by Joe on August 31, 2007
OK, the title for today’s post is just to get your attention. I don’t want to propose that Labor Day become a holy day of obligation. I like to sleep in once and a while. However, I would like to make the point that work is what we spend the majority of our time doing and, if the Church wanted to help people “find God” in their everyday lives, it would do well to help people focus on the spirituality of work.
As catechists, we can help those we teach to begin to develop a spirituality of work by talking about how we strive to live Gospel values and serve the Kingdom of God through our daily work. We should talk about our jobs…the challenges and the joys…and help our learners to see that we do not separate faith from our daily living.
I recommend Greg Pierce’s book Spirituality at Work as a good Labor Day weekend read. Likewise, Living the Mass, which I co-authored with Fr. Dom Grassi, shows how the Mass connects with daily living which, for most of us, involves going to work.
I wish you all a great Labor Day weekend and God’s blessings to all of you catechists who begin classes next week! (I start Sept. 10). I’m taking the weekend off from blogging and I’ll meet you back here on Tuesday, Sept. 4.
Here is a Labor Day prayer from the Archdiocese of Detroit Web Site:
On this weekend, when we rest from our usual labors, loving Father, we pray for all who shoulder the tasks of human labor—in the marketplace, in factories and offices, in the professions, and in family living. We thank you, Lord, for the gift and opportunity of work; may our efforts always be pure of heart, for the good of others and the glory of your name. We lift up to you all who long for just employment and those who work to defend the rights and needs of workers everywhere. May those of us who are now retired always remember that we still make a valuable contribution to our Church and our world by our prayers and deeds of charity. May our working and our resting all give praise to you until the day we share together in eternal rest with all our departed in your Kingdom as you live and reign Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
by Joe on August 30, 2007
The first parish I worked in, St. Mary of the Assumption (Chicago), had a fairly substantial resource library of videos that could be used in religious education. Likewise, when I taught high school religion, we had a large collection of videos to use in religion classes.
I realize that we often don’t have that much time in our classes however, showing a good video can be a very effective means of engaging those we teach.
What video(s) would you recommend as a “must see” for religious education? Tell us the name of the video, the company it’s from, the topic, and what grade/age level it is best suited for.
I look forward to hearing from you!!!
by Joe on August 29, 2007
On Monday evening, I had the pleasure of attending the first catechist meeting of the upcoming religious education year. The meeting went very well and there is a wonderful spirit among the catechists and staff. The pastor and DRE offered warm welcomes and the Deacon and his wife offered a very helpful formation session on understanding the Bible with a focus on the Old Testament.
I also had the pleasure of meeting my catechist aide. Most of the aides are high school students, however, my aide, Kris, is a professional 3rd grade teacher in a public school! She is very excited to be participating in the RE program and I am very excited to have her as an aide. Here is the e-mail I sent her as a followup:
Kris, thanks for sending me your contact info. I look forward to working with you. While the high school aides are nice to work with, I like the idea of having another adult in the room to team with.
I will rely on you a great deal, not just for taking care of business such as distributing materials and taking attendance, but for helping to facilitate learning, especially when we do group work which requires supervision and input for the kids.
If you’re comfortable with it, I will often ask you to share your thoughts and experiences concerning various topics. The more they hear from adult witnesses, the more they will feel encouraged to do so themselves.
I think your most important job will be to just develop a rapport with them…not trying to be their best friend, but establishing lines of communication that express the fact that we respect them, want to talk with them, and want to listen to them.
I will most likely send you an e-mail each week with some thoughts, ideas, and info about the upcoming session. Feel free to share any insights and suggestions along the way.
I look forward to working with you, Kris, as we embark on this spiritual journey with our 8th graders! Thanks! -joe
Let’s hear it for all of our catechist aides who are a very important presence in our catechetical settings!
by Joe on August 27, 2007
I have an article appearing in September issue of Catechist Magazine titled, “Assessment in Catechesis.” I hope you get a chance to peruse it and the many of the other fine resources offered in this excellent magazine.
Also, I received a nice plug from Gilles Côté in his Catholic Educator News about my blog and about The Catechist’s Toolbox. Thanks, Gilles! Don’t forget to visit his website, 4Catholiceducators.com.
P.S. Tonight is my first catechist meeting of the year. I’ll let you know about it Wednesday, as I’ll be on the road tomorrow.
by Joe on August 25, 2007
The sales people at Loyola Press tell me that the phones are ringing off the hook with requests for my new book, The Catechist’s Toolbox! Apparently, almost 20,000 copies have already been sold! I’m so excited! This is a testament to the catechetical ministry and to catechists everywhere who are showing that they are passionate about this ministry and hungry to grow in effectiveness as we proclaim God’s Word!
