QUINQUENNIAL CONGRESS XVII, PITTSBURGH, PA * U.S. SECULAR FRANCISCAN ORDER

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Catechists Teach Through Story-Telling


Ron Pihokker, SFO

Catechesis is all about telling a good story, Ron Pihokker, SFO, noted in his July 6th workshop, “Secular Franciscans and the Catechetical Ministry: Building the Kingdom More Effectively.”

“At the very heart of Franciscan tradition, we have stories,” such as the vision Francis related when he met with the pope, said Ron, director of the Catechetical Office of the Newark, NJ, Archdiocese.

“Stories have power… If you want to engage people, you can do it through stories.”

There is a lot of precedent for it. “Jesus was a great storyteller,” he said. His parables connected with the people.

That’s what catechetical work is all about, he said. “We ought to be about telling stories, about collecting stories…and thinking about what we want to communicate so we can be effective.”

So, he said, “discover the stories in your lives, discover the stories you like, and use them in your catechesis…because:

-- “the shortest distance between a human being and the Truth is a story, and

-- “the shortest distance between the Gospel and people’s lives is a story.”

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