sharing stories Archives - Catechist's Journey

The Catholic Parents' Survival Guide: Straight Answers to Your Kids' Toughest Questions by Julianne Stanz - author pictured next to book cover

Do Young Children Have the Capacity for a Relationship with Jesus?

Enjoy this excerpt from The Catholic Parents’ Survival Guide. Question: Do young children have the capacity for a relationship with Jesus? —Javier and Gloria, parents of one Answer: Yes, children have a very real capacity to understand and develop a relationship with Jesus. Let me share this story with you. When my daughter was 3 years old, she could be a bit of a challenge at Mass. Coming forward to receive Holy Communion, for example, […]

red-haired boy - image by Adina Voicu from Pixabay

The Little Red-Haired Boy

Eileen Morgan

I was sitting at my desk after checking in on each of the faith formation classes. An aide from the first grade came into the office with a young boy. He had bright red hair, freckles, and a scowl that said he knew he was in trouble. The aide told me that she and the catechist had tried everything to get this boy to behave in class—time out, sitting with the aide, making sure they […]

Becoming a Catechist: Sharing Our Stories

Joe Paprocki

One of the most compelling means of persuasion is storytelling—especially stories from one’s own experience. For that reason, storytelling has a significant role to play in evangelization and catechesis. Often, however, when I speak to catechists about sharing their stories, their initial response is, “But I don’t have a story!” The truth is, however, that all of us have a story to tell; in fact, we have many stories! All we need is a little […]

Food for the Soul: The Mentoring of Chef Leah Chase

Joe Paprocki

In his writings, (Sharing the Wisdom of Time, Christus Vivit, and elsewhere), Pope Francis has encouraged us to recognize the gifts of the elderly and to find ways to share stories between young and old. In order for us to to this, it helps to learn from examples. Loyola Press is excited to offer such a learning opportunity, courtesy of a man I’ve known and admired for over 10 years, Dr. Ansel Augustine. Join Ansel and […]

Pop-Up Catechesis: Sharing Generative Stories

Joe Paprocki

Did you ever notice how we take events or episodes from our lives and turn them into stories that we share with others? Why do we do this? Psychologists explain that we do it, not just to entertain people, but to make sense out of events that would otherwise seem puzzling or random. Such stories can influence our future behavior as well as the behavior of others. For example, if we share a story of […]

word "family" written out on a chalkboard backgroud - image by Oberholster Venita from Pixabay

Bringing the World Meeting of Families to the Local Parish

Jayne Ragasa-Mondoy

On March 19, 2021, upon the fifth anniversary of Amoris Laetitia, the Apostolic Exhortation on the joy and beauty of familial love, Pope Francis declared the start of a Year of the Family, which will conclude on June 26, 2022, with the World Meeting of Families in Rome. One of the goals of this is to help families discover the joy of having a gift to share with the Church and society. Many would love to […]

6 Keys to a More Evangelizing Catechesis - text with mosaic tiles surrounding it

Six Keys to a More Evangelizing Catechesis: Storytelling

Joe Paprocki

We start today a new series, in which I will explore six keys to making our faith formation experiences more evangelizing. We begin with the art of storytelling, which just happened to be Jesus’ favorite way of teaching! “Tell me the facts and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.” This Native American proverb captures the essence of the power of […]

Storytelling (Video)

Joe Paprocki

Jesus’ preferred method of engaging others and teaching about the Kingdom was through storytelling. How can we get in touch with our stories of faith? Watch this video introduction to the topic. Read the post that inspired this video: Sharing Stories of Faith. Sharing the Wisdom of Time is a collection of stories about elders from around the world. From over 30 countries, elders share their wisdom carved from lifetimes of experience.

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The Power of Witness and Appropriate Self-Disclosure in Faith Formation

Jared Anderson

St. Paul VI once wrote, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.” (Evangelii Nuntiandi) As someone who recently transitioned from youth minister to third-grade teacher at a Catholic school, I’ve been seeking a balance between my identities of witness and teacher in order to bring my students closer to Jesus. I have been on too many retreats where “witness […]

Connecting with Other Catechists

Bob Burnham

Like the families we serve, catechists are a diverse group. We are of different generations (my fellow catechists include millennials, gen-X’ers, and baby boomers); we come from different backgrounds (some are cradle Catholics, others were baptized as adults, still others like myself came into full communion with the Catholic Church from another Christian tradition); and we grew up experiencing different cultural traditions (one friend of mine likes to share the traditions she learned from her […]