Catechist Formation

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.

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.

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.

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.

Is faith one of those words we use often, not realizing the depth of its meaning? Could we ever realize its expanse? In many ways, we could make several distinctions of faith or look at faith through different lenses and, through each, see a new facet.

Your questions, answered by Master Catechists.

Returning to school in September, right after Labor Day, is a good time to think about work and celebrate what work means in our lives. After a leisurely summer vacation, we rev up for another year of all the possibilities that await us in teaching and studying. I can feel the energy of September! Of course, the beginning of a new learning year means work—and work is a law of the human condition through which we learn and grow.