Year of Faith Retreat – Week 4, Day 3: In the Mood (Forms of Prayer, Part II)

WEEK FOUR: Prayer DAY 3: In the Mood (Forms of Prayer, Part II) During the “Big Band” era of the 1940s, bandleader Glenn Miller topped the charts with his #1 hit “In the Mood.” While appearing well before the sexual revolution of the 1960s, the title of the song is, of course, highly suggestive. In the mood for WHAT? Intimacy, of course. That should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the history of the […]

Year of Faith Retreat – Week 4, Day 1: To Pray Without Ceasing (Prayer)

WEEK FOUR: Prayer DAY 1: To Pray without Ceasing (Prayer) Welcome to the 4th and final week of our online retreat, Preparing for a Year of Faith. This week, we explore and reflect upon the 4th pillar of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Prayer. Let’s begin with a brief video: I’m sure you are familiar with a game that kids love to play when they’re at the swimming pool. It’s called Marco Polo. In this game, […]

Year of Faith Retreat – Week 3, Day 4: Learning to Detect Patterns (Social Justice)

WEEK THREE: The Moral Life (Life in Christ) DAY 4:  Learning to Detect Patterns (Social Justice) The children’s show Sesame Street has a feature called One of These Things is Not Like the Others in which they show a series of images, inviting the viewer to identify which of the things was different or doesn’t match or belong to the group. The activity is accompanied by a song with the following lyrics: One of these things is not […]

Year of Faith Retreat – Week 3, Day 3: First-Aid (The Works of Mercy)

WEEK THREE: The Moral Life (Life in Christ) DAY 3:  First-Aid (The Works of Mercy) What would you expect to find in a typcial first-aid kit? No doubt bandages, antiseptics, pain relievers, burn ointment, and so on. What would you include in a spiritual first-aid kit? The fact is, we provide first aid for people when they have an urgent physical need. Some physical needs that people have are ongoing and are not the result of a medical emergency. […]

Year of Faith Retreat – Week 3, Day 2: What’s Your Secret? (The Commandments, Beatitudes, and Virtues)

WEEK THREE: The Moral Life (Life in Christ) DAY 2:  What’s Your Secret?  (The Commandments, Beatitudes, and Virtues) Did you ever try to find out if someone was planning a surprise party for you or try to find out what kind of gift they may have gotten you for your birthday or Christmas? It’s not easy to pry a secret out of someone!  Thankfully, we have a God who does not keep secrets. In fact, God is quite the opposite. God […]

Year of Faith Retreat – Week 3, Day 1: Before They Were Famous (Human Dignity, Sin, and Mercy)

WEEK THREE: The Moral Life (Life in Christ) DAY 1: Before They Were Famous  (Human Dignity, Sin, and Mercy) httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWmZ98dOEEA Every so often, on the Internet, you come across these fun features that show pictures of celebrities when they were young – before they were famous – and ask you to guess their identity. Try your hand at some of these. Recognizing someone’s true identity can be challenging. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells a parable […]

Teaching During a Year of Faith – Free Webinar Coming Soon!

Teaching During a Year of Faith: A FREE Webinar Facilitator: Joe Paprocki, DMin Brought to you by Loyola Press, A Jesuit Ministry Tuesday, August 28, 2012 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. (CDT) Pope Benedict XVI has proclaimed a Year of Faith beginning this October and extending through November of 2013. He hopes that the Year of Faith will foster an encounter with Christ through authentic witnesses to faith and a deeper understanding of the truths of […]

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 […]

Year of Faith Retreat – Week 1, Day 4: What Are You Afraid Of?

WEEK ONE: The Creed DAY 4: What Are You Afraid Of? (Sin, Salvation, and the Cross of Jesus) Fear is a natural human condition. The following are considered some of the most common fears. Which do you share? Spiders, snakes, heights, closed spaces, lightning, injections, social situations, flying, germs/dirt, public speaking, darkness It often seems as though we have many things to fear. Perhaps this is why one of the most commonly used phrases in the […]

Year of Faith Retreat – Week 1, Day 3: A Family Resemblance to God (The Trinity)

WEEK ONE: The Creed DAY 3: A Family Resemblance to God (The Trinity) To whom do you bear a family resemblance? It can be a physical resemblance or a personality trait that you share.  As baptized Catholics, we are members of God’s family, made in his image and likeness. The question for us today is, “do we bear a family resemblance to our God?” Of course, we are not talking about a physical resemblance, because God […]

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