Catechist Formation

by Margaret Matijasevic As catechists, the essence of our vocation is to echo the word of God through the life we live and the...

Jesus taught us the words of the Our Father and wanted us to remember them. He knew that if we kept the words he taught us in our hearts, we would always know how to pray. There are other words that we know by heart because they are important to our Catholic faith.

The learning area needs to inspire and engage your students. Here is an idea for how to decorate and arrange your learning space and prayer table during the final weeks of your program.

The primary resource that people have turned to for Pope Francis’s viewpoints is his first apostolic exhortation, titled Evengelii Gaudium (“On the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today’s World”). I, too, am enthusiastic about his approach and vision of evangelization and catechesis.

This is the last article in the series titled “The Mystery and Wonder of the Parables.” Throughout the last six articles, we have been invited to capture anew the meaning, richness, and beauty of Jesus’ parables. We have discovered that the parables are more than simple, short stories that entertain us. Rather, parables are bold challenges that rekindle our understanding of the Kingdom of God and the meaning of discipleship.

Catechetical leaders and catechists build their parish religious education programs to meet the needs of all children, including those with special needs. The National Directory for Catechesis tells us that “each person with a disability has catechetical needs that the Christian community must recognize and meet. All baptized persons with disabilities have a right to adequate catechesis and deserve the means to develop a relationship with God” (n. 49).

The reality is that effective youth ministry engages in catechesis, and transformative catechesis embodies comprehensive youth ministry. When we erase these perceived separations, we come to the realization that fruitful partnerships can be fostered so that young people move seamlessly between the variety of ministries in our parish—growing in faith because of the unique gifts that each person brings to each experience.

The learning area needs to inspire and engage your students. Here is an idea for how to decorate and arrange your learning space and prayer table for Lent.

Dag Hammerskjöld, twentieth-century diplomat and author, wrote a short prayer that is especially good for us to recall at this time of year: “For all that has been, thanks. For all that will be, yes.”

Parents must feel that it is important for their child to know God and to have a life-long relationship with God. Perhaps what they are asking of us as catechists, then, is that we help nurture that relationship.