Springs of Faith Archives - Catechist's Journey

From Marriage Prep to Accompanying Young Families

One of my favorite suggestions from the new Directory for Catechesis is that we drop the phrase “marriage prep.” In essence, this phrase has come to refer to a few “hoops” that an engaged couple has to go through in order to “qualify” for the Sacrament of Matrimony. The new Directory is urging us to move away from a programmatic approach to an approach that is characterized by true accompaniment. Too often, after a perfunctory […]

Proclaiming the Kerygma to Young Parents: A New Approach to Baptismal Preparation

Joe Paprocki

Imagine you were best friends with a TV executive whose network broadcasts football’s “Big Game” each year, and he/she decided to give you a free, 30-second commercial spot to explain who Jesus is and why people should follow him. You’ve got this one chance to speak to tens of millions of people about Jesus, but you only have 30 seconds. What do you say? If done correctly, your 30-second spot would deliver what can be […]

Make This Word Part of Your Catechetical Vocabulary: Mystagogy

Joe Paprocki

When I worked for my Uncle Joe at his pharmacy back in the day, he once had me use his car to make some deliveries. With the sun shining in my eyes, I pulled down the visor, which resulted in a number of small slips of paper falling into my lap. I glanced at the slips of paper and saw a list of words with definitions. When I asked my uncle about those slips, he […]

Welcoming, Accompanying, and Evangelizing Young Families

Joe Paprocki

In his book, Excellence in Ministry (part of The Effective Catechetical Leader series), my good friend Tom Quinlan makes a powerful plea for a significant shift in how we approach families when it comes to faith formation: I like to say that the “cement is wet” at Baptism and that by Confirmation (and even First Eucharist) the cement of family faith identity and practice has greatly or fully hardened. My strong exhortation for parishes today […]

Introducing Springs of Faith: A Catechumenal Approach to Infant Baptism Preparation

Joe Paprocki

For too long, infant Baptism preparation has been little more than a “hoop” to jump through in order for parents to have their baby baptized. That’s why I am so excited to share the news about a wonderful new program from Loyola Press: Springs of Faith. I’m proud to be associated with this program as I contributed to the writing of a number of its components and did catechetical reviews of most aspects of the […]