Catechist’s Journey

A Different Kind of Homework for R.E.

May 23rd, 2008 by Joe

I’m pondering a different kind of homework for my religious education students for next year.

Typically, we think of homework as completing some type of worksheet, writing an essay or a paragraph, or reading a chapter and answering questions.

I’m talking about a different kind of homework: assignments that amount to practicing what we preach. In other words, we hope that what we teach our young people will have an impact on how they live on a daily basis. We are trying to apprentice them into a way of life. Perhaps we can devise assignments that require them to attempt a new “skill” for Christian living with the idea that, on the following week, we could talk about their experience.

What might I be thinking about? Here are some examples based on Catholic social teaching:

1. Life and dignity of the human person: Think of someone at school who is often “left out.” Go out of your way to sit with this person at lunch or during recess.
2. Call to family, community, and participation: Go out of your way to do a chore at home that will make life easier for your parents and family.
3. Rights and responsibilities: Focus on a responsibility that has recently become yours (at home, in school, as part of an extra-curricular activity) and do your best to fulfill it.
4. Option for the poor and vulnerable: Select an opportunity this week, either at school or at your parish, to contribute to or participate in efforts to help those who are poor (e.g. a food or clothing drive, Catholic Relief Services, working at the soup kitchen, etc.)
5. The dignity of work and the rights of workers: Visit www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/food and find out what FAIR TRADE is all about and come back with one example 
6. Solidarity - Visit www.hcakids.org to find out about the HOLY CHILDHOOD ASSOCIATION and come back with a story about children in another country who need our help.
7. Care for God’s Creation - Keep a tally of how many items you can recycle in one week (e.g. plastic bottles, glass bottles, newspaper, aluminum cans, and so on)

As much as possible, I’m looking for these ideas to be practical and simple enough for an individual to accomplish on their own without requiring them to “make something” (no posters, etc.) and without repeatedly asking them to give money to causes that address these various needs. Likewise, various categories can be used to inspire the assignments. There can be assignments based on the Beatitudes, the Virtues, the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, and much more.

My inspiration for this is Luke 10 in which Jesus sends out the 70 disciples in pairs with a mission to accomplish and then they report back to him. Likewise, in Luke 24, the Emmaus story, the 2 disciples go on to Jerusalem after their encounter with the Risen Christ and they report what they have experienced. I believe that this is an important part of the process of mentoring: assignments are given and then a “report” is given at which time advice can be offered. It is often in the telling of these experiences that the hand of God is recognized in the experience. I think we need to give our young people more experiences!

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

   Post in Creative Moments, Growing as a Catechist, Helpful Resources, Teaching Skills, Understanding Kids    6 Comments

My Speaking Engagements

May 1st, 2008 by Joe

I’ve updated my list of speaking engagements (see the link to the right). Here’s where I’ll be in the weeks and months to come:

   Post in Helpful Resources, Teaching Skills    Add a comment

Catechist Self-Assessment Checklist

April 29th, 2008 by Joe

With the end of most religious education program years occurring, this is a good time for catechists to do a little bit of self assessment. Feel free to use the following by yourself, with a peer or group of peers, or with your DRE.

1 = poor/I disagree

2 = fair/I somewhat disagree

3 = good/I somewhat agree

4 = excellent/I agree

   Post in Assessing Progress, Growing as a Catechist, Helpful Resources, Joys and Frustrations, Teaching Skills    Add a comment

Bishop Cupich at NCEA

March 28th, 2008 by Joe

I had the pleasure of listening to Bishop Blase Cupich (pronounced soopich) of Rapid City, South Dakota, speak at the NCEA convention in Indianapolis the other day. He spoke about exploring “proven pathways” for facing the challenges that we face in the catechetical ministry in our culture and times. In particular, he presented an Augustinian model of passing on the faith, grounded in St. Augustine’s communications to Deogratias (A.D. 403) titled “On the Catechizing of the Unistructed.”

Deogratias, a deacon, was having a hard time teaching the faith. He felt that his teaching was being perceived as “boring.” Sound familiar? Augustine responded with his advice for catechetical instruction. Bishop Cupich mined this tradition to speak to today’s catechists. He emphasized the following:

• the need for the catechist to know his or her subject which means that we each need to strive to know Jesus more deeply
• the need to know (really know) one’s students and to adapt catechetical methodology as needed
• the need to recognize prayer as the first duty of teaching the faith and for that prayer to be rich in sign and symbol
• the need to connect the present to the story of salvation history
• the need to teach with cheerfulness which he (Augustine) called hilaritas - an enthusiasm for teaching and a love for what we teach and who we teach.

Here is a good article written by Paul Turner about Augustine’s catechetical advice.

Thanks, Bishop Cupich, for offering these “proven pathways” for meeting today’s challenges!

   Post in Assessing Progress, Growing as a Catechist, Helpful Resources, Teaching Skills, Understanding Kids    2 Comments

Feedback on Welcome to God’s Library DVD

March 19th, 2008 by Joe

Not too long ago, I offered information about my “new” DVD, Welcome to God’s Library. Read the details here: http://www.catechistsjourney.org/2008/02/10/welcome-to-gods-library-on-dvd/

I wanted to pass along some very nice feedback I received from a catechist by the name of Vera:

Dear Joe,

A few days ago I watched the Welcome to God’s Library DVD and was impressed with how you un-complicated the Bible. I’ve always thought that I had to memorize where certain stories were in the Bible. Now I know how to break down the Bible to make it easier to find the stories I’m looking for. I will begin teaching my children this method. I also bought your book God’s Library for the bookmarks. Thank you for the great work you are doing for our Lord.

Sincerely,

Vera

Thanks, Vera, for the kind words.

You can order copies of the DVD by sending me an e-mail at welcometogodslibrary@comcast.net, providing me with your name, shipping address, and quantity and I’ll get back to you with details. Thanks!

Thanks. -joe

   Post in Helpful Resources, Teaching Skills, The Bible    Add a comment

My Article in Catechist Magazine

March 12th, 2008 by Joe

Here is a link to my article in Catechist magazine!

The Liturgical Catechist: 10 Ways to Make Your Lessons More Liturgical

   Post in Creative Moments, Growing as a Catechist, Helpful Resources, Planning and Preparation, Teaching Skills    2 Comments

The Liturgical Catechist

March 4th, 2008 by Joe

The March, 2008, issue of Catechist magazine includes an article written by yours truly! The article is titled The Liturgical Catechist: 10 Ways You Can Make Your Lessons More Liturgical. I hope you get a chance to read it and send me your comments.

Speaking of comments, I’m still trying to resolve a backup in the Comments moderation queue so if you recently sent a comment and it’s not showing, hang in there!

   Post in Growing as a Catechist, Helpful Resources, Teaching Skills    Add a comment

Tell Me One Thing You Learned

February 28th, 2008 by Joe

Last night, I had the pleasure of doing a Lenten reflection on the Mass with the good folks at St. Bruno parish on the southside of Chicago. The very hardworking and talented DRE, Lois DeFelice, organized the evening and had the confirmation class join us for the presentation. They were so well-behaved and attentive that I just have to send along my compliments to them, to their catechist, and to Lois…you can all be proud!

Lois has a little “thing” that she does at the end of every session with her young people. They can’t leave until they tell her one thing they learned! It is a very effective tool for making sure that the young people engage themselves in active learning and listening so that they can incorporate what is being presented and articulate it to others. Way to go, Lois!

My thanks to the folks at St. Bruno. On a very chilly evening, the warmth that you generated in that church with your hospitality and loving spirit was genuinely appreciated!

   Post in Helpful Resources, Teaching Skills    Add a comment

The Our Father - Our Declaration of DEpendence

February 25th, 2008 by Joe

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of presenting to about 150 high school teens and their group leaders at St. Francis Xavier in LaGrange. Our topic was Living the Mass and we had a very engaging experience together.

One of the parts I most enjoyed was speaking about the Lord’s Prayer. Here’s what I did:

• I recently purchased a replica of the Declaration of Independence (it’s poster size and only cost $9.95 from American Family Traditions Store).
• I asked how many had seen the movie National Treasure (2004, Nicholas Cage) and probably two-thirds raised their hands.
• I mentioned that in that movie, Cage has to “steal” the Declaration of Independence to save it from others who intend to do likewise but for the wrong reasons.
• I then unfurled my replica and told them that I beat Nicholas Cage to the punch!
• I asked them who it was that we declared our independence from (England/Great Britain) and who it was that was the ruler of England (King George III)
• I explained that our country is founded on the notion that we are politically, economically, and socially independent from the King of England who once reigned over us.
• I then explained that everytime we pray the Our Father, we, in essence, are making a Declaration of DEpendence on another King: our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
• I emphasize the words “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven,” drawing attention to the fact that Jesus used the word kingdom to describe God’s reign.
• I then talked a little bit about how traditionally, a kingdom is a geographical area (with boundaries) over which a king reigns and within which that king’s will reigns supreme. Likewise, the role of the king is to protect his people, especially those who are vulnerable.
• In Jesus, of course, we have a King whose kingdom has no boundaries and whose reign is not located in a geographical area but within us. In the Lord’s Prayer, then, we declare our dependence upon Christ the King, praying that his will be done in our lives and everywhere as it is in heaven.
• The Lord’s Prayer, then, is in fact our Declaration of DEpendence!

I like to use props when I teach because I think that they engage the imagination of kids. I realize that catechists can run up costs, at times, purchasing materials for their lessons. Some materials can be reimbursed by the DRE however, I like to keep a lot of my “props” for other presentations, so I tend to pay for them myself. I consider these purchases part of my stewardship.

Anyway, another aspect of bringing in something like the Declaration of Independence is that it makes for interdisciplinary learning (there’s a mouthful!). That simply means that the lesson makes connections between the various “disicplines” or subject areas - in this case, between religion and American history/social studies. It never hurts to think about subjects that kids are learning about in school and then see how you can make a connection to the practice of our faith. The more connections they make, the better the chance of them retaining the information.

   Post in Creative Moments, Doctrinal Issues, Helpful Resources, Teaching Skills    Add a comment

A Well-Built Faith

February 8th, 2008 by Joe

I’m excited and proud to tell you about my upcoming book, A Well-Built Faith: A Catholic’s Guide to Knowing and Sharing What We Believe, to be published by Loyola Press (available late this summer).

Here’s how I describe the purpose/goal of the book in the Introduction:

We Catholics seek to be people who have the right tools and a firm foundation to serve God and others. How do we do this? Through faith formation. Catechesis is the process through which we become equipped with the right tools and a firm foundation to live out our baptism. This is a process that is never finished – it is ongoing and lifelong. We all need to start somewhere. That’s where A Well-Built Faith: A Catholic’s Guide to Knowing and Sharing What We Believe comes in. This book is designed to give you a firm foundation to get started in a lifelong process of developing a well-built faith. Whether you are a catechist, a liturgical minister, a parish pastoral council member, a catechumen or candidate in the RCIA, or an everyday Catholic trying to remain faithful to your baptismal call and grow closer to the Lord, A Well-Built Faith is designed for you, “so that the one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2Timothy 3:17)  

A firm foundation provides support for that which is built upon it. In ancient times, pillars provided the support for mammoth structures that would otherwise collapse under the weight of tons of building materials. When it comes to our faith, the Catholic Church has arranged a vast array of doctrines and beliefs into a somewhat mammoth structure we know as The Catechism of the Catholic Church. This structure is supported by four pillars that provide a firm foundation for our faith:    

 

1. The Creed
2. The Sacraments   
3. The Moral Life   
4. A Life of Prayer   

This simple organization of over 2000 years of a living Tradition provides us with easy access to our faith. At the same time, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, at over 900 pages long, was not written with the average Catholic as its targeted reader. Rather, it was written as a reference book for bishops and for those who teach the Catholic faith. With that in mind, the bishops of the United States produced a more readable resource, the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (USCCB, 2006) that follows the organization of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Even so, the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults weighs in at over 600 pages, still a daunting task for many readers. Catholics continue to ask for help in learning about their faith in a way that makes it accessible. With this book, A Well-Built Faith, help has arrived.  

Over the next few weeks and months, I will “tease” you with snippets from the 18 chapters and will keep you up to date on when it will be available and how you can acquire copies.

Have a great weekend! 

   Post in Creative Moments, Helpful Resources, Joys and Frustrations, Teaching Skills    2 Comments