Catechist Formation

In recent weeks, you and the team have been preparing for the learning year ahead by reviewing texts and working on lesson plans. In this prayer, you will bless one another in a special way and profess your beliefs in the creed.

A beautiful prayer to help catechists prepare for each class time.

The period from September 15 to October 15 has been set aside to honor and celebrate Hispanic heritage. It is a very good time for all of us who share the catechetical ministry to learn more about how this heritage is forming and enriching our local churches.

I believe a catechist should be willing to respond to any question he or she poses to others. What follows are my reflections on these four questions.

by Kate Ristow for a worksheet to help older students learn about the mission and ministry of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Shortly after...

As we celebrate the Year of Faith, let us position the Church to engage not only the older generations but the emerging generations that are asking different questions and have different expectations.

One of the difficult things for volunteer catechists to do is find time to read catechetical or theological material. After all, catechists are busy people. They often have families, jobs, and household responsibilities, and, of course, they generously volunteer their time to be catechists. A book and media club might be one way to help catechists reflect on their experiences of faith. It might also be a way to help them develop a sense of community among themselves.

Teaching Catholics to pray should be a snap because we use so many prayer postures week after week. We genuflect, cross ourselves, kneel, bow, and strike our breasts. But somehow the phrase "teaching prayer" makes us feel uptight, and we think "memorization." The "enthusiasm and joy" that the Pope asks of us during this Year of Faith disappears. "Faith grows when it is lived as an experience of love received and when it is communicated as an experience of grace and joy," he says (Porta Fidei, n. 7).

Master Catechists answer questions from readers.

For religious education teachers, meeting a new group of children provides a fresh and exciting opportunity to lay a solid foundation for the year ahead. The way in which your students experience you for the first time can make a powerful and lasting impact that will lead them enthusiastically forward into the months ahead.