Knowing and understanding Scripture is essential in the life of a catechist. This workshop will explore how God’s Word, transmitted in Sacred Scripture, grounds and deepens our relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. In Scripture, we see the sweeping Plan of God, the history of salvation unfolded. We hear His stunning and steadfast invitation to communion with Him. Sacred Scripture ought to permeate all forms of catechesis, as well as our personal lives as catechists. Through creating lesson plans saturated with the Scriptures, we foster a profound encounter with the Divine – love and challenge, wisdom and hope, forgiveness and mercy, and the means to know God and to know ourselves. By breaking open the Scriptures in each catechetical session, we unlock the mystery of Christ, revealing to those we teach the One they desire to know, fostering life-changing intimacy with God.

“The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly gratuitous and mysterious design of his wisdom and goodness, created the whole universe and chose to raise up men to share in his own divine life” (CCC 759).  A plan born in the Father’s heart: from the genesis of life itself, to the last prophet of the Jewish people, the grand sweep of salvation history is unfolded in the 46 books of the Old Testament.  The Covenants, the Commandments, and the promise of a Chosen One form the subject of this workshop, to give catechists a sense of the provident hand of God over our past, our present, and our eternal destiny.

“That which was from the beginning...that which we have seen and heard we proclaim to you...” (1 John 1:1, 4).  The New Testament is the completion of the story of how the Father prepared the world for His Son, and the beginning of the story of the Church, His Body, His Kingdom, His Bride, His Ark to save a People He calls His own.  This sweeping drama of truth, centered upon He is who is Truth, forms the message of the good news that catechists are privileged to offer to each generation of souls.

Throughout the generations, the Word of God has been handed on as a precious jewel. The Church has guarded this Deposit of Faith so that the saving message of hope might shine out for all to see. Now it is up to us. It is our turn to hand on this jewel, unscathed. It is up to us to catechize, continuing the unbroken chain of passing on the faith throughout the ages. The term catechesis comes from two Greek words meaning, “to echo down,” reflecting the call to us to “echo down,” to hand on, the whole of the faith in its saving fullness. This Deposit of Faith is summed up for our times in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We will look at this important teaching tool for catechesis in this workshop, to discover how we, too, can effectively pass on the precious deposit of Christian teaching. And in learning how to do this, we are able to insert our own name into St. Paul’s exhortation, “O catechist, guard what has been entrusted to you.”

He is the Alpha and the Omega.  He is in all, before all, through all.  The primary and essential object of catechesis is, to use an expression dear to St. Paul, “the mystery of Christ.” (CT 5)  Therefore everyone who teaches the Catholic faith must be immersed in this mystery.  Using Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as well as recent ecclesial documents, this workshop will present the key doctrines that must be taught concerning Jesus Christ.  By examining Jesus’ actions in Scripture, His relationships, and His ways of teaching, we will help catechists unlock the mysteries of Christ, His Incarnation, Redemption, and Second Coming.  This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by William H. Sadlier, Inc.

“The content of catechesis cannot be indifferently subjected to any method” (General Directory for Catechesis 149). Every good catechist seeks in some organized fashion to give growth to the seed of faith, to nourish hope, and to develop a deeper desire to love God and neighbor. In this workshop, we will explore a method that is highly suited to the goals of catechesis, and flows from a study of how the Church’s many catechetical saints sought to pass on the beauty, truth, and goodness of Christ’s saving revelation.

The goal of catechesis is participation in God’s life. It is critical that catechists learn how to effectively engage the young mind and heart of each child, encourage each child to respect and love the things of the faith, and help each child discover the wonderful love of a gentle Father. This very basic workshop focuses on the most fundamental catechetical methodologies that will enable the catechist of children to facilitate intimacy with God and fidelity to the Church. Methods and techniques will be demonstrated that encourage children to grow in wonder and awe, as they deepen their love for God and His truths. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

Hidden within plain sight in every liturgy is the heart of catechesis – the mystery of Christ’s earthly vocation to return us to the Father’s loving embrace. A deeply Catholic catechesis seeks to uncover the profound meaning of the words, signs, and movements of worship to enlighten and enliven every truth we teach. Understanding the relationship between liturgy and catechesis is vital to forming souls – and to helping those we teach discover the peace and joy of their salvation.

This workshop offers a summary outline of the basic principles of Catholic morality and how our moral life is rooted, not merely in a code of ethics or a set of rules, but profoundly in the Person of Jesus. It discusses some of the major moral issues we face in our society today, and equips all who teach the faith — whether youth ministers, catechists, Catholic school teachers, and so on — with the tools to establish a sure foundation for right moral thinking, both in themselves and in those to whom they minister.

This workshop examines the place of the sacraments within God’s magnificent plan of love. More than simply Catholic rituals, the sacraments are God’s chosen channels of supernatural life, His plan for doing even more than saving us: “‘For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.’  ‘For the Son of God became man so that we might become God’” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC, 460).  This workshop will explore this extraordinary truth, and the provision of God to grace His adopted sons and daughters for a life far beyond their own natural capacity.  This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by William H. Sadlier, Inc.

Called to Him.  Kept in Him.  Made new in Him.  God’s generosity and His fatherly love for His young daughters and sons are strikingly evident in the gift of these two sacraments to those newly arrived at the age of reason.  This workshop unfolds the Church’s guidance for parents and parishes in preparing souls for Confession and Communion.  By considering the role of both the home and the parochial settings, a balanced and effective formation can be achieved.  This pragmatic workshop also addresses common struggles and cultural issues that Catholic communities face in developing responsible and robust approaches to helping young souls be open to grace.  This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by William H. Sadlier, Inc.

Effectively Confirming.  What the bishop gives sacramentally is always efficacious.  How do we support our confirmands and their families in this deeply challenging modern culture so that what we give in our parishes and schools catechetically is also reliably effective?  How do we not only provide a program, but also a conversion process, so that participants do not experience the catechesis we give as a series of required hoops to jump through, but revelatory hope?  This workshop aims to explore some practical strategies that apply to this and other parish ministries.  It includes insights from Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium, as well as examines current trends relating to the age of Confirmation and the ordering of the sacraments of Christian initiation.

In order to pass on the truths of Faith in season and out, the catechist must be securely grounded in Christ. This workshop will consider the richness of the Catholic spiritual life as it pertains specifically to the life of the catechist. Prayer is not the “last ditch effort” of defense for us as catechists, but our first line of defense - the wings on which every effort should soar. Our society often has trouble recognizing that the invisible spiritual realities are in fact “more real,” and certainly more lasting, than the physical realities we touch, see, hear, and experience daily. A review of the spiritual tools of the trade is thus appropriate to help us as catechists joyfully incorporate prayer as our first, middle, and last act of the day, and of the teaching session, creating an environment for catechesis that is permeated by prayer.

“Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God’s desire for us” (CCC 2560). Jesus not only desires to have a relationship with youth, but with youth ministers as well.  In fact, God cares more about doing ministry to people than he cares about people doing ministry for others. This workshop focuses on God’s intense love for us, and places that personal relationship as the center for all our ministry.

Pope Benedict XVI stated that, “the ancient tradition of Lectio Divina… will bring to the Church a new spiritual springtime.”  Come and experience the prayerful pondering of sacred Scripture in the timeless Lectio Divina in which the Holy Spirit makes a connection between the passage and one’s own life.  This way of praying with the Word of God incorporates the natural development of relationship, which derives from the way God has touched and drawn human hearts down through the ages.  During this workshop, you will learn the four stages of Lectio Divina, which will help prepare you to share in this rich treasure of prayer.

The responsibility of passing on the faith to a young person begins first and foremost with his or her family, particularly the parents. St. John Paul II wrote that catechesis within the family has “a special character, which is in a sense irreplaceable” (Catechesi tradendae, CT, 68). Though the teenage years are often characterized as a time of rebellion from the family, the ‘National Study of Youth and Religion’ found that a young person is more likely than not to reflect the religiosity of his or her parents. Parents are the hinge-point of successfully and consistently reaching most teens. It is therefore essential that those in youth ministry understand that their role is to provide support for families, empower them, and partner with them.

This workshop is about the central importance of personal vocation. In the words of St. John Paul II, the human person, each unique and unrepeatable, is “the primary and fundamental way for the Church” (RH 14). Each is called to a graced path: to eternal divine beatitude, and to live as a person devoted to the good of his or her neighbor. We will discuss the meaning of personal vocation as it emerged from the Second Vatican Council and was developed in the teaching of St. John Paul II. The unfortunate neglect of personal vocation will also be addressed. We will discuss the pressing need for integrating personal vocation into all Catholic formation. Mentors must situate their mentorship squarely within their own unique callings. In turn, they must help those in their care further clarify and deepen their own personal vocations. Personal vocation should not be a peripheral concept for the Catholic but a central and integrating principle of a life lived in and for Christ.

The Blessed Trinity is the greatest of all mysteries: the One and Only God is a unity of Three Persons. The Trinity is also our final home, the goal of our life. This mystery, revealed in Jesus, sheds light on all other Christian mysteries. And it is the revelation that sheds light on all other Christian mysteries. Knowing that God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, is a unity of loving Persons, changes our understanding of everything. Many religions believe in gods, some believe in one God, but nothing compares to the Christian belief in one God as a communion of Persons, named for us by Jesus as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Many curriculums include the Trinity as only one doctrine among many. This workshop will help to show how to teach the centrality of the Trinity effectively, as the goal and fulfillment of the life of each Christian.

God is the Holy One, and He calls His People to Himself to share in His life of everlasting happiness: “Be holy as I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45; also see 1 Peter 1:15–16). The Second Vatican Council renewed the Church’s awareness of this call in its Dogmatic Constitution On the Church, Lumen gentium: Chapter Five, which is titled “The Universal Call to Holiness.” In this workshop, we allow Mother Church to teach us about this call, a call impacting each one of us. We explore the challenges involved in making our response to this call, and celebrate the graces that God gives us for our sanctification. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

The Christian moral life finds its foundation in the Ten Commandments.  Yet, they are often explained only as proscriptions or laws that have to be kept.  This workshop will present the Ten Commandments as prescriptions that profoundly inform and foster our living life in its fullness.  Building on the foundation of the Commandments, Jesus gave us the model of how to live the reality of Heaven here on Earth through the Beatitudes: a great challenge, but a reality each one of us is called to in God’s grace.  This workshop will discuss the blessed radicality of a life lived under the Commandments and the Beatitudes.

The Big Questions: Why am I here? What is my purpose? Where am I going? Unless one is sleepwalking through life, these are burningly urgent and profoundly relevant questions. How our loving God comes to us at our last breath can unfold so much about those critical questions. We’ll correct common myths about the “Four Last Things,” provide suggestions for teaching these amazing truths, and speak into the powerful curiosity we all have about crossing that final threshold.

Epistemology is the investigation of what we can know, and how we can know reality. It is the discovery of reality. This workshop applies epistemology to our Catholic faith, exploring the ways by which we use our ordinary human processes of knowing, as well as the supernatural gift of faith, to grow in knowledge and explore the beautiful mysteries of our faith, the central mystery being the Blessed Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Here you will discover ways of becoming more confident teachers of the faith, handing on to the students in your care the confidence that they can know and teach the faith with certainty.

Who am I? What is my nature? What has God created me for? Who has God created me for? The answers to these questions affect not only how I think about myself, but also how I think about those whom I catechize and how I encourage each of those whom I have the privilege of teaching to think about themselves. In this workshop we contemplate the unique answers that the Christian faith gives to these questions, answers that highlight the incredible dignity of every person. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

St. John Paul II reminds us that, “According to Christian faith and the Church's teaching, ‘only the freedom which submits to the Truth leads the human person to his true good. The good of the person is to be in the Truth and to do the Truth’” (Encyclical Letter, “The Splendor of Truth,” Veritatis splendor, VS, 84). In this workshop, we explore not only what truth is and some of the different forms it takes, but also some of the obstacles we face in coming to know the truth and have confidence in our convictions. Objective truth does exist. We can make statements that describe the world as it really is. We are called to diligently seek out the truth, allowing God to open our minds and hearts in order to ultimately find the authentic peace and joy that come with discovering the Person of Jesus Christ, Who is Truth Himself (see John 14:6).

St. John Paul II tells us that, “Family catechesis . . . precedes, accompanies and enriches all other forms of catechesis” (Apostolic Exhortation “On Catechesis in Our Time,” Catechesi tradendae, CT, 68). These words challenge us to examine our thinking about how to pass on the Catholic faith within the parish or school we serve, and specifically to look at how to encourage the formation of the entire family.  In the Catechism of the Catholic Church we read, “The family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom” (2207). This workshop examines the primacy of the family in religious education and the importance of assisting families in their formation, so that together the parish or school community and families can work to bring about the well-formed and beautiful soul of each member. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

“Formation in chastity and timely information regarding sexuality must be provided in the broadest context of education for love” (Pontifical Council for the Family, The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality: Guidelines for Education within the Family, TMHS, 70). The gift of human sexuality and the virtue of chastity are meant to be taught in the context of love, because love empowers us to live chastely and recognize the gift of human sexuality. This workshop outlines the essential role of parents in forming their own children in a Christian vision of sexuality, guided by the resource As I Have Loved You by Dr. Gerard O'Shea. This workshop aids parents in their ability to detect signs that indicate when their children are ready to begin this formation, while offering strategies for approaching the topic clearly and delicately. It is especially meant for parents. However, this workshop is also beneficial for catechists, Catholic school teachers, parish catechetical leaders, youth ministers, and others who are in roles where they assist parents in how to teach their children about God’s plan for sexuality. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

In the Directory for Catechesis we read: “The Church today looks with greater attentiveness at the passage from the age of youth to that of adulthood. . . . New approaches to pastoral and catechetical action must therefore be conceived that would help the Christian community to interact with young adults, supporting them in their journey” (256). In order to effectively minister to adolescents and young adults, it is critical that we understand some of the facets of youth culture and how to enter into it, so that we might shed light on what is good, and call young people into relationship with Jesus Christ. This workshop will provide guidance for all who work with young people as to how to better understand the culture in which they’re growing up, relate to them through their culture, share the Gospel message with them effectively, and accompany them on their journey of faith.

What does it mean to serve in a diverse parish? Cultural diversity has always been at the heart of the Church: “Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11). This workshop explores how to navigate the intercultural reality that many parish programs experience, so that we can effectively bring the love of Christ to each person and help all within the community feel a part of the Body of Christ. In doing so, fostering a respect for the dignity of each person, honoring the pivotal importance of family culture, and making the effort to grow in intercultural competence become key highlights in any successful ministry approach.

In his homily at the Jubilee of the Disabled, St. John Paul II beautifully stated: “How eloquent are your words for us . . . Lord of life and hope! Every human limitation is ransomed and redeemed in you. Thanks to you, disability is not the last word on life. Love is the last word; it is your love that gives meaning to life” (December 3, 2020). We also heard from St. John Paul II that “. . . the Church has always looked on catechesis as a sacred duty and an inalienable right” that needs to be available to all people, and this includes persons with disabilities (Apostolic Exhortation “On Catechesis in Our Time,” Catechesi tradendae 14). This workshop will introduce the catechist to the Church’s teaching concerning catechesis for persons who have physical or developmental disabilities, and include practical assistance for catechists working with various special needs situations. This workshop will also help raise awareness among those involved in parish work of the many resources and sources of aid that exist to serve children and adults with these conditions.

How do we keep our focus on serving the Holy Spirit’s plan and empowerment, and not our own ways and human strength?  Pope Paul VI wrote, “techniques of evangelization are good, but even the most advanced ones could not replace the gentle action of the Spirit” (Evangelii Nuntandi 75).  No one responds to the Gospel without first being drawn by the Holy Spirit and no one can live the high calling of the Christian life without being empowered by the Holy Spirit. When we forget that outreach is a work of God, we burn out. This workshop explores Who the Holy Spirit is, His work in personal conversion, and our accepting with joy the gift of the fullness of the Catholic Church.

“In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son” (Hebrews 1:1–2). Revelation means to pull back the veil. It is God’s method of manifesting a bit of Himself, allowing us time to absorb it and respond, before He shows a bit more; and the process repeats. Because the work of catechesis is oriented towards conversion, the catechist needs to understand clearly how a person gets faith and grows in faith. This workshop delves in the sacred pattern of God’s methodology — how He reaches out to us, and how He calls us and enables us to freely respond.

Pope Francis teaches us that, “Faith does not draw us away from the world or prove irrelevant to the concrete concerns of the men and women of our time. . . . Faith makes us appreciate the architecture of human relationships because it grasps their ultimate foundation and definitive destiny in God, in his love, and thus sheds light on the art of building; as such it becomes a service to the common good” (Encyclical Letter “On the Light of Faith,” Lumen fidei 51). In this workshop, we will be exploring how God wishes to form each and every one of us into the person He created us to be, through helping us love others and live for others, just as Christ Himself lived for us and loved us “to the end” (see John 13:1). Often misunderstood, the Church’s social teaching is not a partisan platform, an economic policy, or a political position, but rather is an integral part of proclaiming and living the Good News of Jesus Christ in community. We will present the social doctrines in this context and demonstrate how this aspect of Church teaching can help evangelize, console, and lovingly challenge us, as well as those we seek to teach.

“The Word of God became man, a concrete man, in space and time and rooted in a specific culture . . .” (General Directory for Catechesis 109). Jesus provides for us the example of living in a particular culture and engaging the good things of the culture to aid individuals in the process of conversion, and rejecting those things in a culture which hinder conversion. Each of us finds ourselves living and interacting within a variety of cultures — family culture, workplace culture, modern culture, and so on — each of which possesses certain aids and barriers to our continual turning from sin and turning toward God. This workshop will guide us in thinking about some of the obstacles to conversion present in our current culture, as well as some of the true, good, and beautiful gifts our culture has to offer. We will explore Mother Church's vision for engaging the good things our culture has to offer in a way that fosters love for the Gospel and aids the process of continual conversion for ourselves and others.

This workshop sharpens a few of your philosophical tools for teaching the faith. Philosophy, far from putting our lessons out of reach of our audience, actually appeals to the reason of those we teach; it helps us explain doctrine so that it “makes sense,” rather than just falling back on, “because I said so.” This workshop will provide examples of philosophically approaching the faith by exploring both a Catholic and a secular worldview, as well as what these two approaches mean for the human person, ultimately helping us prepare our learners to answer Jesus’ crucial question to His apostles and to each one of us, “Who do you say that I am?”           

Guiding children in the ways of the faith, leading them into a relationship of love with the Blessed Trinity is a ministry to which many of us are called in various capacities — as parents, godparents, catechists, youth ministers, Catholic school teachers, pastors, and so on. For all of us with children in our care, the question arises: How do we reach each individual child with the truth, and lead him or her in a way that will help inspire a lifelong relationship with Jesus? This workshop will provide an opportunity for you to consider your own relationship with God — since we cannot effectively hand on a relationship with our heavenly Father to others if we, ourselves, are not grounded in such a relationship — and provide you with ways of getting to know the children in your care more deeply, so that you might better understand how God can work through you to form their minds, hearts, and souls into those of saints. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

“And they were bringing children to him, that he might touch them . . . and [Jesus] said to them, ‘Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. . . .’ And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands upon them” (Mark 10:13–14, 16). Jesus desires that the little children come to Him. As parents, priests, catechists, and teachers, we can bring the children entrusted to our care to the Lord, so that He may bless them and fill them with His love. The goal of catechesis is participation in God’s life. It is critical that we learn how to effectively engage the young mind and heart of each child, encourage each child to respect and love the things of the faith, and help each child discover the wonderful love of a gentle Father. This workshop will reflect on key aspects of a child’s psyche from ages
3–6, and how we can build upon what is naturally occurring within children, in order to allow Jesus to draw them into the heart of the Father.

“And they were bringing children to him, that he might touch them . . . and [Jesus] said to them, ‘Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. . . .’ And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands upon them” (Mark 10:13–14, 16). Jesus desires for children to come to Him. As parents, priests, catechists, and teachers, we can bring the children entrusted to our care to the Lord, so that He may bless them and fill them with His love. The goal of catechesis is participation in God’s life. It is critical that we learn how to effectively engage the young mind and heart of each child, encourage each child to respect and love the things of the faith, and help each child discover the wonderful love of a gentle Father. This workshop will reflect on key aspects of a child’s psyche from ages 6–12, and how we can build upon what is naturally occurring within children, in order to allow Jesus to draw them into the Heart of the Father.

St. Paul, when instructing a young St. Timothy, wrote, “Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). We can imitate St. Paul by encouraging the young people entrusted to us to discover who the Lord has called them to be, respond to His invitation to follow Him, and become young men and young women of virtue. It is critical for us — as parents, priests, teachers, youth ministers, and catechists — to learn how to effectively engage the mind and heart of each young person, so that they may receive the full and abundant life that our loving Father offers them. This workshop will reflect on key aspects of an adolescent’s psyche from ages 12–18, and how we can build upon what is naturally occurring within adolescents, in order to allow Jesus to draw them into the Heart of the Father.

Knowing and understanding Scripture is essential in the life of a catechist. This workshop will explore how God’s Word, transmitted in Sacred Scripture, grounds and deepens our relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. In Scripture, we see the sweeping Plan of God, the history of salvation unfolded. We hear His stunning and steadfast invitation to communion with Him. Sacred Scripture ought to permeate all forms of catechesis, as well as our personal lives as catechists. Through creating lesson plans saturated with the Scriptures, we foster a profound encounter with the Divine – love and challenge, wisdom and hope, forgiveness and mercy, and the means to know God and to know ourselves. By breaking open the Scriptures in each catechetical session, we unlock the mystery of Christ, revealing to those we teach the One they desire to know, fostering life-changing intimacy with God.

“The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly gratuitous and mysterious design of his wisdom and goodness, created the whole universe and chose to raise up men to share in his own divine life” (CCC 759).  A plan born in the Father’s heart: from the genesis of life itself, to the last prophet of the Jewish people, the grand sweep of salvation history is unfolded in the 46 books of the Old Testament.  The Covenants, the Commandments, and the promise of a Chosen One form the subject of this workshop, to give catechists a sense of the provident hand of God over our past, our present, and our eternal destiny.

“That which was from the beginning...that which we have seen and heard we proclaim to you...” (1 John 1:1, 4).  The New Testament is the completion of the story of how the Father prepared the world for His Son, and the beginning of the story of the Church, His Body, His Kingdom, His Bride, His Ark to save a People He calls His own.  This sweeping drama of truth, centered upon He is who is Truth, forms the message of the good news that catechists are privileged to offer to each generation of souls.

Throughout the generations, the Word of God has been handed on as a precious jewel. The Church has guarded this Deposit of Faith so that the saving message of hope might shine out for all to see. Now it is up to us. It is our turn to hand on this jewel, unscathed. It is up to us to catechize, continuing the unbroken chain of passing on the faith throughout the ages. The term catechesis comes from two Greek words meaning, “to echo down,” reflecting the call to us to “echo down,” to hand on, the whole of the faith in its saving fullness. This Deposit of Faith is summed up for our times in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We will look at this important teaching tool for catechesis in this workshop, to discover how we, too, can effectively pass on the precious deposit of Christian teaching. And in learning how to do this, we are able to insert our own name into St. Paul’s exhortation, “O catechist, guard what has been entrusted to you.”

He is the Alpha and the Omega.  He is in all, before all, through all.  The primary and essential object of catechesis is, to use an expression dear to St. Paul, “the mystery of Christ.” (CT 5)  Therefore everyone who teaches the Catholic faith must be immersed in this mystery.  Using Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as well as recent ecclesial documents, this workshop will present the key doctrines that must be taught concerning Jesus Christ.  By examining Jesus’ actions in Scripture, His relationships, and His ways of teaching, we will help catechists unlock the mysteries of Christ, His Incarnation, Redemption, and Second Coming.  This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by William H. Sadlier, Inc.

“The content of catechesis cannot be indifferently subjected to any method” (General Directory for Catechesis 149). Every good catechist seeks in some organized fashion to give growth to the seed of faith, to nourish hope, and to develop a deeper desire to love God and neighbor. In this workshop, we will explore a method that is highly suited to the goals of catechesis, and flows from a study of how the Church’s many catechetical saints sought to pass on the beauty, truth, and goodness of Christ’s saving revelation.

The goal of catechesis is participation in God’s life. It is critical that catechists learn how to effectively engage the young mind and heart of each child, encourage each child to respect and love the things of the faith, and help each child discover the wonderful love of a gentle Father. This very basic workshop focuses on the most fundamental catechetical methodologies that will enable the catechist of children to facilitate intimacy with God and fidelity to the Church. Methods and techniques will be demonstrated that encourage children to grow in wonder and awe, as they deepen their love for God and His truths. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

Hidden within plain sight in every liturgy is the heart of catechesis – the mystery of Christ’s earthly vocation to return us to the Father’s loving embrace. A deeply Catholic catechesis seeks to uncover the profound meaning of the words, signs, and movements of worship to enlighten and enliven every truth we teach. Understanding the relationship between liturgy and catechesis is vital to forming souls – and to helping those we teach discover the peace and joy of their salvation.

This workshop offers a summary outline of the basic principles of Catholic morality and how our moral life is rooted, not merely in a code of ethics or a set of rules, but profoundly in the Person of Jesus. It discusses some of the major moral issues we face in our society today, and equips all who teach the faith — whether youth ministers, catechists, Catholic school teachers, and so on — with the tools to establish a sure foundation for right moral thinking, both in themselves and in those to whom they minister.

This workshop examines the place of the sacraments within God’s magnificent plan of love. More than simply Catholic rituals, the sacraments are God’s chosen channels of supernatural life, His plan for doing even more than saving us: “‘For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.’  ‘For the Son of God became man so that we might become God’” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC, 460).  This workshop will explore this extraordinary truth, and the provision of God to grace His adopted sons and daughters for a life far beyond their own natural capacity.  This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by William H. Sadlier, Inc.

Called to Him.  Kept in Him.  Made new in Him.  God’s generosity and His fatherly love for His young daughters and sons are strikingly evident in the gift of these two sacraments to those newly arrived at the age of reason.  This workshop unfolds the Church’s guidance for parents and parishes in preparing souls for Confession and Communion.  By considering the role of both the home and the parochial settings, a balanced and effective formation can be achieved.  This pragmatic workshop also addresses common struggles and cultural issues that Catholic communities face in developing responsible and robust approaches to helping young souls be open to grace.  This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by William H. Sadlier, Inc.

Effectively Confirming.  What the bishop gives sacramentally is always efficacious.  How do we support our confirmands and their families in this deeply challenging modern culture so that what we give in our parishes and schools catechetically is also reliably effective?  How do we not only provide a program, but also a conversion process, so that participants do not experience the catechesis we give as a series of required hoops to jump through, but revelatory hope?  This workshop aims to explore some practical strategies that apply to this and other parish ministries.  It includes insights from Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium, as well as examines current trends relating to the age of Confirmation and the ordering of the sacraments of Christian initiation.

In order to pass on the truths of Faith in season and out, the catechist must be securely grounded in Christ. This workshop will consider the richness of the Catholic spiritual life as it pertains specifically to the life of the catechist. Prayer is not the “last ditch effort” of defense for us as catechists, but our first line of defense - the wings on which every effort should soar. Our society often has trouble recognizing that the invisible spiritual realities are in fact “more real,” and certainly more lasting, than the physical realities we touch, see, hear, and experience daily. A review of the spiritual tools of the trade is thus appropriate to help us as catechists joyfully incorporate prayer as our first, middle, and last act of the day, and of the teaching session, creating an environment for catechesis that is permeated by prayer.

“Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God’s desire for us” (CCC 2560). Jesus not only desires to have a relationship with youth, but with youth ministers as well.  In fact, God cares more about doing ministry to people than he cares about people doing ministry for others. This workshop focuses on God’s intense love for us, and places that personal relationship as the center for all our ministry.

Pope Benedict XVI stated that, “the ancient tradition of Lectio Divina… will bring to the Church a new spiritual springtime.”  Come and experience the prayerful pondering of sacred Scripture in the timeless Lectio Divina in which the Holy Spirit makes a connection between the passage and one’s own life.  This way of praying with the Word of God incorporates the natural development of relationship, which derives from the way God has touched and drawn human hearts down through the ages.  During this workshop, you will learn the four stages of Lectio Divina, which will help prepare you to share in this rich treasure of prayer.

The responsibility of passing on the faith to a young person begins first and foremost with his or her family, particularly the parents. St. John Paul II wrote that catechesis within the family has “a special character, which is in a sense irreplaceable” (Catechesi tradendae, CT, 68). Though the teenage years are often characterized as a time of rebellion from the family, the ‘National Study of Youth and Religion’ found that a young person is more likely than not to reflect the religiosity of his or her parents. Parents are the hinge-point of successfully and consistently reaching most teens. It is therefore essential that those in youth ministry understand that their role is to provide support for families, empower them, and partner with them.

This workshop is about the central importance of personal vocation. In the words of St. John Paul II, the human person, each unique and unrepeatable, is “the primary and fundamental way for the Church” (RH 14). Each is called to a graced path: to eternal divine beatitude, and to live as a person devoted to the good of his or her neighbor. We will discuss the meaning of personal vocation as it emerged from the Second Vatican Council and was developed in the teaching of St. John Paul II. The unfortunate neglect of personal vocation will also be addressed. We will discuss the pressing need for integrating personal vocation into all Catholic formation. Mentors must situate their mentorship squarely within their own unique callings. In turn, they must help those in their care further clarify and deepen their own personal vocations. Personal vocation should not be a peripheral concept for the Catholic but a central and integrating principle of a life lived in and for Christ.

The Blessed Trinity is the greatest of all mysteries: the One and Only God is a unity of Three Persons. The Trinity is also our final home, the goal of our life. This mystery, revealed in Jesus, sheds light on all other Christian mysteries. And it is the revelation that sheds light on all other Christian mysteries. Knowing that God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, is a unity of loving Persons, changes our understanding of everything. Many religions believe in gods, some believe in one God, but nothing compares to the Christian belief in one God as a communion of Persons, named for us by Jesus as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Many curriculums include the Trinity as only one doctrine among many. This workshop will help to show how to teach the centrality of the Trinity effectively, as the goal and fulfillment of the life of each Christian.

God is the Holy One, and He calls His People to Himself to share in His life of everlasting happiness: “Be holy as I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45; also see 1 Peter 1:15–16). The Second Vatican Council renewed the Church’s awareness of this call in its Dogmatic Constitution On the Church, Lumen gentium: Chapter Five, which is titled “The Universal Call to Holiness.” In this workshop, we allow Mother Church to teach us about this call, a call impacting each one of us. We explore the challenges involved in making our response to this call, and celebrate the graces that God gives us for our sanctification. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

The Christian moral life finds its foundation in the Ten Commandments.  Yet, they are often explained only as proscriptions or laws that have to be kept.  This workshop will present the Ten Commandments as prescriptions that profoundly inform and foster our living life in its fullness.  Building on the foundation of the Commandments, Jesus gave us the model of how to live the reality of Heaven here on Earth through the Beatitudes: a great challenge, but a reality each one of us is called to in God’s grace.  This workshop will discuss the blessed radicality of a life lived under the Commandments and the Beatitudes.

The Big Questions: Why am I here? What is my purpose? Where am I going? Unless one is sleepwalking through life, these are burningly urgent and profoundly relevant questions. How our loving God comes to us at our last breath can unfold so much about those critical questions. We’ll correct common myths about the “Four Last Things,” provide suggestions for teaching these amazing truths, and speak into the powerful curiosity we all have about crossing that final threshold.

Epistemology is the investigation of what we can know, and how we can know reality. It is the discovery of reality. This workshop applies epistemology to our Catholic faith, exploring the ways by which we use our ordinary human processes of knowing, as well as the supernatural gift of faith, to grow in knowledge and explore the beautiful mysteries of our faith, the central mystery being the Blessed Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Here you will discover ways of becoming more confident teachers of the faith, handing on to the students in your care the confidence that they can know and teach the faith with certainty.

Who am I? What is my nature? What has God created me for? Who has God created me for? The answers to these questions affect not only how I think about myself, but also how I think about those whom I catechize and how I encourage each of those whom I have the privilege of teaching to think about themselves. In this workshop we contemplate the unique answers that the Christian faith gives to these questions, answers that highlight the incredible dignity of every person. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

St. John Paul II reminds us that, “According to Christian faith and the Church's teaching, ‘only the freedom which submits to the Truth leads the human person to his true good. The good of the person is to be in the Truth and to do the Truth’” (Encyclical Letter, “The Splendor of Truth,” Veritatis splendor, VS, 84). In this workshop, we explore not only what truth is and some of the different forms it takes, but also some of the obstacles we face in coming to know the truth and have confidence in our convictions. Objective truth does exist. We can make statements that describe the world as it really is. We are called to diligently seek out the truth, allowing God to open our minds and hearts in order to ultimately find the authentic peace and joy that come with discovering the Person of Jesus Christ, Who is Truth Himself (see John 14:6).

In the Directory for Catechesis we read: “The Church today looks with greater attentiveness at the passage from the age of youth to that of adulthood. . . . New approaches to pastoral and catechetical action must therefore be conceived that would help the Christian community to interact with young adults, supporting them in their journey” (256). In order to effectively minister to adolescents and young adults, it is critical that we understand some of the facets of youth culture and how to enter into it, so that we might shed light on what is good, and call young people into relationship with Jesus Christ. This workshop will provide guidance for all who work with young people as to how to better understand the culture in which they’re growing up, relate to them through their culture, share the Gospel message with them effectively, and accompany them on their journey of faith.

What does it mean to serve in a diverse parish? Cultural diversity has always been at the heart of the Church: “Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11). This workshop explores how to navigate the intercultural reality that many parish programs experience, so that we can effectively bring the love of Christ to each person and help all within the community feel a part of the Body of Christ. In doing so, fostering a respect for the dignity of each person, honoring the pivotal importance of family culture, and making the effort to grow in intercultural competence become key highlights in any successful ministry approach.

In his homily at the Jubilee of the Disabled, St. John Paul II beautifully stated: “How eloquent are your words for us . . . Lord of life and hope! Every human limitation is ransomed and redeemed in you. Thanks to you, disability is not the last word on life. Love is the last word; it is your love that gives meaning to life” (December 3, 2020). We also heard from St. John Paul II that “. . . the Church has always looked on catechesis as a sacred duty and an inalienable right” that needs to be available to all people, and this includes persons with disabilities (Apostolic Exhortation “On Catechesis in Our Time,” Catechesi tradendae 14). This workshop will introduce the catechist to the Church’s teaching concerning catechesis for persons who have physical or developmental disabilities, and include practical assistance for catechists working with various special needs situations. This workshop will also help raise awareness among those involved in parish work of the many resources and sources of aid that exist to serve children and adults with these conditions.

How do we keep our focus on serving the Holy Spirit’s plan and empowerment, and not our own ways and human strength?  Pope Paul VI wrote, “techniques of evangelization are good, but even the most advanced ones could not replace the gentle action of the Spirit” (Evangelii Nuntandi 75).  No one responds to the Gospel without first being drawn by the Holy Spirit and no one can live the high calling of the Christian life without being empowered by the Holy Spirit. When we forget that outreach is a work of God, we burn out. This workshop explores Who the Holy Spirit is, His work in personal conversion, and our accepting with joy the gift of the fullness of the Catholic Church.

“In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son” (Hebrews 1:1–2). Revelation means to pull back the veil. It is God’s method of manifesting a bit of Himself, allowing us time to absorb it and respond, before He shows a bit more; and the process repeats. Because the work of catechesis is oriented towards conversion, the catechist needs to understand clearly how a person gets faith and grows in faith. This workshop delves in the sacred pattern of God’s methodology — how He reaches out to us, and how He calls us and enables us to freely respond.

Pope Francis teaches us that, “Faith does not draw us away from the world or prove irrelevant to the concrete concerns of the men and women of our time. . . . Faith makes us appreciate the architecture of human relationships because it grasps their ultimate foundation and definitive destiny in God, in his love, and thus sheds light on the art of building; as such it becomes a service to the common good” (Encyclical Letter “On the Light of Faith,” Lumen fidei 51). In this workshop, we will be exploring how God wishes to form each and every one of us into the person He created us to be, through helping us love others and live for others, just as Christ Himself lived for us and loved us “to the end” (see John 13:1). Often misunderstood, the Church’s social teaching is not a partisan platform, an economic policy, or a political position, but rather is an integral part of proclaiming and living the Good News of Jesus Christ in community. We will present the social doctrines in this context and demonstrate how this aspect of Church teaching can help evangelize, console, and lovingly challenge us, as well as those we seek to teach.

This workshop sharpens a few of your philosophical tools for teaching the faith. Philosophy, far from putting our lessons out of reach of our audience, actually appeals to the reason of those we teach; it helps us explain doctrine so that it “makes sense,” rather than just falling back on, “because I said so.” This workshop will provide examples of philosophically approaching the faith by exploring both a Catholic and a secular worldview, as well as what these two approaches mean for the human person, ultimately helping us prepare our learners to answer Jesus’ crucial question to His apostles and to each one of us, “Who do you say that I am?”           

Guiding children in the ways of the faith, leading them into a relationship of love with the Blessed Trinity is a ministry to which many of us are called in various capacities — as parents, godparents, catechists, youth ministers, Catholic school teachers, pastors, and so on. For all of us with children in our care, the question arises: How do we reach each individual child with the truth, and lead him or her in a way that will help inspire a lifelong relationship with Jesus? This workshop will provide an opportunity for you to consider your own relationship with God — since we cannot effectively hand on a relationship with our heavenly Father to others if we, ourselves, are not grounded in such a relationship — and provide you with ways of getting to know the children in your care more deeply, so that you might better understand how God can work through you to form their minds, hearts, and souls into those of saints. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

Knowing and understanding Scripture is essential in the life of a catechist. This workshop will explore how God’s Word, transmitted in Sacred Scripture, grounds and deepens our relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. In Scripture, we see the sweeping Plan of God, the history of salvation unfolded. We hear His stunning and steadfast invitation to communion with Him. Sacred Scripture ought to permeate all forms of catechesis, as well as our personal lives as catechists. Through creating lesson plans saturated with the Scriptures, we foster a profound encounter with the Divine – love and challenge, wisdom and hope, forgiveness and mercy, and the means to know God and to know ourselves. By breaking open the Scriptures in each catechetical session, we unlock the mystery of Christ, revealing to those we teach the One they desire to know, fostering life-changing intimacy with God.

“The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly gratuitous and mysterious design of his wisdom and goodness, created the whole universe and chose to raise up men to share in his own divine life” (CCC 759).  A plan born in the Father’s heart: from the genesis of life itself, to the last prophet of the Jewish people, the grand sweep of salvation history is unfolded in the 46 books of the Old Testament.  The Covenants, the Commandments, and the promise of a Chosen One form the subject of this workshop, to give catechists a sense of the provident hand of God over our past, our present, and our eternal destiny.

“That which was from the beginning...that which we have seen and heard we proclaim to you...” (1 John 1:1, 4).  The New Testament is the completion of the story of how the Father prepared the world for His Son, and the beginning of the story of the Church, His Body, His Kingdom, His Bride, His Ark to save a People He calls His own.  This sweeping drama of truth, centered upon He is who is Truth, forms the message of the good news that catechists are privileged to offer to each generation of souls.

Throughout the generations, the Word of God has been handed on as a precious jewel. The Church has guarded this Deposit of Faith so that the saving message of hope might shine out for all to see. Now it is up to us. It is our turn to hand on this jewel, unscathed. It is up to us to catechize, continuing the unbroken chain of passing on the faith throughout the ages. The term catechesis comes from two Greek words meaning, “to echo down,” reflecting the call to us to “echo down,” to hand on, the whole of the faith in its saving fullness. This Deposit of Faith is summed up for our times in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We will look at this important teaching tool for catechesis in this workshop, to discover how we, too, can effectively pass on the precious deposit of Christian teaching. And in learning how to do this, we are able to insert our own name into St. Paul’s exhortation, “O catechist, guard what has been entrusted to you.”

He is the Alpha and the Omega.  He is in all, before all, through all.  The primary and essential object of catechesis is, to use an expression dear to St. Paul, “the mystery of Christ.” (CT 5)  Therefore everyone who teaches the Catholic faith must be immersed in this mystery.  Using Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as well as recent ecclesial documents, this workshop will present the key doctrines that must be taught concerning Jesus Christ.  By examining Jesus’ actions in Scripture, His relationships, and His ways of teaching, we will help catechists unlock the mysteries of Christ, His Incarnation, Redemption, and Second Coming.  This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by William H. Sadlier, Inc.

“The content of catechesis cannot be indifferently subjected to any method” (General Directory for Catechesis 149). Every good catechist seeks in some organized fashion to give growth to the seed of faith, to nourish hope, and to develop a deeper desire to love God and neighbor. In this workshop, we will explore a method that is highly suited to the goals of catechesis, and flows from a study of how the Church’s many catechetical saints sought to pass on the beauty, truth, and goodness of Christ’s saving revelation.

What is good youth ministry in today’s Church? Every ministry to young people needs to have a clear mission and purpose, rooted in the larger mission of the Church, and needs to be able to identify clear values in the way that ministry is carried out. In this workshop, we look specifically at the essential components to a vibrant, effective approach to parish ministry for young people.

Hidden within plain sight in every liturgy is the heart of catechesis – the mystery of Christ’s earthly vocation to return us to the Father’s loving embrace. A deeply Catholic catechesis seeks to uncover the profound meaning of the words, signs, and movements of worship to enlighten and enliven every truth we teach. Understanding the relationship between liturgy and catechesis is vital to forming souls – and to helping those we teach discover the peace and joy of their salvation.

This workshop offers a summary outline of the basic principles of Catholic morality and how our moral life is rooted, not merely in a code of ethics or a set of rules, but profoundly in the Person of Jesus. It discusses some of the major moral issues we face in our society today, and equips all who teach the faith — whether youth ministers, catechists, Catholic school teachers, and so on — with the tools to establish a sure foundation for right moral thinking, both in themselves and in those to whom they minister.

This workshop examines the place of the sacraments within God’s magnificent plan of love. More than simply Catholic rituals, the sacraments are God’s chosen channels of supernatural life, His plan for doing even more than saving us: “‘For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.’  ‘For the Son of God became man so that we might become God’” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC, 460).  This workshop will explore this extraordinary truth, and the provision of God to grace His adopted sons and daughters for a life far beyond their own natural capacity.  This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by William H. Sadlier, Inc.

Effectively Confirming.  What the bishop gives sacramentally is always efficacious.  How do we support our confirmands and their families in this deeply challenging modern culture so that what we give in our parishes and schools catechetically is also reliably effective?  How do we not only provide a program, but also a conversion process, so that participants do not experience the catechesis we give as a series of required hoops to jump through, but revelatory hope?  This workshop aims to explore some practical strategies that apply to this and other parish ministries.  It includes insights from Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium, as well as examines current trends relating to the age of Confirmation and the ordering of the sacraments of Christian initiation.

This workshop outlines the Church’s purpose and understanding of sacred liturgy in light of God’s wonderful plan of salvation. It helps youth ministers develop a Catholic identity with their teens through the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation, offering pragmatic and well-tested ways to help teens participate in the liturgy, as well as strategies to help teens see the Eucharist as the ‘source and summit’ of their lives.  This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by William H. Sadlier, Inc.

In order to pass on the truths of Faith in season and out, the catechist must be securely grounded in Christ. This workshop will consider the richness of the Catholic spiritual life as it pertains specifically to the life of the catechist. Prayer is not the “last ditch effort” of defense for us as catechists, but our first line of defense - the wings on which every effort should soar. Our society often has trouble recognizing that the invisible spiritual realities are in fact “more real,” and certainly more lasting, than the physical realities we touch, see, hear, and experience daily. A review of the spiritual tools of the trade is thus appropriate to help us as catechists joyfully incorporate prayer as our first, middle, and last act of the day, and of the teaching session, creating an environment for catechesis that is permeated by prayer.

“Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God’s desire for us” (CCC 2560). Jesus not only desires to have a relationship with youth, but with youth ministers as well.  In fact, God cares more about doing ministry to people than he cares about people doing ministry for others. This workshop focuses on God’s intense love for us, and places that personal relationship as the center for all our ministry.

Pope Benedict XVI stated that, “the ancient tradition of Lectio Divina… will bring to the Church a new spiritual springtime.”  Come and experience the prayerful pondering of sacred Scripture in the timeless Lectio Divina in which the Holy Spirit makes a connection between the passage and one’s own life.  This way of praying with the Word of God incorporates the natural development of relationship, which derives from the way God has touched and drawn human hearts down through the ages.  During this workshop, you will learn the four stages of Lectio Divina, which will help prepare you to share in this rich treasure of prayer.

“At many moments in the past and by many means, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our time, the final days, he has spoken to us in the person of his Son…” (Hebrews 1:1-2). When the Second Person of the Trinity became flesh and dwelt among us, everything changed. He used to speak through others, now He comes to us personally. This model of “incarnational ministry” should be at the foundation of our efforts to reach teens. For ministry to be effective, it has to be intentionally and consistently relational. As St. John Bosco once wrote that it was important “not only that the (youth) be loved, but that they know they are loved.” We explore how to do that safely and effectively in the current culture.

This workshop is about the central importance of personal vocation. In the words of St. John Paul II, the human person, each unique and unrepeatable, is “the primary and fundamental way for the Church” (RH 14). Each is called to a graced path: to eternal divine beatitude, and to live as a person devoted to the good of his or her neighbor. We will discuss the meaning of personal vocation as it emerged from the Second Vatican Council and was developed in the teaching of St. John Paul II. The unfortunate neglect of personal vocation will also be addressed. We will discuss the pressing need for integrating personal vocation into all Catholic formation. Mentors must situate their mentorship squarely within their own unique callings. In turn, they must help those in their care further clarify and deepen their own personal vocations. Personal vocation should not be a peripheral concept for the Catholic but a central and integrating principle of a life lived in and for Christ.

The Blessed Trinity is the greatest of all mysteries: the One and Only God is a unity of Three Persons. The Trinity is also our final home, the goal of our life. This mystery, revealed in Jesus, sheds light on all other Christian mysteries. And it is the revelation that sheds light on all other Christian mysteries. Knowing that God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, is a unity of loving Persons, changes our understanding of everything. Many religions believe in gods, some believe in one God, but nothing compares to the Christian belief in one God as a communion of Persons, named for us by Jesus as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Many curriculums include the Trinity as only one doctrine among many. This workshop will help to show how to teach the centrality of the Trinity effectively, as the goal and fulfillment of the life of each Christian.

God is the Holy One, and He calls His People to Himself to share in His life of everlasting happiness: “Be holy as I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45; also see 1 Peter 1:15–16). The Second Vatican Council renewed the Church’s awareness of this call in its Dogmatic Constitution On the Church, Lumen gentium: Chapter Five, which is titled “The Universal Call to Holiness.” In this workshop, we allow Mother Church to teach us about this call, a call impacting each one of us. We explore the challenges involved in making our response to this call, and celebrate the graces that God gives us for our sanctification. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

The Christian moral life finds its foundation in the Ten Commandments.  Yet, they are often explained only as proscriptions or laws that have to be kept.  This workshop will present the Ten Commandments as prescriptions that profoundly inform and foster our living life in its fullness.  Building on the foundation of the Commandments, Jesus gave us the model of how to live the reality of Heaven here on Earth through the Beatitudes: a great challenge, but a reality each one of us is called to in God’s grace.  This workshop will discuss the blessed radicality of a life lived under the Commandments and the Beatitudes.

The Big Questions: Why am I here? What is my purpose? Where am I going? Unless one is sleepwalking through life, these are burningly urgent and profoundly relevant questions. How our loving God comes to us at our last breath can unfold so much about those critical questions. We’ll correct common myths about the “Four Last Things,” provide suggestions for teaching these amazing truths, and speak into the powerful curiosity we all have about crossing that final threshold.

Epistemology is the investigation of what we can know, and how we can know reality. It is the discovery of reality. This workshop applies epistemology to our Catholic faith, exploring the ways by which we use our ordinary human processes of knowing, as well as the supernatural gift of faith, to grow in knowledge and explore the beautiful mysteries of our faith, the central mystery being the Blessed Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Here you will discover ways of becoming more confident teachers of the faith, handing on to the students in your care the confidence that they can know and teach the faith with certainty.

Who am I? What is my nature? What has God created me for? Who has God created me for? The answers to these questions affect not only how I think about myself, but also how I think about those whom I catechize and how I encourage each of those whom I have the privilege of teaching to think about themselves. In this workshop we contemplate the unique answers that the Christian faith gives to these questions, answers that highlight the incredible dignity of every person. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

St. John Paul II reminds us that, “According to Christian faith and the Church's teaching, ‘only the freedom which submits to the Truth leads the human person to his true good. The good of the person is to be in the Truth and to do the Truth’” (Encyclical Letter, “The Splendor of Truth,” Veritatis splendor, VS, 84). In this workshop, we explore not only what truth is and some of the different forms it takes, but also some of the obstacles we face in coming to know the truth and have confidence in our convictions. Objective truth does exist. We can make statements that describe the world as it really is. We are called to diligently seek out the truth, allowing God to open our minds and hearts in order to ultimately find the authentic peace and joy that come with discovering the Person of Jesus Christ, Who is Truth Himself (see John 14:6).

In the Directory for Catechesis we read: “The Church today looks with greater attentiveness at the passage from the age of youth to that of adulthood. . . . New approaches to pastoral and catechetical action must therefore be conceived that would help the Christian community to interact with young adults, supporting them in their journey” (256). In order to effectively minister to adolescents and young adults, it is critical that we understand some of the facets of youth culture and how to enter into it, so that we might shed light on what is good, and call young people into relationship with Jesus Christ. This workshop will provide guidance for all who work with young people as to how to better understand the culture in which they’re growing up, relate to them through their culture, share the Gospel message with them effectively, and accompany them on their journey of faith.

What does it mean to serve in a diverse parish? Cultural diversity has always been at the heart of the Church: “Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11). This workshop explores how to navigate the intercultural reality that many parish programs experience, so that we can effectively bring the love of Christ to each person and help all within the community feel a part of the Body of Christ. In doing so, fostering a respect for the dignity of each person, honoring the pivotal importance of family culture, and making the effort to grow in intercultural competence become key highlights in any successful ministry approach.

In his homily at the Jubilee of the Disabled, St. John Paul II beautifully stated: “How eloquent are your words for us . . . Lord of life and hope! Every human limitation is ransomed and redeemed in you. Thanks to you, disability is not the last word on life. Love is the last word; it is your love that gives meaning to life” (December 3, 2020). We also heard from St. John Paul II that “. . . the Church has always looked on catechesis as a sacred duty and an inalienable right” that needs to be available to all people, and this includes persons with disabilities (Apostolic Exhortation “On Catechesis in Our Time,” Catechesi tradendae 14). This workshop will introduce the catechist to the Church’s teaching concerning catechesis for persons who have physical or developmental disabilities, and include practical assistance for catechists working with various special needs situations. This workshop will also help raise awareness among those involved in parish work of the many resources and sources of aid that exist to serve children and adults with these conditions.

How do we keep our focus on serving the Holy Spirit’s plan and empowerment, and not our own ways and human strength?  Pope Paul VI wrote, “techniques of evangelization are good, but even the most advanced ones could not replace the gentle action of the Spirit” (Evangelii Nuntandi 75).  No one responds to the Gospel without first being drawn by the Holy Spirit and no one can live the high calling of the Christian life without being empowered by the Holy Spirit. When we forget that outreach is a work of God, we burn out. This workshop explores Who the Holy Spirit is, His work in personal conversion, and our accepting with joy the gift of the fullness of the Catholic Church.

“In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son” (Hebrews 1:1–2). Revelation means to pull back the veil. It is God’s method of manifesting a bit of Himself, allowing us time to absorb it and respond, before He shows a bit more; and the process repeats. Because the work of catechesis is oriented towards conversion, the catechist needs to understand clearly how a person gets faith and grows in faith. This workshop delves in the sacred pattern of God’s methodology — how He reaches out to us, and how He calls us and enables us to freely respond.

Pope Francis teaches us that, “Faith does not draw us away from the world or prove irrelevant to the concrete concerns of the men and women of our time. . . . Faith makes us appreciate the architecture of human relationships because it grasps their ultimate foundation and definitive destiny in God, in his love, and thus sheds light on the art of building; as such it becomes a service to the common good” (Encyclical Letter “On the Light of Faith,” Lumen fidei 51). In this workshop, we will be exploring how God wishes to form each and every one of us into the person He created us to be, through helping us love others and live for others, just as Christ Himself lived for us and loved us “to the end” (see John 13:1). Often misunderstood, the Church’s social teaching is not a partisan platform, an economic policy, or a political position, but rather is an integral part of proclaiming and living the Good News of Jesus Christ in community. We will present the social doctrines in this context and demonstrate how this aspect of Church teaching can help evangelize, console, and lovingly challenge us, as well as those we seek to teach.

This workshop sharpens a few of your philosophical tools for teaching the faith. Philosophy, far from putting our lessons out of reach of our audience, actually appeals to the reason of those we teach; it helps us explain doctrine so that it “makes sense,” rather than just falling back on, “because I said so.” This workshop will provide examples of philosophically approaching the faith by exploring both a Catholic and a secular worldview, as well as what these two approaches mean for the human person, ultimately helping us prepare our learners to answer Jesus’ crucial question to His apostles and to each one of us, “Who do you say that I am?”           

Guiding children in the ways of the faith, leading them into a relationship of love with the Blessed Trinity is a ministry to which many of us are called in various capacities — as parents, godparents, catechists, youth ministers, Catholic school teachers, pastors, and so on. For all of us with children in our care, the question arises: How do we reach each individual child with the truth, and lead him or her in a way that will help inspire a lifelong relationship with Jesus? This workshop will provide an opportunity for you to consider your own relationship with God — since we cannot effectively hand on a relationship with our heavenly Father to others if we, ourselves, are not grounded in such a relationship — and provide you with ways of getting to know the children in your care more deeply, so that you might better understand how God can work through you to form their minds, hearts, and souls into those of saints. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

Knowing and understanding Scripture is essential in the life of a catechist. This workshop will explore how God’s Word, transmitted in Sacred Scripture, grounds and deepens our relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. In Scripture, we see the sweeping Plan of God, the history of salvation unfolded. We hear His stunning and steadfast invitation to communion with Him. Sacred Scripture ought to permeate all forms of catechesis, as well as our personal lives as catechists. Through creating lesson plans saturated with the Scriptures, we foster a profound encounter with the Divine – love and challenge, wisdom and hope, forgiveness and mercy, and the means to know God and to know ourselves. By breaking open the Scriptures in each catechetical session, we unlock the mystery of Christ, revealing to those we teach the One they desire to know, fostering life-changing intimacy with God.

“The eternal Father, in accordance with the utterly gratuitous and mysterious design of his wisdom and goodness, created the whole universe and chose to raise up men to share in his own divine life” (CCC 759).  A plan born in the Father’s heart: from the genesis of life itself, to the last prophet of the Jewish people, the grand sweep of salvation history is unfolded in the 46 books of the Old Testament.  The Covenants, the Commandments, and the promise of a Chosen One form the subject of this workshop, to give catechists a sense of the provident hand of God over our past, our present, and our eternal destiny.

“That which was from the beginning...that which we have seen and heard we proclaim to you...” (1 John 1:1, 4).  The New Testament is the completion of the story of how the Father prepared the world for His Son, and the beginning of the story of the Church, His Body, His Kingdom, His Bride, His Ark to save a People He calls His own.  This sweeping drama of truth, centered upon He is who is Truth, forms the message of the good news that catechists are privileged to offer to each generation of souls.

Throughout the generations, the Word of God has been handed on as a precious jewel. The Church has guarded this Deposit of Faith so that the saving message of hope might shine out for all to see. Now it is up to us. It is our turn to hand on this jewel, unscathed. It is up to us to catechize, continuing the unbroken chain of passing on the faith throughout the ages. The term catechesis comes from two Greek words meaning, “to echo down,” reflecting the call to us to “echo down,” to hand on, the whole of the faith in its saving fullness. This Deposit of Faith is summed up for our times in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We will look at this important teaching tool for catechesis in this workshop, to discover how we, too, can effectively pass on the precious deposit of Christian teaching. And in learning how to do this, we are able to insert our own name into St. Paul’s exhortation, “O catechist, guard what has been entrusted to you.”

He is the Alpha and the Omega.  He is in all, before all, through all.  The primary and essential object of catechesis is, to use an expression dear to St. Paul, “the mystery of Christ.” (CT 5)  Therefore everyone who teaches the Catholic faith must be immersed in this mystery.  Using Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as well as recent ecclesial documents, this workshop will present the key doctrines that must be taught concerning Jesus Christ.  By examining Jesus’ actions in Scripture, His relationships, and His ways of teaching, we will help catechists unlock the mysteries of Christ, His Incarnation, Redemption, and Second Coming.  This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by William H. Sadlier, Inc.

The Church father St. Jerome said that, “To others grace was given in measure, but into Mary was poured the whole fullness.”  Daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, Spouse of the Spirit, the Blessed Virgin has a profoundly unique place in the Mystical Body.  She is the first and pre-eminent member of the Church, the model par excellence of faith, hope, and love for all Christians.  She is the mirror-image of the Church’s unfailing holiness as virgin-spouse of the Word.  This workshop looks at what God revealed to the Church about our Lady, and how those truths form us under her Motherhood as faithful disciples.

“The content of catechesis cannot be indifferently subjected to any method” (General Directory for Catechesis 149). Every good catechist seeks in some organized fashion to give growth to the seed of faith, to nourish hope, and to develop a deeper desire to love God and neighbor. In this workshop, we will explore a method that is highly suited to the goals of catechesis, and flows from a study of how the Church’s many catechetical saints sought to pass on the beauty, truth, and goodness of Christ’s saving revelation.

The General Directory of Catechesis says that, “Catechesis for adults, since it deals with persons who are capable of an adherence that is fully responsible, must be considered the chief form of catechesis” (GDC 59).  Is this what most adult Catholics understand?  Do most parishes orient sufficient resources to this endeavor?  Do the methods employed in parishes reflect the best possible principles for adult learning, which differ from methodology employed for children and adolescents?  This workshop will explore techniques to evangelize, catechize, and form faith in adults most effectively, given that the principle places of adult formation are in the family and in the parish.

Hidden within plain sight in every liturgy is the heart of catechesis – the mystery of Christ’s earthly vocation to return us to the Father’s loving embrace. A deeply Catholic catechesis seeks to uncover the profound meaning of the words, signs, and movements of worship to enlighten and enliven every truth we teach. Understanding the relationship between liturgy and catechesis is vital to forming souls – and to helping those we teach discover the peace and joy of their salvation.

This workshop offers a summary outline of the basic principles of Catholic morality and how our moral life is rooted, not merely in a code of ethics or a set of rules, but profoundly in the Person of Jesus. It discusses some of the major moral issues we face in our society today, and equips all who teach the faith — whether youth ministers, catechists, Catholic school teachers, and so on — with the tools to establish a sure foundation for right moral thinking, both in themselves and in those to whom they minister.

This workshop examines the place of the sacraments within God’s magnificent plan of love. More than simply Catholic rituals, the sacraments are God’s chosen channels of supernatural life, His plan for doing even more than saving us: “‘For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.’  ‘For the Son of God became man so that we might become God’” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC, 460).  This workshop will explore this extraordinary truth, and the provision of God to grace His adopted sons and daughters for a life far beyond their own natural capacity.  This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by William H. Sadlier, Inc.

This workshop outlines the Church’s purpose and understanding of sacred liturgy in light of God’s wonderful plan of salvation. It helps youth ministers develop a Catholic identity with their teens through the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation, offering pragmatic and well-tested ways to help teens participate in the liturgy, as well as strategies to help teens see the Eucharist as the ‘source and summit’ of their lives.  This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by William H. Sadlier, Inc.

In order to pass on the truths of Faith in season and out, the catechist must be securely grounded in Christ. This workshop will consider the richness of the Catholic spiritual life as it pertains specifically to the life of the catechist. Prayer is not the “last ditch effort” of defense for us as catechists, but our first line of defense - the wings on which every effort should soar. Our society often has trouble recognizing that the invisible spiritual realities are in fact “more real,” and certainly more lasting, than the physical realities we touch, see, hear, and experience daily. A review of the spiritual tools of the trade is thus appropriate to help us as catechists joyfully incorporate prayer as our first, middle, and last act of the day, and of the teaching session, creating an environment for catechesis that is permeated by prayer.

“Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God’s desire for us” (CCC 2560). Jesus not only desires to have a relationship with youth, but with youth ministers as well.  In fact, God cares more about doing ministry to people than he cares about people doing ministry for others. This workshop focuses on God’s intense love for us, and places that personal relationship as the center for all our ministry.

Pope Benedict XVI stated that, “the ancient tradition of Lectio Divina… will bring to the Church a new spiritual springtime.”  Come and experience the prayerful pondering of sacred Scripture in the timeless Lectio Divina in which the Holy Spirit makes a connection between the passage and one’s own life.  This way of praying with the Word of God incorporates the natural development of relationship, which derives from the way God has touched and drawn human hearts down through the ages.  During this workshop, you will learn the four stages of Lectio Divina, which will help prepare you to share in this rich treasure of prayer.

It is into the great mystery of the Father’s saving love through Christ Jesus that all believers are called.  And it is this great mystery that all the institutions of the Church, each and every one of them, exist to serve. The OCIA has no other purpose than the service of the holy mystery, the saving sacrament, of Christ present and active in His living Body.  The renewal of the process of Christian initiation stands as one of the most important and successful features of modern liturgical renewal. Since its promulgation in 1972 and its further elaboration under the auspices of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1988, the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults has been among the most pastorally effective features of Catholic life in the United States.  And yet all is not well. The very fact that the challenge is conversion, the conforming of imperfect men and women to Christ, means that the process will never be perfect. Initiation is, after all, the beginning of a process which has its ending in eternity. However, there are problems that are more concrete and, for that reason, can more readily be corrected. In general, three models of OCIA are operative today in most Catholic parishes using the Rite. Each of the models conceives of, and practices, Christian initiation differently. This workshop describes these models, discussing their strengths and weaknesses in terms of catechetical, liturgical, and pastoral dimensions.  The result is clarity on how best the OCIA can serve the great work of immersing participants into Catholicism through a process of learning and interiorizing the sacred Scriptures, doctrines, sacraments, prayers, moral traditions, spiritual readings and rich communal culture of the Catholic Church, in order to serve the Father’s provident love in calling each person to the living Body of Christ on earth.

As we move forward, please note that the videos for this workshop were made before OCIA was updated to OCIA. You may notice that the quotes, which appear in the videos, are different than the quotes from the new OCIA rite book. In these videos, or other OCIA workshops, the quotes that appear are from the previous OCIA rite book. The tasks for this workshop have been updated with the new OCIA language. Even though the OCIA rite book has been updated, the heart of the OCIA process has not changed. The heart of the OCIA process is conversion, and this central element remains the same even though the language of the OCIA has been updated. This workshop is still applicable and beneficial to you and your OCIA process so that you can better minister to those entrusted to you. 

This workshop is about the central importance of personal vocation. In the words of St. John Paul II, the human person, each unique and unrepeatable, is “the primary and fundamental way for the Church” (RH 14). Each is called to a graced path: to eternal divine beatitude, and to live as a person devoted to the good of his or her neighbor. We will discuss the meaning of personal vocation as it emerged from the Second Vatican Council and was developed in the teaching of St. John Paul II. The unfortunate neglect of personal vocation will also be addressed. We will discuss the pressing need for integrating personal vocation into all Catholic formation. Mentors must situate their mentorship squarely within their own unique callings. In turn, they must help those in their care further clarify and deepen their own personal vocations. Personal vocation should not be a peripheral concept for the Catholic but a central and integrating principle of a life lived in and for Christ.

The Blessed Trinity is the greatest of all mysteries: the One and Only God is a unity of Three Persons. The Trinity is also our final home, the goal of our life. This mystery, revealed in Jesus, sheds light on all other Christian mysteries. And it is the revelation that sheds light on all other Christian mysteries. Knowing that God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, is a unity of loving Persons, changes our understanding of everything. Many religions believe in gods, some believe in one God, but nothing compares to the Christian belief in one God as a communion of Persons, named for us by Jesus as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Many curriculums include the Trinity as only one doctrine among many. This workshop will help to show how to teach the centrality of the Trinity effectively, as the goal and fulfillment of the life of each Christian.

God is the Holy One, and He calls His People to Himself to share in His life of everlasting happiness: “Be holy as I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45; also see 1 Peter 1:15–16). The Second Vatican Council renewed the Church’s awareness of this call in its Dogmatic Constitution On the Church, Lumen gentium: Chapter Five, which is titled “The Universal Call to Holiness.” In this workshop, we allow Mother Church to teach us about this call, a call impacting each one of us. We explore the challenges involved in making our response to this call, and celebrate the graces that God gives us for our sanctification. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

The Christian moral life finds its foundation in the Ten Commandments.  Yet, they are often explained only as proscriptions or laws that have to be kept.  This workshop will present the Ten Commandments as prescriptions that profoundly inform and foster our living life in its fullness.  Building on the foundation of the Commandments, Jesus gave us the model of how to live the reality of Heaven here on Earth through the Beatitudes: a great challenge, but a reality each one of us is called to in God’s grace.  This workshop will discuss the blessed radicality of a life lived under the Commandments and the Beatitudes.

The Big Questions: Why am I here? What is my purpose? Where am I going? Unless one is sleepwalking through life, these are burningly urgent and profoundly relevant questions. How our loving God comes to us at our last breath can unfold so much about those critical questions. We’ll correct common myths about the “Four Last Things,” provide suggestions for teaching these amazing truths, and speak into the powerful curiosity we all have about crossing that final threshold.

Epistemology is the investigation of what we can know, and how we can know reality. It is the discovery of reality. This workshop applies epistemology to our Catholic faith, exploring the ways by which we use our ordinary human processes of knowing, as well as the supernatural gift of faith, to grow in knowledge and explore the beautiful mysteries of our faith, the central mystery being the Blessed Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Here you will discover ways of becoming more confident teachers of the faith, handing on to the students in your care the confidence that they can know and teach the faith with certainty.

Who am I? What is my nature? What has God created me for? Who has God created me for? The answers to these questions affect not only how I think about myself, but also how I think about those whom I catechize and how I encourage each of those whom I have the privilege of teaching to think about themselves. In this workshop we contemplate the unique answers that the Christian faith gives to these questions, answers that highlight the incredible dignity of every person. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

St. John Paul II reminds us that, “According to Christian faith and the Church's teaching, ‘only the freedom which submits to the Truth leads the human person to his true good. The good of the person is to be in the Truth and to do the Truth’” (Encyclical Letter, “The Splendor of Truth,” Veritatis splendor, VS, 84). In this workshop, we explore not only what truth is and some of the different forms it takes, but also some of the obstacles we face in coming to know the truth and have confidence in our convictions. Objective truth does exist. We can make statements that describe the world as it really is. We are called to diligently seek out the truth, allowing God to open our minds and hearts in order to ultimately find the authentic peace and joy that come with discovering the Person of Jesus Christ, Who is Truth Himself (see John 14:6).

St. John Paul II stated that adult catechesis is “the principal form of catechesis, because it is addressed to persons who have the greatest responsibilities and the capacity to live the Christian message in its fully developed form” (Apostolic Exhortation “On Catechesis in Our Time,” Catechesi tradendae 43). During His public ministry, Jesus invited men and women to follow Him and be His disciples. Through adult catechesis, we invite men and women to be Jesus’ disciples, and we accompany them on their journey of faith, so that they may come to believe more firmly, hope more ardently, and love more perfectly. This workshop offers practical insights on how to disciple adults, the need for pastoral accompaniment, and how to identify and sensitively address the needs that exist in every community.

In his homily at the Jubilee of the Disabled, St. John Paul II beautifully stated: “How eloquent are your words for us . . . Lord of life and hope! Every human limitation is ransomed and redeemed in you. Thanks to you, disability is not the last word on life. Love is the last word; it is your love that gives meaning to life” (December 3, 2020). We also heard from St. John Paul II that “. . . the Church has always looked on catechesis as a sacred duty and an inalienable right” that needs to be available to all people, and this includes persons with disabilities (Apostolic Exhortation “On Catechesis in Our Time,” Catechesi tradendae 14). This workshop will introduce the catechist to the Church’s teaching concerning catechesis for persons who have physical or developmental disabilities, and include practical assistance for catechists working with various special needs situations. This workshop will also help raise awareness among those involved in parish work of the many resources and sources of aid that exist to serve children and adults with these conditions.

How do we keep our focus on serving the Holy Spirit’s plan and empowerment, and not our own ways and human strength?  Pope Paul VI wrote, “techniques of evangelization are good, but even the most advanced ones could not replace the gentle action of the Spirit” (Evangelii Nuntandi 75).  No one responds to the Gospel without first being drawn by the Holy Spirit and no one can live the high calling of the Christian life without being empowered by the Holy Spirit. When we forget that outreach is a work of God, we burn out. This workshop explores Who the Holy Spirit is, His work in personal conversion, and our accepting with joy the gift of the fullness of the Catholic Church.

“In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son” (Hebrews 1:1–2). Revelation means to pull back the veil. It is God’s method of manifesting a bit of Himself, allowing us time to absorb it and respond, before He shows a bit more; and the process repeats. Because the work of catechesis is oriented towards conversion, the catechist needs to understand clearly how a person gets faith and grows in faith. This workshop delves in the sacred pattern of God’s methodology — how He reaches out to us, and how He calls us and enables us to freely respond.

Pope Francis teaches us that, “Faith does not draw us away from the world or prove irrelevant to the concrete concerns of the men and women of our time. . . . Faith makes us appreciate the architecture of human relationships because it grasps their ultimate foundation and definitive destiny in God, in his love, and thus sheds light on the art of building; as such it becomes a service to the common good” (Encyclical Letter “On the Light of Faith,” Lumen fidei 51). In this workshop, we will be exploring how God wishes to form each and every one of us into the person He created us to be, through helping us love others and live for others, just as Christ Himself lived for us and loved us “to the end” (see John 13:1). Often misunderstood, the Church’s social teaching is not a partisan platform, an economic policy, or a political position, but rather is an integral part of proclaiming and living the Good News of Jesus Christ in community. We will present the social doctrines in this context and demonstrate how this aspect of Church teaching can help evangelize, console, and lovingly challenge us, as well as those we seek to teach.

This workshop sharpens a few of your philosophical tools for teaching the faith. Philosophy, far from putting our lessons out of reach of our audience, actually appeals to the reason of those we teach; it helps us explain doctrine so that it “makes sense,” rather than just falling back on, “because I said so.” This workshop will provide examples of philosophically approaching the faith by exploring both a Catholic and a secular worldview, as well as what these two approaches mean for the human person, ultimately helping us prepare our learners to answer Jesus’ crucial question to His apostles and to each one of us, “Who do you say that I am?”           

Guiding children in the ways of the faith, leading them into a relationship of love with the Blessed Trinity is a ministry to which many of us are called in various capacities — as parents, godparents, catechists, youth ministers, Catholic school teachers, pastors, and so on. For all of us with children in our care, the question arises: How do we reach each individual child with the truth, and lead him or her in a way that will help inspire a lifelong relationship with Jesus? This workshop will provide an opportunity for you to consider your own relationship with God — since we cannot effectively hand on a relationship with our heavenly Father to others if we, ourselves, are not grounded in such a relationship — and provide you with ways of getting to know the children in your care more deeply, so that you might better understand how God can work through you to form their minds, hearts, and souls into those of saints. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

This workshop explores the most critical element in the graced work of passing on the faith — you. Because the content of the faith is a Person — the Person of Christ — the person of the catechist is pivotal for success. The vocation of the catechist is to be a witness of Christ’s goodness, of His zeal, of His ways, of Him — to be like the Master. “Whatever be the level of his responsibility in the Church, every catechist must constantly endeavor to transmit by his teaching and behavior the teaching and life of Jesus” (St. John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation "On Catechesis in Our Time," Catechesi tradendae (CT) 6). This calling is both joyfully thrilling, and jarringly daunting. It is a supernatural work, beyond our natural capacities. “Catechesis . . . is consequently a work of the Holy Spirit, a work that He alone can initiate and sustain in the Church” (CT 72). And sustain in you. This foundational workshop offers inspiration, insight, and guidance to encourage catechists as they strive to live out their privileged vocation.

This workshop is about the central importance of personal vocation. In the words of St. John Paul II, the human person, each unique and unrepeatable, is “the primary and fundamental way for the Church” (RH 14). Each is called to a graced path: to eternal divine beatitude, and to live as a person devoted to the good of his or her neighbor. We will discuss the meaning of personal vocation as it emerged from the Second Vatican Council and was developed in the teaching of St. John Paul II. The unfortunate neglect of personal vocation will also be addressed. We will discuss the pressing need for integrating personal vocation into all Catholic formation. Mentors must situate their mentorship squarely within their own unique callings. In turn, they must help those in their care further clarify and deepen their own personal vocations. Personal vocation should not be a peripheral concept for the Catholic but a central and integrating principle of a life lived in and for Christ.

An important part of being a mentor is getting to really know the person under your care. In this workshop, we explore various kinds of questions related to this work of discovery, and demonstrate which ones best accomplish the objective of authentically revealing that person’s thoughts and needs to productively and wisely build the mentoring relationship. Poor questions result in missed opportunities or weak rapport. Great questions truly serve to open up a soul and build strong mentorship. We especially emphasize the value of open-ended questions oriented toward drawing out a person’s life story.  This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

Empathic listening makes a profound impact on mentoring relationships and in the mentor’s ability to influence effectively someone seeking guidance. When mentors ask good questions, they demonstrate a sincere interest in getting to know those in their care. Such questions orient the relationship towards more authentic sharing, and thereby allows the Holy Spirit to foster spiritual progress and genuine openness to God’s will. This workshop is intended to complement the workshop on asking good questions. Empathic listening is the counterpart skill that enables mentors to truly understand another person intellectually as well as emotionally. As well as addressing the meaning of empathy, we discuss how Jesus provides the superlative pattern for this service to souls. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

The ministry of catechesis and the ministry of spiritual formation are ordinarily somewhat separate in people’s understanding. Yet in the Church’s mind, they relate naturally and necessarily. In the General Directory for Catechesis we read, “Truly, to help a person to encounter God, which is the task of the catechist, means to emphasize above all the relationship that the person has with God so that he can make it his own and allow himself to be guided by God. . . . The catechist is essentially a mediator. He facilitates communication between the people and the mystery of God, between subjects amongst themselves, as well as with the community” (139, 156). This workshop explores what it means to be guided — an intentional docility and trust in the Church's ability to lead us to spiritual growth, to peace with God, to sanctity. Building upon this, we then examine the fundamentals of what it means for you to guide another soul in a catechetical context, so that you can more intentionally seek to be all that the catechetical vocation is graced to become. This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by the Our Sunday Visitor Institute.

What is our purpose and goal as ministers in the Church in an OCIA process? To make new Catholics? To spread the Gospel? To run a good process? Our purpose and goal must transcend the “how” of OCIA and begin with the “why.” The restoration of the catechumenal process is a reflection of the Church’s wisdom in going back to a tried and true practice in order to lovingly bring people into Her fold. It is a restoration of grace for those who are seeking Christ and His one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. This workshop inaugurates the necessary vision to develop excellent parish-based OCIA ministry, beginning with a call to trust the wisdom of Holy Mother Church in Her discernment to gift the modern world with a way of Christian initiation unparalleled in its beauty and power. Only in the light of this trust and deep understanding of the OCIA process, as the Church intends it to be implemented, does the full purpose and potential of the initiation journey become clear and attainable.

As we move forward, please note that the videos for this workshop were made before RCIA was updated to OCIA. You may notice that the quotes, which appear in the videos, are different than the quotes from the new OCIA rite book. In these videos, or other OCIA workshops, the quotes that appear are from the previous OCIA rite book. The tasks for this workshop have been updated with the new OCIA language. Even though the OCIA rite book has been updated, the heart of the OCIA process has not changed. The heart of the OCIA process is conversion, and this central element remains the same even though the language of the OCIA has been updated. This workshop is still applicable and beneficial to you and your OCIA process so that you can better minister to those entrusted to you. 

It is into the great mystery of the Father’s saving love through Christ Jesus that all believers are called.  And it is this great mystery that all the institutions of the Church, each and every one of them, exist to serve. The OCIA has no other purpose than the service of the holy mystery, the saving sacrament, of Christ present and active in His living Body.  The renewal of the process of Christian initiation stands as one of the most important and successful features of modern liturgical renewal. Since its promulgation in 1972 and its further elaboration under the auspices of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1988, the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults has been among the most pastorally effective features of Catholic life in the United States.  And yet all is not well. The very fact that the challenge is conversion, the conforming of imperfect men and women to Christ, means that the process will never be perfect. Initiation is, after all, the beginning of a process which has its ending in eternity. However, there are problems that are more concrete and, for that reason, can more readily be corrected. In general, three models of OCIA are operative today in most Catholic parishes using the Rite. Each of the models conceives of, and practices, Christian initiation differently. This workshop describes these models, discussing their strengths and weaknesses in terms of catechetical, liturgical, and pastoral dimensions.  The result is clarity on how best the OCIA can serve the great work of immersing participants into Catholicism through a process of learning and interiorizing the sacred Scriptures, doctrines, sacraments, prayers, moral traditions, spiritual readings and rich communal culture of the Catholic Church, in order to serve the Father’s provident love in calling each person to the living Body of Christ on earth.

As we move forward, please note that the videos for this workshop were made before OCIA was updated to OCIA. You may notice that the quotes, which appear in the videos, are different than the quotes from the new OCIA rite book. In these videos, or other OCIA workshops, the quotes that appear are from the previous OCIA rite book. The tasks for this workshop have been updated with the new OCIA language. Even though the OCIA rite book has been updated, the heart of the OCIA process has not changed. The heart of the OCIA process is conversion, and this central element remains the same even though the language of the OCIA has been updated. This workshop is still applicable and beneficial to you and your OCIA process so that you can better minister to those entrusted to you. 

From the ancient Nicene Creed we proclaim that “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages.” The mystery of the Second Person of the Trinity is the God Who comes to us to save, redeem, instruct, give us hope and lead us to our promised glory. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. We do not have a God Who is distant, but a God Who comes to us in the most intimate way. We enter into the mystery of Christ through a living Word, transforming sacramental grace, evangelizing catechesis, and evangelical communities. This workshop will explore how a rich understanding of the means by which people enter into Christ’s life can be fostered in our approaches to ministry. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14) to call each individual to God’s loving plan and sure hope in Christ. This talk describes the means to participate in that life.

As we move forward, please note that the videos for this workshop were made before RCIA was updated to OCIA. You may notice that the quotes, which appear in the videos, are different than the quotes from the new OCIA rite book. In these videos, or other OCIA workshops, the quotes that appear are from the previous OCIA rite book. The tasks for this workshop have been updated with the new OCIA language. Even though the OCIA rite book has been updated, the heart of the OCIA process has not changed. The heart of the OCIA process is conversion, and this central element remains the same even though the language of the OCIA has been updated. This workshop is still applicable and beneficial to you and your OCIA process so that you can better minister to those entrusted to you. 

This workshop will explore the necessary connection of catechesis to the sacramental and liturgical life of the Church in our work as catechists.  The liturgy comes from the “living memory” of the Church, that is, the Holy Spirit (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC, 1099).  Through the Holy Spirit working in the liturgy, the truths of the faith are passed on like a special family memory, from generation to generation, down to the present day.  Each time we participate in the liturgy, we receive the treasure of the Deposit of Faith.  But the liturgy is more than a family heirloom – it is reality. It is the place in which “Christ Jesus works in fullness for the transformation of human beings” (Catechesi Tradendae, CT, 23).  As catechists, we have a call: the privilege of ensuring that those we catechize understand and grow in appreciation for this encounter with God.  We bring others into God’s saving work in the liturgy so they too can be transformed by the One Who loves us fully.  We teach about the liturgy to pass on the magnificent inheritance of faith to the next generation, echoing the action of catechists from the centuries before us.  This workshop's creation was made possible through a generous grant by William H. Sadlier, Inc.

“. . . [T]he liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed;  it is also the fount from which all her power flows” (Second Vatican Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum concilium 10).  The liturgy proclaims, celebrates, and actualizes the Father’s loving plan for His people.  The Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA), or catechumenal process, has three aspects: liturgical, catechetical, and pastoral, of which liturgical is prime. The Church has designed these aspects to promote deep, long-lasting conversion to Christ and a love for the Church.  This workshop will focus on the stages of the modern catechumenal process, which derive directly from the ancient order of catechumens, and the way liturgical graces build and crescendo through the four periods of the OCIA process to make possible the plan of goodness born in the Father’s heart for each believer.

As we move forward, please note that the videos for this workshop were made before OCIA was updated to OCIA. You may notice that the quotes, which appear in the videos, are different than the quotes from the new OCIA rite book. In these videos, or other OCIA workshops, the quotes that appear are from the previous OCIA rite book. The tasks for this workshop have been updated with the new OCIA language. Even though the OCIA rite book has been updated, the heart of the OCIA process has not changed. The heart of the OCIA process is conversion, and this central element remains the same even though the language of the OCIA has been updated. This workshop is still applicable and beneficial to you and your OCIA process so that you can better minister to those entrusted to you. 

“That which was from the beginning . . . that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you…” (1 John 1:1, 3). St. John Paul II proclaimed that, “The definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ . . .” (Apostolic Exhortation "On Catechesis in Our Time," Catechesi tradendae 5). The work of catechesis is not just “education,” but “intimacy with Jesus Christ.” God wants to make Himself known, to communicate His own divine life to us and make us capable of responding to Him. God gradually “pulls back the veil” (See 2 Corinthians 3:14–16) by words and deeds, but especially in Jesus Christ, the Mediator and fullness of all Revelation. By His Revelation, God has answered all the questions of the human condition. God wants all to be saved, so He arranged that His Revelation remain in its entirety and be transmitted to all generations. This workshop focuses on the apostolic work of passing on the truths of the faith in an organic and systematic way. This is done to make disciples of Christ and to initiate them into the fullness of Christian life through an encounter with the communion of believers and with Christ the Teacher. “‘The whole concern of doctrine and its teaching must be directed to the love that never ends.’” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 25)

This workshop explores adult catechesis within the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) baptismal catechumenate. Each period of the OCIA process has a distinctive catechetical objective in serving the Holy Spirit’s work of conversion, and so each period of the OCIA will have a different “feel” catechetically. The Order of Christian Initiation for Adults itself gives us the guidelines for what participants need to know, and what we need to teach, thereby allowing the catechetical aspect of Christian initiation to become teaching in the service of leading others into the Father’s eternal embrace, a love beyond all telling. 

As we move forward, please note that the videos for this workshop were made before RCIA was updated to OCIA. You may notice that the quotes, which appear in the videos, are different than the quotes from the new OCIA rite book. In these videos, or other OCIA workshops, the quotes that appear are from the previous OCIA rite book. The tasks for this workshop have been updated with the new OCIA language. Even though the OCIA rite book has been updated, the heart of the OCIA process has not changed. The heart of the OCIA process is conversion, and this central element remains the same even though the language of the OCIA has been updated. This workshop is still applicable and beneficial to you and your OCIA process so that you can better minister to those entrusted to you. 

Knowing and understanding Scripture is essential in the life of a catechist. This workshop will explore how God’s Word, transmitted in Sacred Scripture, grounds and deepens our relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. In Scripture, we see the sweeping Plan of God, the history of salvation unfolded. We hear His stunning and steadfast invitation to communion with Him. Sacred Scripture ought to permeate all forms of catechesis, as well as our personal lives as catechists. Through creating lesson plans saturated with the Scriptures, we foster a profound encounter with the Divine – love and challenge, wisdom and hope, forgiveness and mercy, and the means to know God and to know ourselves. By breaking open the Scriptures in each catechetical session, we unlock the mystery of Christ, revealing to those we teach the One they desire to know, fostering life-changing intimacy with God.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux joyfully exulted that, “‘If the Church was a body composed of different members, it couldn't lack the noblest of all; it must have a Heart, and a Heart BURNING WITH LOVE. And I realized that this love alone was the true motive force which enabled the other members of the Church to act; if it ceased to function, the Apostles would forget to preach the gospel, the Martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. LOVE, IN FACT, IS THE VOCATION WHICH INCLUDES ALL OTHERS; IT'S A UNIVERSE OF ITS OWN, COMPRISING ALL TIME AND SPACE — IT'S ETERNAL!’” (quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church 826, emphasis in the original). We know that this love is the golden thread that binds all we believe, this love which has God as its source and which we know as the theological virtue of charity. It is the love of God that gives us truth to speak in gentleness and clarity, and life-giving concern to reach out sacrificially to all those souls around us. It is the love that makes us adopted sons and daughters. It is our beginning and our gifted destiny. This workshop delves into the vital nature of the love of brethren — the virtue of charity that helps us to love God first and love our neighbors as ourselves — that is to be the mark of any community calling others to join Christ’s Body.

The pastoral aspect of the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA) signifies the means by which we form and accompany individuals, person-to-person, to a deeper relationship with the Trinity through the Body of Christ. Many who do not stay with the Church after going through the OCIA process leave not for lack of knowledge, but for lack of care. The pastoral components are the people who participate, some intimately and others from a distance, in Jesus’ graced work of conversion and discipleship of individuals. It is the surpassing calling of becoming a gift to others, and receiving others freely as a gift from the Lord. This workshop addresses how the pastoral aspect of the OCIA process leads us to be sacrificial witnesses — the Lord’s chosen means to authenticate faith and relationship with the Trinity, to support conversion in lives, and through God’s saving message draw all people into the loving embrace of the Father and His People.

As we move forward, please note that the videos for this workshop were made before OCIA was updated to OCIA. You may notice that the quotes, which appear in the videos, are different than the quotes from the new OCIA rite book. In these videos, or other OCIA workshops, the quotes that appear are from the previous OCIA rite book. The tasks for this workshop have been updated with the new OCIA language. Even though the OCIA rite book has been updated, the heart of the OCIA process has not changed. The heart of the OCIA process is conversion, and this central element remains the same even though the language of the OCIA has been updated. This workshop is still applicable and beneficial to you and your OCIA process so that you can better minister to those entrusted to you. 

Este taller explora el elemento esencial en la misión de transmitir la fe: tú. Debido a que el contenido de la fe es una Persona, Cristo, la persona del catequista es fundamental. La vocación del catequista es la de ser testigo de la bondad de Cristo, de Su santo celo, de Su ejemplo — de ser como el Maestro. “. . . [C]ualquiera que sea su responsabilidad en la Iglesia, debe ser la de comunicar, a través de su enseñanza y su comportamiento, la doctrina y la vida de Jesús” (Juan Pablo II, Exhortación apostólica, La Catequesis en Nuestro Tiempo, Catechesi tradendae (CT) 6). Este llamado es a la vez tan gozoso y emocionante como al mismo tiempo dificil porque conlleva una gran responsabilidad. Se trata de una obra sobrenatural, más allá de nuestras capacidades naturales. “La catequesis . . . es por consiguiente una obra del Espíritu Santo, obra que sólo Él puede suscitar y alimentar en la Iglesia” (CT 72). Y se sostiene en ti. Este taller es un punto de partida que ofrece inspiración, visión y guía para animar a los catequistas en su esfuerzo por vivir su vocación privilegiada. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

De generación en generación, la Palabra de Dios ha sido transmitida como una joya preciosa. La Iglesia ha custodiado este Depósito de la Fe para que el mensaje salvífico de esperanza ilumine y llegue a todos los hombres. Ahora nos corresponde a nosotros. Es nuestro turno transmitir esta joya, intacta. Nos toca catequizar, continuando la cadena ininterrumpida de transmisión de la fe a lo largo de los siglos. El término catequesis deriva de dos palabras griegas que significan: “hacer eco”. Es un llamado a transmitir la totalidad de la fe en su plenitud salvadora. Este Depósito de la Fe queda resumido para nosotros en el Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica. Veremos esta importante herramienta de enseñanza para la catequesis en este taller. De esta manera  descubriremos que nosotros también podemos transmitir el preciado depósito de la enseñanza cristiana de manera efectiva. Y al aprender cómo hacer esto, seremos parte en la exhortación de San Pablo, “Catequista, guarda el depósito”.  

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

"Después de haber hablado antiguamente a nuestros padres por medio de los Profetas, en muchas ocasiones y de diversas maneras, ahora, en este tiempo final, Dios nos habló por medio de su Hijo” (Hebreos 1:1–2). Revelación significa remover el velo. Es la manera en que Dios manifiesta un poco de Sí mismo, dándonos tiempo para absorberlo y responder, para después manifestarse un poco más; y así se repite el proceso. Dado que el trabajo de catequesis se orienta a la conversión, el catequista necesita entender claramente cómo una persona recibe la fe y cómo esta crece en ella. Este taller profundiza en el patrón sagrado de la metodología de Dios, en la manera en que Él se acerca a nosotros, nos llama y nos permite responderle libremente.  

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

La Santa Madre Iglesia insiste en que la catequesis que verdaderamente evangeliza los corazones, y que encuentra a las almas en el lugar de mayor necesidad, debe centrarse en Aquel quien es nuestro principio y fin: Jesucristo. Enseñamos a Jesús, y todo lo que enseñamos, debe ser en referencia a Él. Ven a explorar cómo desarrollar las verdades inspiradoras de nuestra fe poniendo a Jesús claramente en el centro de todas las cosas: nuestro contenido de enseñanza, nuestros métodos de enseñanza y nuestro propio testimonio personal a quienes Dios nos ha llamado a amar. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

“Lo que existía desde el principio . . . Lo que hemos visto y oído, se lo anunciamos también a ustedes . . .” (1 Juan 1:1, 3). San Juan Pablo II proclamó que, “El fin definitivo de la catequesis es poner a uno no sólo en contacto sino en comunión, en intimidad con Jesucristo . . .” (Exhortación apostólica, Sobre la catequesis en nuestro tiempo” Catechesi tradendae (CT) 5). La labor de catequesis no es solamente “educación”, si no “intimidad con Jesucristo”. Dios quiere hacerse conocer, comunicar Su propia vida divina a cada uno de nosotros y hacernos capaces de responderle. Dios, gradualmente, “va quitándose el velo” (ver 2 Corintios 3:14–16) por medio de hechos y palabras, pero especialmente en Jesucristo, el mediador y plenitud de toda la Revelación. Por su Revelación, Dios ha respondido a todas las preguntas de la condición humana. Dios quiere que todos se salven, así que Él organizó que Su Revelación se preservara completa para ser transmitida a todas las generaciones. Este taller está enfocado en la labor apostólica de transmitir las verdades de la fe de una manera orgánica y sistemática. Esta labor es realizada para hacer discípulos de Cristo e iniciarlos en la plenitud de la vida cristiana a través del encuentro y la comunión con Cristo el Pedagogo. “Toda la finalidad de la doctrina y de la enseñanza debe ser puesta en el amor que no acaba” (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica (CEC) 25).

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

Conocer y comprender las Sagradas Escrituras es esencial en la vida de un catequista. Este taller explorará cómo la Palabra de Dios, transmitida en la Sagradas Escrituras, fundamenta y profundiza nuestra relación con Jesucristo y Su Iglesia. En las Sagradas Escrituras, vemos el amplio plan de Dios, la historia de la salvación revelada. Escuchamos Su asombrosa y constante invitación a vivir en comunión con Él. Las Sagradas Escrituras deben inspirar e impregnar todas las formas de catequesis, así como nuestra vida personal como catequistas. Al crear planes de lecciones cimentados en las Sagradas Escrituras, fomentamos un encuentro profundo con lo Divino: amor y desafío, sabiduría y esperanza, perdón y misericordia, y a su vez los medios para conocer a Dios y conocernos a nosotros mismos. Al contemplar las Sagradas Escrituras en cada sesión de catequesis, descubrimos el misterio de Cristo, revelando a aquellos a quienes enseñamos a Aquel que desean conocer, fomentando una intimidad con Dios que cambiará sus vidas.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

“El Padre eterno creó el mundo por una decisión totalmente libre y misteriosa de su sabiduría y bondad. Decidió elevar a los hombres a la participación de la vida divina” (CEC 759). Un plan que nace del corazón del Padre: desde el génesis de la vida, hasta el último profeta del Pueblo Judío, el gran panorama de la historia de la salvación es desplegado en los 46 libros del Antiguo Testamento. Las alianzas, los mandamientos y la promesa del Elegido, forman el tema principal de este taller, para permitir al catequista apreciar la mano providencial de Dios en nuestro pasado, nuestro presente y nuestro destino eterno. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

“Lo que existía desde el principio . . . Lo que hemos visto y oído, se lo anunciamos también a ustedes . . .” (1 Juan 1:1,3).  El Nuevo Testamento es la culminación de la historia de cómo el Padre preparó al mundo para Su Hijo, y el inicio de la historia de la Iglesia, la cual es Su Cuerpo, Su Reino, Su Esposa, Su Arca, para salvar a un Pueblo que considera Suyo. El drama general de la verdad, centrado en Aquel que es la Verdad, conforma el mensaje de la buena nueva que los catequistas tienen el privilegio de ofrecer a cada generación de almas. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

“El contenido de la catequesis, siendo objeto de fe, no puede someterse indiferentemente a cualquier método . . .” (Directorio para la catequesis (DC) 194). Todo buen catequista busca de manera intencional hacer crecer la semilla de la fe, alimentar la esperanza y desarrollar un deseo más profundo de amar a Dios y al prójimo. En este taller, exploraremos un método que se adapta muy bien a los objetivos de la catequesis y que surge de un estudio de cómo los santos catequéticos de la Iglesia buscaron transmitir la belleza, la verdad y la bondad de la revelación salvadora de Cristo.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor, y por el apoyo de la diócesis de Tyler, TX.

El Directorio para la Catequesis nos dice que es urgente recuperar la "inspiración catecumenal de la catequesis" porque es una forma de enseñar que es "progresiva y dinámica, rica de signos y lenguajes, favorables para la integración de todas las dimensiones de la persona" (DC 2). En este taller, conoceremos los inicios de este modelo en la historia de la Iglesia, y veremos cómo cada una de las etapas del proceso catecumenal tiene un lugar especial en el proceso de la conversión. Revisaremos algunos de los términos y conceptos más básicos, y buscaremos aplicar sus principios a nuestras propias situaciones. Finalmente, reflexionaremos sobre la razón que es el modelo de formación en la fe que necesitamos para nuestros tiempos.

Tal vez eres un catequista para niños o para adultos y estás buscando maneras de mejorar tus métodos de enseñanza o trabajas en el ministerio del Rito de Iniciación Cristiana de Adultos (RICA) y quieres profundizar tu entendimiento del proceso. ¡Este taller es para ti!  

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

En el Directorio para la catequesis leemos: “A lo largo de los siglos, la Iglesia nunca ha descuidado dar prioridad a la formación de los catequistas . . . La formación es un proceso permanente que, bajo la guía del Espíritu y en el seno vivo de la comunidad cristiana, ayuda al bautizado a tomar forma. . ." (130-131). Este hermoso documento destaca para nosotros la increíble vocación que es la catequesis y la importancia de nuestra formación como catequistas. Dios llama a los catequistas y maestros de religión a llevar a Jesucristo al mundo, y para ello, los catequistas y maestros tienen una necesidad constante de acercarse más a Dios. En este taller exploraremos algunos de los principios planteados en el regalo que es este Directorio para la catequesis, conociendo la identidad del catequista y cómo formarse bien en el trabajo de la catequesis. Si tu eres un líder catequético parroquial, sacerdote, catequista o alguien más encargado del trabajo de formar a otros catequistas y maestros, seguramente te beneficiarás de lo mucho que el Directorio para la catequesis tiene para ofrecer, lo cual es el enfoque de este taller.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

Este taller te ayudará a desarrollar tu conocimiento filosófico para enseñar la fe. La filosofía, lejos de hacer nuestras enseñanzas inalcanzables para la audiencia, acude a la razón de aquellos a quienes enseñamos; nos ayuda a explicar la doctrina para que “tenga sentido” en vez de usar el argumento de “porque yo lo digo”. Este taller ofrecerá ejemplos de cómo abordar la fe de una manera filosófica, explorando la visión del mundo tanto católica como secular, así como lo que estas dos visiones significan para la persona humana, con el fin de ayudarnos a preparar a nuestros estudiantes a responder a la pregunta crucial de Jesús a sus apóstoles y a cada uno de nosotros, “¿quién dicen ustedes que soy yo?”

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

Dios es Santo, y llama a Su Pueblo hacia Su Presencia para que participe en Su vida de eterna felicidad: “Sean, pues, santos porque yo soy santo” (Biblia Latinoamericana (BL), Levítico 11:45; también ver 1 Pedro 1:15-16). El Concilio Vaticano II renovó la conciencia de la Iglesia sobre este llamado en su Constitución Dogmática sobre la Iglesia, Lumen Gentium: Capitulo Cinco, titulado “Universal Vocación a la Santidad en la Iglesia”. En este taller, le permitiremos a la Madre Iglesia enseñarnos acerca de este llamado, el cual impacta a cada uno de nosotros. Exploraremos los retos que implica nuestra respuesta a este llamado, y celebraremos las gracias que Dios nos da para nuestra santificación.  

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

Para transmitir las verdades de la fe, el catequista debe estar firmemente cimentado en Cristo. Este taller considerará la riqueza de la vida espiritual católica en lo que se refiere específicamente a la vida del catequista. La oración no es un “último esfuerzo desesperado” de defensa para nosotros como catequistas, sino nuestra primera línea de defensa: las alas en las que debe volar todo esfuerzo. A menudo, nuestra sociedad tiene problemas para reconocer que las realidades espirituales invisibles son de hecho “más reales” y ciertamente más duraderas que las realidades físicas que tocamos, vemos, oímos y experimentamos a diario. Por lo tanto, una revisión de las herramientas espirituales del oficio es apropiada para ayudarnos como catequistas a incorporar con alegría la oración al principio, mitad y final de nuestro día y de la sesión de enseñanza, creando un ambiente permeado por un clima de oración para la catequesis.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

La Santísima Trinidad es el misterio más importante: el Único Dios es una unidad de Tres Personas. La Trinidad también es nuestra morada final, la meta de nuestra vida. Este misterio, revelado en Jesús, ilumina a todos los otros misterios cristianos. Saber que Dios, el Creador del cielo y de la tierra, es una unidad de Personas amorosas, cambia nuestro entendimiento de todo. Muchas religiones creen en un Dios, pero nada se compara a la creencia cristiana de un Dios que es una comunión de Personas, nombradas para nosotros por Jesús como Padre, Hijo y Espíritu Santo. Algunos planes de estudio incluyen a la Trinidad simplemente como una doctrina entre otras. Este taller nos ayudará a entender cómo enseñar eficazmente la centralidad de la Trinidad, como la meta y cima de la vida de cada cristiano. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

San Francisco de Sales una vez dijo, “No mires hacia delante para ver lo que puede pasar mañana. El mismo Padre eterno que cuida de ti hoy, cuidará de ti mañana y cada día”. ¿Quién es Dios Padre? ¿Qué hace Dios Padre con nuestra vida? ¿Cómo hago para conocer al Padre? Dios Padre es la primera persona de la Santísima Trinidad: el Alpha y la Omega. El Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica inicia y finaliza con el Padre. El Hijo se hizo hombre para mostrarnos al Padre y llevarnos a una relación con Él. Este taller nos enseña quien es el Padre y cómo nos relacionamos con Él como sus hijos.  

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

El es el Alfa y la Omega. El está en todo, antes que todo y a través de todo. El objetivo esencial y primordial de la catequesis es, usando una expresión muy querida por St. Pablo, “el misterio de Cristo”. (ver Catechesi Tradendae, sobre la catequesis en nuestro tiempo (CT) 5). Por lo tanto, todo aquel que enseñe la fe Católica debe estar inmerso en este misterio. Utilizando las Escrituras y el Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica (CEC), al igual que recientes documentos eclesiásticos, este taller presentará las doctrinas claves que deben ser enseñadas respecto a Jesucristo. Al analizar la obra de Jesús en las Escrituras, Sus relaciones, y Su manera de enseñar, ayudaremos a los catequistas a descifrar los misterios de Cristo, su Encarnación, Redención y Segunda Venida. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

La Iglesia es el Cuerpo de Cristo en la Tierra. La Iglesia que Cristo fundó es la continuación de Su historia en la Tierra. Las gracias confiadas a Ella hacen posible una explosión de santidad en la familia humana. La revelación de la verdad confiada a Ella hace posible nuestro regreso seguro a los brazos del Padre. La misión otorgada a Ella abarca toda actividad humana, y trasciende toda debilidad humana, a fin de que el Espíritu de Dios pueda continuar avanzando para cumplir la promesa de Cristo: “Yo hago nuevas todas las cosas” (Apocalipsis 21:5). Este taller explorará la gloriosa convocatoria de Dios a las almas que nosotros llamamos la Iglesia, que es una, santa, católica y apostólica.  

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

El Padre de la Iglesia, San Jerónimo, dijo que “a los demás se distribuye con medida, pero en María se derramó al mismo tiempo toda la plenitud de la gracia”. Hija del Padre, Madre del Hijo, Esposa del Espíritu, la Santísima Virgen ocupa un lugar profundamente único en el Cuerpo Místico. Ella es la criatura más excelsa de la Iglesia, modelo por excelencia de la fe, la esperanza y el amor para todos los cristianos. El Papa San Juan Pablo II dice de ella, “¡Salve santa María, espejo sin mancha! En ti la Iglesia contempla la purísima imagen de su gloria futura!” (San Juan Pablo II, Audiencia General, 3 de septiembre de 1997). Este taller analiza lo que Dios reveló a la Iglesia sobre Nuestra Señora y cómo esas verdades nos forman bajo su maternidad como discípulos fieles.

Jesús instituyó los sacramentos durante Su ministerio terrenal, y los confió a la Iglesia para que pudiera continuar Su obra de salvación y redención. En cuanto a los sacramentos, la Iglesia nos enseña que, “Los sacramentos están ordenados a la santificación de los hombres, a la edificación del Cuerpo de Cristo y, en definitiva, a dar culto a Dios; pero, en cuanto signos, también tienen un fin pedagógico. No sólo suponen la fe, sino que, a la vez, la alimentan, la robustecen y la expresan . . .” (Constitución Dogmática sobre la Sagrada Liturgia, Sacrosanctum concilium, SC, 59). A través de los sacramentos, Dios derrama Su vida divina en nuestras almas, nos transforma para ser más como Él y nos fortalece en la fe, la esperanza y la caridad, para que podamos estar unidos a Él y permanecer fieles a la obra que se nos ha encomendado. En este taller, aprenderemos más sobre los sacramentos, profundizaremos en nuestro aprecio por los sacramentos y estaremos mejor preparados para participar en la vida sacramental de la Iglesia.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de William H. Sadlier, Inc.

Este taller ofrece un esquema resumido de los principios básicos de la moral católica y cómo nuestra vida moral está arraigada no solo en un código de ética o un conjunto de reglas, sino profundamente en la Persona de Jesús. Habla sobre algunos de los principales problemas morales que enfrentamos en nuestra sociedad hoy, y prepara a todos los que enseñan la fe, ya sean líderes en el ministerio de jóvenes, catequistas, maestros de escuelas católicas, etc., con las herramientas para establecer una base segura para poder tener un pensamiento moral correcto, tanto nosotros mismos como también aquellos a quienes servimos. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

¿Quién soy? ¿Cuál es mi naturaleza? ¿Para qué me ha creado Dios? ¿Para quién me creó Dios? Las respuestas a estas preguntas afectan no solo cómo pienso sobre mí mismo, sino también cómo pienso sobre aquellos a quienes catequizo y cómo animo a cada uno de aquellos a quienes tengo el privilegio de enseñar a pensar sobre sí mismos. En este taller contemplamos las respuestas excepcionales que la fe cristiana da para responder a estas preguntas, respuestas que resaltan la increíble dignidad de cada persona. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

La Santa Eucaristía es el mayor de todos los dones, porque en ella Jesús nos ofrece Su Cuerpo, Sangre, Alma y Divinidad. A través de la Eucaristía, podemos recibir al Dios vivo y ser transformados por Su vida divina que habita en nosotros. La Madre Iglesia nos enseña que “La Eucaristía es ‘fuente y culmen de toda la vida cristiana’” (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica 1324, citando la Constitución Dogmática del Concilio Vaticano II “Sobre la Iglesia”, Lumen gentium 11). Nuestras vidas fluyen de la Eucaristía y conducen de nuevo a la Eucaristía, para que seamos colmados de la vida de Dios y enviados al mundo para proclamar la Buena Nueva. Este taller te ayudará, ya seas sacerdote, padre, líder de catequesis parroquial, catequista, maestro, o ministro de jóvenes, etc., a comprender mejor la Eucaristía y su importancia única en tu vida. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de William H. Sadlier, Inc.

“La santa madre Iglesia desea ardientemente que se lleve a todos los fieles a aquella participación plena, consciente y activa en las celebraciones litúrgicas que exige la naturaleza de la Liturgia” (Constitución sobre la Santa Liturgia del Concilio Vaticano II,  Sacrosanctum concilium 14). La Iglesia desea que todos nosotros — incluyendo los niños — participemos de manera plena y activa en la liturgia eucarística, la santa Misa, para que experimentemos la belleza que está presente en cada Misa y la alegría de permitir que Jesús nos ayude a convertirnos en las personas que él nos ha creado a ser por medio de esta celebración. Cada gesto y cada palabra de la Misa tiene un significado, y los niños — cuando se les enseña el significado concreto de cada elemento—pueden de manera alegre y entusiasta participar en la Misa y encontrarse con la persona de Jesús. Éste taller ofrece un método para introducir a los niños a la liturgia, para que ellos puedan participar en los ritos litúrgicos y vivir la Misa con todo su ser.  

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

Guiar a los niños en los caminos de la fe y llevarlos a una relación de amor con la Santísima Trinidad es un ministerio al que muchos de nosotros somos llamados en diversas capacidades: como padres, padrinos, catequistas, ministros de jóvenes, maestros de escuelas católicas, sacerdotes, etcétera. Para todos los que tenemos niños bajo nuestro cuidado, surge la pregunta: ¿Cómo nos encontramos con cada niño individualmente, hablándole con la verdad y guiándolo de tal manera que le ayude a tener una relación con Jesús para toda la vida? Este taller te brindará una oportunidad para considerar tu propia relación con Dios, ya que no podemos transmitir efectivamente una relación con nuestro Padre Celestial si nosotros mismos no estamos arraigados en dicha relación. También te proporcionará formas de obtener un conocimiento más profundo de los niños que están bajo tu cuidado para que puedas comprender mejor cómo Dios puede obrar a través de ti, ayudándolos en su camino hacia la santidad al formar sus mentes, corazones y almas.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

En el Directorio para la catequesis leemos: “A lo largo de los siglos, la Iglesia nunca ha descuidado dar prioridad a la formación de los catequistas . . . La formación es un proceso permanente que, bajo la guía del Espíritu y en el seno vivo de la comunidad cristiana, ayuda al bautizado a tomar forma. . ." (130-131). Este hermoso documento destaca para nosotros la increíble vocación que es la catequesis y la importancia de nuestra formación como catequistas. Dios llama a los catequistas y maestros de religión a llevar a Jesucristo al mundo, y para ello, los catequistas y maestros tienen una necesidad constante de acercarse más a Dios. En este taller exploraremos algunos de los principios planteados en el regalo que es este Directorio para la catequesis, conociendo la identidad del catequista y cómo formarse bien en el trabajo de la catequesis. Si tu eres un líder catequético parroquial, sacerdote, catequista o alguien más encargado del trabajo de formar a otros catequistas y maestros, seguramente te beneficiarás de lo mucho que el Directorio para la catequesis tiene para ofrecer, lo cual es el enfoque de este taller.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

“Por haber sido hecho a imagen de Dios, el ser humano tiene la dignidad de persona; no es solamente algo, sino alguien. Es capaz de conocerse, de poseerse y de darse libremente y entrar en comunión con otras personas; y es llamado, por la gracia, a una alianza con su Creador, a ofrecerle una respuesta de fe y de amor . . .” (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica 357). La dignidad de la persona humana reside en la relación. Reside ante todo en nuestra relación con Dios, Quien nos creó a Su imagen y nos llama siempre hacia Él. También reside en nuestras relaciones con los demás, que comparten nuestra humanidad. Cada uno de nuestros apostolados dentro de la Iglesia incluye un llamado a la relación y a fomentar relaciones sanas y sanadoras. Como aprenderemos en este taller, ciertas técnicas de comunicación son la base de todas las relaciones sanas y sanadoras. Los ministros parroquiales no son terapeutas, pero la práctica de estos principios básicos de comunicación fomentarán relaciones saludables e incluso ocacionarán la sanación en los que se sirven. Entonces iniciemos este taller, siempre conscientes de la preciosa dignidad de aquellos que nuestro Padre celestial pone en nuestro camino, y de la hermosa manera en que cada persona que encontramos tiene en sí misma la asombrosa identidad de ser un hijo de Dios.  

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

El ministerio de la catequesis y el ministerio de la formación espiritual están normalmente algo separados en el entendimiento de las personas. Sin embargo, en la mente de la Iglesia, se relacionan de forma natural y necesaria. “En realidad, favorecer el encuentro de una persona con Dios, que es tarea del catequista, significa poner en el centro y hacer propia la relación que Dios tiene con la persona y dejarse guiar por Él”. (Directorio general para la catequesis (DGC) 139). “El catequista es intrínsecamente un mediador que facilita la comunicación entre las personas y el misterio de Dios, así como la de los hombres entre sí y con la comunidad”. (DGC 156). Este taller explora lo que significa ser guiado: una docilidad intencional y confianza en la capacidad de la Iglesia para llevarnos al crecimiento espiritual, a la paz con Dios, a la santidad. Con este entendimiento, examinamos los fundamentos de lo que significa para ti guiar a otra alma en un contexto catequético, de modo que puedas buscar más intencionalmente ser todo lo que la vocación catequética debe llegar a ser.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

En comunidades multiculturales, es muy valioso el encontrar maneras de ayudar a los fieles a participar plenamente en las Misas significativas, como las principales fiestas, la recepción de sacramentos y otros eventos importantes. Tales liturgias pueden brindar la oportunidad de emplear la rica diversidad de expresiones culturales y lingüísticas en un acto común de adoración. Este taller no solo ofrece maneras prácticas de implementar elementos bilingües (o multilingües) en la liturgia, sino examina el valor de la Misa, y el por qué nos debemos esforzar para incluir el idioma y la cultura de los presentes, lo cual es nada menos que darles la oportunidad de experimentar el gran Amor de Dios, y permitirles participar más plenamente en Su gran obra de redención. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

El Directorio para la catequesis nos dice que “San Agustín señaló la niñez y la infancia como una época en la que se aprende el diálogo con el Maestro que habla en la intimidad. Es desde una edad temprana que el niño debe ser ayudado a percibir y desarrollar el sentido de Dios y la intuición natural de su existencia” (236). Nuestra capacidad de catequizar, de ayudarles a los niños a tener una relación con Jesucristo, ya sea como catequistas, padres, maestros de escuelas católicas, etc., no es simplemente una cuestión de nuestras habilidades de enseñanza. Más bien, la edad y el desarrollo de un niño, así como los factores ambientales, afectan la receptividad del niño hacia la fe. En este taller, exploraremos formas de elaborar nuestra catequesis en relación a las etapas de desarrollo de los niños, para poder guiarlos mejor a la intimidad con Jesucristo. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

Dios es quien primero llama al hombre . . . el Dios vivo y verdadero llama incansablemente a cada persona . . .” (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica (CEC) 2567). Dios continuamente nos llama hacia a Él para que podamos crecer en intimidad con Él. El Señor también nos llama a participar en Su plan de salvación. Este llamado implica una vocación, y en el centro de nuestra respuesta al Señor hay una ofrenda de fe, obediencia y amor. En este taller reflexionaremos sobre lo que es una vocación por medio de una reflexión orante sobre la vocación de Moisés, los doce apóstoles y la Santísima Virgen María conservada en la Sagrada Escritura. Esta reflexión nos ayudará a reconocer el llamado de Dios en nuestro propio corazón para que podamos responder libremente a lo que Él nos invita. Iniciemos este taller con un espíritu de oración, con el corazón bien abierto, dispuestos a descubrir lo que Dios ha revelado en la Sagrada Escritura sobre Su llamado para nuestras vidas. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

En este taller exploraremos los elementos esenciales sobre la misión más importante: la evangelización. La misión de evangelizar es la vocación propia de la Iglesia. Como miembros de la Iglesia cada uno de nosotros estamos llamados a participar en esa misión. “La Buena Nueva del Reino que llega y que ya ha comenzado, es para todos los hombres de todos los tiempos. Aquellos que ya la han recibido y que están reunidos en la comunidad de salvación, pueden y deben comunicarla y difundirla” (San Pablo VI, Exhortación apostólica, La Evangelización en el Mundo Contemporáneo, Evangelii Nuntiandi (EN) 13).  La misión de evangelizar es un llamado personal a participar en la edificación del Reino de Dios y a dar testimonio de la persona de Jesucristo en nuestras comunidades y en el mundo. Este taller es una oportunidad para que los líderes de ministerios parroquiales, feligreses o catequistas puedan tener la inspiración y un camino claro para evangelizar y ser testigos en todas partes y en todo momento. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

Este taller explicará el contenido del kerigma y la Buena Nueva, y en él, exploraremos diferentes formas de compartir las palabras y los hechos de Jesucristo con los demás. Seas padre o madre de familia, catequista o simplemente una persona interesada en aprender más, este taller te ayudará a aprender más acerca de lo que la Iglesia enseña. En esta jornada de fe en la que nos embarcaremos, podrás profundizar tu fe y tu vida de oración de tal forma que, al terminar, habrás podido entender la importancia de llevar la Buena Nueva a tu hogar, a tu escuela o a tu trabajo.  

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

El ministerio de la catequesis y el ministerio de la formación espiritual están normalmente algo separados en el entendimiento de las personas. Sin embargo, en la mente de la Iglesia, se relacionan de forma natural y necesaria. “En realidad, favorecer el encuentro de una persona con Dios, que es tarea del catequista, significa poner en el centro y hacer propia la relación que Dios tiene con la persona y dejarse guiar por Él”. (Directorio general para la catequesis (DGC) 139). “El catequista es intrínsecamente un mediador que facilita la comunicación entre las personas y el misterio de Dios, así como la de los hombres entre sí y con la comunidad”. (DGC 156). Este taller explora lo que significa ser guiado: una docilidad intencional y confianza en la capacidad de la Iglesia para llevarnos al crecimiento espiritual, a la paz con Dios, a la santidad. Con este entendimiento, examinamos los fundamentos de lo que significa para ti guiar a otra alma en un contexto catequético, de modo que puedas buscar más intencionalmente ser todo lo que la vocación catequética debe llegar a ser.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

¿Para qué existen los sacramentales y las devociones populares?  Las variadas formas de la piedad ayudan a que “nuestras almas se conviertan y dirijan a Dios” y se hagan “cada vez más aptas para contemplar los misterios de la naturaleza divina y humana de Jesucristo” (Mediator Dei (MD) 219).  No toman el lugar de la liturgia, pero más bien nos “disponen a participar con mayor fruto en las funciones públicas” (MD 219).  Tal vez eres un catequista o un padre de familia que quiere entender el uso apropiado de los sacramentales y la devoción popular, tal vez quieras poder contestar a las personas que preguntan el “por qué” la Iglesia tiene estas prácticas.  Cualquiera que sea tu motivo, ¡eres bienvenido a este taller!  

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

La Iglesia hace presente el amor y la bendición de Dios en los diferentes momentos de nuestras vidas. Como una madre, nos acompaña a lo largo de nuestra jornada.  La Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos (USCCB) reconoce el valor de la celebración Quinceañera en la vida de la joven hispana y lo describe así: “Es costumbre entre varios países de habla española y entre grupos hispanos en los Estados Unidos el celebrar y marcar el paso de la niñez a la adolescencia con un rito que exprese agradecimiento a Dios por el don de la vida y bendición para los años venideros” (Rito de Bendición, n. 1). En este taller, se explicarán los orígenes de la Quinceañera, la preparación apropiada, el valor de la celebración, y como se celebra la bendición litúrgicamente. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

La Virgen María tiene un papel único en la historia de la salvación. En este taller, haremos un recorrido por las Sagradas Escrituras y veremos cómo la misión de Jesucristo está íntimamente ligada a la fidelidad de su madre.  Viajaremos desde la Tierra Santa hasta Latinoamérica y escucharemos testimonios de como la Virgen acompaña a cada uno de sus hijos con cariño y cercanía, y como es para la Iglesia un modelo de fe y caridad.  Aprenderemos de la devoción a la Virgen María, que constituye una expresión especial de la confianza que ponemos en lo que Dios nos ha revelado y en el cumplimiento de sus promesas.  Al reconocer la importancia de esta devoción, nos comprometemos a compartirla con todos los que Dios ponga en nuestra vida para que el mundo pueda acercarse a Jesús por su madre.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor. 

“La educación a la castidad y las oportunas informaciones sobre la sexualidad deben ser ofrecidas en el más amplio contexto de la educación al amor” (Pontificio Consejo para la Familia, Sexualidad Humana: Verdad y Significado: Orientaciones educativas en familia 70). El don de la sexualidad humana y la virtud de la castidad deben enseñarse en el contexto del amor, porque el amor nos capacita a vivir castamente y a reconocer el don de la sexualidad humana. Este taller describe el rol esencial de los padres en la formación de sus propios hijos en una visión cristiana de la sexualidad, guiado por el recurso As I Have Loved You del Dr. Gerard O'Shea. Este taller ayuda a los padres en su capacidad para detectar señales que indican cuando sus hijos están listos para comenzar esta formación, y también ofrece estrategias para abordar el tema de manera clara y delicada. Está especialmente destinado a los padres. Sin embargo, este taller también es beneficioso para los catequistas, maestros de escuelas católicas, líderes catequéticos parroquiales, ministros de jóvenes y otras personas que desempeñan funciones en las que ayudan a los padres a enseñar a sus hijos sobre el plan de Dios para la sexualidad.  

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

“Cristo quiso nacer y crecer en el seno de la Sagrada Familia de José y de María. . .  En nuestros días, en un mundo frecuentemente extraño e incluso hostil a la fe, las familias creyentes tienen una importancia primordial en cuanto faros de una fe viva e irradiadora” (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica 1655, 1656). La participación de Jesús en una familia hace especial hincapié en la vida familiar. Los padres son los principales educadores de sus hijos y las familias cristianas son lugares donde la luz de la fe es “irradiada” al mundo. La familia cristiana es la iglesia doméstica, porque es en la familia donde padres e hijos oran, sacrifican, adoran, viven la caridad y ofrecen testimonio de una vida santa. Este taller enseña qué es la iglesia doméstica y cómo Dios nos salva en y a través de la familia y la comunidad que Dios nos ha dado. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

“Por haber sido hecho a imagen de Dios, el ser humano tiene la dignidad de persona; no es solamente algo, sino alguien. Es capaz de conocerse, de poseerse y de darse libremente y entrar en comunión con otras personas; y es llamado, por la gracia, a una alianza con su Creador, a ofrecerle una respuesta de fe y de amor . . .” (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica 357). La dignidad de la persona humana reside en la relación. Reside ante todo en nuestra relación con Dios, Quien nos creó a Su imagen y nos llama siempre hacia Él. También reside en nuestras relaciones con los demás, que comparten nuestra humanidad. Cada uno de nuestros apostolados dentro de la Iglesia incluye un llamado a la relación y a fomentar relaciones sanas y sanadoras. Como aprenderemos en este taller, ciertas técnicas de comunicación son la base de todas las relaciones sanas y sanadoras. Los ministros parroquiales no son terapeutas, pero la práctica de estos principios básicos de comunicación fomentarán relaciones saludables e incluso ocacionarán la sanación en los que se sirven. Entonces iniciemos este taller, siempre conscientes de la preciosa dignidad de aquellos que nuestro Padre celestial pone en nuestro camino, y de la hermosa manera en que cada persona que encontramos tiene en sí misma la asombrosa identidad de ser un hijo de Dios.  

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

El ministerio de la catequesis y el ministerio de la formación espiritual están normalmente algo separados en el entendimiento de las personas. Sin embargo, en la mente de la Iglesia, se relacionan de forma natural y necesaria. “En realidad, favorecer el encuentro de una persona con Dios, que es tarea del catequista, significa poner en el centro y hacer propia la relación que Dios tiene con la persona y dejarse guiar por Él”. (Directorio general para la catequesis (DGC) 139). “El catequista es intrínsecamente un mediador que facilita la comunicación entre las personas y el misterio de Dios, así como la de los hombres entre sí y con la comunidad”. (DGC 156). Este taller explora lo que significa ser guiado: una docilidad intencional y confianza en la capacidad de la Iglesia para llevarnos al crecimiento espiritual, a la paz con Dios, a la santidad. Con este entendimiento, examinamos los fundamentos de lo que significa para ti guiar a otra alma en un contexto catequético, de modo que puedas buscar más intencionalmente ser todo lo que la vocación catequética debe llegar a ser.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

“La santa madre Iglesia desea ardientemente que se lleve a todos los fieles a aquella participación plena, consciente y activa en las celebraciones litúrgicas que exige la naturaleza de la Liturgia” (Constitución sobre la Santa Liturgia del Concilio Vaticano II,  Sacrosanctum concilium 14). La Iglesia desea que todos nosotros — incluyendo los niños — participemos de manera plena y activa en la liturgia eucarística, la santa Misa, para que experimentemos la belleza que está presente en cada Misa y la alegría de permitir que Jesús nos ayude a convertirnos en las personas que él nos ha creado a ser por medio de esta celebración. Cada gesto y cada palabra de la Misa tiene un significado, y los niños — cuando se les enseña el significado concreto de cada elemento—pueden de manera alegre y entusiasta participar en la Misa y encontrarse con la persona de Jesús. Éste taller ofrece un método para introducir a los niños a la liturgia, para que ellos puedan participar en los ritos litúrgicos y vivir la Misa con todo su ser.  

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

Guiar a los niños en los caminos de la fe y llevarlos a una relación de amor con la Santísima Trinidad es un ministerio al que muchos de nosotros somos llamados en diversas capacidades: como padres, padrinos, catequistas, ministros de jóvenes, maestros de escuelas católicas, sacerdotes, etcétera. Para todos los que tenemos niños bajo nuestro cuidado, surge la pregunta: ¿Cómo nos encontramos con cada niño individualmente, hablándole con la verdad y guiándolo de tal manera que le ayude a tener una relación con Jesús para toda la vida? Este taller te brindará una oportunidad para considerar tu propia relación con Dios, ya que no podemos transmitir efectivamente una relación con nuestro Padre Celestial si nosotros mismos no estamos arraigados en dicha relación. También te proporcionará formas de obtener un conocimiento más profundo de los niños que están bajo tu cuidado para que puedas comprender mejor cómo Dios puede obrar a través de ti, ayudándolos en su camino hacia la santidad al formar sus mentes, corazones y almas.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

El Directorio para la catequesis nos dice que “San Agustín señaló la niñez y la infancia como una época en la que se aprende el diálogo con el Maestro que habla en la intimidad. Es desde una edad temprana que el niño debe ser ayudado a percibir y desarrollar el sentido de Dios y la intuición natural de su existencia” (236). Nuestra capacidad de catequizar, de ayudarles a los niños a tener una relación con Jesucristo, ya sea como catequistas, padres, maestros de escuelas católicas, etc., no es simplemente una cuestión de nuestras habilidades de enseñanza. Más bien, la edad y el desarrollo de un niño, así como los factores ambientales, afectan la receptividad del niño hacia la fe. En este taller, exploraremos formas de elaborar nuestra catequesis en relación a las etapas de desarrollo de los niños, para poder guiarlos mejor a la intimidad con Jesucristo. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

Dios es quien primero llama al hombre . . . el Dios vivo y verdadero llama incansablemente a cada persona . . .” (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica (CEC) 2567). Dios continuamente nos llama hacia a Él para que podamos crecer en intimidad con Él. El Señor también nos llama a participar en Su plan de salvación. Este llamado implica una vocación, y en el centro de nuestra respuesta al Señor hay una ofrenda de fe, obediencia y amor. En este taller reflexionaremos sobre lo que es una vocación por medio de una reflexión orante sobre la vocación de Moisés, los doce apóstoles y la Santísima Virgen María conservada en la Sagrada Escritura. Esta reflexión nos ayudará a reconocer el llamado de Dios en nuestro propio corazón para que podamos responder libremente a lo que Él nos invita. Iniciemos este taller con un espíritu de oración, con el corazón bien abierto, dispuestos a descubrir lo que Dios ha revelado en la Sagrada Escritura sobre Su llamado para nuestras vidas. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

¿Qué es lo que más necesitan los jóvenes hoy en día? Como todos, necesitan tener un encuentro con el amor de Jesucristo que les abrirá los horizontes y llenará su vida con esperanza. Podemos facilitar este encuentro cuando formamos grupos con ambientes familiares, donde se habla en el idioma de los jóvenes, el idioma de amor. El P. Agustino Torres, CFR, nos da herramientas prácticas para empezar la pastoral juvenil en nuestra parroquia. No solo nos explica los pasos de cómo formar un grupo de liderazgo, cómo reconocer los tipos de jóvenes que nos pueden llegar y los diferentes tipos de eventos que debemos llevar a cabo, sino que también nos enseña cómo responder a sus preguntas e inquietudes más profundas. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

“La catequesis más efectiva para los jóvenes adultos forma parte de un programa integral de cuidado pastoral . . .” (Directorio Nacional de Catequesis, 217). La transmisión de la fe nunca es un trabajo genérico. Se sintoniza con la realidad de aquellos que se sienten atraídos a la bondad del Señor. Este taller analiza las características distintivas de la catequesis para adolescentes según el Directorio Nacional de Catequesis, con ejemplos prácticos de cómo utilizarlas en un entorno de pastoral juvenil.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

“Después de haber hablado antiguamente a nuestros padres por medio de los Profetas, en muchas ocasiones y de diversas maneras, ahora, en este tiempo final, Dios nos habló por medio de su Hijo, a quien constituyó heredero de todas las cosas y por quien hizo el mundo. . .” (Hebreos 1:1–2). Cuando la Segunda Persona de la Trinidad se hizo carne y habitó entre nosotros, todo cambió. Dios solía hablarnos a través de otros, pero ahora viene a nosotros personalmente. Este modelo de “ministerio relacional” debe estar como fundamento de nuestros esfuerzos de acompañar a los jóvenes. Para que el ministerio sea eficaz, debe ser intencional y consistentemente relacional. Tal como escribió San Juan Bosco “los jóvenes no solo deben ser amados, sino que deben notar que se les ama”. Aquí explicaremos cómo hacer esto de manera segura y eficaz en la cultura actual.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

“Por haber sido hecho a imagen de Dios, el ser humano tiene la dignidad de persona; no es solamente algo, sino alguien. Es capaz de conocerse, de poseerse y de darse libremente y entrar en comunión con otras personas; y es llamado, por la gracia, a una alianza con su Creador, a ofrecerle una respuesta de fe y de amor . . .” (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica 357). La dignidad de la persona humana reside en la relación. Reside ante todo en nuestra relación con Dios, Quien nos creó a Su imagen y nos llama siempre hacia Él. También reside en nuestras relaciones con los demás, que comparten nuestra humanidad. Cada uno de nuestros apostolados dentro de la Iglesia incluye un llamado a la relación y a fomentar relaciones sanas y sanadoras. Como aprenderemos en este taller, ciertas técnicas de comunicación son la base de todas las relaciones sanas y sanadoras. Los ministros parroquiales no son terapeutas, pero la práctica de estos principios básicos de comunicación fomentarán relaciones saludables e incluso ocacionarán la sanación en los que se sirven. Entonces iniciemos este taller, siempre conscientes de la preciosa dignidad de aquellos que nuestro Padre celestial pone en nuestro camino, y de la hermosa manera en que cada persona que encontramos tiene en sí misma la asombrosa identidad de ser un hijo de Dios.  

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

El ministerio de la catequesis y el ministerio de la formación espiritual están normalmente algo separados en el entendimiento de las personas. Sin embargo, en la mente de la Iglesia, se relacionan de forma natural y necesaria. “En realidad, favorecer el encuentro de una persona con Dios, que es tarea del catequista, significa poner en el centro y hacer propia la relación que Dios tiene con la persona y dejarse guiar por Él”. (Directorio general para la catequesis (DGC) 139). “El catequista es intrínsecamente un mediador que facilita la comunicación entre las personas y el misterio de Dios, así como la de los hombres entre sí y con la comunidad”. (DGC 156). Este taller explora lo que significa ser guiado: una docilidad intencional y confianza en la capacidad de la Iglesia para llevarnos al crecimiento espiritual, a la paz con Dios, a la santidad. Con este entendimiento, examinamos los fundamentos de lo que significa para ti guiar a otra alma en un contexto catequético, de modo que puedas buscar más intencionalmente ser todo lo que la vocación catequética debe llegar a ser.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

Una parte importante de ser un mentor es llegar a conocer realmente a las personas que tenemos bajo nuestro cuidado. En este taller, exploramos varios tipos de preguntas relacionadas con este trabajo de descubrimiento y examinaremos cuáles logran mejor el objetivo de revelar auténticamente los pensamientos y necesidades de esa persona para construir de manera productiva y sabia la relación de mentoría. Las preguntas deficientes resultan en oportunidades perdidas o en una comunicación débil. Las grandes preguntas realmente sirven para abrir el alma y construir una mentoría sólida. Enfatizaremos especialmente el valor de las preguntas abiertas orientadas a extraer la historia de vida de una persona.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

En comunidades multiculturales, es muy valioso el encontrar maneras de ayudar a los fieles a participar plenamente en las Misas significativas, como las principales fiestas, la recepción de sacramentos y otros eventos importantes. Tales liturgias pueden brindar la oportunidad de emplear la rica diversidad de expresiones culturales y lingüísticas en un acto común de adoración. Este taller no solo ofrece maneras prácticas de implementar elementos bilingües (o multilingües) en la liturgia, sino examina el valor de la Misa, y el por qué nos debemos esforzar para incluir el idioma y la cultura de los presentes, lo cual es nada menos que darles la oportunidad de experimentar el gran Amor de Dios, y permitirles participar más plenamente en Su gran obra de redención. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

Dios es quien primero llama al hombre . . . el Dios vivo y verdadero llama incansablemente a cada persona . . .” (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica (CEC) 2567). Dios continuamente nos llama hacia a Él para que podamos crecer en intimidad con Él. El Señor también nos llama a participar en Su plan de salvación. Este llamado implica una vocación, y en el centro de nuestra respuesta al Señor hay una ofrenda de fe, obediencia y amor. En este taller reflexionaremos sobre lo que es una vocación por medio de una reflexión orante sobre la vocación de Moisés, los doce apóstoles y la Santísima Virgen María conservada en la Sagrada Escritura. Esta reflexión nos ayudará a reconocer el llamado de Dios en nuestro propio corazón para que podamos responder libremente a lo que Él nos invita. Iniciemos este taller con un espíritu de oración, con el corazón bien abierto, dispuestos a descubrir lo que Dios ha revelado en la Sagrada Escritura sobre Su llamado para nuestras vidas. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

Este taller explora el elemento esencial en la misión de transmitir la fe: tú. Debido a que el contenido de la fe es una Persona, Cristo, la persona del catequista es fundamental. La vocación del catequista es la de ser testigo de la bondad de Cristo, de Su santo celo, de Su ejemplo — de ser como el Maestro. “. . . [C]ualquiera que sea su responsabilidad en la Iglesia, debe ser la de comunicar, a través de su enseñanza y su comportamiento, la doctrina y la vida de Jesús” (Juan Pablo II, Exhortación apostólica, La Catequesis en Nuestro Tiempo, Catechesi tradendae (CT) 6). Este llamado es a la vez tan gozoso y emocionante como al mismo tiempo dificil porque conlleva una gran responsabilidad. Se trata de una obra sobrenatural, más allá de nuestras capacidades naturales. “La catequesis . . . es por consiguiente una obra del Espíritu Santo, obra que sólo Él puede suscitar y alimentar en la Iglesia” (CT 72). Y se sostiene en ti. Este taller es un punto de partida que ofrece inspiración, visión y guía para animar a los catequistas en su esfuerzo por vivir su vocación privilegiada. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

La mentoría catequética es parte integral de los ministerios en la Iglesia Católica, así como de la vida en el hogar. En nuestro ministerio tenemos el privilegio de poder participar en la mentoria Divina y amorosa de la Santísima Trinidad en cada alma. En Su bondadoso plan de salvación, Dios, nuestro Padre celestial, nos provee toda guía que necesitamos para nuestro camino hacia Él, para nuestro eterno regreso a casa. Mediante el envío de su propio Hijo y Espíritu, no solo nos enseña el Camino hacia Él, sino que también se entrega a nosotros para ser nuestro compañero en este “camino de realeza”. La Iglesia, el Cuerpo de Su Hijo, formada por el Espíritu, nos acoge y acompaña en este camino, y es dentro de este Cuerpo donde cada uno de nosotros, que también estamos llamados a un ministerio, ya sea como miembros ordenados, como padres, como laicos catequistas, o como colaboradores: ejercemos una mentoría catequética para aquellos a quienes servimos. Nuestro ministerio, entonces, es una participación en Su mentoría. Nuestro ministerio es una de las formas en que Dios hace una generosa provisión para la mentoría catequética de otros.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

El ministerio de la catequesis y el ministerio de la formación espiritual están normalmente algo separados en el entendimiento de las personas. Sin embargo, en la mente de la Iglesia, se relacionan de forma natural y necesaria. “En realidad, favorecer el encuentro de una persona con Dios, que es tarea del catequista, significa poner en el centro y hacer propia la relación que Dios tiene con la persona y dejarse guiar por Él”. (Directorio general para la catequesis (DGC) 139). “El catequista es intrínsecamente un mediador que facilita la comunicación entre las personas y el misterio de Dios, así como la de los hombres entre sí y con la comunidad”. (DGC 156). Este taller explora lo que significa ser guiado: una docilidad intencional y confianza en la capacidad de la Iglesia para llevarnos al crecimiento espiritual, a la paz con Dios, a la santidad. Con este entendimiento, examinamos los fundamentos de lo que significa para ti guiar a otra alma en un contexto catequético, de modo que puedas buscar más intencionalmente ser todo lo que la vocación catequética debe llegar a ser.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

Una parte importante de ser un mentor es llegar a conocer realmente a las personas que tenemos bajo nuestro cuidado. En este taller, exploramos varios tipos de preguntas relacionadas con este trabajo de descubrimiento y examinaremos cuáles logran mejor el objetivo de revelar auténticamente los pensamientos y necesidades de esa persona para construir de manera productiva y sabia la relación de mentoría. Las preguntas deficientes resultan en oportunidades perdidas o en una comunicación débil. Las grandes preguntas realmente sirven para abrir el alma y construir una mentoría sólida. Enfatizaremos especialmente el valor de las preguntas abiertas orientadas a extraer la historia de vida de una persona.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

“Por haber sido hecho a imagen de Dios, el ser humano tiene la dignidad de persona; no es solamente algo, sino alguien. Es capaz de conocerse, de poseerse y de darse libremente y entrar en comunión con otras personas; y es llamado, por la gracia, a una alianza con su Creador, a ofrecerle una respuesta de fe y de amor . . .” (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica 357). La dignidad de la persona humana reside en la relación. Reside ante todo en nuestra relación con Dios, Quien nos creó a Su imagen y nos llama siempre hacia Él. También reside en nuestras relaciones con los demás, que comparten nuestra humanidad. Cada uno de nuestros apostolados dentro de la Iglesia incluye un llamado a la relación y a fomentar relaciones sanas y sanadoras. Como aprenderemos en este taller, ciertas técnicas de comunicación son la base de todas las relaciones sanas y sanadoras. Los ministros parroquiales no son terapeutas, pero la práctica de estos principios básicos de comunicación fomentarán relaciones saludables e incluso ocacionarán la sanación en los que se sirven. Entonces iniciemos este taller, siempre conscientes de la preciosa dignidad de aquellos que nuestro Padre celestial pone en nuestro camino, y de la hermosa manera en que cada persona que encontramos tiene en sí misma la asombrosa identidad de ser un hijo de Dios.  

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

Dios es quien primero llama al hombre . . . el Dios vivo y verdadero llama incansablemente a cada persona . . .” (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica (CEC) 2567). Dios continuamente nos llama hacia a Él para que podamos crecer en intimidad con Él. El Señor también nos llama a participar en Su plan de salvación. Este llamado implica una vocación, y en el centro de nuestra respuesta al Señor hay una ofrenda de fe, obediencia y amor. En este taller reflexionaremos sobre lo que es una vocación por medio de una reflexión orante sobre la vocación de Moisés, los doce apóstoles y la Santísima Virgen María conservada en la Sagrada Escritura. Esta reflexión nos ayudará a reconocer el llamado de Dios en nuestro propio corazón para que podamos responder libremente a lo que Él nos invita. Iniciemos este taller con un espíritu de oración, con el corazón bien abierto, dispuestos a descubrir lo que Dios ha revelado en la Sagrada Escritura sobre Su llamado para nuestras vidas. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

En el Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica leemos: “La Eucaristía es ‘fuente y culmen de toda la vida cristiana’. . . En resumen, la Eucaristía es el compendio y la suma de nuestra fe: ‘Nuestra manera de pensar armoniza con la Eucaristía, y a su vez la Eucaristía confirma nuestra manera de pensar’" (1324, 1327). Al crecer en intimidad con nuestro Señor Jesús presente en la Eucaristía y al buscar centrar nuestras vidas en torno a este don supremo, aprendemos a vivir como cristianos llenos de gracia. En este taller, explicaremos lo que significa ser un discípulo de Nuestro Señor presente en la Eucaristía y aprenderemos cómo hacerlo de una manera que “respire con ambos pulmones”, es decir, a través de las tradiciones tanto de la Iglesia católica oriental como de la Iglesia católica occidental. Este taller es para todos, ya sea que seamos padres de familia, sacerdotes, religiosos, catequistas laicos, maestros de escuela, etc. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de William H. Sadlier, Inc.

La Santa Eucaristía es el mayor de todos los dones, porque en ella Jesús nos ofrece Su Cuerpo, Sangre, Alma y Divinidad. A través de la Eucaristía, podemos recibir al Dios vivo y ser transformados por Su vida divina que habita en nosotros. La Madre Iglesia nos enseña que “La Eucaristía es ‘fuente y culmen de toda la vida cristiana’” (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica 1324, citando la Constitución Dogmática del Concilio Vaticano II “Sobre la Iglesia”, Lumen gentium 11). Nuestras vidas fluyen de la Eucaristía y conducen de nuevo a la Eucaristía, para que seamos colmados de la vida de Dios y enviados al mundo para proclamar la Buena Nueva. Este taller te ayudará, ya seas sacerdote, padre, líder de catequesis parroquial, catequista, maestro, o ministro de jóvenes, etc., a comprender mejor la Eucaristía y su importancia única en tu vida. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de William H. Sadlier, Inc.

Todos los creyentes son llamados a participar en el gran misterio del amor salvador del Padre por medio de Cristo Jesús. Y es este gran misterio al que todas las instituciones de la Iglesia, todas y cada una de ellas, existen para servir. El RICA no tiene otro propósito más que el servicio del santo misterio de Cristo presente y activo en Su Cuerpo viviente. La renovación del proceso de iniciación cristiana se considera una de las características más importantes y exitosas de la renovación litúrgica moderna. Desde su promulgación en 1972 y su continua elaboración bajo los auspicios de la Conferencia Nacional de Obispos Católicos en 1988, el Rito de Iniciación Cristiana para Adultos ha sido uno de los elementos pastorales más eficaces de la vida católica en los Estados Unidos. Y, sin embargo, no todo está bien. El mismo hecho de que el desafío es la conversión, la conformación de hombres y mujeres imperfectos a Cristo, significa que el proceso nunca será perfecto. La iniciación es más bien el comienzo de un proceso que tiene su final en la eternidad. Sin embargo, hay problemas que son más concretos y, por ello, se pueden corregir más fácilmente. En general, hoy en día se usan tres modelos de RICA en la mayoría de las parroquias católicas que tienen este ministerio. Cada uno de los modelos concibe y practica la iniciación cristiana de manera diferente. Este taller describe estos modelos, discutiendo sus fortalezas y debilidades en términos de las dimensiones catequéticas, litúrgicas y pastorales. El resultado es claridad sobre cómo el RICA puede introducir a los participantes en el catolicismo a través de un proceso de aprendizaje e interiorización de las Sagradas Escrituras, doctrinas, sacramentos, oraciones, tradiciones morales, lecturas espirituales y la cultura comunitaria de la Iglesia Católica, para así ser instrumentos del amor providente del Padre.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

“Por haber sido hecho a imagen de Dios, el ser humano tiene la dignidad de persona; no es solamente algo, sino alguien. Es capaz de conocerse, de poseerse y de darse libremente y entrar en comunión con otras personas; y es llamado, por la gracia, a una alianza con su Creador, a ofrecerle una respuesta de fe y de amor . . .” (Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica 357). La dignidad de la persona humana reside en la relación. Reside ante todo en nuestra relación con Dios, Quien nos creó a Su imagen y nos llama siempre hacia Él. También reside en nuestras relaciones con los demás, que comparten nuestra humanidad. Cada uno de nuestros apostolados dentro de la Iglesia incluye un llamado a la relación y a fomentar relaciones sanas y sanadoras. Como aprenderemos en este taller, ciertas técnicas de comunicación son la base de todas las relaciones sanas y sanadoras. Los ministros parroquiales no son terapeutas, pero la práctica de estos principios básicos de comunicación fomentarán relaciones saludables e incluso ocacionarán la sanación en los que se sirven. Entonces iniciemos este taller, siempre conscientes de la preciosa dignidad de aquellos que nuestro Padre celestial pone en nuestro camino, y de la hermosa manera en que cada persona que encontramos tiene en sí misma la asombrosa identidad de ser un hijo de Dios.  

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

El ministerio de la catequesis y el ministerio de la formación espiritual están normalmente algo separados en el entendimiento de las personas. Sin embargo, en la mente de la Iglesia, se relacionan de forma natural y necesaria. “En realidad, favorecer el encuentro de una persona con Dios, que es tarea del catequista, significa poner en el centro y hacer propia la relación que Dios tiene con la persona y dejarse guiar por Él”. (Directorio general para la catequesis (DGC) 139). “El catequista es intrínsecamente un mediador que facilita la comunicación entre las personas y el misterio de Dios, así como la de los hombres entre sí y con la comunidad”. (DGC 156). Este taller explora lo que significa ser guiado: una docilidad intencional y confianza en la capacidad de la Iglesia para llevarnos al crecimiento espiritual, a la paz con Dios, a la santidad. Con este entendimiento, examinamos los fundamentos de lo que significa para ti guiar a otra alma en un contexto catequético, de modo que puedas buscar más intencionalmente ser todo lo que la vocación catequética debe llegar a ser.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

Una parte importante de ser un mentor es llegar a conocer realmente a las personas que tenemos bajo nuestro cuidado. En este taller, exploramos varios tipos de preguntas relacionadas con este trabajo de descubrimiento y examinaremos cuáles logran mejor el objetivo de revelar auténticamente los pensamientos y necesidades de esa persona para construir de manera productiva y sabia la relación de mentoría. Las preguntas deficientes resultan en oportunidades perdidas o en una comunicación débil. Las grandes preguntas realmente sirven para abrir el alma y construir una mentoría sólida. Enfatizaremos especialmente el valor de las preguntas abiertas orientadas a extraer la historia de vida de una persona.

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.

En comunidades multiculturales, es muy valioso el encontrar maneras de ayudar a los fieles a participar plenamente en las Misas significativas, como las principales fiestas, la recepción de sacramentos y otros eventos importantes. Tales liturgias pueden brindar la oportunidad de emplear la rica diversidad de expresiones culturales y lingüísticas en un acto común de adoración. Este taller no solo ofrece maneras prácticas de implementar elementos bilingües (o multilingües) en la liturgia, sino examina el valor de la Misa, y el por qué nos debemos esforzar para incluir el idioma y la cultura de los presentes, lo cual es nada menos que darles la oportunidad de experimentar el gran Amor de Dios, y permitirles participar más plenamente en Su gran obra de redención. 

La creación de este taller fue posible gracias a una generosa subvención de Our Sunday Visitor.