My friend Steve once related that perhaps the most influential experience of his childhood—in terms of his Catholic faith—was getting out of the bed one night to go to the bathroom and seeing his father on his knees saying his prayers bedside. Steve had no idea that his dad prayed at all, let alone on his knees each and every night. Because children are so strongly influenced by their parents, we need to do all we […]
Another LAREC—Los Angeles Religious Education Congress—is in the books and, as always, it was a phenomenal experience to be with over 40,000 brothers and sisters in Christ, all of whom were fired up for the mission of proclaiming God’s word to all people. It was an honor and a privilege to give two presentations to a total of nearly 1000 participants, and I was fed and nourished by the breakout sessions I attended (especially those […]
What’s your security blanket? For young children, security blankets and other such comfort objects are healthy things. They are “transitional objects” to ease the trauma of separating from their mothers. However, we all must eventually cut the apron strings and leave our security blankets behind. Unfortunately, we tend to replace our plush toys with more sophisticated security blankets, not to ease the anxiety of our separation from our mothers, but to ease what we sense as […]
![St. Patrick stained glass window - Image by Andreas F. Borchert [CC BY-SA 4.0]](https://catechistsjourney.loyolapress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/SaintPatrick-stained-glass-window675.jpg)
In the first of three articles on the Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we learn from St. Patrick how to make Lent a special season of prayer. In the weeks leading up to Lent, I am reminded to tell the young people in my class about Lent. I have to tell them when Ash Wednesday services at my parish are. I am required to inform them of the Lenten regulations. I need to […]
This is my 13th year of teaching Lent to third graders, and I’m in need of some fresh new projects and activities for my students. While I will still use my usual activities—they will still be new to this group of third graders—I have realized that adding new activities and projects helps keep me engaged and challenged. This year I will include my usual Ash Wednesday video that shows photos of our foreheads after receiving […]
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