Momentarily Stumped and a Missed Opportunity

Last night’s session was excellent. We focused on the Cross of Jesus and how Catholics understand the role of suffering in our lives. Lots of good questions including one that stumped me momentarily. I had asked the young people what could possible transform the image of a crucified man into a symbol of victory. Eventually one of them responded correctly that Jesus’ Resurrection transformed the Cross into our symbol of victory over sin and death. […]

Tough Crowd!

Remember how Rodney Dangerfield would always use the line, “tough crowd, I tell ya, tough crowd”? Kevin Dooley via Compfight Well that’s how I felt after last night’s class! The kids were pretty wired for some reason. I think it had to do with the fact that they had the day off from the school district and spent the day at the mall drinking slurpies (sugar) and Pepsi (caffiene)! Having a fire drill 15 minutes […]

Congratulations, 8th Graders…You Just Meditated!

Last night saw great improvement in the kids’ behavior and ability to participate more maturely in reflective prayer (meditation). By the way, one of the boys asked at the outset of class, “Are we gonna pray again like last week?” I got a kick out of that because he was one of the kids who had trouble being still the previous week, although he was not a problem per se. I think he enjoys the […]

Like a Dream

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! I am blessed with a wonderful group of 8th graders! Tonight’s first class (I couldn’t wait till the morning to write this post!) went like a dream. I have 15 eighth graders – 8 boys and 7 girls – and from the moment they walked in, I could tell they were going to be a good group. They were polite and friendly, very outgoing, and very respectful. I […]

Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word

Elton John had a song some years ago titled “Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word.” He’s right and this morning I learned the hard way. While parallel parking this morning near the train station, the woman parked in front of me suddenly started waving her arms and yelling, while pointing at her bumper, “YOU HIT ME!!!” I’ve parallel parked thousands of times and I know when I “hit” someone. I told her I hadn’t […]

Thank God for Catechist Aides

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. […]

Even Jesus Had Help

Please take a look at a comment from yesterday’s post (8/23/07) that surfaces a situation that is all too common: a volunteer catechist with no training (and, as a recent convert, not a lot of familiarity with Catholic Tradition) being asked to teach a group of 30 – that’s right, I said THIRTY – 6th graders!!! Ugh! This is just not fair to any catechist, let alone a new one. Even Jesus had 12 Apostles […]

Encountering Former Students

One of the rewards of being a catechist or a teacher of any kind is meeting former students. We always talk about sowing the seeds of faith with those we teach. It’s nice to see how some of those seeds have “sprung” as the years have gone by! Over the last 2 evenings at Theology on Tap, I bumped into 2 former students of mine, both of whom are now engaged in training in the […]

In Recognition of Catechists

Tonight I have the privilege of attending the Catechetical Ministries Awards Banquet sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago Office for Catechesis and Youth Ministry. The banquet is a wonderful way for parishes to show their appreciation to catechists, especially those who have served with longevity. In addition to several archdiocesan-wide awards, each parish is invited to recognize catechists (who meet archdiocesan criteria) as a Parish Recipient of the award. Usually, Cardinal George is present although […]

A Festival of Sacraments

I like to think of the 50 days of Easter as a “festival of sacraments.” We are still celebrating the Inititation of the newly baptized from the Easter Vigil. Infant baptisms abound. First Communions are being celebrated everywhere. Spring weddings are taking place. Confirmations are happening. Ordinations are being celebrated. What a wonderful time of the year – of the Church year – the Easter season is, when we encounter the Risen Christ in so […]

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