Archives - Page 4 of 6 - Catechist's Journey

Year of Faith Retreat – Week 1, Day 1: God’s Revealing Moments

Welcome to our online summer retreat, Preparing for a Year of Faith! Take a few minutes each day at your convenience to “gather” here on my blog as we seek to add some flavor to our faith lives by deepening our understanding of the truths of our faith as given to us in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Learn more about the Year of Faith. Watch a brief video explaining what this online retreat is […]

Learning the New Nicene Creed By Heart

Joe Paprocki

One of my Lenten promises this year is to learn by heart (memorize) the new Nicene Creed. Of all the Roman Missal changes (people’s parts), the changes to the Nicene Creed (and the Gloria) are by far the most significant. I think it’s important to be able to recite the Creed from memory so I am attempting to learn it by heart this Lent. I spent time on the train this morning working on it […]

Catechists in Action – Katie Elwood Teaches How to Spread God’s Word

Joe Paprocki

In this segment of Catechists in Action, 2nd grade catechist Katie Elwood teaches her class about how to spreak God’s Word. Watch as she… transitions by inviting the kids to stand up and give praise to God invites the children to read from their text book relates what they read to a previous discussion about sharing good things with others explains how we are called to spread the good news about the Holy Spirit to […]

Tim Tebow, Sports, and Prayer

Joe Paprocki

Sports is HUGE with kids, so no doubt, kids are interested in the success of Tim Tebow and all the talk about the “miracles” associated with his success, including yesterday’s stunning overtime victory in the NFL playoffs. In case you’re not up-to-date on the whole Tebow phenomenon, here’s a quick summary. For kids, the question that the whole Tim Tebow experience raises is whether or not God answers our prayers when it comes to things […]

Getting Spiritually Fit this New Year!

Joe Paprocki

I commented a few days ago about the fact that many of us commit to getting physically fit in the New Year and, while there is certainly nothing wrong with that, perhaps it would be even more important to get spiritually fit! My new book, 7 Keys to Spiritual Wellness will help you to do just that. To be spiritual is to recognize that, in life, there is more than meets the eye. Spiritual wellness enables […]

The Catechist as COACH

Joe Paprocki

I’m always amazed at how many men I see coaching their kids’ soccer, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and even lacrosse teams! And yet, so few men feel called to serve as a catechist when, in my mind, it is another form of coaching. Perhaps too many men view being a catechist as a feminine/nurturing role that they are not comfortable with. Fortunately, a growing number of men are discovering how to serve as catechists in […]

An Interesting Update

Joe Paprocki

Some time ago, a catechetical leader shared her comments here about the total revamping of the catechetical program at her parish. I invited her to update us which she has done. Some interesting and innovative approaches: Dear Joe, I shared with you how we completely revamped our religious ed. program. You invited me to share more, so “here goes.” I had been a catechist for about 16 years before I became the Director of Faith […]

What’s Your Story? “Not Bad, If I May Say So Myself!”

Joe Paprocki

“Not Bad, If I May Say So Myself!” Bernadette shares some wonderful thoughts about a very successful lesson she taught: I was one of the facilitators at a weekend retreat for a small group of Confirmation candidates. The theme was”Who am I?” In the introductory session I invited them to play a simple game. As they sat in a circle we pinned the names of well know people (local & international) on their backs. Their […]

A Weekend Full of Stories on the Journey – Touching the Sacred

Joe Paprocki

As we enter into this weekend, I invite you to spend some time enjoying Stories on the Journey, our summer experience of catechists sharing their stories of the ups and downs, joys and challenges of being a catechist. This week’s topic is Touching the Sacred. What’s your story? Take a moment to describe a time when you really and truly felt the presence of God (the power of the Holy Spirit) in your work as a […]

Touched by the Sacred – Let’s Hear Your Story

Joe Paprocki

Beautiful story from Karen: I teach RCIA for kids (2nd – 6th grades). During Lent, right before they will be baptized, we do the Stations of the Cross. We have some posters that I put up around the room and down the hallway. At the last minute, I decided to add a candle for each one since they had really enjoyed lighting the one we used for our opening prayer each week. We went through […]