Religious Education Family Mass

Yesterday, St. Cajetan’s hosted a Religious Education Family Mass to celebrate what God is doing in the lives of those involved in the RE program. All of the catechists were asked to make displays and we set them up in the back of the church. Before and after Mass, many people browsed the displays and had a chance to meet and talk to the catechists and enjoy refreshments (after Mass!) I had a chance to […]

Mass, Parent Meeting, and All Saints/All Souls

Last night was a busy night for us in religious education since it was our monthly mass (the last Tuesday of each month) as well as the evening that I invited parents to attend so that I could meet them and spend some time with them. I really like the idea of the kids going to Mass once per month…they are learning more about the Mass and developing more familiarity with our liturgical life. The […]

VIRTUAL Pilgrimage to Italy, Day 6: The Tomb of St. Peter

After all of the VIRTUAL walking we did on the first several days of our VIRTUAL pilgrimage to Italy, my VIRTUAL feet were a tad tired! It was nice to sit yesterday at the International Conference for Catechists and to soak up so much wisdom concerning the catechetical ministry. Wasn’t Pope Francis wonderful? I love his comment about not keeping Jesus to ourselves lest we become like statues in a wax museum “and we have […]

Summary of Session Two (9/24/13) – Mass and Bible Basics

First of all, thanks to those folks who were concerned because they thought I actually flew home from Italy to teach my class and then fly back! I guess a few folks missed my emphasis on the word VIRTUAL in reference to the pilgrimage to Italy! I’m not on the actual pilgrimage but am conducting a VIRTUAL pilgrimage so that we can, in some small way, share in the experience of those pilgrims who actually […]

Session Two – September 24, 2013: Mass and Bible Basics

Wow! I had to rush home from my VIRTUAL Pilgrimage to Italy to get ready for my class tonight! Thankfully, cyberspace was pretty clear so I made good time! This evening will be my 2nd class with the 6th graders at St. Cajetan. One new feature that the parish is trying this year is to bring the young people to church once per month for Mass. This is a wonderful way to initiate young people […]

The Engaged Catechist: Forming Catechist Enrichment Groups

In his book, Growing An Engaged Church (Gallup Press), Albert L. Winseman explains that, without true engagement, volunteers burn out quickly. He identifies 3 ways to make an immediate impact on the level of engagement of church members: clarify the expectations of membership help your members discover what they do best create small groups I think these can (and should) be easily applied to catechists, who, without engagement, do indeed burnout quickly. Those catechists who […]

Ends With a Whimper, Not a Bang

Alas, the catechetical year with my 6th graders ended with more of a whimper than a bang last evening! Suffice it to say that their eagerness to be done with Monday night religious education sessions outweighed any anguish they were feeling about not seeing Mr. Paprocki any more! 🙂 Part of the problem stemmed from the usual shenanigans that one encounters when supervising a large group of pre-adolescents attending Mass on a Monday evening after […]

Lenten Family Mission – Mary, Seat of Wisdom Parish, Park Ridge, IL

This week, I have had the privilege of preaching a Lenten Family Mission at Mary, Seat of Wisdom parish in Park Ridge, IL, on the theme of the Mass (drawing from my book, Living the Mass). It has been an extraordinary experience of grace and I thank the good people of the parish for their strong turnout each evening of the Mission. Last night, I focused on the Liturgy of the Word and how it […]

Bible Basics Learning Stations: READY!!!

And finally, here are the 4 Bible Basics Learning Stations for this coming Monday evening’s session. That brings us to a total of 12 learning stations: 4 Old Testament; 4 New Testament; and 4 Bible Basics (below)! Bible Basics Learning Station – How to Find Things in the Bible Bible Basics Learning Station – Bible Timeline Bible Basics Learning Station – How Catholics Understand the Bible Bible Basics Learning Station – The Bible at Mass […]

Opening Mass Tonight; Thinking Ahead to Next Week

Tonight, our religious education program celebrates our Opening Mass in the Church which means that I will primarily be supervising my 6th graders as they gather for Mass and then throughout the Mass. This afternoon, I plan to go over their names so that this evening I will be able to greet them and talk to them by name. As we wait for Mass to begin, I thought I would do some Q & A […]

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