service Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Catechist's Journey

Five Ideas for Including the Year of Mercy in the Classroom

After my first year working as the Director of Faith Formation, I realized that I had spent very little time focusing on Christian service with my students. Though service has been a great influence on my own faith, with our calendar already packed with so much curriculum to cover, service seemed like something extra—something nice to have if we could find the time. The Year of Mercy, however, offers catechists a unique opportunity to be […]

Service Within the Context of Faith and Discipleship

Joe Paprocki

More and more, I am finding that many parishes have numerous adults involved—under the radar, in many respects—in giving service to others. On a weekly basis, folks are visiting/staffing food pantries, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and so on. They are preparing sandwiches, folding clothing donations, and delivering meals to people. All of this is wonderful. However, we are not doing enough to help people see their efforts through the lens of faith. There are numerous […]

Connecting Catechesis to Social Action

Eric Gurash

With the catechetical year set to get underway in just a few weeks, now is a good time to reflect on where you are directing your efforts and decide on any changes that you may need to make in the year to come. This evaluation and planning process may benefit from a brief review of the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC). Intended to be a central reference point for all aspects of catechesis, the GDC […]

Looking for Ideas for Do-it-Yourself Service Projects

Joe Paprocki

I’m looking for ideas for “do-it-yourself” service projects—things that can be done on site at the parish with 20 or 30 adult volunteers in a couple of hours. One such idea, albeit quite ambitious, is the Helping Hands project from Catholic Relief Services. This requires 40 volunteers and a minimum of two hours to package 10,000 meals! For the upcoming Year of Mercy, I hope to work with a local parish to organize opportunities for […]

A Culture of Service

Barb Gilman

Joking with my students one day I said, “Jesus didn’t gather his apostles around him and say, ‘Lets do a service project!’” Jesus gave us an example of how to serve one another, and I like to encourage a culture of service in my classroom. Teaching service as a way of life can be challenging with younger children. Our students are very empathetic, and I find that having many service projects throughout the year uses […]

Service, Adult Faith Formation, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society

Joe Paprocki

Let me start by emphasizing that service to others is a constituitive element of all faith formation, including adult faith formation (see the Six Tasks of Catechesis). With that in mind, I met last evening with 2 extraordinary gentlemen (both named Bill) from the St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Barnabas parish in Chicago where I am exploring the ins and outs of adult faith formation. Both of these gentlemen are in their 70s and […]

Preparing for Our Mercy Experience – Permission Forms, etc.

Joe Paprocki

Tonight, before taking the kids to church for their monthly Mass, we will focus on our upcoming Mercy Experience (formerly known as service projects!). On April 21, we will be going to the Ronald McDonald House near Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, IL, to prepare and serve supper for about 30 people currently residing there. Kudos to my DRE, Deb, and to St. Cajetan for strongly suggesting that EVERY grade of religious education be […]

In Honor of Dorothy Day: “Mercy Experiences” Instead of “Service Hours/Projects”

Joe Paprocki

If Dorothy Day stood for anything, it was the centrality of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy in the life of Catholics. She once said that everything a baptized person does should be, directly or indirectly, related to the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Unlike some who reduce Christianity to a philosophy, Dorothy Day knew that Christianity was an embodied set of practices: things that we DO for others. In his book, The […]

PDFs from “Teaching During a Year of Faith” Webinar

Joe Paprocki

Here again are the PDFs that I made available after last evening’s Webinar, “Teaching During a Year of Faith” (a recording of the Webinar will be available here in just a few days!) Classroom Covenant Chart for Praying the Nicene Creed Leading to Memorization Practical Suggestions for Practicing the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy Resources for Leading Guided Reflections Social Justice Organization Websites PLUS, here’s a new one that I put together as a […]

Year of Faith Retreat – Week 2, Day 5: Because It’s the Right Thing To Do (The Sacraments at the Service of Communion)

Joe Paprocki

WEEK TWO: Sacraments (Celebrating the Christian Mystery) DAY 5: Because It’s the Right Thing to Do (The Sacraments at the Service of Communion) I once took a group of high school youth to visit Fr. Larry Craig, who was the chaplain at Cook County Jail in Chicago. Fr. Larry was a pretty tough cookie with a chiseled face like Clint Eastwood and a husky voice like Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone). One of the kids asked him […]