Pop-Up Catechesis with Joe Paprocki
Family Catechesis

Pop-Up Catechesis: Speaking God’s Language Through Rituals

There is a fine line between routine and ritual. A routine is something we do the same way habitually, with little or no thought. Every morning, we mindlessly follow a routine: turn off the alarm, turn on the coffee pot, eat a bowl of cereal, brush our teeth, and so on. A ritual is something we do the same way habitually, with deep, intentional thought. Blessing ourselves with holy water, genuflecting, anointing with oil, walking […]

Pop-Up Catechesis with Joe Paprocki
Prayer/Guided Reflections

Pop-Up Catechesis: Speaking God’s Language Through Silence

When I was in high school, I remember being told by a Jesuit priest (one of my teachers) to listen for God in the silence. This was no easy task. First of all, it was not easy for me to find a quiet place in a home that I shared with my eight siblings! Second, when I did find some silence, I never heard God speaking to me. When I related this to the priest, […]

Pop-Up Catechesis with Joe Paprocki
Art and Music in Catechesis

Pop-Up Catechesis: Speaking God’s Language Through Music

Throughout their history, the Jewish people have included music in every facet of living. Believing that humans are created in the image and likeness of God, the Jewish people easily concluded that God does indeed sing, since his creation is filled with music (Psalm 96:1, Isaiah 55:12), and our souls are compelled to give praise to God in song (Psalm 27:6). The prophet Zephaniah assures God’s people that God “will take great delight in you; […]

Pop-Up Catechesis with Joe Paprocki
Catechetical Issues & Topics

Pop-Up Catechesis: Speaking God’s Language Through Signs and Symbols

Throughout Scripture, God’s presence is manifested symbolically, in a burning bush, a pillar of fire, a column of smoke, clouds on a mountaintop, a mighty wind, a whispering sound, a dove, or tongues of fire. God did not reveal himself as a hologram in the same fashion as Princess Leia appeared to Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan Kanobi in Star Wars. Instead, God chose to reveal his mysterious, transcendent, invisible, and intangible presence through tangible, […]

Pop-Up Catechesis with Joe Paprocki
Scripture

Pop-Up Catechesis: Speaking God’s Language Through Bible Stories

According to linguist Noam Chomsky, “Language embodies the world view of a culture and is unique to the culture that created it. It reflects values and concepts that are deemed to be the most important by a culture. A language describes the culture it comes from.” For this reason, it is imperative that Catholic parents speak God’s language at home, especially when children are preparing for a sacrament. What do we mean by the phrase, […]

Pop-Up Catechesis with Joe Paprocki
Liturgical Seasons & Feasts

Pop-Up Catechesis: Ordinary Time

In most sports, the playing calendar calls for a training season, a regular season, and a playoff season. The training season is focused on refining the skills needed for the regular season. The playoff season is the climax of the season’s competition, with the ultimate goal of achieving a championship. That leaves us with the regular season: the long stretch of time when players and teams are called to put their skills into practice on […]

Pop-Up Catechesis with Joe Paprocki
Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Spirit

Pop-Up Catechesis: Pentecost and the Fruits of the Holy Spirit

Recently, I enjoyed watching Death on the Nile, a Hercule Poirot mystery in which the Belgian detective uses his keen skills to gather clues leading to the solving of a complex crime. Like all detectives who themselves did not witness the crimes they are investigating, Poirot relies on his skills of observation to gather clues leading to an irrefutable conclusion. As we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, we are reminded that we, too, must rely […]

Pop-Up Catechesis with Joe Paprocki
Easter

Pop-Up Catechesis: Easter and the Spiritual Works of Mercy, Part 2

All Christians are called to be a “Resurrection People,” and that means that in our thoughts, words, and actions, we are to embody and exemplify hope and joy and to share that with others, especially those experiencing despair. For this reason, the 50 days of Easter provide a wonderful opportunity for us to practice the Spiritual Works of Mercy—acts of compassion by which we help our neighbors with their emotional and spiritual needs. In a […]

Pop-Up Catechesis with Joe Paprocki
Easter

Pop-Up Catechesis: Easter and the Spiritual Works of Mercy, Part 1

The 50 days of the Easter season provide us with plenty of time to spread the hope and joy of the Risen Christ to others. One of the ways that we do this is by performing Spiritual Works of Mercy. While the Corporal Works of Mercy aim to help our neighbors with their material and physical needs, the Spiritual Works of Mercy aim to help people with their emotional and spiritual needs. All works of […]

Pop-Up Catechesis with Joe Paprocki
Easter

Pop-Up Catechesis: Easter and the Joy of Moving Forward

It’s interesting to note that, in a number of the post-Resurrection stories in the Gospels, Jesus’ disciples are stuck in the past. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus lament, “We were hoping.” (Luke 24:21) Peter is well-aware of his denial of knowing Jesus, when the Risen Christ asks him, “Do you love me more than these?” (John 21:15) The Apostles are locked away in the upper room, paralyzed by fear and aware that […]