Jesus Died For Me

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Opening Our Eyes to see Jesus in Others

In ministry we are always trying to find ways to show others how to respond to serving others.  Here is a great video clip to help illustrate serving Jesus in others.  I’m going to be using this soon to a group of 1st -6th graders and their parents.

 

Worthwhile Advice from Bob the Builder

A recent NCCL newsletter referred to a finance article from “The Telegraph” that talked about the great advice we can learn from Bob the Builder.  I really liked it because I think we live in a society that believes that our choices are endless and that we can do anything we set our mind to.  I realize that we don’t want to limit ourselves and how we should live to our full potential, but God has given each of us certain talents and gifts and we should head advice similar to Bob who asks “Can we fix it”?  Our question should be, has God given me the ability to do it (whatever it may be).  Also we could ask, is God calling me to do it?  The article said:

“Most of us believe in positive self-talk. “I can achieve anything,” we mouth to the mirror in the morning. “Nobody can stop me,” we tell ourselves before walking into a big meeting. We believe we’ll do better if we banish doubts about our ability or our strategy and instead muster an inner voice that affirms our awesomeness.

But not Bob. Instead of puffing up himself and his team, he first wonders whether they can actually achieve their goal. In asking his signature question – Can we fix it? – he introduces some doubt.

…In other words, questions open and declarations close. We need both, of course. But that initial tincture of honest doubt turns out to be more powerful than a bracing shot of certainty.”

It is my experience that we have to help the children, youth and young adults we catechize to see that the modern day approach to doing “anything” we set our minds to do is not completely healthy.  I think it can contribute to anxiety and discouragement because people are asking the wrong questions about all the things they could be doing in their lives.  I think all the choices we have for our lives and our kids lives creates anxiety because we feel like we have to keep up and make sure we or our kids don’t miss out on what’s available.

We have great opportunities in catechesis to assist students and parents in discerning what God is calling one to do.  What is God’s will regarding how I should respond?  The right questions will help us and our students discern properly according to God’s purposes and plans instead of the world’s or our own.

The Telegraph article concludes by saying: “So the next time you’re feeding your inner self a heady brew of confident declarations and bold affirmations, toss in a handful of interrogatives with a few sprinkles of humility and doubt.  Can you do that? Yes, you … well, you’ll have to ask that yourself.”

I’d love to hear your feedback!!!!

 

Ways Parents Can Help their Children Prepare for First Communion

As I get ready to have a parent meeting for First Communion here are some practical suggestions for parents as they help their child prepare for this most significant event/encounter – their First Holy Communion.

Practical Ways to Help Your Child Prepare for their First Communion

 

1. Go to Sunday Mass with your children. Nothing is more important!
   
   1. Talk about what went on at Mass.
   2. Share how special it is to receive Jesus.
   3. Make Mass important and a valuable experience & not merely a “gotta go and get it done for the day” experience.
   4. Pray a special prayer daily as they prepare.
   5. Take the time to really go through the assignments…make them a special time.

a. Establish a weekly time

b. Show enthusiasm

c. Take the time to be thorough

6. Make visits to the Blessed Sacrament

a. Come early to Mass (or stay after) and pray before the Blessed Sacrament

b. Spend time in the Adoration Chapel

7.  When passing by a Catholic Church make the sign of the cross and/or say a prayer with your child.

   8. Talk about how God is working in your life and what the Eucharist means to you.

a. Share your experience

b. Of your First Communion (have grandparents and aunts & uncles share their experiences).

c. Of how receiving Eucharist every week impacts your life and helps you grow in your relationship with Christ.

d. Read a book on the Eucharist.

9. Help your child to know how to pray after Communion.

10. Make it a priority to eat dinner together as a family.  This helps them understand more clearly how the Eucharist is the family meal of the Church.

11. Pray regularly for a greater love of Christ who is truly present in the Eucharist.  For example: Jesus, as I prepare for my First Communion please help me love you more and do your will.               

12. Have them write a letter to Jesus or to journal over these next couple months.

Please share your suggestions on how parents can help prepare their children.

 

Practical Tips for Discerning A Vocation

It’s National Vocation Awareness Week and I wanted to share some great resources that can help catechists and parents on their children’s journey of properly discerning one’s vocation.  God is calling each us us do something and he has great plans for us.  We want to help children, youth and young adults be open to what God desires for them and what God is calling them to be.  Here are some great resources:

The Archdiocese of Kansas City has 10 suggestions in discerning a vocation.  They also have a good article on 20 signs that someone has a priestly vocati0n that is worth looking at.

Also, here are some great tips using each letter of the alphabet for parents to help foster the idea of vocation in the home and help foster a good foundation so that a person can discern their God given vocation.  Also, go to A Mother’s Rule of Life for some good reflection and input on how to foster your child’s vocation (Catechist can learn from this too).

Here are a few more good general resources:

National Catholic Register article by Matthew Warner: “Teach Your Kids to Help Save the World”

A Mom writes “Why I Encourage My Kids to Consider A Religious Vocation”

The Archdiocese of Boston has a great list of various Vocation Prayers (consider adopting one of them and praying it in your classroom or by giving it to your students.

The USCCB has some good videos.

 

I pray these resources are helpful long beyond this National Vocation Awareness Week.

 

5 Ways To Evaluate Your Ministry

It’s is midway through the year.  Where does the time go?  I once heard it said that the days go slow but the years go fast.  I now understand this to an even greater degree with a 4,3 and 2 year old.  Time does seem in so many ways to fly by.  I thought halfway through the year it might be helpful to evaluate your ministry by considering the following:

1) How have you connected with your students?

2) Are you successfully getting through each lesson?  How well are your students retaining what you are covering?

3) Do you feel like you are engaging your students?

4) Are you helping your students grow in their friendship/relationship with God?

5) Are you looking to your DRE and veteran catechists for ideas and wisdom?

 

Continue throughout this year in the classroom to be aware of the ways you can assist your students as you proclaim this powerful and exciting “Good News” and  lead them to a more dynamic relationship with Christ!

 

Do you have any other things that would be good to consider when evaluating ones ministry mid-way through the year?

 

A Promise…Better than a Resolution

Over the last few weeks I’ve been thinking about how I wanted to begin the new year.  When reflecting on the gift I could make to Jesus for Christmas I decided I would make a promise to live that gift I gave (offered) Him throughout 2012.  For me they are two promises that will commit my life more fully to Christ and to my family.  At the beginning of 2012 I would encourage you to not merely make a few new years resolutions but consider going a step further and make a promise to Christ regarding some aspect of being a faithful disciple, spouse, father, mother, catechist, brother, sister, etc.  God continually has great plans for each of us and our vocation first and foremost is to live for Him and to glorify Him.  I pray each of you has a blessed 2012 filled with God’s abundance and grace!!!!

 

Let Me Not Keep Christmas

It’s the day after Christmas and many people around us believe the celebration of this time of year is over.  As followers of Jesus let us be compelled to live the reality of Christmas beyond Christmas day.  The Church celebrates the Feast of Christmas for 8 days like it is one (the Octave of Christmas).  During Advent the message is to prepare for the feast of Christmas and to renew the life of Christ in us.  Now it is time to go forward and live the joy and the wonderful news that this event signifies.  The Word who became flesh changed the world (the world has never been the same since) and we are called and hopefully compelled to proclaim this reality in our lives!

Continue to celebrate this Christmas.  Don’t be too fast to pull your Christmas tree and your decorations down.  I leave you with a quote by Linda Felver from a book called “A book of Christmas”.

“Let me not wrap, stack, box, bag, tie, tag, bundle, seal, keep Christmas.

Christmas kept is liable to mold.

Let me give Christmas away, unwrapped, by exuberant armfuls. Let me share, dance, live Christmas unpretentiously, merrily, responsibly with overflowing hands, tireless steps and sparkling eyes.

Christmas given away will stay fresh—even until it comes again.”

 

Merry Christmas to each of you!!!!!!!!!

 

Final Days of Advent

Pope John Paul II in his address on Dec. 18, 2002 said, “The liturgy of Advent…helps us to understand fully the value and meaning of the mystery of Christmas. It is not just about commemorating the historical event, which occurred some 2,000 years ago in a little village of Judea. Instead, it is necessary to understand that the whole of our life must be an ‘advent,’ a vigilant awaiting of the final coming of Christ. To predispose our mind to welcome the Lord who, as we say in the Creed, one day will come to judge the living and the dead, we must learn to recognize him as present in the events of daily life. Therefore, Advent is, so to speak, an intense training that directs us decisively toward him who already came, who will come, and who comes continuously.”

May these final days of Advent be a time of hope and blessings for you!  In all the hectic and joyfilled moments over the next few days may it be a time of grace and peace for you as you remember and welcome the greatest of gifts — Jesus Christ!

 

Guest Post by Joe Paprocki

I’m excited to have Joe Paprocki as a guest blogger!  He invited me to post on his blog, catechistjourney.com today and here is a post from him.  Enjoy!

I have to admit to being a little biased about guys name Joe!

So, it should come as no surprise to you that, during Advent, I like to throw a little attention St. Joseph’s way! Quiet as he was, he played an incredibly huge role in the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. His story, as shared by Matthew (1:18-24), reminds us that, sometimes, our head is telling us one thing but our heart and our gut are telling us something else. St. Joseph was experiencing an inner turmoil. His betrothed, Mary, is pregnant…and he’s not the father. According to Jewish Law, she should be stoned. At the very least, he decides to quietly divorce her…it would be the righteous thing to do. And yet, something within him continues to question this, interrupting his sleep. Righteousness and Love are at war within Joseph.

In a dream – in the deepest part of human consciousness – Joseph learns that, for God, love trumps righteousness. God calls Joseph – and he calls us – to be open to mystery. Joseph does not understand what is happening with Mary, but he comes to trust the Mystery of God. And in doing so, he enters into and encounters the Paschal Mystery.

This is the message for us as we move through this last week of Advent and prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We are called to be open to mystery. Too often, we reduce “the faith” to a set of cognitive statements to be learned (and taught) intellectually. In contrast, Christmas is about mystery – the mystery of God becoming one of us so that we might be drawn closer to him. This is not a mystery to be solved, but encountered and entered into.

This Christmas, my prayer is that we open ourselves up to the mystery of God who is love, allowing ourselves to be drawn more deeply into the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

______________________________________________________________

Joe Paprocki, D.Min., is National Consultant for Faith Formation at Loyola Press in Chicago. He has over 25 years of experience in pastoral ministry in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Joe is the author of numerous books on pastoral ministry and catechesis, including the best-selling The Catechist’s Toolbox and A Well-Built Faith. Joe, who earned his master’s degree in pastoral studies from Loyola University’s Institute of Pastoral Studies, recently received his doctor of ministry degree from the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, IL. Joe serves as an 8th grade catechist and blogs about the experience at Catechist’s Journey. He and his wife, Joanne, and their two grown children live in Evergreen Park, IL.

 

Advent Quote

As we come to the end of the third week of Advent I think this quote from Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, is worthwhile:

     “Advent is concerned with that very connection between memory and hope which is so necessary to man. Advent’s intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope. The purpose of the Church’s year is continually to rehearse her great history of memories, to awaken the heart’s memory so that it can discern the star of hope.…

     It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.”

from Seek That Which Is Above,1986

 

Do you like the textbook you are using?

In my experience of over 14 years in parish ministry, I find that catechetical textbooks are relied on too much by catechists and as a result limiting their effectiveness in the classroom.  Textbooks can be a valuable resource but they are a tool not the heart of the lesson.  It is the catechist who should use it as a tool.  Since most religious education classes meet for an hour and a half or less it is difficult to cover what the catechist manual recommends. In addition, I find that the concepts in chapters are often too scattered trying to cover too much.

What has your religious education program done in order to help better equip catechists to not only teach the lessons laid out in each chapter, but to help them have clarity and focus in each lesson?

Something I’ve done in in the last two parishes I’ve worked at is to help give catechists a clear focus to their lessons. I use a version of the ecclesial method (you can find it in Msgr. Francis Kelly’s book, The Mystery We Proclaim to help replicate God’s pedagogy – trying to give the students an understanding of what God has revealed and how to respond to it).  I outlined the chapters bringing a more focused understanding of what should be covered (noting the most important points). I also provide ideas and additional activities that support the content that is being covered.

I would love to hear from anyone that is seeking ways to help catechists better use their textbook.

 

Catechesis of Joy

As we enter into this Third Week of Advent we are called to live the joy of the Lord.  As I reflect on this theme of joy, I thought of how Catechists need to catechize with joy and help students discover the joy of living a life in Christ.  How do we do this not only in Advent but throughout the year?

 3 Ways to echo joy in the classroom and beyond:

1) As a catechist, a sure sign of a life lived in Christ is your  expression of joy through your teaching and sharing of your faith.  Teach with a spirit of joy so that your students will know that you love Christ and are happy precisely because you are following Him.

2) Joy pushes out sadness.  Life if filled with challenges and struggles.  When we focus on them we become sad and discouraged which prevents us from conveying to others that we find our hope and joy in Christ.  Fr. Fernandez wrote in his book In Conversation with God, Volume 1: ”Unless we forget ourselves, and are not too much taken up with our own affairs, we will not be able to know and serve Christ, in whom is our true happiness.  Anyone excessively self-centered will find it very difficult to discover the joy of opening himself out towards God and towards other people (pg. 116).”  Joy and a spirit of service draws others to Christ and His abundant life.

3)  J.O.Y. – Jesus.  Others.  Yourself.  When we live our lives focused on Jesus first,  Others second, and Ourselves third we truly find a peace beyond understanding whether we are experiencing challenges or blessings.

May this third week of Advent be a time where we remember that a life reflecting the joy of the Lord is one that draws us to the wonders of the Word who became flesh and the Word who will come again to draw all men to Himself – May we give Him permission!

 

How are you fostering Joy this Advent?

 

 

 

Mary, God’s Masterpiece

Immaculate Mary, your praises we sing;
Who reignest in splendor with Jesus our King.
Ave, ave, ave, Maria! Ave, ave, Maria!

Last night our Family Formation students had class and discussed everything Marian.

My wife taught the 6th grade class and this is what she did for class:

1) She broke the kids up into 5 groups and they rotated to 5 different stations about Mary.

2) The 5 Stations explored the following:

1. Original Sin

2. What we as Catholics believe about Mary

3. Why wear a Scapular or Miraculous Medal

4. Developing a devotion to Mary in the Rosary

5. Marian Apparitions

3) After students spent time at each station they took a quiz reviewing what they learned at each station.

4) My wife shared that this not only helped them learn about Mary but it engaged them to a far greater degree than if they would have just talked about it with students sitting at their desks.

This brings me to a larger point regarding teaching on Mary.  I truly believe that by helping foster a devotion to Mary to your students it will draw them into their faith and increase their love for God and neighbor.  Mary is truly our model in faith and she draws us closer to Jesus.  It not only sounds good but it is true.  How many times have you heard people talk about their devotion to Mary as a way that had helped them grow in their faith?

Here are a few ways to help your students grow in their devotion to Mary thus leading them closer to Jesus:

 

1) Pray a decade of the Rosary as you begin or end class.  Consider picking one of the mysteries of the day (for example if you meet on Sundays or Wednesdays then choose one of the Glorious Mysteries to pray). Try to connect it to the lesson of the day or a way to ask Mary to bless your class.  I also pray at the end and offer it to Mary at the foot of the cross.

2) Point to Mary often in your teaching as a model of faith and response to God’s ways.  For example if you are talking about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit – point out how Mary shows us how to live them.

3) Pray a Marian Litany (two examples below)

Litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Litany to Mary of Nazareth

May today’s Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception be a reminder of Mary’s Holiness and our call to help our students grow in their faith and model her!

 

Amazingcatechists.com Relaunches Website

Recently Amazingcatechists.com relaunched their website and are giving away some great books this Advent.  Take a little time to see all the wonderful articles/posts and great resources for catechists on this site.  I’m honored to be a columnist at amazingcatechists.com.  The other columnists on this site are a great group of catechists and very faith filled.  To win a book just comment on any place on the website and you’ll be registered for the drawing!  Enjoy!  May the hope and joy of Christ with with you this Advent!!!

 

Top 10 Requirements of Good Teaching

I posted this last year, but I think it’s worthwhile to re-post.  On appleseeds.org I found some great teaching tips by Richard Leblanc, Ph.D. from York University.  Although it is not directly about faith formation I think there are some real gems in what Dr. Leblanc says.

1. GOOD TEACHING is as much about passion as it is about reason. It’s about not only motivating students to learn, but teaching them how to learn, and doing so in a manner that is relevant, meaningful, and memorable. It’s about caring for your craft, having a passion for it, and conveying that passion to everyone, most importantly to your students.

2. GOOD TEACHING is about substance and training students as consumers of knowledge. It’s about doing your best to keep on top of your field, reading sources, inside and outside of your areas of expertise, and being at the leading edge as often as possible. But knowledge is not confined to scholarly journals. Good teaching is also about bridging the gap between theory and practice. It’s about leaving the ivory tower and immersing oneself in the field, talking to, consulting with, and assisting practitioners, and liaising with their communities.

3. GOOD TEACHING is about listening, questioning, being responsive, and remembering that each student and class is different. It’s about eliciting responses and developing the oral communication skills of the quiet students. It’s about pushing students to excel; at the same time, it’s about being human, respecting others, and being professional at all times.

4. GOOD TEACHING is about not always having a fixed agenda and being rigid, but being flexible, fluid, experimenting, and having the confidence to react and adjust to changing circumstances. It’s about getting only 10 percent of what you wanted to do in a class done and still feeling good. It’s about deviating from the course syllabus or lecture schedule easily when there is more and better learning elsewhere. Good teaching is about the creative balance between being an authoritarian dictator on the one hand and a pushover on the other. Good teachers migrate between these poles at all times, depending on the circumstances. They know where they need to be and when.

5. GOOD TEACHING is also about style. Should good teaching be entertaining? You bet! Does this mean that it lacks in substance? Not a chance! Effective teaching is not about being locked with both hands glued to a podium or having your eyes fixated on a slide projector while you drone on. Good teachers work the room and every student in it. They realize that they are conductors and the class is their orchestra. All students play different instruments and at varying proficiencies. A teacher’s job is to develop skills and make these instruments come to life as a coherent whole to make music.

6. GOOD TEACHING is about humor. This is very important. It’s about being self-deprecating and not taking yourself too seriously. It’s often about making innocuous jokes, mostly at your own expense, so that the ice breaks and students learn in a more relaxed atmosphere where you, like them, are human with your own share of faults and shortcomings.

7. GOOD TEACHING is about caring, nurturing, and developing minds and talents. It’s about devoting time, often invisible, to every student. It’s also about the thankless hours of grading, designing or redesigning courses, and preparing materials to further enhance instruction.

8. GOOD TEACHING is supported by strong and visionary leadership, and very tangible instructional support resources, personnel, and funds. Good teaching is continually reinforced by an overarching vision that transcends the entire organization from full professors to part-time instructors and is reflected in what is said, but more importantly by what is done.

9. GOOD TEACHING is about mentoring between senior and junior faculty, teamwork, and being recognized and promoted by one’s peers. Effective teaching should also be rewarded, and poor teaching needs to be remediated through training and development programs.

10. AT THE END OF THE DAY, good teaching is about having fun, experiencing pleasure and intrinsic rewards…like locking eyes with a student in the back row and seeing the synapses and neurons connecting, thoughts being formed, the person becoming better, and a smile cracking across a face as learning all of a sudden happens. It’s about the former student who says your course changed her life. It’s about another telling you that your course was the best one he’s ever taken. Good teachers practice their craft not for the money or because they have to, but because they truly enjoy it and because they want to. Good teachers couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

THE CORE
Association for Experiential Education
Schools & Colleges Professional Group Newsletter
Spring 1999, Vol. 2, # 1 (Electronic Version)

http://www.aee.org/prof&sig/core9921.html

Editor’s note: In 1998, professor Leblanc was awarded the Seymous Schulich Award for Teaching Excellence. His top ten requirements for good teaching was originally published in The Teaching Professor, Vol. 12, # 6, 1998.

What would you say are key teaching requirements?

 

Advent Ideas — Light

Advent is upon us.  One of the images I love to reflect upon is how this is a season where it gets dark earlier and the sun rises later.  This season of expectation helps us remember how the world was in darkness and the light of the world, Jesus Christ, came to fill the world with the light and truth of God’s revelation of Himself.    Here are some ways to give students a glimpse of this:

1. Turn out the lights for a few moments and light the candle(s) of the Advent Wreath and share how the days have gotten shorter and how there is less less light outside and more darkness.  Help them see that the closer we get to Christmas the more light there is in the Advent Wreath.  The light from the advent wreath remind us of the light of Christ.  Light in the darkness of the night gives us direction.  Share with your students how their kindness, their generosity and their time spent in prayer this Advent are helping us be light and bring hope to a world that is often lost in darkness and a world longing for what we as followers of Christ can share with them.

2. Another way to help make this concrete for students is to share with them how most people put lights up at the beginning of Advent – outside & inside their houses.  Christmas lights are a constant reminder this time of year of the light of Christ.  Challenge your students to offer a small prayer when they see these various kinds of light…Jesus, thank you for being the light of the world; Jesus, bless Grandma with your light and hope in her time of sickness; Jesus, help those who don’t know you find you; or Jesus, be my light in all the decisions I make today.

3. Here are a few great Scripture verses on light: John 1:4-9; John 8:12; Jn. 1:6; Mt. 5:14-16 & 1 John 1:5-7 that you could use during opening and closing prayer.

 

More Than the Thanksgiving Dinner

This week everyone is kicking their already busy lives into another gear…at least for the next 3 days.  Thanksgiving weekend is a great time to gather family and friends for a wonderful feast – Thanksgiving Dinner (or whatever time you have it).  But don’t miss the opportunity to do some things that are far more important than how good the turkey dinner was with the wonderful desserts.  As people who value faith and family as central to our lives consider the following opportunities this coming Thanksgiving weekend:

1) Take some time to thank God for the blessings in your life.  Go a step further and write them down and look at them from time to time.

2) Spend more time enjoying the people around you than the things on TV and the internet.

3) If you go shopping over the weekend, think about what you can gift someone with that will foster something positive in their lives instead of just finding a great deal and getting someone one more thing to their collection of things they own.

4) Try to live in the present moment by relaxing and enjoying what is going on around you.

5) Allow yourself the opportunity to slow down enough to seize this weekend with what is most important to you – faith, family and friends.

What would you add to this list?

I pray you have a blessed Thanksgiving week and weekend!

 

Doctrine Matters

For many years, especially after the Second Vatican Council, there was a sense that doctrine doesn’t really matter but what matters is making sure everyone knows the love of Jesus.  While it is very true that we want to proclaim the wonderful news of God’s grace, love and mercy to the world we must also keep in mind that our doctrine in rooted in this very reality that God is love and sent His beloved Son to save us from sin and eternal separation from God.

I found a really good article that speaks of how doctrine does matter.  I hope you enjoy it.

DAVID G. BONAGURA, JR.

Critics never seem to tire of pitting the doctrines of the Catholic Church against her works of charity, as if the two were somehow mutually exclusive or even opposed.

A recent column in the Sunday New York Times rehashed this worn cliché: the author asserted that in his global travels he has encountered “two Catholic Churches.” One is “obsessed with dogma and rules and distracted from social justice;” the other is made of unheralded acts of charity and selflessness by religious missionaries and relief organizations. For this author the second church is clearly the right one; after all, “Jesus himself focused on the needy rather than dogma.”

This false dichotomy is at root an attack against faith, and it is nothing new. The Roman emperor Julian the Apostate despised Christianity and created his own religion as a rival; to win support from those impressed by genuine Christian charity he required his own priests to aid the poor. Thomas Jefferson, skeptical of religious mysteries, crafted his own version of the New Testament, which omitted all mention of miracles while showcasing Jesus’ good deeds. The New York Times‘ charge has the same objective: by alleging that dogma impedes charity, it offers subtle encouragement to see aid to the poor as the only kind of religion needful – for secularists.

Sacred Scripture proclaims that God is love, and Jesus specifically left one commandment: love one another. In his encyclical Caritas in Veritate Pope Benedict XVI calls love “God’s greatest gift to humanity,” and he places love at the center of the Church’s mission. Why not, then, dispense with all the doctrines of divine mysteries – and those rules about behavior and morality – and just love and do good works as each one sees fit?

To begin with, we had some experience of radically secular experiments in the twentieth century, and they weren’t pretty.

And besides, Jesus did not focus on the needy to the neglect of dogma. The opposite is the case: Jesus focused on the needy precisely because He was the true and living embodiment of dogma, which is nothing other than teachings about God. Jesus, called rabbi – teacher – from the beginning of His ministry through His resurrection from the dead, became man to teach that God is love of His very essence, and that we are to love in order to participate in God’s inner life. Doctrine (Church teachings) and dogma (definitive explanations of the content of revelation) are not dead letters that sap vitality from believers; rather they are intelligible formulations that express real, living mysteries. Doctrine breathes life into the Church and the souls of believers by articulating the many dimensions of the one reason for our being – God. Through its solid teaching about God, doctrine gives powerful impetus to good works.

Thus in the Christian tradition helping the needy is not done for its own sake, but propter Deum, for God’s sake; this is the ultimate motivation for the heroic work of those missionaries who so impressed the Times‘ columnist. Had Jesus not taught so, love would have no direction, and aid for the poor might have never crossed tribal lines. To take just one example, the modern belief of universal equality of all human beings regardless of sex or ethnicity – now espoused by secularists and believers alike – leans heavily on St. Paul: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3: 28).

Jesus did not focus on the needy to the neglect of dogma.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that dogma and the spiritual life have a symbiotic relationship. “Dogmas are lights along the path of faith; they illuminate it and make it secure. Conversely, if our life is upright, our intellect and heart will be open to welcome the light shed by the dogmas of faith.” Without the teaching of the Church, works of charity – the fruits of the spiritual life – lose the security of truth; in the words of Benedict, they degenerate into “sentimentality,” and actually risk harming those in need of help. By the same token meditation on the living mysteries explained through dogmas can inspire us to greater heights of charity.

In his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, Benedict explained that “Christian charity is first of all the simple response to immediate needs and specific situations: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked,” and so on. What distinguishes Christian charity from ordinary social work is the additional communication of what Benedict calls “humanity” and “heartfelt concern,” a response to the spiritual needs of the poor. In order to provide this, charity workers require a “formation of the heart” that stems from “that encounter with God in Christ which awakens their love and opens their spirits to others.” Their love of neighbor then becomes “a consequence deriving from their faith, a faith which becomes active through love.”

Pope John Paul II compared faith and reason to “two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.” The same can be said of doctrine and works of charity: they are two wings on which the soul comes to know and communicate the love of God. Dogma and rules do not distract the Church from social justice; they allow social justice to flourish by pointing it towards its proper and ultimate end.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

David G. Bonagura, Jr. “Doctrine Matters.” The Catholic Thing (September 10, 2010).

THE AUTHOR

David G. Bonagura, Jr. is an associate editor of The University Bookman.

Copyright © 2010 The Catholic Thing

 

Your Turn: Serving Others

This past Sunday evening at our S&L meeting with 8th grade Confirmation students we explored the Works of Mercy in a very unique way.  They learned specifically about 3 of the Works of Mercy.  We split 125 teens up into 3 groups where they rotated to 3 different stations.  

Here is a description of each Stations:

Feed the Hungry

Kids came into a room where they were given a colored piece of paper representing the country they were from.  Then they sat together at a table and would be given a certain amount of food based on how much food is available in that country.  The teens were asked a series of questions: 1) Did any of you get to choose what country you were from?  2) Is the population of the world evenly distributed on each continent?  The teens were then shown 1 large pizza which represented all the food in the world.  Africa got 8%, Asia 23% Europe 36%, South America 11% and North America 22%.  Teens quickly realized after we distributed the food by continent how not all the food in the world is distributed equally.  A third question was then posed: What do you notice about the food distribution.  Some examples were: Asia doesn’t have enough for everyone, Europe sure has a lot, North America has a lot also, South America does not have enough to go around.  Then every table was able to share their portion of the food (pizza).  A representative from each table then shared a little about their experience.

Give Drink to the Thirsty

At this station the large group was broken up into 4 smaller groups where each participated in a relay.  Here’s how it went: They went to the first line and took off 1 shoe and sock and then ran to the 2nd line where they had a pick up a 40 pound piece of luggage and carry it about 20 feet to a small water bucket where they had to stick their foot into it and pull out a twizzler (I’d recommend a gummy worms) and then they had a carry the luggage back to the place to they originally picked it up.  Finally they put their sock and shoe back on and tagged the next person in their line.  The 40 pound luggage represented the weight of the water that people have to carry back to their homes (average is about 2 miles).  The twizzlers represented all the kinds of tapeworms that are found in unclean drinking water (resulting in malnutrition, diseases & infections).  Putting their feet in the water shows that the water was not clean but 884 million people in our world do not have access to clean drinking water.    We discussed what we could do to make an impact and live out this work of mercy.  Giving money so a community could get access to clean drinking water, making spiritual sacrifices like taking shorter showers and not wasting water are some examples that we discussed.  

Shelter the Homeless

At this Station we had a woman who was homeless as a teenager.  She’s now 23 and doing alright.  She shared some of her experiences of being homeless.  The teens were mesmerized by what she had to share.  

At each station there was a donation basket where kids donated spare change they brought.  We probably raised between $25 and $35 (I am going to have to get it counted today).  We will donate it to Catholic Charities.

We closed the night by showing a video by Audio Adrenaline called Hands and Feet and had different students read a line from a prayer by St. Faustine about serving others.  It was a great night!!!
What have you done in your ministry to help make the works of mercy more concrete?   

 

Nine Ways to Encourage Family Participation in Sunday Mass

Quotes on the Mass

“What graces, gifts and virtues the Holy Mass calls down … repentance for sin … victory over temptation … holy inspirations which dispositions to shake off tepidity … the grace of final perseverance, upon which depends our salvation … temporal blessings, such as peace, abundance and health…”                                                                                – St. Leonard of Port Maurice

“It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass.” – St. Pio

“The Blessed Virgin Mary once told Her faithful servant Alain: “My Son so loves those who assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that, if it were necessary He would die for them as many times as they’ve heard Masses.”

The Center of Our Faith

The Christian Liturgy is at the heart of our Catholic Faith.  The Holy Mass is of inestimable value surpassing all other forms of worship.  How come today there are so many Catholic’s not going to Mass?  I read a statistic from the CARA Survey that found only 33% of Catholics attend Mass weekly.  Why the low number?  Are people too busy?  Do they not care that it is one of the 10 commandments?  Do they believe they have more important things to do?  Do they not know the value in participating at Mass each week?  It is probably all the above depending on who you talk to.

9 Ways to Foster Mass Attendance

Catechist Magazine posted a great article by Patricia Mathson on ways to encourage family participation in Sunday Mass.  I wanted to post it on my blog but Catechist Magazine asked if I would just provide the link.  Click the link above and it’ll take you right to it.  In a time when so many Catholics are not going to Mass on a weekly basis, it is so important to find ways we can encourage Mass attendance.

 

The Calm Before The Storm

How will you make room?

It’s about that time of year when I begin to reflect and consider what I might do to make this year a meaningful Advent.  I do this both personally(my life and my families) and professionally (what can I do in my religious education program that would be valuable).

This time of year is the calm before the storm…once the week before Thanksgiving hits, the holiday season seems in full force and people are going even faster than usual in their daily lives.  It’s important to take some time now to consider how this Advent will lead you closer to Christ this Christmas.  I realize some of you might be thinking: it’s just a little too early for me to be thinking that far ahead.  Well, maybe it is, but it’s not too early in my life.

3 things to consider/reflect upon:

1. Ask a few questions… How is God calling me to grow closer to Him this Advent?  During Advent what might I consider that is a challenge but realistic for where I’m at in my life?  Will the sacrifice I make, activity I choose or the attitude I seek to foster make room for Jesus and welcome Him more fully into my life and those around me on Christmas and beyond?

2. Advent is actually a penitential season, therefore doing a little penance is worth considering.  Penance helps one to refocus, to keep in mind that Mary and Joseph had a long journey and a challenging time leading up to the glorious “Advent” of Jesus’ birth.  What could you do during the 4 weeks of Advent that unites your sacrifice with that of the holy family?

3. Consider something like the popular “advent conspiracy” project. Check out this video and website.  It offers great ideas about how to give “presence” instead of presents.  This is not merely about saving money or being cheap about what you give but the difference it could make if you give yourself or a donation over merely a gift that will be forgotten in 6 months.  It’s something to consider and discern.    Or check out this great article entitled “A Different Kind of Advent”.

What do you do before things get too busy when considering the upcoming Advent Season?

 

A Powerful Testimony

This video is very inspirational!  Consider showing it to your class regarding the following topics:

Hope, Courage, living a joy-filled life, perseverance, redemptive suffering, loving like Jesus.  These are just a few themes you could use this video to further your teaching objectives. Our 7th graders just watched this regarding the sanctity of life. This guy really gets peoples attention. Enjoy!

 

Created To Party

As I look around at all the Halloween decorations in my neighborhood, at stores and around town I think – we are innately liturgical people.  When I see how much people decorate and prepare for Halloween I believe people by their very nature love to celebrate.  This is so powerful to think about – we love to recall, gather and rejoice together – it’s built into us and our desire is to respond by making known and rejoicing together. Isn’t that awesome?!

So as we approach the secular feast of Halloween and the Catholic Feast of All Saints Day let us be people who celebrate God in our lives.  Let us remember that the light of Christ and His saints conquers the darkness of sin and evil that is seen through costumes, decorations and scary music on Halloween.  After all we were created to party!

Fr. James Kubicki, S.J. has a nice video reflection about Halloween.  Check it out:

Fr. James Martin, S.J. also has a good video clip worth checking out on Halloween and All Saints.

 

Arriving On Time

Late Again

Time is something most of us don’t feel like we have enough of in our lives.  Parents are racing from here the there and back again 7 days a week it seems.  In my religious education programs I find it challenging how many parents drop their kids off late to class.  It is less common to pick up your kids late but much more common to be late in dropping them them off.  Recently I made a comment to a parent about how so many parents were late in dropping their kids off and coming to the parent meeting.  I must have hit a nerve because I received  a detailed email about her families schedule and how I should be careful about “demanding” parents arrive on time or even “scolding” parents for not arriving on time.

What do you do?

Do you have this problem at your parish?  What have you said or done when requesting parents to be on time when dropping their kids off to class?  I’d be grateful for any feedback.

 

Salvation History Curriculum Update

So Far So Good

Almost 2 months have passed since our Year I Confirmation students have been encountering a new curriculum on the major events of Salvation History.  This curriculum that we have created seeks to not only convey the major events of Salvation History, especially through the 6 major covenants, but also aims to engage 7th graders in a fresh way.  Students rotate classes approximately every 30 minutes.

Today’s Topic

During the first 30 to 40  minutes students review the lesson from the week before and then the current lesson not only shares about that particular covenant we are talking about but it also answers the homework questions that were given to them the week before. The hope is that they will have read and reflected on the Scripture that speaks about the covenant we will be focusing on that particular class period.

Practical Application

Next students build on what they are learning by going to 30 minutes of what we call “practical application”.  For example, last night each class (we have 6 Year I classes) discussed God’s covenant with Abraham, His Call, and his journey.  After about 35 minutes discussing this covenant students switched classes and went to “practical application” where they discussed how we are “maxed out” in our lives and so busy with noise and activity that we don’t hear God.  The question they explored is does God still speak to His people like He spoke to Abraham?  Students were broken up into groups and given a skit they had to perform.  Skit #1 was entitled: “Constant noise – never even noticing God”, skit #2 was entitled: “No time – too many important things to do – doesn’t stop for, recognize, or make time for God”.  Skit #3 was entitled: “We do all the talking – Too busy talking to every listen”. These skits were followed up by some questions.

Spotlight

During the last 30 minutes students switched to spotlight and encountered a great video about Abraham and Isaac.  The video was 17 minutes and very powerful.  There were also discussion questions that followed the video.

At the end of each class we encourage catechist to do a brief review and go over what their assignment is for next week’s class.  Finally, we ask the catechists to close in prayer.

What We Are Hearing

We are getting great feedback about this format and how students are engaged and really talking and interacting.  Catechists are really enjoying this format and there is a great vibe from them about how things are going.  Praise God for these blessings!

P.S. We have 6 classes and each class has a “team class” which means when it’s time to switch the students for example in Class 1 go to their team class, 2 and class 2 goes to into class 1.  So when one group is covering practical application the other is covering spotlight and then after 30 minutes they switch and experience the section they have not covered yet.  I hope that makes sense.  I thought it might sound a little confusing if I articulated it up above.

 

10 Abundant Sources of Life

Ever have one of those days where you need to be reminded of those sources of life that draw us toward Christ and help us be open to all that God has for us in the spiritual life?  The Evangelical Catholic, a website that focuses on ministering to college students, lists these 10 sources.  I believe the following sources are also worth keeping in mind for anyone doing ministry in the Church and very much in the ministry of catechesis.  My comments are in brackets.

Interior Conversion

Interior Conversion occurs each time we turn from self-will to God’s will. Initial conversion is when one surrenders to God for the first time. Catholic theologians often refer to this as making “the fundamental option.” [The General Directory for Catechesis refers to it as the initial conversion.  Conversion, however, should be ongoing and occur daily.]

Christian Discipleship

To follow Jesus in true discipleship is a costly endeavor, involving self-denial in the deepest level of one’s being.  [I like the way George Weigel said it: "Because it is in Mary's fiat --"Be it done unto me according to your word" (Luke 1:38) - that we discover the pattern or form of all Christian discipleship".]

Devotion to the Scriptures

“It is especially necessary that listening to the word of God should become a life-giving encounter, in the ancient and ever valid tradition of lectio divina, which draws from the Biblical text the living word which questions, directs, and shapes our lives” (Novo Millennio Ineunte).  [Scripture is at the heart of catechesis - when we echo Christ in His person and His message it should be rooted in Scripture.]

Obedience to Christ through the Church

The various evangelical movements of the Church’s history have a shared experience of testing and trial at the hands of Church authorities. An evangelical Catholic finds God’s presence and guidance in such trials. [The Church exists to proclaim the Gospel whole and entire by guarding the deposit of faith and being faithful to it.  Obedience to the Church is obedience to Christ.]

Communion of the Saints

We are part of the Body of Christ, which extends back to Christ and the apostles. Together, in heaven and on Earth, we are working for the healing and salvation of the world.  [The saints show us how holiness and perfect charity is possible.  They also show us how to live for Christ and do His will.]

A Sacramental Life

While all the Sacraments are there for us at key moments in our journey, the Eucharistic celebration is the source and summit of an evangelical Catholic life. [The sacraments give us God's very life.  They are "moments in our journey" but they are also far more significant than that alone.  Nothing is more significant than tapping into God's very life in order to live as one who is sufficient only in Christ and not in oneself.  The Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist are ways we can continually grow in grace and holiness as well as tapping into the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation.]

A Prayerful Life

God speaks to us in his Word; we speak to him in prayer. To be Christ’s disciple means to follow his example of seeking his Father in prayer. This dialogue of word and prayer is at the heart of a relationship with God.  [The 4th section of the Catechism is prayer and this testifies to the significance of prayer being key to the Christian life.  One cannot grow without prayer.]

A Spirit-Filled Life

The Holy Spirit is the great gift of the Father, made possible to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. The presence of the Holy Spirit within us is so remarkable that Jesus said it was better that he go so that the Spirit could come.  [Without the Holy Spirit we could not be faithful to the commandments and living life in God's grace.]

An Ascetic Life

Asceticism is the practice of self-denial — the training by which our spirit gains mastery over our body and our union with God increases.  [Jesus and the saints show us the importance of our walk in discipleship.  It needs to be cultivated through practices of self-denial (penance).]

A Disciplined Life

To facilitate living the type of spirituality we have outlined, it is helpful to follow a guide, or commitment, for daily living — a practice that has a long and honored place in Catholic spirituality.  [Consider the daily Mass readings as a guide for daily living or meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary of the day, going to daily Mass or a certain amount of personal prayer time to be a guide/commitment for daily living).]

I think each of these “sources” can be “wellsprings of grace” in the life of a disciple.  These sources lead us to that abundant life promised by Christ.

Would you add anything that you believe would be considered sources of abundant life?

 

Teaching Tip: Building Unity in Class

Photo from Flickr.com

Building unity and a greater sense of community in the classroom makes a significant impact on learning.  Here is the following suggestion I gave to our parish catechists this week:

Take 10-15 minutes of class time to do a community building activity every now and then.  The more your class feels united and glad to be together, the more open they will be to all you do to lead them closer to Jesus.  Here are 2 websites I found that have some icebreaker ideas: http://wilderdom.com/games/Icebreakers.html or http://www.icebreakers.ws/

 

Room For Change

Like Change?

Change is not easy for people.  Even in a world that is in a constant state of change it is difficult to experience, especially when we have become so accustom to the way things are.  Are you looking forward, indifferent or are hesitant to the new changes of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal?

Seeing the Mass with New Eyes

Almost all diocese across the country have had numerous workshops to discuss the changes which are bringing a sense of renewal in general to the Liturgy.  Hopefully the faithful everywhere have come to a greater awareness of the beauty and the depth of the Mass.  I just recently gave a talk to parents about the Mass in general and hope that it brought a greater sense of all that is going on at Mass and how we are truly engaging in something heavenly and supernatural at Mass.  My talk was not so much about the upcoming changes as it was to focus on the wonder of the Mass and how it makes present the events of Calvary. Participating in the Mass is the closest we come to heaven this side of it.

Helping Your Students

What are you doing in your Religious Education, Youth Ministry and Adult Faith Formation to help individuals prepare for the changes?  Many resources have been printed and made available to help various age groups understand the changes and be ready for them in Advent.  Here are a few ideas for the various age groups to consider:

Adults:

~ A series of presentations on the changes for the parish.

~ Resources published in the Bulletin and made available on your parish website.

Elementary and Youth:

~ 30 minute lessons on the specific changes that will happen (I’m especially doing this with 4th – 6th graders).

~ Taking lesson plans and connecting them with the changes.  For example when the lesson plan mentions the Creed take that opportunity to discuss the changes in wording. Or when you do a lesson on Reconciliation take that opportunity to discuss why the changes in the penitential rite.

~ Learning Stations:  We recently had an enrichment session at our parish for 1st – 6th graders about the changes.  We set up 6 learning stations where students and parents spent 10 minutes at each station focusing on some aspect of the Mass (4 stations related to the changes and the other two were intended to give a greater appreciation of the Mass)  They walked away with something from each station.

~ Aim to mention the Mass and how it is central to our life and worship as Catholic Christians.  What a great opportunity to dive more deeply into the Mass and why it is so important to us as Catholics.  St. Bernard said “you will gain more from one single Mass than you would from distributing all your goods to the poor or making pilgrimages to all the most holy shrines in Christendom.”

Opportunity Knocks

Don’t miss this opportunity to talk about something ever ancient yet ever new.  I’ll repeat what has been said by many for the last 2 years about these changes: It gives us a great opportunity, a unique moment to really emphasize and help those we catechize not only become aware of why the changes but how the Mass continues to be our strength, life and source of life giving grace for the faithful.

 

Teaching Tip – Environment

Setting up an environment where students will be open to receiving the Gospel Message is key to each time you gather with them.  Seek to create and foster conditions that will assist your students to be open, docile and more ready to receive the message that you will be proclaiming during a given lesson.

3 Ways to do this:

1) Set up a sacred space

2) Re-arrange the desks and chairs in your meeting space in such a way that it feels less like a typical classroom and more like a place where they can be aware that you have been expecting them and that God is going to be a part of what they are going to learn today.

3) Witness to students your joy and enthusiasm of being with them from the moment they walk into your meeting space to the time they leave.