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Resources for Teachers

Faith Formation Catechist Handbook

 

Faith Formation Lesson Outlines (2021-2022):

  • 1st Grade Lesson Outline
  • 2nd Grade Lesson Outline
  • 3rd Grade Lesson Outline
  • 4th Grade Lesson Outline
  • 5th Grade Lesson Outline
  • 6th Grade Lesson Outline
  • 7th Grade Lesson Outline
  • 8th Grade Lesson Outline
  • (Click here for Lesson extensions)
  • (Click for Lesson Plans and Quizzes)

 

Training Resources:

 

Activities/Craft Resources:

 

Other Resources:

 

 

 

5 Reasons Why YOU Should Be a Catechist

 

Have you ever considered becoming a catechist, or perhaps are you currently a burnt-out catechist looking for new meaning in your job? Being a catechist is a great job because your task is to teach others, especially children, about how wonderful the Catholic Faith is. (It doesn’t get much better than that.) So, hang on because I’m about to tell you five reasons why a catechist has one of the most special jobs in the entire world.

  1. Being a catechist fulfills Christ’s call to be “fishers of men.”– In Matthew 4:19, we hear that Jesus called Peter and Andrew and said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  We Catholics have an obligation, as followers of Christ, to help bring others to Him. As a catechist, we are catching “men” and showing them the Way, the Truth, and the Life – Jesus Christ.
  2. Being a catechist is a special calling. – On September 27th, 2013, Pope Francis had a specific meeting with catechists from many different countries of the world in which he stressed the importance of their ministry and praised them for their service. He reminded us all that being a catechist is a special duty, very necessary in today’s secular world. In fact, he said, “Being a catechist is a vocation.”  This shows us, that even if we think that being a part of our parish’s catechetical team isn’t that glorious; it is.  It’s a vocation!
  3. Jesus was a catechist too.  – I remember always being told that Jesus never asks us to do anything that He hasn’t done Himself.  Well, Jesus was a catechist too. His “students” were the Apostles and the many disciples who followed Him during His time of ministry; and while He wasn’t preparing them for the local Bishop to come at the end of the year to administer sacraments, He had to prepare them to carry on without Him. (Jesus probably thinks the same thing that many catechists urgently pray when the Bishop asks questions during his sacramental Mass homily, “Oh, I sure hope they remember what I said about that!”)
  4. As a catechist, you are helping to keep the Faith alive. Without catechists, the Church would die! There would be no one to pass the Faith on to the next generations. As catechists, we are assuring that the Catholic Church will carry on, just as your catechists helped to instill the love of Jesus in you when you were a child. When Jesus was on earth, He taught His Apostles so that they could continue the Church when He returned to Heaven, and as catechists, it’s our job to teach the children of today the Catholic Faith so that they can carry it on after we are gone.
  5. You are empowering kids to be the saints of the next generation! – A good catechist is what children remember as they grow up, and also what helps keep them rooted in their Faith. Through our job as Faith Formators, we help to ground the next generation firmly in the Catholic Faith and pave the way for them to become the next Pope John Paul II and St. Therese of Lisieux.

To call ourselves “catechists” is something that we should proclaim proudly, not scrawl half-heartedly on the parish census form. For although teaching catechesis isn’t always a cakewalk, watching previous students go to confession and receive Holy Communion with a look of awe in their eyes is totally worth it!