sports Archives - Catechist's Journey

Books

Bringing Sports and Faith Together: “All In” by Coach Porter Moser

Early on in my career, I was once gently criticized by a colleague for using too many sports metaphors in my writing and speaking. Having taught religion for a decade in an all-boys high school, I found that references to sports resonated with my students, and so I relied on them quite often. My colleague suggested that sports references were “masculine” and excluded the girls. Perhaps there was a time when this was true, but we […]

Boasting about Boston

Joe Paprocki

I had a wonderful day in the Archdiocese of Boston today, meeting with about 60 catechetical leaders for a Being, Knowing, and Doing professional development workshop. Big thanks to Susan Abbott (Director, Office of Religious Education) and Susan Kay (Assistant Director for Catechetical Leadership) for arranging the event and to all the good folks who so enthusiastically participated in this day. Congrats to your Boston Bruins for winning game 7 of their series against the Montreal Canadiens! Enjoy it now […]

Does God Decide Who Wins Based on Our Prayers?

Joe Paprocki

I’ve written about this before, but every year the issue comes up again when teams are playing for championships. The matter touches very close to home this year with the Chicago Blackhawks battling the Philadelphia Flyers for the Stanley Cup. A friend of mine who grew up in Chicago, is a big Hawks fan, but now lives in Princeton, NJ, not far from Philly, sent me the following, which is about a nun and priest […]

Catholic Athletes for Christ

Joe Paprocki

No class tonight because of Columbus Day. I was thinking yesterday that it will be unusual to have a Monday night off. Then, I was looking at the Chicago Blackhawks’ schedule and saw that they are playing a home game tonight and I thought to myself that it’s unusual for the Hawks to play a home game on a Monday night…but at least I’d be home to watch the game on TV. Then, at 10 pm last […]

God, Sports, and Religious Education

Joe Paprocki

I’m from Chicago, a BIG sports town (bigger than ever this week with Da Bears in Da Superbowl!). Often, sports can be a thorn in the side for catechists: students miss religious ed. classes because of games, tournaments, and practices and, worse yet, they and their families often miss Mass on Sunday because of games and tournaments. These are serious issues that need to be addressed. On the other hand, I’m a huge sports fan […]