by Joe on September 23, 2008
Overall, Week 3 (last night’s class) went very well. Along the way, however, I encountered a few things that I’m not satisfied with and hope to change. Here’s the run-down:
- we began with a brief prayer and I thought I would introduce the idea of the young people sharing petitions – very simply, thanking God for blessings and praying for the needs of others and/or our own needs. I gave a few examples and told them that we would pass a candle around the group. When they received the candle, they could share a petition aloud or hold the candle silently for 5 seconds or so before passing it along. We began with prayers of thanksgiving and not one student prayed aloud (and there was occasional giggling). I told them that they were being shy and encouraged them to share aloud. Next, we offered prayers for the needs of others and/our ourselves and the result was the same! I commented that they may not be used to sharing prayers out loud with others and said we would continue to do this each week and that I hoped they would begin to feel more comfortable in doing so. I’m sure it’s just going to take 1 or 2 brave souls to break the ice!
- We had a nice review of the first 2 weeks and they did well at recalling the BIG IDEAS…one of them even recalling the word INCARNATION from last week to describe the event of Jesus becoming flesh.
- We introduced the night’s topic: the Holy Spirit and talked about what it means to be an ADVOCATE. We talked about how lawyers, doctors, nurses, counselors, etc. were advocates and that Jesus used this word to describe the Holy Spirit. We then listened to a Mariah Carey song (”Anytime You Need a Friend”) to reinforce the idea of what it means to be an advocate and I told them that many of the lyrics of that song can be compared to what the Holy Spirit wants for us:
Anytime you need a friend
I will be here
You’ll never be alone again
So don’t you fear
Even if you’re miles away
I’m by your side
- We next talked about how we can recognize the Holy Spirit in our lives. I showed a brief clip from the movie Ghost that shows people going to a “spiritual advisor” (played by Whoopi Goldberg) who is a con artist. I explained that this is NOT how we Catholics seek to be in touch with the spiritual world. We don’t believe that there is a separation between the spiritual and physical world that requires some mediator (a psychic, etc.) to reach across for us. Rather, Jesus is our mediator and, through the Incarnation, we recognize that the spiritual and physical worlds come together in our hearts, where the Spirit resides.
- We then read from the text book about the Holy Spirit.
- I showed them a TV antenna (rabbit ears!) that I brought in and asked them to explain what it does. They explained that an antenna is receptive to the signal being sent, making it possible for a TV to display a picture (until Feb. 17, 2009, that is!). I talked about how God created us with “human antennae” which makes it possible for us to be receptive to the Holy Spirit – those “antennae” being our mind, will, emotions, imagination, and memories.
- They next went with their little mini-votive candles to their “sacred space” for a guided reflection in which I told them to pay attention to how the Spirit may be speaking to their minds, wills, emotions, imaginations, and memories. Before starting, I needed to relocate a couple of kids whose sacred spaces were just too close to someone else’s.
- With quiet background instrumental music and the lights dimmed, we spent about 15 minutes in reflective prayer, beginning with some breathing exercises and then just imagining Jesus being present with them and talking and listening to him.
- Throughout the prayer, most of the kids were good except for a couple of voices that continued to make comments aloud and or engaged in some giggling (I have a couple of incessant gigglers! Sweet kids but oh do they giggle!). In all, it was pretty quiet though.
- I gathered them together before we left and gave them feedback about their behavior during the prayer and what they need to do in order for this to be a more productive time. I especially talked about the chatter and giggling and how a few of them needed to overcome that.
So, in all, I felt very good about the session even though I spent a lot of energy dealing with typical adolescent behaviors that make this work so challenging. Knowing that these are typical behaviors, however, helps me to feel more patient with them while at the same time challenging them to show more mature behavior. I definitely feel like we’re making progress. I can’t believe that next week marks a full month that we’ve been in session already!
by Joe on September 9, 2008
Last night was my first class of the R.E. year and I couldn’t be more delighted with how things turned out! Here are the highlights:
- I arrived to discover that there is no period 1 class (5:30 – 6:45 pm) taking place in my room which means that I can get there nice and early each week and set my room up without rushing!
- I have a very large room this year…no desks…just tables and chairs. This made it very easy for me to re-arrange the furniture, create a “horseshoe” with chairs, set up a little prayer center in the middle, and have all of my supplies in place with plenty of time to spare.
- I greeted each of the kids with a handshake as they entered and asked them their names. They were very polite and sociable.
- They had a palpable sense of curiousity about the setting – no desks, chairs in a semi-circle, Bible, candle, and holy water in their midst, lights slightly dimmed, quiet music playing in the background – that seemed to foster a sense of quiet (either that or they were afraid of me!)
- Our introductions went very nicely…in addition to introducing themselves and sharing a thought or two about their interests (sports, musical instruments, etc.), I had them share the name of the person they most trust in the world (the theme of the class was “We TRUST in the goodness of God). They did this without much hesitation, most naming one of their parents or one of their classmates (which was very nice), while one said “me” referring to himself.
- We had a nice opening prayer in which I read to them their “classroom covenant” (which states the rights and responsibilities of each young person participating in this class) and then had them come forward prayerfully to sign the covenant, bless themselves with holy water, and return to their seats. At that point I prayerfully presented their textbooks to them, calling them forward one at a time by name and saying “May you find God in all things” as I handed them their Finding God textbooks.
- Following the prayer, I invited them to leaf through their books just to get an idea of what lies ahead.
- I introduced the notion of trust and played to them a recording of a song by Linkin Park (”From the Inside”) that summarizes the difficulty that young people have when it comes to trusting, especially after being hurt. They were a bit blown away that their catechist knew who Linkin Park was and actually played one of their songs in class! I told them that they probably won’t hear that song in church on Sunday…they laughed!
- From there, I assigned them a couple of articles from chapter 1 that deal with the concept of faith (trust) in God. Half the group read one article (silently) while the other half read the other article. Then, I paired them up and had them interview one another about what they read.
- We gathered once again as a large group and summarized the key points in the articles, namely, that we are called to place our faith in God whose goodness can be trusted.
- I introduced them to the concept of “sacred space” – they each could find a place in the room to call their own – a space that they will use for prayer and reflective reading. Most chose to sit under one of the many tables! They really got a kick out of this.
- As they sat in their sacred space, I invited them to listen to the song On Eagle’s Wings which is, of course, a song about complete trust in the goodness of God (the antithesis to the Linkin Park song). I also gave them the lyrics to reflect on as they listened. I never expected anyone to sing along, yet a couple of the girls started to sing on the refrain (I heard one say out loud, “I love this song!”). During the next refrain, a number of the boys chimed in but in a sarcastic manner. I paused the song and said, “if you want to sing along, you’ll do so prayerfully. If you’re making fun of the song, don’t sing…just listen.” I resumed the song and the sarcastic singing was gone. Interestingly enough, however, those couple of girls kept right on signing and I can’t be sure but I believe a few other voices joined in!
- When the song was over, I invited them to sit quietly and ask God for the grace they need to trust him. They were nice and quiet for a couple of minutes.
- It was time to go so I invited them back into the semi-circle and had them collect the books and supplies. I told them that they had done very well for the first class and that I looked forward to working witht them this year.
- They left with a great deal of energy and, believe it or not, when they were down the hallway, I heard a few of them break into the refrain of “On Eagle’s Wings!” Not that this singing was even close to being reverent, but I had to laugh to myself that I “got in their heads” which is no easy task!
Thank you, Holy Spirit, for being with me last night and for guiding and inspiring me and my students to encounter you!
by Joe on August 11, 2008
Many people, including myself, see great parallels between athletics and the spiritual life. To me, the greatest parallel is that both require discipline. The biggest difference, however, is that, while in athletics, one needs discipline in order to achieve something, in the spiritual life, one needs discipline in order to receive something! Of course, we do not earn or achieve grace as if striving to earn or achieve a gold medal. On the other hand, we can most certainly discipline ourselves in order to become more receptive to the grace and salvation that God is offering to us. Without discipline, we run the risk of allowing obstacles to God’s grace to enter into our lives.
By the time many of us begin teaching religious education classes this Fall, the summer Olympics will already be a “distant” memory. However, we can draw upon the enduring images that come out of the Olympics to inspire our young people to put forth their best efforts to seek the prize that is offered to each of us – salvation in Jesus Christ.
“I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.” -Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire
“You came to see a race today. To see someone win. It happened to be me. But I want you to do more than just watch a race. I want you to take part in it. I want to compare faith to running in a race. It’s hard. It requires concentration of will, energy of soul. You experience elation when the winner breaks the tape – especially if you’ve got a bet on it. But how long does that last? You go home. Maybe you’re dinner’s burnt. Maybe you haven’t got a job. So who am I to say, “Believe, have faith,” in the face of life’s realities? I would like to give you something more permanent, but I can only point the way. I have no formula for winning the race. Everyone runs in her own way, or his own way. And where does the power come from, to see the race to its end? From within. Jesus said, “Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you. If with all your hearts, you truly seek me, you shall ever surely find me.” If you commit yourself to the love of Christ, then that is how you run a straight race.” -Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire
My Year of Paul began with a whimper on June 29, the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles. My wife and I were vacationing in Florida and attended Mass on the day that the Year of Paul began. I was pleased that the priest announced the beginning of this special year and then he set out in his homily to educate folks about St. Paul. Unfortunately, he offered only information…a homily is supposed to be about transformation. The worst part, however was the following:
“We owe a lot to St. Paul. Because of him, we don’t have to follow all of the Jewish laws and customs. For example, we men don’t have to be circumcised. Thank goodness for that! Oh, I guess it doesn’t really matter since I was circumcised as an infant anyway!”
Too much information, Father!
At the Catechetical Ministries Awards Banquet last evening (sponsored by the Archdiocese of Chicago, Office for Catechesis and Youth Ministry), Cardinal George gave the crowd some inside scoop on the Pope’s visit to the U.S. He told us that before the Pope departed, the bishops asked him some questions, one of which was, what his advice was about teaching young people in a culture of secularization. The Pope responded, “Teach them to pray!”
I thought this was a wonderful answer and I appreciated the Cardinal sharing this thought with us catechists. He urged us, in all that we do, to be sure that we teach the young people to pray so that they can enter into a deeper communion with the Lord Jesus.
Amen to that.
