I'm over at Amazing Catechists... doing my Pat-in-the-Cat thing, and talking about taking faith on vacation

I've written about this subject before, in which I ask Does the Catechism Have Any Wisdom for My Summer Vacation? Go check out my column at Amazing Catechists.

Need Joy? Sunday is your answer. My latest at Amazing Catechists...

Here's what this article at my column at Amazing Catechists is about:

Sometimes, the joy busters of life get the better of me. But not lately.When I delve into the Catechism of the Catholic Church, I really get a sense of the joie de vivre of Catholic life. Something that has had a real and  practical application for my life is finding the joy of Sundays. After all, Sunday was the day that Jesus was raised from the death… and in so many ways, a thoughtful observance of Sunday can breathe life back into the other days of the week for me. 

Tucked in the middle of a longer summary about Sundays, I came across this tiny, yet powerful phrase: the day of joy. I was immediately struck by how often I have revered Sunday as an obligation and a day of rest, but have not always consciously entered into it as a day of joy, save for major feast days.  As it turns out, that is just one aspect of a bigger idea that describes Christian joy as proper to Sundays.

Read the whole thing.

Come read my latest column at the newly-redesigned Amazing Catechists website.

No matter who we are... we are all called to know the love of Jesus Christ. That's the whole reason to be a Christian in the first place. If you teach about the Faith, that's the only reason to be a catechist. In fact, being a witness to your own faith is an important prerequisite to sharing it with other. You can't give what you don't have. You don't have to know it all to be a catechist, the first prerequisite is to love God, and the second is to love your neighbor... for the catechist, that's the people you teach. 

Everybody has a built-in restlessness that never rests until they rest in Jesus, says Augustine. And the Catholic Church echoes that claim. Even celebrities and the rich and famous need Jesus... and so does the rest of general population. We need to reach out to anyone within our reach with the gospel message of salvation, healing, peace, and love. Thus, my latest installment over at Amazing Catechists: I'm a Catechist, not Kim Kardashian. 

Parents: Here's Help in Preparing Your Child to Receive the Sacraments. (You can DO this!)

I love Lisa Mladinich's energy and verve when it comes to sharing the faith with children. I've endorsed her work here and elsewhere. Today, I'm asking her to share, in her own words, her latest booklet, and how it can help us prepare children for their sacraments. --Pat

Sacraments: Bridging the Gap between Heaven and Earth

“The Sacraments of Christian Initiation – Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist – lay the foundation of every Christian life.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 1212)

It is very humbling to be in this particular space. I’d like to profusely thank Pat Gohn, catechist par excellence (for whom my admiration is just huge), for inviting me to offer a guest blog in celebration of my new booklet, “Be an Amazing Catechist: Sacramental Preparation” (Our Sunday Visitor, 30 pgs). Written with both parents and catechists in mind, it is a guide for teaching the sacraments of Penance, Holy Eucharist, and Confirmation accurately and vibrantly, so that both you and the children will come to a more complete appreciation for their purpose, beauty and power to transform lives.

“Sacraments are ‘powers that come forth’ from the Body of Christ, which is ever-living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in his Body, the Church. They are ‘the masterworks of God’ in the new and everlasting covenant.” (Luke 5:17, 6:19, 8:46)(CCC 1116)

Teaching the sacraments can be unbelievably exciting. Consider this: The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that everything Jesus did during His public ministry announced and prepared the way for everything He would accomplish in us afterwards (CCC 1115). By coming to earth in all His divinity and taking on human form, He bridged the gap between heaven and earth. Before He ascended to heaven, He created a spiritual bridge for us by establishing the sacraments, each a vehicle for its own unique grace, to be administered by the Church.

It is well worth the effort to prepare ourselves to teach these thrilling truths to our children with sensitivity, enthusiasm and wisdom. As we pray, study, and cling to the sacraments, our lives become flooded with God’s grace.

Culled from my own experiences, research, and interviews with dedicated parents and catechists, this little guide on sacramental preparation is packed with practical, creative, and inspirational help on topics such as:

• The call to teach the Faith, and the call to conversion
• Submission to the Church’s authority and the graces that follow
• Heroes of the Faith
• Teaching reverence to children
• Lesson planning basics
• The purpose of confession
• Helping kids overcome their fear of the confessional
• Explaining the Eucharist
• Options for receiving Communion
• Confirmation preparation
• Breaking through to teens
• Nine things that confirmands should memorize
• Helping teens develop a Catholic identity
• Assessments
• The importance of reaching out to other parents 

All my booklets run $2.95 for a single copy and $17.90 for bundles of ten.

The original booklet, “Be an Amazing Catechist: Inspire the Faith of Children,” a guide to creative teaching methodologies that can be used with any religious ed curriculum, is also available in Spanish!

--Lisa Mladinich

Lisa is also the founder of Amazing Catechists. Read Lisa's weekly column at Patheos. 

If you can remember "Where is Thumbkin?", you can learn to summarize the content of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Really.

Amazing Catechists has my column, "You & Me & the CCC." This time around, I'm sharing one of my favorite ways to summarize the content of the Catechism of the Catholic Church... to the tune of the familiar nursery rhyme, "Where is Thumbkin?"  Don't ask me to explain it here. Go there and check it out! (There's other good stuff from a host of catechists writing on various subjects.)

Among Women Podcast #78: Be An Amazing Catechist!

Among Women 78 is all about passing on the faith to children. Lisa Mladinich joins me for an animated discussion regarding the true heart of the catechist, as well as the tricks of the trade, as we break open her new catechist's field guide, Be An Amazing Catechist, Inspire the Faith of Children.


Plus our "Blessed are They" segment examines the life and times of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne.

SQPN's annual giving campaign is now underway!