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Belief in a triune God is central to Christian faith but on the periphery of most people?s understanding of it. Indeed, it is greatly misunderstood by many. Briefly and clearly, Neil Ormerod explains what the Christian tradition understands when it speaks of a triune God. He presents and develops his material in three parts: where our belief in the Trinity comes from (Scripture), what we believe about the Trinity (creed), and how best to understand what we believe (analogy). A Trinitarian Primer will be welcomed by many who are engaged in religious education and formation. Preachers will appreciate the homily suggestions included.

Author: Neil Ormerod

PRODUCT DETAILS
ISBN: 9780814633557
Details: 96 pgs , 4 1/4 x 7 
Publication Date: 11/01/2010

The period of the catechumenate is focused on helping new disciples understand the doctrines and precepts of the Church in a way that flows from the liturgy. This period imbues catechumens with a spirit of prayer and service as catechists guide them to a deeper relationship with Christ.

Catechetical Sessions for the Catechumenate provides models and suggestions for leading catechumens through the many aspects of the Catholic faith, including fifty prayerful and theologically sound sessions to use when catechizing the unbaptized and the uncatechized. The sessions are organized in five categories: Beliefs, Catholic Living, Holy People, Prayer and Liturgy, and Sacraments, allowing the catechist to integrate doctrinal teachings into sessions in a prayerful and formative way that reflects the vision of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. This material can also be adapted to your parish's unique needs, including to a year-round catechumenate model.

The sessions include:

• Theological backgrounds for each session topic
• Engaging and interactive catechetical scripts
• Liturgical recommendations for the Celebrations of the Word
• Opportunities for catechumens to live their faith
• Summary statements for wrapping up each session
• Organizational chart for scheduling the sessions according to the liturgical year

Also included in this book is an organizational chart for scheduling the sessions according to the liturgical year.

With a helpful overview of the period of the catechumenate, and guidance for forming catechumens, this resource will help catechists and initiation team members share their faith, teach Catholic beliefs, and help catechumens live their developing faith as disciples of Christ.

Spiral | 8 1/2 x 11 | 240 pages

ISBN 9781616717841

Christ in the Classroom: Lesson Planning for the Heart and Mind

If the goal of catechesis is to cultivate an encounter with Christ, why do religious educators spend so much time focused almost exclusively on ideas and not experiences? The reason is that many have never been shown a method that inspires the heart while also instructing the mind. Jared Dees, creator of the popular website The Religion Teacher, shows how applying the steps of lectio divina to teaching can reorient religious education toward encountering the person of Christ rather than merely sharing information about him.

In Christ in the Classroom, Catholic author and speaker Jared Dees applies the five steps of lectio divina reading/learning, meditation, prayer, contemplation, and action to the ministry of catechesis. He offers teachers and catechists a practical framework for preparing lessons that broaden the focus of teaching from mostly intellectual learning to also encountering Christ in prayer, reflection, and action. Using this method, students and catechists come to know intimately the person of Christ at the same time that they are learning the tenets and traditions of the Church.

Dees shares stories of success and failure from his own teaching experience and he offers dozens of field-tested strategies, tactics, and teaching methods to effectively integrate the steps of lectio divina into the classroom or other catechetical setting.

Outfitted with these tools, both experienced and new religious educators will feel confident in their ability to teach effectively and lead their students to a life-changing encounter with Jesus.

Author: Jared Dees

ISBN: 9781594718618

5 x 7 Paperback

192 pages

On-sale date: September 7, 2018

As the Catholic Church embarks on the mission of teaching the Christian faith, the new Directory for Catechesis (2020) lays the how-to guidelines for catechesis and presents universal norms to guide pastors and catechists in the work of evangelization. The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization presents the Directory to guide the proclamation of the Gospel by the Christian faithful to people of all ages and in all seasons of life.

The Directory places catechetical instruction and formation of catechetical teachers clearly within the realm of evangelization. It offers guidelines to assist in the creation of local directories and catechisms and clarifies the importance of catechetical renewal in Christian communities. The Directory affirms the presentation of the Catholic faith articulated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a sound point of reference for instruction while drawing deeply from Scripture and the writings of recent popes, especially Pope Francis€™s Evangelii Gaudium.

These guidelines are important for bishops, who are the primary catechists in their local diocese. The Directory will also be indispensable for all those responsible for formal religious instruction, including pastors and parish priests, deacons, lay and religious catechists, and religious education teachers in dioceses, parishes, and schools. The Directory will furthermore aid directors of formation who train the faithful in the forms and means of catechesis, including seminary rectors, directors of formation for the permanent diaconate, and lay ecclesial minister formation program directors.

If, as Pope Francis says, the church is a field hospital, then what does it mean to care for the wounded and heal the wounds? What would we do first? Indeed, God sends all of usespecially catechists and teachersto heal the world. And the first thing we have to do is this: proclaim that Jesus Christ saves us. This first proclamation heals the wounds of unbelievers, seekers, and believers alike.

Field Hospital Catechesis: The Core Content for RCIA Formation explores the nine core teachings of the church that make up this first proclamation. Readers will become catechists and evangelists equipped to bring healing to those around them by learning: 

Do you struggle to know when or if it"s appropriate to step in to help a teen who seems stressed, anxious, or depressed? Do you know the signs to look for to determine whether a teen is in distress?

In Helping Teens with Stress, Anxiety, and Depression, Roy Petitfils a Catholic author, speaker, and psychotherapist offers his personal experience, advice, and faith to give parents, pastors, and youth leaders the knowledge, courage, and tools they need to step in, make a difference, and be the presence of Christ for teens in crisis.

Roy Petitfils knows what it"s like to be an addicted, depressed teenager, filled with self-loathing and desperate for help. He describes himself at high school graduation as by far the largest person in his hometown and yet feeling as though he were stuck in Harry Potter"s invisibility cloak.Weighing more than 500 pounds, he was addicted to food and hated himself.

Now a leading Catholic voice in youth advocacy and creator of the popular podcast Today"s Teenager, Petitfils entered adulthood a very different person than he is today. His life was radically changed by a handful of people in college who reached out in friendship and helped him set a new course.

Using personal life lessons and expertise gleaned from more than twenty-five years in youth ministry and private practice as a licensed counselor, Petitfils teaches parents, pastors, and youth leaders what they need to know about mental health issues among America"s youth. Whether teens need help coping with healthy levels of stress or face persistent, more serious problems with anxiety and depression, Petitfils will help the adults in their lives get comfortable with stepping in.

Petitfils offers information and advice on:

• the major causes of stress and anxiety in teens today
• differentiating healthy stress from toxic stress
• simple steps to take after identifying a hurting kid, beginning with how to assess whether and how to step in
• the art of listening

He explores the support and comfort available through the sacraments, Catholic devotions, different forms of prayer, and reading the Bible. Ultimately, Petitfils identifies how to gently, yet persuasively guide hurting young people to deeper trust in the tender mercies of God.

Author: Roy Petitfils

Format: Paperback

Pages: 160

Trim size: 5.x 8.inches

ISBN: 978-1-59471-889-2

On-sale date: March 8, 2019

Within the Eastern tradition of Christianity, the eikon, or religious image, has long held a place of honor. In the greater part of Western Christianity, however, discomfort with images in worship, both statues and panel icons, has been a relatively common current, particularly since the Reformation. In the Roman Catholic Church, after years of using religious statues, the Second Vatican Council's call for "noble simplicity" in many cases led to a stripping of images that in some ways helped refocus attention on the eucharistic celebration itself but also led to a starkness that has left many Roman Catholics unsure of how to interact with the saints or with religious images at all.

Today, Western interest in panel icons has been rising, yet we lack standards of quality or catechesis on what to do with them. This book makes the case that icons should have a role to play in the Western Church that goes beyond mere decoration. Citing theological and ecumenical reasons, Visel argues that, with regard to use of icons, the post-Vatican II Roman Catholic Church needs to give greater respect to the Eastern tradition. While Roman Catholics may never interact with icons in quite the same way that Eastern Christians do, we do need to come to terms with what icons are and how we should encounter them.

Subtitle: Toward a More Sacramental Encounter
Author: Jeana Visel, OSB

PRODUCT DETAILS
ISBN: 9780814646601
Details: 192 pgs , 5 3/8 x 8 1/2 
Publication Date: 09/06/2016

By Ann M. Garrido

Preaching in congregations with many children is one of the most difficult challenges many preachers face. Whether you are a priest, deacon, catechist, or prayer leader, this book offers practical help in crafting specific homilies for children. Drawing on insights gleaned within the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Garrido helps preachers understand key characteristics of childhood and children's spirituality and presents ways to reflect on Scripture through the lens of the young child. Preachers will discover that they are preaching with children, rather than preaching to them.

978-1-61671-673-8 | Paperback | 6 x 9 | Language: English | Copyright Year: 2022

Rebuilding Youth Ministry: Ten Practical Strategies for Catholic Parishes

Christopher Wesley is on the front lines of youth ministry. He"s been in the parish trenches, refocusing an unpopular youth program and making it one where teens feel connected, stay involved, and grow in faith. In Rebuilding Youth Ministry, Wesley offers ten indispensable strategies to help you make your youth programs just as successful.

Wesley coaches fellow Catholic ministry leaders on how to overcome common hurdles of ministering to young people. For Wesley, those hurdles included feelings of complacency, underestimating youth, and entertaining rather than ministering in his own parish. Working through these problems, Wesley built a distinctive program based on small group faith formation and sustained it with the assistance of more than sixty volunteer adult mentors.

Wesley shares ten strategies that helped grow participation in his high school program from nine teens to ninety and the middle school program from forty teens to eighty-five, including:

• making your youth program about more than pizza;
• pursuing authentic relationships between small groups and mentors;
• shaping a dynamic youth ministry team; and
• creating a space that"s welcoming to teens.

Author: Christopher Wesley

ISBN: 9781594715761

5.5" x 8.5" Paperback

128 pages

Here at last is the long-awaited continuation of The Religious Potential of the Child (from 3 to 6 years old). The author, Sofia Cavaletti, founder of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, describes an approach to the religious education of children according to the methods of Maria Montessori, which has gained worldwide attention. In this book she draws on her long experience with children from diverse cultures and environments to describe the vital religious needs of the older child (6 to 12 years old).

The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for the older child builds on the foundation in scripture and liturgy offered to the younger child (3 to 6 years old). The theme of the covenant between God and humankind, first revealed to the people of Israel, is expanded to include the dimension of time: all of history, from creation to the parousia. For the older child, awareness of participation in this covenant relationship leads spontaneously to a sense of moral responsibility, and of engagement with the cosmos in all its manifestations.

This book will be a great help to educators and catechists who seek to understand the characteristics of the older child, particularly the child's relationship with the mystery of God.

ISBN:  978-1-61671-441-3

Paperback: 6x9

192 Pages

Author: Sofia Cavalletti

"What are the implications of Vatican II for the understanding and concrete exercise of doctrinal teaching authority in the Catholic Church?" Teaching with Authority faithfully represents the teaching of Roman Catholicism on the Church's doctrinal authority while highlighting areas where a gap remains between an ecclesiological vision of the Church informed by Vatican II and the popular understanding and concrete exercise of that authority in the life of the Church today.

Dr. Gaillardetz shows that Vatican II did not so much produce one new ecclesiology as it recovered a number of ecclesiologies from biblical and patristic sources. Using images like the people of God, body of Christ, temple of the Holy Spirit, and pilgrim Church, along with such concepts as mystery, communion, and sacrament, the council breathed new life into reflection on the nature and mission of the Church. Since Vatican II, much work has been done by ecclesiologists to explore the new directions suggested by the Council. This book contributes to that post-conciliar project by developing a comprehensive theology of doctrinal teaching authority consonant with the ecclesiological vision of Vatican II.

Theologians and graduate students of Roman Catholic ecclesiology will benefit from the scholarship behind Teaching with Authority. And, because of its comprehensive yet non-technical treatment of doctrinal authority in the Roman Catholic Church, it's also a useful reference for all in pastoral ministry ordained and non-ordained.

Teaching with Authority's structure reflects the traditional three-fold distinction among the subject of doctrinal teaching, the object of doctrinal teaching, and the exercise or act of doctrinal teaching. However, the developments of the Second Vatican Council remind us of the importance of a fourth category, the reception of Church teaching by the whole people of God, which this work addresses.

Author: Richard R. Gaillardetz

PRODUCT DETAILS
ISBN: 9780814655290
Details: 312 pgs , 5 3/8 x 8 1/2 
Publication Date: 02/01/1997

The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd in a Parish Setting Revised Edition by Tina Lillig, revised by Mary Mirrione

What happens when a parish community chooses the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for its youngest members? What questions should be asked before that decision is made, and after? What does an atrium look like? What do you need? How do you start? And how did this type of Catechesis ever get started in the first place?

This newly revised edition of Tina Lillig's practical and enduring resource offers step-by-step information to address the questions of pastors, directors of religious education, parish staff members, parents, catechists, and anyone else interested in the great blessing that young children are to the parish community.

978-1-61671-423-9 | Paperback | 6 x 9 | 80 pages | Language: English

In this book, which covers all of Jesus parables, award-winning author Gerhard Lohfink takes a closer look at the origins of each oneits shape, its realistic details, but most of all its original message and the situation into which it was once spoken. Jesus parables speak in bold images of the kingdom of God, making it present to us as they reveal something of the mystery of his own person.

ISBN: 9780814685105
Details: 272 pgs, 6 x 9 x 7/8
Publication Date: 07/05/2021

Anyone familiar with the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd has probably encountered the early description of this approach to the religious formation of the child in The Good Shepherd and the Child: A Joyful Journey. With major contributions by Sofia Cavalletti, Gianna Gobbi, Silvana Montanaro, and Patricia Coulter, this book has long been a core text' for catechists and also for parents of children in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Now there is a new edition, which reflects the changes in the presentations and the materials that Sofia Cavalletti made in the years before her death in August 2011. The original contributions of the authors are retained in Part I. In Part II, long time catechist and one of the first US catechists to study with Sofia Cavalletti, Rebekah Rojcewicz, has carefully outlined the current methods and developments in the work. This includes a selection of the key parables and scripture texts that are presented to the children. She also offers a new Introduction in which she describes the process by which the original authors and founders of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd came to recognize the child's potential for a relationship with God and learned what nurtures that experience. The original art work by Julie Coulter-English is retained in this new edition.

Sofia Cavalletti, Patricia Coulter, and Gianna Gobbi contributed to this resource.

Paperback | 8 x 10 | 112 pages | Language: English | Copyright Year: 2014

Can Christians still pray the Our Father in the twenty-first century? We can, and we must.

Gerhard Lohfink breaks open its strange phrases like "hallowed be thy name," its off-putting language like "Father" and "kingdom," and its apparently harsh demands like forgive us as we have forgiven those who hurt us-all to shed light on Jesus' original words and their meaning. By probing what the prayer meant for Jesus and his first disciples in their world Lohfink calls us to allow the Our Father to break open our own minds and hearts to its infinite invitation and challenge for our time and for all ages.

Hard cover 28 pgs , 5 x 7 
Publication Date: 02/20/2019

This book describes the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a Montessori-based style of catechesis that focuses on the child's independent journey to God by working with materials in a specially prepared place called an atrium. Written by Sofia Cavaletti, the Italian scripture scholar who developed the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, this classic work demonstrates the profound spiritual capabilities of children as brought forth through their engagement in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. This book is important for anyone desiring to learn about the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd or the spiritual life of children ages 3-6.

ISBN: 9781616715182 

Paperback  256 pages

Size: 6 x 9 

Drawing on more than forty years of experience as a catechist, parish DRE, textbook publisher, and founding director of the Echo Program at the University of Notre Dame, Gerard F. Baumbach explores contemporary catechesis in light of its history. This landmark book is an essential resource for every catechetical leader and will spur a new appreciation of the opportunities and challenges of catechesis in the Church today.

The Way of Catechesis offers a new and timely perspective on the vital ministry of catechesis at a pivotal moment in the work of New Evangelization. Gerard F. Baumbach shows how today"s catechists can follow the pedagogy of Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life, and he invites readers to an understanding of essential dimensions for handing on the faith and living in union with Christ the Teacher.

Author: Gerard F. Baumbach

Format: Paperback

Pages: 320

Trim size: 6 x 9 inches

ISBN: 978-1-59471-714-7

On-sale date: May 31, 2017

All church ministries are oriented toward fostering missionary discipleship. Youth ministry focuses this mission on young people. In this new book in the Collegeville Ministry series, Jeffrey Kaster explores leadership for youth ministry, Christian discipleship, conversion, the theological foundations for youth ministry, the importance of community and belonging, and vocational discernment. Kaster looks at the practice of vocational discernment and how it encourages youth ministry to continually help young people discern their gifts, connect them in service to meet the world's deep needs, and foster Christian discipleship. Youth ministry at its best mobilizes the faith community to support young people as they learn to live as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Author: Jeffrey Kaster

104 pgs , 5 3/8 x 8 1/4 Paperback

Publication Date: 02/11/2016