As we accompany catechumens on their journey of faith, we’re always looking for good sources for catechesis. There’s one source we might be overlooking that is right in front of our eyes! Frank Lloyd Wright, the great architect, was often quoted as saying, “We create our buildings. Then they create us.” We can say the
How the doors of your church create disciples
One of the catechumens in our parish was raised as an atheist. Her parents are atheists, her friends are atheists, most of her coworkers are atheists. She never felt lonely or cynical. Still, in her mid-thirties, she was searching for something. She says her “God moment” happened unexpectedly while washing dishes. What she was searching
Advent hope: Accompanying the catechumens
Several years ago, Diana and I were in Panama over the Thanksgiving holiday. In Panama, as in most of the world, November’s fourth Thursday is just another day. There was no turkey, no football, and no cranberry sauce to be found. But oddly, there were massive Black Friday sales everywhere you looked. Black Friday, it
Thanksgiving as a way of faith for the catechumens
Many parish teams choose a safe, predictable path when forming seekers. We rely on our lesson plans, our schedules, our outlines, and it all feels responsible, even holy. But what if the Spirit is calling us somewhere less familiar, less comfortable and yet, more far more compelling? Over the past few weeks, we’ve been reflecting
The costly path of discipleship
What does love for the poor have to do with Christian initiation? According to Pope Leo XIV, everything! As catechumenate ministers, we are always concerned with handing on the faith, dogmas, and precepts of our Catholic tradition. But if we are not teaching that love for the poor is at the heart and center of
Why care for the poor is essential to initiation in Christ
You’ve no doubt heard the story of the wise man who went to the river to meditate. When he arrived, he found a group of agitated people gathered on the riverbank. As he drew closer, he saw them frantically wading into the water to rescue people from drowning. Every time they pulled someone to shore,
Go upstream: Forming disciples to confront injustice
When Pope Leo issued the first major document of his pontificate, he presented a big challenge to catechumenate teams. His apostolic exhortation, Dilexi te (“I have loved you”), is essentially an introduction to the rich tradition of Catholic Social Teaching. This is a teachable moment that we can use to introduce Catholic Social Teaching to
Encountering the poor is a prerequisite of faith
I have exciting news to share. Pope Leo XIV has just issued a powerful, timely new resource to help us in our ministry. It is a letter (technically an “apostolic exhortation”) titled: Dilexi te (“I have loved you”). In the same spirit of Dilexi te, I wrote two letters, one to seekers and the other to
How to use Pope Leo’s first apostolic exhortation in your catechumenate
Last week, I was meeting with a new inquirer in the Sr. Thea Bowman Room at our parish. Somehow, we started talking about the Christmas season. I quickly realized we were talking about two very different things. I meant the time between December 25 and January 6. She meant the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas
Why the liturgical year is your seekers’ best teacher
As we enter into the last part of the liturgical year, this is a good time for catechumenate ministers to think about how to help catechumens, candidates, and all the faithful understand time in a new way. Because as Christians, we encounter “God’s time” in a different way than we do with our everyday activities.
How Catholics think about time
