More than 600 catechists and religion teachers attended the event, which was held Nov. 22 in Guardian Angels Parish, Edison, and the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Piscataway.

The day began with a Mass in Guardian Angels Church celebrated by Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski. After the Mass, Thomas H. Groome, professor of theology and religious education in Boston College, provided the keynote speech.

At the pastoral center, 27 workshops were offered on topics such as social justice, forms of prayer, the ministry of catechist, the sacraments, and the spiritual needs at the end of life. The event also offered exhibits featuring books, literature, music and individual parishes.

Dr. Mary Kay Cullinan, director of the diocesan Office of Religious Education, which organizes the event, said it helps catechists teach in the modern age.

"It’s not just a day for them to learn methods. It’s a day to come into contact with their own spirituality, then go out and get their students to come into contact with God through them," she said.

In his homily, the bishop said catechists face the challenge of overcoming influences of a culture too concerned with materialism and too self-centered.

"There is this tension between good and evil that pulls us, so you as teachers not only must speak to them of Jesus and his teachings, but all of us must live that teaching. That is the call," Bishop Bootkoski said.

Teachers are faced with the tasks of making Jesus relevant, and challenging students to serve the less fortunate, he said.

"We are to be sowers of peace and hope," the bishop stated. "This world in so many ways is hopeless because we don’t seem to have what we had a few short years ago," the bishop said. "But yet look at the riches we have . . . Jesus Christ, our faith, our faith community."

Groome is the author of Christian Religious Education, Sharing Faith, and his most recent book, What Makes Us Catholic: Eight Gifts for Life.

He is also the principal author of the Coming to the Faith series, the bestselling religion curriculum in Catholic schools and parishes today.

Among the things that make us Catholic is our baptism, he said.

"You’re a full member of His community and guess what? You’re responsible for it," Groome said. "You’re called to participate in every nook and cranny of it, every aspect of His ministry in the world. We are called to participate in the function of Jesus Christ and this, the Catholic Church."

Groome said spirituality doesn’t mean having "a warm fuzzy feeling of being myself. But in a Christian and a Catholic sense it’s bringing your life to your faith, bringing your faith to your life."

The workshop Catechesis of Hope: Spiritual Needs at the End of Life, was presented by Father David I. Fulton, pastor of Our Lady of Victories Parish, Baptistown.

Entertainer Ray Charles said it best, Father Fulton told attendees at his workshop: "We’re not going to get out of this life alive."

Confronting death means confronting ambiguity because death is both outside of our freedom and part of our freedom, he said.

Death is outside our freedom because unless it’s suicide, we don’t choose it, nor do we have the capacity to overcome it. Because it’s outside our freedom, it is frightening because it threatens to separate us from God.

The latter fear is noted not only by the religious cynic or skeptic, Father Fulton said, but it was the last question on the lips of the one whom Christians worship as savior: "My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?" is not play acting, it’s the expressive of Jesus’ experience of death, Father Fulton said.

Father Fulton also discussed, among other topics, the consequences of the emphasis of health care on disease rather than sickness, and levels of psychological and spiritual evaluation a person who is facing death undergoes.

The workshop Ministry of Catechist: Hope for the World was presented by Michael P. Burns, a representative for Benziger/Macmillan McGraw-Hill who has more than 25 years of experience in catechetical and liturgical ministry.

"Hope looks at the present and it pushes us into the future," he said. "And hope is our human commitment to God’s kingdom. Now and tomorrow."

Teaching is a way to help children be more than they can be by lifting them up, being a witness and providing a Christian hope founded on the resurrection, Burns said.

Joanne Kowaleski, who teaches religion to first graders at Immaculate Conception School in Spotswood, said the challenge for her is instilling Christian values in children who have more material things than they used to 30 years ago, know a lot about some things, such as computers, and less about others, such as problem solving and manners.

"I try to teach them the basics," Kowaleski said. "I make them say, ‘Please.’ Little tiny things that seem so simple and so nonessential, yet seem to make a big difference in the overall character development of that child."

Kowaleski said she enjoys her job when the children learn to read.

Iris Blanco, a catechist at St. Helena Parish, Edison, said her three children went through its school. Blanco said she enjoys teaching, especially when the students learn prayers and the sign of the cross.

" I’m giving back to what St. Helena has given to me," Blanco said.

"They (students) have their moments," she added. "But you try to refocus them once in a while. I try to get each child to answer one question every class. That way it keeps them involved."

Genevieve Swahn, a catechist at St. Joseph Parish, Washington, teaches third- and fifth-graders, and occasionally fills in for kindergarten and pre-school classes. Swahn said she has taught almost every grade through high school.

"I think the Holy Spirit teaches your class," said Swahn, a mother of eight children. "Sometimes I’ve gone into the classroom not knowing what I was going to say and the words came out. Or you might go in with one lesson and someone asks a question and you teach another lesson."