Discovering the Nearness of God: Anointing of the Sick: Healing as God’s M.O.

Welcome to the sixth installment of my series “Discovering the Nearness of God: An Eight-Week Series on the Catholic Sacramental Vision.” This week we will explore the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, with the theme of “Healing as God’s M.O.” When we talk about “thin places” or “thin moments”—when the veil between heaven and earth seems very thin—we tend to think of places of great beauty or experiences of joy or accomplishment. But […]

Sacraments and Stories: Reasons to Celebrate

I really enjoy teaching my students about the sacraments. After all, the Holy Spirit spreads the grace of Jesus Christ through the sacraments. How could I not enjoy teaching them? In fact, I like to teach my kids that they don’t “do” the sacraments, they celebrate them! This can be a challenge when teaching the Sacraments of Healing. How can I teach my third graders to approach Reconciliation and the Anointing of the Sick with […]

Year of Faith Retreat – Week 2, Day 4: We Are All Broken (The Sacraments of Healing)

WEEK TWO: Sacraments (Celebrating the Christian Mystery) DAY 4: We Are All Broken (The Sacraments of Healing) No doubt you are familiar with Horatio Alger. Horatio Alger, Jr. was a 19th century American author who wrote a number of what came to be known as “rags-to-riches” stories, which embodied what became known as the American Dream—that is, the idea that through hard work, determination, and courage, anyone could lift themselves up out of poverty. This kind of thinking is […]

Catechists in Action – Katie Elwood Teaches About the Sacraments

In this segment of Catechists in Action, we once again join 2nd grade catechist Katie Elwood as she prepares her children for their First Holy Communion. Watch as Katie… talks about the Sacrament of Baptism asks the children to name how many sacraments there are asks the children to name the 7 sacraments invites her aide to give a clue about Matrimony saying, “what happens when you’re older….your mom and dad did what?” Incredibly, a […]

The Healing Effect of Oil

Here’s a little tweak on the part of my lesson scheduled for tonight that focuses on the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick and the healing effect of oil. I planned to show the healing effect that baby oil can have on a dried leaf. On my way to the train last week, I picked up a few dead leaves to bring home and allowed them to dry out for a day. Of course they […]

Sacraments of Healing and Sacraments of Service

This coming Monday, December 20, 2010, is our last class before the Christmas break. I’m going to use this session to teach the four remaining sacraments: the Sacraments of Healing (Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick) and the Sacraments of Service (Matrimony and Holy Orders). I plan to do 4 simple “demonstrations” to introduce each of the 4 sacraments before we read the text and discuss them. Here’s my plan in detail: Sacraments of Healing and Sacraments of […]