Joe Paprocki, national consultant for faith formation at Loyola Press in Chicago, was on hand both days at the DAEC discussing a topic he knows well: sharing the Catholic faith with others. His sessions were highly attended.
The author of the book A Well-Built Faith: A Catholic's Guide to Knowing and Sharing What We Believe, Paprocki gave a presentation with the same title. He said his audience could learn a four-step approach to summarizing everything there is to know about Catholicism.
The younger brother of Bishop Thomas John Paprocki, Joe Paprocki said he was "honored to be here in my brother's diocese" and spoke about his professional and faith backgrounds. He has been a high school religion teacher, a parish director of religious education, and a member of the Office for Catechesis for the Chicago Archdiocese. He's been employed by Loyola Press for 10 years and has authored several books.
"I am also a catechist (currently at the sixth-grade level) and have a blog (www.catechistsjourney.com) that I write," Paprocki said, adding that he and his wife of 30 years have two grown children.
Paprocki admitted that although many Catholics might find that the "900-page Catechism is daunting" there are easier ways to discuss Catholicism. "We can talk about our faith in such a way that it is accessible to people," he said. "I want the 'everyday Joe' to be able to talk about our faith."
To take his point a step further, Paprocki talked about using the acronym HELP to discuss learning a four-step approach to summarizing everything there is to know about Catholicism.
H stands for hold on to the faith, as prayed in the Creed. E stands for expressing the faith in the sacraments. L stands for living the faith. P reminds us to pray our faith. "The Our Father is our perfect prayer," Paprocki said.
In speaking about prayer he said, "St. Ignatius said we find God in all things. All prayer is in response to God. Prayer is not sitting on Santa's lap. Prayer should resemble one person talking to another. You'll hear with your heart."
When teaching about the Catholic Church, believers should be able to explain what plays a big part in our worship. Asking people to silently demonstrate the gestures of the liturgy, he said, "Sometimes gestures are more powerful than words. We need to be able to explain our gestures to our Protestant friends.
"I personally get my inspiration from Scripture," he said. "I believe we should always be ready to give an explanation (about the Catholic Church) to anyone who asks."