This Sunday, my 8th graders will celebrate their Confirmation! I look forward to the opportunity to participate in this wonderful celebration and to witness the completion of their Christian Initiation, knowing that I had a hand in bringing them to this day. Thank you Jesus!
On this coming Monday evening, we cross our fingers and hope that they all come back for class! Luckily, the DRE has established a culture over the years that expects every child to return after Confirmation for their remaining 5 or 6 classes. As a result, we’ve been enjoying nearly 100% return these past few years! Here’s hoping the trend continues.
I plan to put together a guided reflection for Monday evening, based on the experience of the Confirmation Mass on Sunday – an opportunity for them to reflect on their encounter with Christ in this sacrament. I will share it with you come Monday or Tuesday. I also will go over their confirmation exams with them as a group and also individually to give them some solid feedback and affirmation.
Have a great weekend! For those of you working with the RCIA, may your celebration of the Scrutinies be an enriching experience for all involved!
Thanks to Jennifer Schneider, Director of Faith Formation, and her staff at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in New Prague, MN, for alerting me to the fact that I made a big boo-boo on question #1 of the What’s Your Catholic IQ? in the current issue of Catechist Magazine. Here’s her email:
Joe
We are having a bit of a dilemma here at our office around a question in the Catechist Magazine catholic IQ. The question is #1 in the March issue-“Which of the following characters appears only in this year’s version of the Passion for Palm Sunday?”
The answer listed is C-Simon the Cyrenean, we were able to find references to him in Matthew & Mark as well-help!!
Thanks!
In His Joy!
Jennifer
Jennifer and her staff were diligent in doing their homework and are absolutely correct that Simon of Cyrene can be found in Matthew and Mark as well as Luke.
Sorry ’bout that one folks! Just a careless mistake on my part. What I like is that folks like Jennifer and her staff are spending the time diligently studying their faith, using the What’s Your Catholic IQ? feature and referring to Scripture and other resources to deepen their knowledge of the Catholic faith. That’s inspiring. I’m also appreciative of the charitable manner in which she/they brought the matter to my attention. Thanks Jennifer!
BTW, the good folks at Catechist Magazine have accepted my sincere mea culpa and have corrected the item on the online version!
You probably haven’t come across too many Lenten jokes, but here’s one that I enjoy!
A bartender notices that every evening, without fail, one of his patrons orders three beers. After several weeks of noticing this pattern, the bartender asks the man why he always orders three beers. The man says, “I have two brothers who have moved away to different countries. We promised each other that we would always order an extra two beers whenever we drank as a way of keeping up the family bond.” Several weeks later, noticing that the man only ordered two beers, the bartender said, “Please accept my condolences on the death of one of your brothers. You know, the two beers and all…” The man replied, “You’ll be happy to hear that my two brothers are alive and well… It’s just that I, myself, have decided to give up drinking for Lent.”
I spent a wonderful day with about 75 catechetical leaders in Detroit today at a gathering sponsored by the Detroit Society of Catechetical Leaders. We talked about A Well-Built Faith and how we can help our catechists (and those they teach) to be able to grasp their faith and be able to talk about it with greater ease. Thanks for your hospitality and best wishes to all of you in the Detroit Archdiocese!
A sampling of the enthusiastic gathering of DREs in Detroit!
Greetings from Detroit where I’m spending the morning with the Detroit Society of Catechetical Leaders talking about A Well-Built Faith! Luckily I did not have to miss one of my Monday night sessions with my 8th graders since yesterday, March 1, was Casimir Pulaski Day in Illinois, a state holiday, so we had no class. This coming Sunday is Confirmation and for once, I have the opportunity to actually attend the Confirmation Mass to see my class receive the Sacrament. I’m looking forward to it!
This Sunday, my 8th graders will celebrate their Confirmation! I look forward to the opportunity to participate in this wonderful celebration and to witness the completion of their Christian Initiation, knowing that I had a hand in bringing them to this day. Thank you Jesus!
