How to Become a Liturgical Catechist

How to Become a Liturgical CatechistJOYCE DONAHUEDIOCESE OF JOLIET RELIGIOUS EDUCATION OFFICE

What is a Liturgical Catechist?

A Liturgical CatechistConnects the classroom to the weekend liturgyUses symbols, colors, gestures, postures and

patterns of speech from the MassLeads prayer in a liturgical wayTeaches young people to love the liturgy

Why become a Liturgical Catechist?

To fulfill what Vatican II documents tell us: The Mass is “Source and Summit” of Catholic life One of the goals of Christian education is to learn

“how to worship God the Father in Spirit and in Truth”

To encourage “full, conscious and active participation in the Mass.”

More reasons to be a Liturgical Catechist

To encourage a fully Catholic lifestyle:Learning about liturgy shouldn’t

stop after First CommunionLiving the Liturgical Year is a

fundamental practice that brings us closer to Christ and the Saints.

No artificial separation between catechesis and liturgyTeaching for participation in the liturgy is one of the fundamental tasks of catechesis:“Helping to know, to celebrate and to contemplate the mystery of Christ.” General Directory for Catechesis

How to become a Liturgical Catechist? 4 steps

Observe and study what happens at Mass

Start to collect “Props”Connect to the Sunday

LectionaryConnect to the Sunday

Eucharist

What to observe at MassWhat colors and

symbols do you see during the seasons of the Liturgical Year?

What songs are sung in your parish that reflect the seasons?

What to do in classUse seasonal colors for

prayer spaces. Bring in objects, religious and natural, that “speak” the season without words.

Sing or play recordings of music of the season

Name that season!

How many seasonal symbols can you think of?

AdventChristmasOrdinary TimeLentEaster

What to observe at Mass

What looks important in the church?AltarAmbo (pulpit)Book of the GospelsBaptismal fontPaschal candle (Easter candle)

What to do in class

Why is this important?

What to observe at Mass

How do we move and speak?Movement with reverenceVerbal formulasPostures – when do we stand and kneel?Gestures

What to do in class Have a procession to prayer area Hold the Bible or Lectionary high for all to see Begin/end every prayer with the sign of the Cross Begin a scripture reading as we do in church “A

reading from....” end with “The Word /Gospel of the Lord”

Have students respond to Gospel introduction with the three-fold cross, and end with “Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.”

When/why do we do that in church?

Discussion:

What have you observed at Mass and used in class?

What do you think you could use?

Liturgical props: “smells and bells”Catholic liturgical prayer is physical and sensory in nature.Seasonal colors Sacramental symbols The smells of incense and

chrismThe sounds of words and music

Prayer table or prayer focus

Cloth the color of the liturgical season

CrossCandleBibleOther seasonal

symbols

How to build your liturgical props collection

Keep the size in proportion to your spaceChoose things that look “worthy” – not tackyLook for items from nature when you are

outside

Use your prayer table

Have students process from their regular seating to come stand or sit around the prayer table

Light your candle Read from the Bible on your prayer table

Connect to the Sunday Lectionary

Cycle A: MatthewCycle B: MarkCycle C: LukeGospel of John read

every year during Easter Season

Refer to the Sunday Gospel

During class before on that Sunday

Whenever something you are teaching is related to a gospel story about to be read or recently read at Mass

Connect to the Sunday EucharistKnow and teach the

meaning of the Mass and the role of the people in the pews

Teach the meal and the sacrifice

We come to be nourished by word and Sacrament

We come to receive the sacrifice of Jesus Christ again and again – and to offer ourselves with it to be changed into a people of sacrificial love.

Help your students develop “Catholic bones”

Always make classroom connections to The liturgical season, its colors and

symbolsBasic symbols of the liturgyPostures and gestures of the MassVerbal formulas used at Mass

Connect to the family- the “domestic church”

Send home seasonal prayer and activity ideas

Email parents links to good liturgical videosStart your own Pinterest board for great ideas

– and share with familiesAlways encourage Mass attendanceConsider sitting as a class group – all your

families – at Sunday Mass

Review

Resource: TheLiturgicalCatechist

http://theliturgicalcatechist.weebly.com