JEAN LARKIN Each of the seven sacraments of the Church has a special place in our faith journeys. Some sacraments are received only one time during a special moment in our lives and others are celebrated many times. Regardless of how often we receive a sacrament it is a powerful moment and has a specific intention and recognizable symbols, and it is celebrated in a special ritual. CLICK HERE to download a reproducible group activity page. This article first appeared in Catechist magazine, April 2016.   Read A Family Together: Know Your Sacraments Activity Page on CATECHIST Magazine ..read more

by Kate Ristow   Catechetical leaders whose sacramental preparation programs get rave evaluations each year often attribute this accomplishment to their concerted efforts to energize and engage parents in every possible way. The strategies below work. Choose one or more to implement in your parish. Make them your own by adapting them to meet your needs.     Parent Meetings  Bringing parents together to kick off the immediate preparation phase of a given sacrament—Eucharist, reconciliation, or confirmation—is a time-honored tradition. But it’s what you do when you ..read more

by Eric Groth   Do you have or know a story-telling grandpa with an over-active imagination? In Initiation, a film produced for the Outside Da Box sacraments video catechism series, one such grandpa colorfully tells the story of his initiation into the Catholic Church to a couple of somewhat skeptical grandsons. He describes it like a fraternity initiation where he had to do three things: (1) Be drowned in water, (2) be covered in oil and set on fire, and (3) eat flesh. You can see where this is going.  He eventually explains that in the plunging into water, he became dead to sin ..read more

by Lisa Mladinich Contemporary neuroscience has revealed a remarkable adaptive characteristic in the brain: Whatever actions we perform repeatedly cause our neurological pathways to rewire accordingly. Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, says this remarkable neuroplasticity, as it is called, is the reason that old habits are hard to break and new habits are a challenge to establish. In our technology-obsessed youth culture, the many hours most teens spend gazing at the flickering screens on their phones, video games, and computers is inducing the s ..read more

Catechist reached out to Courage International for some answers FR. PHILIP G. BOCHANSKI RESPONDS … St. Paul’s advice to the Ephesians defines the catechist’s mission: “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15, NRSVCE). When our students are bombarded by messages from secular society and popular culture about sexual identity and sexual morality, it is the catechist’s duty to speak with both clarity and charity about God’s plan. The following questions will certainly come up in discussions with students, parents, and even fellow catechists. The Church provides clear, compassionate answe ..read more

Tips from the saints ANN GARRIDO So there is tension on your catechetical team? Don’t worry. Tension has been part of church life since Jesus walked the earth, and it doesn’t mean you are doing something wrong. All of the research that has been done on healthy church life indicates that communities reporting no conflict are far more likely to be comatose than vital. People only argue about what they care about. If no one is arguing about anything, it is often a sign that they’ve lost steam. Read tension as a sign that your team cares! At the same time, the world hardly needs the example of mo ..read more

Digital ideas for tech-savvy confirmandi Andrea D. Chavez-Kopp When preparing teens for Confirmation, it can sometimes feel as if the biggest hurdle is getting them off of their cell phones to focus on the formation experience. Our social media culture combined with constant connectivity provides challenges, but it also provides a tremendous opportunity to empower teens as leaders in the parish through digital evangelization. Teens are more connected to the World Wide Web than ever, yet if catechists can harness the opportunity technology can offer, it can be a game-changer for Confirmation ..read more

St. Joseph teaches us how to really live! CONNIE CLARK An angel visits you in the middle of the night with a message: Someone in your family is in terrible danger. God wants you to escape to a foreign country — tonight! Would you do it? If you were St. Joseph, you would. Joseph led his family safely to Egypt, just as the angel of the Lord commanded. Joseph probably didn’t know anyone in that foreign land or speak the language. He left behind his job, his home, and his friends. But he brought along his faith in God and his love for Jesus and Mary. Joseph trusted God no matter what. For instanc ..read more

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