service Archives - Catechist's Journey

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Service Opportunities for Families During Lent

The Directory for Catechesis reminds us that the family “is indeed a Christian education more witnessed to than taught, more occasional than systematic, more ongoing and daily than structured into periods.” (227) Lent is a perfect time for parents to give witness to their children of the importance of serving others. During Lent, we make efforts to pray, fast, and give alms. Almsgiving is an activity that the whole family can participate in, because it […]

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Catechists as Mystagogues: Leading Others into the Mystery of the Cross

Joe Paprocki

Jesus taught that, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13) He then proceeded to lay down his life for us by dying on the Cross. We Catholics place crucifixes in our homes and places of worship and formation as a reminder of the mystery of our faith: it is by dying that we are born to eternal life. This is the kind of love that […]

The Difference Between a Hero and an Idol

Joe Paprocki

When I was growing up, most of my “heroes” were sports figures: Ernie Banks (Chicago Cubs), Bobby Hull (Chicago Blackhawks), Muhammed Ali (boxing). In retrospect, I think it’s safe to say that they were my idols rather than heroes. An idol is simply someone who is adored for various reasons: good looks, accomplishments, charisma, and so on. A hero, on the other hand, is someone who puts personal needs aside and goes above and beyond […]

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Engaging Our Little Ones in Service: It Is the Way

Joe Paprocki

One of the first lessons we teach our children when they begin interacting with other children is to share. Even if something belongs to them, we encourage them to share with others. To borrow a phrase from The Mandalorian: “This is the way.” Indeed, sharing with others is integral to “the way” of Christian life. We call this way of living stewardship—the sharing of our time, talent, and treasure with others. I would contend that, […]

Pop-Up Catechesis: Finding Hidden Heroes in Our Everyday Lives

Joe Paprocki

We usually think of a hero as someone who has done something very dramatic, such as running into a fiery building to save someone who is trapped or rescuing someone who is drowning in a lake, river, or pond. Certainly, such acts are heroic. However, a hero is simply someone who puts personal needs aside and goes above and beyond the call of duty to make a profound and positive impact on the life of another. […]

Preparing Hearts and Minds: 9 Simple Ways for Catechists to Cultivate a Living Faith - blog series based on book of same title

Preparing Hearts and Minds Strategy 4: Invite a Leap of Faith

Joe Paprocki

As we continue our summer series, Preparing Hearts and Minds: 9 Simple Ways for Catechists to Cultivate a Living Faith, we explore apprenticing those we teach in laying down their lives for others. Strategy #4: Invite a leap of faith. It is a fairly common practice in advertising to garner attention by making a claim about a product or service that is counterintuitive and requires a “leap of faith.” For example: a diet plan promises that you […]

Service as a Catalyst for Missionary Discipleship

Julianne Stanz

The corporal works of mercy play an important part in discipleship. When acts of service are planned to intentionally proclaim the Gospel and treat all people as if they were Jesus in disguise (see Matthew 25:34–40), they are a catalyst for initial and ongoing conversion. In her wisdom, the Church outlines a systematic and comprehensive process of evangelization and faith formation that nurtures conversion. This process of evangelization includes the following five stages. Pre-evangelization Initial […]

How to Be a More Evangelizing Catechist #4: Don’t Avoid the Cross

Joe Paprocki

It is a fairly common practice in advertising to garner attention by making a claim about a product or service that is counterintuitive or defies commonly accepted reasoning. For example: a diet plan promises that you can lose weight in 30 days while eating all the bacon you want; a light beer promises robust flavor with only 64 calories; a body lotion promises to physically reshape your body; a bracelet promises to relieve arthritic pain. […]

In-House Service Experiences: Reading Books to Young Children

Joe Paprocki

It’s not always easy for young people to arrange to participate in service experiences, since they rely on adults for transportation. Likewise, as a catechist or teacher, it can sometimes be difficult logistically to plan opportunities for your students to participate in off-site service experiences. One solution is to arrange for older children to spend some time reading books to younger children! Young children love to be read to. In addition to that, reading aloud to […]

Empowering Young People to Become Women and Men for Others

Joe Paprocki

Here’s a great idea that Fr. Tom Sweetser, SJ, recently passed along in his newsletter from the Parish Evaluation Project (reprinted with permission). The St. Francis Xavier Elementary School in Phoenix, AZ has as its mission and purpose, “Empowering students to become men and women for others through faith, service, and justice.” One concrete way of carrying out this mission is a creative project for the 7th and 8th grade students called The Arrupe Project. It was […]