The Catechetical Review - Communicating Christ for a New Evangelization

Articles Under: Catechizing Children

My Experiences with the Come, Follow Me Curriculum Several years ago, I read an excerpt from an address of Bl. Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus that changed the way I approach children’s catechesis. [1] In The Child’s Potential for Contact with God , Bl. Marie-Eugene, a Carmelite friar and founder of the Notre-Dame de Vie Institute in France, described the young baptized child’s capacity for a relationship with God: “The [child’s] use of his theological virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not hampered by all the layers that will come later, caused by selfishness and all the... Read more
In the United States, approximately “1,000,000 children a year experience their parents’ divorce.” [1] This is a staggering statistic, and it does not account for children whose parents are still married but separated, or who were cohabiting and have gone their separate ways. As catechists, it is certain that we will minister to people from broken families, if we have not done so already. As we encounter these people, we may find ourselves asking whether the experience of parental divorce impacts the faith of children of divorce. [2] And if so, how can we as catechists respond to their needs?... Read more
How to change a flat tire. How to turn off the water to an overflowing toilet. How to manage money, create a budget, and balance a checkbook. How to perform the Heimlich maneuver or CPR in an emergency. These are all invaluable life skills that every parent ought to add to their list of “important lessons to impart upon our children.” Sadly, however, if one were to poll most Catholic parents, “how to pray” would likely not even crack their top ten list. Why is that, exactly? Perhaps prayer is seen as a “given,” something more “caught than taught.” Possibly... Read more
On the first full day of school, I found myself energized about the opportunities and enthusiasm that filled our hallways. I had visions of beautiful moments for our community as we were able to be a bit more “normal” after a tough year of COVID and quarantines. That evening, however, just before falling asleep, I received a phone call that one of our junior students had been involved in a fatal car accident. My heart plummeted as the text messages began to blow up my phone. Shock and grief were sweeping through our school families as the news spread and... Read more
“Prayer is first of all a gift from God; in fact, in every one of the baptized, ‘the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words’ (Rom 8:26).” [1] Our habit as Catholics is to begin our prayers with the Sign of the Cross—itself a gift we’ve received from Christ and the Church. By this ancient sign, we ground our prayer in the Holy Trinity, who was revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Because prayer is a gift, our work as catechists isn’t so much to teach children their prayers as it is to... Read more
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to give a catechetical instruction to the seventh- and eighth-grade boys of my parish. Now, I was the Homiletics professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary and instructor of several other courses offered by the Seminary. My style of teaching leaned more toward following a carefully ordered outline for my presentation, after which I would elicit questions and provide time for discussion. These eight boys, however, were active and undisciplined, and in no condition to listen to a lecture. Intuitively, I immediately changed my style of teaching to a lively and very animated... Read more
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“T here seemed to be a fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones . The effort to restrain it wearied me, I could not bear it .” Jeremiah 20:9 An Unexpected Call In September, 2018, I received a bemusing phone call from Anthony Gordon, the director of Catholic schools in a rural Australian Diocese. He asked me whether I would consider applying for the position of Diocesan Director of Religious Education and Mission. At the time, I was working in my “dream job” as a professor of religious education at the University of Notre Dame in Sydney, Australia... Read more
One of the most stressful moments for baptized Protestants entering into full communion with the Catholic Church is making their first Confession. Unlike Catholics who typically need only to recall sins from a month or so, these baptized adults in RCIA must make a first Confession covering their entire lives—many decades for most. Occasionally, a zealous Protestant arrives in RCIA months before Easter asking the question, “Can I go to Confession now?” This sets up the question: How early may a baptized candidate go to Confession? Surprisingly, very little is written on this subject. Of course, it may not be... Read more
The following is a true conversation that took place in my classroom with a group of seventh graders. I was pregnant with my daughter, Annie, at the time: Student: Mrs. Deighan, when Annie is in middle school, are you going to let her have a Tik Tok? Me: Absolutely not. Besides, fourteen years from now, Tik Tok probably won’t be popular anymore. Student: But it’s Tik Tok! Me: Let me ask you something: have you ever heard of Myspace ? Another student: What’s that? Me: My point exactly. This conversation was certainly not a stand-alone one. There have been many... Read more