My free Advent Webinar is just days away (Nov. 18)! Be sure to register soon!

Advent begins on Sunday, November 29, 2009— are you ready? Joe Paprocki, National Consultant for Faith Formation for Loyola Press and veteran catechist, invites catechists, religion teachers, and RCIA leaders to join him in this Webinar that explores how to create engaging advent-themed faith-formation activities drawn from the Sunday Scripture Readings of Cycle C (the Gospel of Luke). Joe will take us through the readings for this Advent season, explore the theme for each week, and share some unique ways you can develop the theme into activities that inspire children, youth, and adults to enter more deeply into the beauty and holiness of Advent. In the days following the Webinar, Joe will offer additional Advent-related activities on his blog, Catechist’s Journey. If you are unable to attend the Webinar, you may view the video on Joe’s blog. It will be posted the week following the Webinar. This free Webinar is led by Joe Paprocki, an 8th-grade catechist in the Archdiocese of Chicago with over 30 years of experience in pastoral ministry. Joe, National Consultant for Faith Formation at Loyola Press, is the author of numerous books including the best-selling The Catechist’s Toolbox and A Well-Built Faith, as well as the host of the blog Catechist’s Journey. Register for this free Webinar today by clicking here. If you have additional questions about the Webinar, please contact Carrie Freyer at freyer@loyolapress.com.

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I’m off to Philadelphia for a few days! Friday, I’ll be with the DREs and CREs of the IHM parishes in Philly and on Saturday, I’ll be delivering the keynote at the Philadelphia Catholic Life Congress! Pray that God puts the words in my mouth that people need to hear! I’ll be back in time to teach my class on Monday night and I’ll blog about my lesson plan earlier in the day on Monday. Have a great weekend!

November is, of course, the month of all souls, a special time of the year for us to remember those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith.

To mark this special month, as part of our opening prayer last night, instead of having the kids offer prayers of thanksgiving or petitions for needs, I asked them each to share the name(s) of loved ones who have passed away so that we could remember them in a special way this month.

We passed the candle and each of the kids mentioned someone dear to them. I begn by remembering my Dad who passed away 12 years ago next month. One of the kids remembered a soldier – a native of Evergreen Park - who recently gave his life in service of his country. Most remembered grandparents. One girl remembered a cousin who just died within the previous week. Lucy, my aide, mentioned both of her parents. It was a very solemn moment and a moment for each of them to recognize that we are all touched by the pain of death.

I also taught them the prayer that Catholics pray for those who have died: “Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.” We repeated that 3 times.

After the prayer, I briefly explained our understanding of the Communion of Saints and how these loved ones are still with us, separated by a “veil” between this life and the next and that we can still communicate with them, praying with them and for them. I mentioned how I occasionally have conversations with my Dad and Lucy added that she converses with both of her parents. I emphasized that for Catholics, this is quite normal and is not strange because we know that even death cannot truly separate us from our loved ones.

It made for a very prayerful beginning for class and helped to sensitize me and I’m sure each of the young people to the depth of feeling that each of us is capable of.

Tonight, we will complete our unit on Jesus. I have completed the Powerpoint that the young people began work on in class last week which covers the various aspects of Jesus’ life and ministry: the world of Jesus, the people of Jesus, the words and actions of Jesus, and the death and Resurrection of Jesus.

I’m happy to share the Powerpoint with you in pdf form:

Who is Jesus – complete presentation pdf

As we view the Powerpoint, I’ll have the young people read aloud the sections that they themselves were responsible for last week. In addition, the young people will take notes in a booklet I put together for them to use. You can access that here:

Who is Jesus booklet

Our song of the week will be Shania Twain’s Wanna Get to Know You.

Finally, we’ll finish by reflecting on a 10-minute PowerPoint on images of Jesus that I put together a few years back. Here it is in pdf form:  Images of Jesus pdf

Lots to do…so little time!