Jayne Ragasa-Mondoy, director of the diocesan Office of Religious Education points to her book cover on a display last month at the National Con-ference for Catechetical Leadership conference in Dallas, Texas, (Courtesy photo)
By Jayne Ragasa-Mondoy Special to the Herald
Last fall I received a call from Joe Paprocki, noted author for the prominent Catholic publishing company Loyola Press, who invited me to write a book. “We need a new voice, one who understands the reality of catechetical ministry,” he said.
Once past the “who/why me and how will I possibly find the time,” I knew that this was a God-given opportunity for “Catholic Hawaii” to contribute its voice and wisdom to a national publication.
This May, at the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership conference in Dallas, Texas, my book was finally released.
“Cultivating Your Catechists: How to Recruit, Encourage and Retain Successful Catechists” is one of six books in the new “Effective Catechetical Leader” series by Loyola Press.
In writing it, I used the art of story-telling to offer strategies for catechetical leaders to recruit, train, support, inspire, supervise, evaluate and retain catechists in their parishes. I did this by design because the tough issues catechetical leaders encounter, and the diverse cultural contexts that influence their decision-making, all have unique back-stories.
For me, the greatest joy of writing this book was having the opportunity to reflect upon the many inspiring encounters I’ve had with catechetical leaders in the Diocese of Honolulu and across the country. I shaped these conversations and observations into a book to equip and empower these leaders to form and accompany their catechists.
I’m also very excited about the free Effective Catechetical Leader app that puts at your fingertips the wisdom and practical help drawn from the six books.
- The six books in the series may be purchased at www.loyolapress.com/ECL for $13.95 each or $65 for the whole set. They are:
- “Called By Name” by Joe Paprocki
- “Cultivating Your Catechists” by Jayne Ragasa-Mondoy
- “Catechetical Leadership” by Adrian Alberto Herrera
- “Developing Disciples of Christ” by Julianne Stanz
- “Excellence in Ministry” by Tom Quinlan
- “All God’s People” by Donna Toliver Grimes
Mondoy is the director of the diocesan Office of Religious Education.
