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Tag Archives: Catechesis

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Evangelization and Catechesis: Two Sides of the Same Coin

By | July 13, 2011

Last week I heard someone talk about the difference between evangelizing and catechizing. He suggested that too often we rush to catechesis before someone has been evangelized—or has experienced the “Gospel kerygma.” Blessed John Paul II describes this as “The initial ardent proclamation by which a person is one day overwhelmed and brought to the decision to entrust himself to Jesus Christ by faith.” (Catechesis in Our Time)

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Keeping Youth Ministry Fun & Alive

By | August 12, 2010

One of the worst things I ever hear out of my teens mouths is when they, speaking about a teacher, class, event, etc. say, “It was sooooo boring.” It sends shudders down my spine, gets me sweating and thinking, “Ohmigosh, was Sunday’s Life Night boring?? Is that what they told their friends on Monday at school?”

Having a “boring” youth group is the fear of every youth minister who is planning and making decisions about youth group for the teens and not for themselves (Let’s be honest – what adult REALLY loves the messy, wet game night? We do that for THEM!). The question, then, is how do we keep our youth ministry fun and alive even on Sundays that are not a Minute-to-Win-It night?

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Don’t be talkin’ ‘bout my Mama: protecting your teens from mistruths

By | May 13, 2010

I sat stunned in the back of the room. I was in shock. “Did he just say that?” I asked myself in utter disbelief.

I had been asked to speak at a multi-parish teen retreat (in a state that will go unnamed). During this particular session a local priest was present and had agreed to answer teen questions about the faith…

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Middle School Youth and Theology of the Body

By | April 12, 2010

Have any thoughts about how to implement Theology of the Body? Share your ideas in the comment section below. Let’s begin a dialogue on how to reach more middle school youth with the truth of our Catholic faith.

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Why You Shouldn’t “Dumb It Down” For Teens

By | April 6, 2010

There are gatekeepers pushing you to dumb it down for the average teen. To make it all about numbers and less about souls. I know we want to reach all teens – but does dumbing it down do this?

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Inserting Teens Into the Mystery of the Gospels

By | February 24, 2010

In my last blog, I covered how the Church wants us to use the baptismal catechumenate as a model for all catechetical activity, and within the catechumenate is a period of formation called mystagogy. In mystagogy, we want to focus on three things: the Word of God, the sacraments, and community. Today I wanted to focus on the first goal of mystagogy, inserting teens into the mystery of God’s Word, especially as it is given to us in the Gospels.