The word catechist comes from the Greek word “to echo.” As catechists, we echo the teachings of the Church. We also echo our own personal relationship with Jesus Christ through our words and deeds. This series of articles will look at the ministry of catechesis through the lens of the word echo. We will explore what it means to be a catechist who echoes hope, love, truth, and mercy. First, we begin with four characteristics […]
Welcome to the final installment of this brief series on sharing stories of hope during Advent. Previously, we’ve talked about how, through storytelling, we share our most important values, and how the stories we share, especially about people in need, must be stories of hope or “action motivators” rather than “action inhibitors.” During the holiday season, it is common to share stories about people in need of our charity and support. In his book, Cannonball […]
In part one of this series, Advent: Sharing Stories of Hope, I wrote about how storytelling is a way of sharing our values (that which is most important to us) and how hope is a virtue that we highlight during the Advent season. Advent reminds us that we are to be a people of hope year-round, each and every day. We are to be people who carry and exude a confident and joyful anticipation of […]
Recently, my wife Joanne and I went on a trip to Cabo, Mexico, for our best friends’ daughter’s wedding. We spent four wonderful days in Mexico with our best friends, and when we returned home, we gathered with them, just three days later, to look at pictures and share stories. That might seem like a strange thing to do, since we had just been together for this shared experience. However, it is human nature to […]
In a previous episode of Pop-Up Catechesis, we looked at virtues as good habits that we practice in order to walk the path of holiness. Traditionally, the virtues have been identified as the Theological Virtues (faith, hope, and love) and the Cardinal Virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance). In this episode of Pop-Up Catechesis, we explore the second of the Theological Virtues: hope. For more information about the virtues and, in particular, the virtue of hope, check out […]
This is the fifth and final article in a series on the five characteristics of Catholic identity and how we can nurture those in our children. In his apostolic exhortation The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis cautions Catholics against becoming “sourpusses” (85). Pessimism and defeatism are not Catholic attitudes. We are people of Easter joy because of our confidence in the Resurrection. Our attitudes are rooted in our identity, so as we help our […]
Optimism is at the very heart of the Kingdom of God, and before we invite someone to consider following Jesus, we had better show some optimism. To be Christian is to have a disposition of optimism and not despair. We are not doomsayers. By the same token, we do not see the world through rose-colored glasses. We are realists. We see, feel, and experience pain, violence, sadness, hurt, and evil. However, our faith teaches us […]
How are you holding up? Let’s face it, this pandemic is really taking its toll on us in a variety of ways. We know already that the holidays can be a time of despair for some people—a situation that will be made even worse with shelter-at-home orders that will prevent holiday gatherings from happening. More than ever, we need some hope! As catechists, we are called to be bearers of hope, bringing the hope-filled message […]
Gandhi once said, “When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.” It seems to me that a simple way of doing a daily Examen is to ask ourselves, What did I do today that made my soul expand? and What did I do (or fail to do) today that made my soul constrict? Unlike our waistlines, which we struggle to prevent from expanding, our goal […]
This is the final article in a series exploring the Beatitudes as they relate to being a catechist. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:10) Happy are the catechists who live in hope, for they will always find God at their side. I asked my ninth-grade class: “Do you want to know what I really get out of our faith?” That got their attention. […]
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