Holy Spirit Archives - Page 3 of 5

5th Anniversary Celebration – Guest Blogger #5: William O’Leary

Today, I’m featuring William O’Leary as the 5th guest blogger for the 5th Anniversary celebration of my blog, The Catechist’s Journey. William, who lives in Kansas City, Kansas, with his wife and 3 children, blogs at Catechesis in the Third Millennium. William works at the Church of the Ascension in Overland Park as the Director of Religious Formation, a program with approximately 1,000 students. He is a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville where he received a BA and MA in […]

Legacy Mural Workshops

Joe Paprocki

While in Green Bay, WI, last week, I met an artist, Connie Greany, who offers a unique way to reach people and allow them to express themselves through ceramic mural creation. The workshops she offers result in a beautiful mosaic created by the participants. She has a brochure (no Web site) that describes the workshops and provides information on scheduling and costs. You can contact Connie at 920-257-8597 or at cgreany@sbcglobal.net. Here are some pics she […]

Stories on the Journey – Not Bad, If I May Say So Myself!

Joe Paprocki

The Holy Spirit accomplishes some wonderful things through our efforts as catechists! So, as we share success stories, keep in mind that we are not bragging about ourselves but are giving praise to the Holy Spirit! With that in mind, let’s spend the rest of this week sharing stories based on the theme of “Not Bad, If I May Say So Myself!” Share a brief story (in the Comments box below) – just one or two paragraphs […]

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 […]

What’s Your Story? Touching the Sacred

Joe Paprocki

Here’s a beautiful story from Jean about how a moment when she felt touched by the presence of God in her catechetical ministry. Shortly before my class was to make their first Communion, one of the mothers said she did not believe her son was ready since he was unable to answer the questions in the Baltimore Catechism. I explained that we had used a different book and approach to teaching. She was dubious so […]

Week Three of Stories on the Journey – Touching the Sacred

Joe Paprocki

I can’t thank you enough for the wonderful stories you’ve been sending in for Stories on the Journey, our summer renewal experience here on Catechist’s Journey! If you’ve just joined us, take a look: Week One: How Did I Get Into This? Week Two: Kids Say/Do the Darndest Things Now, it’s on to Week Three and our topic is: Touching the Sacred – describe a time when you really and truly felt the presence of God […]

A Language of Mystery

Joe Paprocki

Funny how a segue I had planned for my class this past Monday turned out to be one of the most significant moments of the entire session, thanks to one of my students and the Holy Spirit. I was seeking to introduce the concept of SIGNS and how we encounter Jesus through the signs we call the Sacraments. I invited 3 volunteers to come forward for a “contest.” I had 3 clear plastic cups on a […]

A Gift from Jesus

Joe Paprocki

At the end of my workshop In Hartford, CT, on Saturday (speaking on leading guided reflections), a priest came up to chat with me. I hesitate to call him an elderly priest because, although he was obviously up there in years, he had such a youthful attitude that it made him seem quite young. Anyway, the priest was telling me how he’s been doing guided reflections in catechesis for many years and that one thing […]

Good Voices & Bad Voices

Joe Paprocki

The most successful part of yesterday’s class was our discussion of which voices we should listen to in order to shape a good conscience and which voices we need to avoid or “erase” in order to avoid temptation. First, I brought in a mini-cassette recorder and passed it around so that each child could say something which they really enjoyed. I played it back and they all got a kick out of listening to themselves […]