One person who participated in my Leading Prayer Webinar (I’m still gonna get that recording up here for y’all…hang in there!) was Jonathan Sullivan who is the Director of the Catechetical Ministries Office for the Diocese of Springfield, IL. Jonathan posted about how much he enjoyed the Webinar (thanks for the shout-out, Jonathan!) and has developed an excellent handout describing how to lead spontaneous prayer relying on the “you, who, do, through” method. Pay attention also to the comments on that post that provide a glimpse into the background of this structure for prayer – the Hebrew Berakah. Thanks for making this handout available Jonathan!
Growing as a Catechist
Ends With a Whimper, Not a Bang
Alas, the catechetical year with my 6th graders ended with more of a whimper than a bang last evening! Suffice it to say that their eagerness to be done with Monday night religious education sessions outweighed any anguish they were feeling about not seeing Mr. Paprocki any more! 🙂 Part of the problem stemmed from the usual shenanigans that one encounters when supervising a large group of pre-adolescents attending Mass on a Monday evening after […]
Lent
40 Ideas for 40 Days – Lenten Activities: Salt Dough Crown of Thorns
Today’s activity – a Salt Dough Crown of Thorns – can be found in many places on the Internet, I am drawing from a couple of Web sites: Ten Kids and a Dog and Three Sided Wheel (which has an excellent tutorial) Basically, you make a salt dough and then roll out the dough into 3 long rolls/ropes. Next, you braid the rolls/ropes and shape it into a circle. Add toothpicks (loosely) to represent the thorns, asking forgiveness […]
Prayer/Guided Reflections
The Daily Examen – Learn By Doing
From time to time here on my blog, you’ve noticed me talking about the Daily Examen, a form of prayer promoted by St. Ignatius of Loyola. Now you have a great opportunity to learn how to pray the Examen by praying the Examen! Jim Manney, author of A Simple, Life-Changing Prayer, is offering an opportunity to experience the Examen online as he leads you step-by-step so that you can learn how to pray this way on […]
Thank you for the shout-out, Joe — and thanks for the great webinars you provide to catechists!
(BTW – I’ll be driving up for your Being/Knowing/Doing workshop in Romeoville at the end of the month. I’m looking forward to finally meeting you in person!)
Great Jonathan…I look forward to meeting you there!
Have you ever had a chance to view the children’s programs on EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network) ?
http://www.ewtn.com/tv/kids/index.asp
I think the shows for children are great for Catechists and we don’t have to reinvent the wheel, especially “Truth in the Heart”.
Debra, thanks for the suggestion.
I had been searching the internet on how to do spontaneous prayer. I have attended seminar on how to pray for others but was told to just speak our mind. I am loss for words. Some of us can pray without help. But not me. I need a guide. I found your website. This is an answer to my prayer. Now I think I can begin to practice. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
You’re very welcome, Merian! I’m glad you found this helpful. Not all of us can formulate words spontaneously!