NCCL - National Community of Catechetical Leaders

06/12/2026

Sister Caroline Cerveny, a member of the Cleveland Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph, TOSF, for nearly 60 years, died on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020.

Sister Caroline was a leader in traditional and new ministries, including online and social media, which she saw as crucial to reaching young people and broadening the Catholic Church's message.

She was director of religious education for the Archdiocese of Chicago and later at the Diocese of Gary, Indiana. She went on to become director of social media for Sadlier Catholic Publishers in New York City. In 2001, she joined Saint Leo University in Florida as associate director of university ministry. Sr. Caroline was an adjunct professor in the Doctor of Ministry program at the Catholic University of America, and a member of the Catholic Press Association.

In 2015, she founded the Digital Disciple Network, a professional organization for social media ministers. Caroline developed the Digital Disciple Boot camp and empowered a team of lay ministers to help teach the use of social media in ministry.

As a member of the NALM (National Association of Lay Ministry) Board, Sr. Caroline challenged today’s ministers to use and embrace social media and the digital world in ministry, and in faith. Several times a week, she would send out information on how to better engage with those in ministry, using social media. She revitalized NALM’s Communications Committee, serving as its Chair. When she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, she was forced to step back from the Board and as Communications Chair. However, she continued being involved, attending meetings, responding to emails and sending links to new articles and resources up to the days before she entered hospice.

The above reflection was an excerpt from Sister Janet Schaeffler's book, SAINTS & MENTORS for Catechists: 41 Models of Faith to Support and Guide You, which can be purchased from Twenty-Third Publications.

Sister Caroline Cerveny, a member of the Cleveland Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph, TOSF, for nearly 60 years, died on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020.

06/10/2026

At the Anniversary Conference for the National Community of Catechetical Leaders, we honored our 90th Year anniversary by asking experts in the field of formation what their vision for the future of the Catholic Church is - in 90 seconds or less.

In this week's video, Darius Villalobos envisions the future of faith formation. https://www.ncclcatholic.org/90-handouts

06/05/2026

John Bosco’s ministry was in Turin, a city in the throes of industrialization with slums and widespread poverty. He met young men and boys where they worked and played. He used his talents as a performer, doing magic tricks to capture attention, then sharing with the children his message for the day.

With Pope Pius IX’s encouragement, John founded the Society of St. Francis de Sales (Salesians) in 1859. Their activity concentrated on education, faith formation and mission work. Later, he organized a group of Salesian Sisters to assist girls.

John Bosco’s ministry responded to the needs of the whole person: he sought work for boys who needed it, and searched for lodgings for others. By the 1860s, he and his mother were responsible for lodging 800 boys. He is one of the pioneers of Mutual Aid Societies, initiated as collaborative financial support to young migrant Catholic Workers in Turin.

He also used various methods to teach; he purchased a printing press for publication of catechetical pamphlets. In 1875, he began the Salesian Bulletin, currently published in 50 different editions and 30 languages.

In one of his letters (which appears in the Office of Readings for his January 31 feast), John Bosco wrote: “Let us regard those boys over whom we have some authority as our own sons … There must be no hostility in our minds, no contempt in our eyes, no insult on our lips. We must use mercy for the present and have hope for the future, as is fitting for true fathers who are eager for real correction and improvement.”

An important reminder for us as catechists today! Do our learners and their families hear only affirmations from us; always see respect and compassion in our eyes?

The above reflection was an excerpt from Sister Janet Schaeffler's book, SAINTS & MENTORS for Catechists: 41 Models of Faith to Support and Guide You, which can be purchased from Twenty-Third Publications.

John Bosco’s ministry was in Turin, a city in the throes of industrialization with slums and widespread poverty. He met young men and boys where they worked and played. He used his talents as a performer, doing magic tricks to capture attention, then sharing with the children his message for the d...

06/03/2026

At the Anniversary Conference for the National Community of Catechetical Leaders, we honored our 90th Year anniversary by asking experts in the field of formation what their vision for the future of the Catholic Church is - in 90 seconds or less.

In this week's video, Eneida Scoby (Diocese of Phoenix) envisions the future of faith formation. https://www.ncclcatholic.org/90-handouts

05/29/2026

Born into a wealthy family in 1651, John Baptist de la Salle was named canon of Reims Cathedral when he was sixteen and ordained to the priesthood at the age of 26.

In his day only the rich could afford an education for their children. John was determined to use his talents to advance education for everyone. He abandoned his family home, moved in with the teachers, renounced his position as canon and his wealth, and formed the community that became known as the Brothers of the Christian Schools (Christian Brothers).

John Baptist de la Salle was an educational innovator, often going against the norms of the day. He and his brothers created a network of quality free schools throughout France devoted to the instruction of poor children which featured instruction in the vernacular, students grouped according to ability, integration of religious instruction with secular subjects, and involvement of parents.

They offered Sunday courses for working young men, and founded technical schools, secondary schools for modern languages, arts, and sciences and one of the first institutions in France for the care of delinquents. John was insistent on the preparation of lay teachers in a first-of-its-kind teacher training college, forming well-prepared teachers with a sense of vocation and mission.

John’s vision was that, in the eyes of God, working-class children were just as important and have as much right to education as the children of the king. St. John Baptist de la Salle was an exemplary teacher who had innovative and effective ideas on how to educate youth, meeting the unique challenges of his day. As catechists, today’s needs impel us to dream and implement creative and prophetic catechetical approaches.

The above reflection was an excerpt from Sister Janet Schaeffler's book, SAINTS & MENTORS for Catechists: 41 Models of Faith to Support and Guide You, which can be purchased from Twenty-Third Publications.

Born into a wealthy family in 1651, John Baptist de la Salle was named canon of Reims Cathedral when he was sixteen and ordained to the priesthood at the age of 26.

05/27/2026

At the Anniversary Conference for the National Community of Catechetical Leaders, we honored our 90th Year anniversary by asking experts in the field of formation what their vision for the future of the Catholic Church is - in 90 seconds or less.

In this week's video, Marilyn Santos (USCCB Committee on Evangelization & Catechesis) envisions the future of faith formation. https://www.ncclcatholic.org/90-handouts

05/24/2026

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.

05/22/2026

St. Angela Merici, an Italian religious educator and founder of the Ursuline Sisters, was bold in responding to people’s needs.

At 20-years-of-age, Angela became concerned that there were many young girls who had no education. Angela wanted to respond to the needs of families by providing solid Christian education for future wives and mothers. She opened her home and began to teach.

In 1524, during a journey to the Holy Land, Angela became blind. She enthusiastically continued as if she could see. Travelling home, her sight was restored while she was praying in the same place where she had become blind. Angela believed that the message was to never shut her eyes to the needs she saw, never to shut her heart to God's call.

In 1535 Angela organized 12 women dedicated to catechetical work. Four years later the group had increased to 28. She formed them into the Company of St. Ursula. This was different from the women’s religious orders which existed then: single women consecrated to Christ, living in the world rather than a monastery, believing it was important to teach girls in their own homes with their families.

This first teaching order of women in the church was recognized only after her death when her Rule was approved by Pope Paul III in 1544, making the Ursulines an official religious community of women with a teaching ministry.

St. Angela’s life calls us to be bold, never blind to people’s needs! What are the needs of today? As catechists, we have the unique opportunity to touch lives – the lives of our learners and their families. All we do influences not just today, but their lives in the years to come.

The above reflection was an excerpt from Sister Janet Schaeffler's book, SAINTS & MENTORS for Catechists: 41 Models of Faith to Support and Guide You, which can be purchased from Twenty-Third Publications.

St. Angela Merici, an Italian religious educator and founder of the Ursuline Sisters, was bold in responding to people’s needs.

05/20/2026

At the Anniversary Conference for the National Community of Catechetical Leaders, we honored our 90th Year anniversary by asking experts in the field of formation what their vision for the future of the Catholic Church is - in 90 seconds or less.

In this week's video, Diana Pizarro (Diocese of Rockville Center) envisions the future of faith formation. https://www.ncclcatholic.org/90-handouts

05/17/2026

Then Jesus approached and said to them,
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”