Reflecting on the Lenten Scriptures Cycle A Video Options

For the last two years I’ve offered handouts for Reflecting on the Lenten Scriptures, to be used in parish small faith groups. Year A materials for 2017 are now available. As I did last year, I selected some options for online videos for further reflection on each week’s theme. Always remember to preview videos before showing to your group, to determine appropriateness for your setting and be sure things work as expected. First Sunday of […]

Reflecting on the Lenten Scriptures Cycle C Video Options

Last year I offered handouts for Reflecting on the Lenten Scriptures, to be used in parish small faith groups. Year C materials for 2016 are now available. This year, I selected some options for online videos for further reflection on each week’s theme. Always remember to preview videos before showing to your group, to determine appropriateness for your setting and be sure things work as expected. First Sunday of Lent, Cycle C Temptation: What Is […]

Lenten Resources

Here are links to the various Lenten resources that we have to offer. We hope they are helpful to you as we journey together through this holy season! Resources to Download 7 Ways to Practice Lent—Free eBook Lent with the Saints Lenten Actions Cards A Whole Bunch of Values Lenten Countdown for Children Lent Activities Pack Stations of the Cross Booklet Praying with the Stations of the Cross—With Station to Station Questions for Reflection and […]

First Sunday of Lent, Year A: Confident in God’s Protection and Faithfulness

What’s your security blanket? For young children, security blankets and other such comfort objects are healthy things. They are “transitional objects” to ease the trauma of separating from their mothers. However, we all must eventually cut the apron strings and leave our security blankets behind. Unfortunately, we tend to replace our plush toys with more sophisticated security blankets, not to ease the anxiety of our separation from our mothers, but to ease what we sense as […]

Third Sunday of Lent, Year C

Turning away from sin is a good thing. However, it is possible to turn away from sin and still not know where you are going! Repentance is concerned not primarily with the act of turning away from sin but with turning toward God. When we run toward God, we will turn our backs on sin, but our focus will not be on our sins but on the loving mercy of God that we seek to […]

Second Sunday of Lent, Year C

It’s not unusual to ask someone with headphones on what they are listening to. Nowadays, folks spend large amounts of time listening to music or talk radio. We always seem to be listening to someone or something. In this Sunday’s story of the Transfiguration of Jesus, a voice from heaven tells Peter, James, and John, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.” The Transfiguration of Jesus was a moment of focus […]

First Sunday of Lent, Year C

In Luke’s Gospel, the story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert appears just after Jesus’ baptism and before Jesus begins his public ministry. We can imagine this as a time of transition, a turning point in Jesus’ life. Perhaps we can liken it to one of the important turning points in our own lives: the decision to marry, the birth of a child, the acceptance of a new job, or the decision to move to […]

Hosting Small Faith Groups: A Summary of Links

Over the past six weeks, I’ve shared a series of posts on how to host small faith groups in the parish, with an eye toward Lent. Special thanks once again to St. Barnabas Parish in Chicago for sharing the inner workings of their successful experience, Companions on the Journey, for our benefit. Here, in one convenient space, is everything you need to implement small faith groups in your parish! How to Host Parish Small Faith Groups […]

Hosting Parish Small Faith Groups—Free Discussion Materials for Lent

Jesus was often surrounded by large crowds, clamoring to hear the Teacher speak. But Jesus first was only known to a small group, the Apostles. After the Resurrection, the Disciples continued spreading Jesus’ message to other small groups—the Philippians, the Ephesians, the Corinthians—and the tradition of small groups of devoted followers continues to this day. That’s what we’ve been focusing on with the series on how to host parish small faith groups. The series strengthens […]

How to Host Parish Small Faith Groups, Part 6

This is the last post in our series on how to host small faith groups in your parish. I have been drawing on the successful experience of St. Barnabas Parish in Chicago, which gathered over 200 parishioners to participate in small faith groups last Lent. Today we look at what must be done throughout the season of Lent to sustain the small groups and suggest some post-Lent follow-up ideas. Week Before the First Sunday of […]

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