Five Tasks of Catechesis for Diverse Learners

Mon, 05/09/2022 - 1:00pm EDT to 2:00pm

The five tasks of catechesis, grounded in the mission of Jesus Christ, serve as the model for Christian life for ALL disciples. Jesus taught his Apostles about the mystery of God and how to pray, he shared himself completely so that they would learn from him, the master catechist, how to lovingly care for ALL members of the community. Guided by the same mission, we are called to embrace Jesus’ teachings and especially his love for the vulnerable and marginalized: our sisters and brothers who live with a disability or a diagnosis, visible or invisible.

Barbara Kielaszek

Barbara and her husband, Dave, moved to Houston in 1981, where they raised three children. In 2014, she retired from public school teaching after 33 years in Special Education. Barbara worked part-time for six years at St. Ambrose Catholic School, where she coordinated educational services for students with various learning needs. As a parishioner at St. Matthew the Evangelist for 30 years, Barbara has been a Catechist and member of several ministries, currently chairs the parish’s Ministry with Persons with Disabilities, which hosted a sensory-friendly Mass for individuals throughout the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. She is a steering committee member for the same ministry in the Archdiocese, she has written accommodations for Catechists’ lesson plans, presented at various conferences for Catechists, families, & clergy, and wrote a Catechetical Module: Human and Spiritual Development with Persons with Disabilities. Barbara is a member of the NCPD Council on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Five Tasks of Catechesis for Diverse Learners

Barbara Kielaszek

National Catholic
Partnership on Disability

Advancing the Meaningful Participation
of Persons with Disabilities in Church and Society