As we enter this holiest of weeks, I thought I’d share an article with you that came to my attention that does a very nice job of explaining why children (of all ages) are especially receptive to the images, events, and themes of Holy Week. The article is called Holy Week is for Children and it is written by Peter Rehwaldt who is a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was posted on the […]
I had a very exciting experience this morning appearing on the WGN-TV Morning Show for a brief (4 minutes!) segment on my book 7 Keys to Spiritual Wellness. I’ve been watching Larry Potash and Robin Baumgarten on this local Chicago morning show for years and it was a thrill to be interviewed by them. They were so friendly and welcoming and put me at ease and I thought the segment went extremely well (thank you, […]
In this segment of Catechists in Action, 8th grade catechist Chris Brett talks to his students about their recent Confirmation. Watch for the following: Chris asks them about Fr. Matt’s visit the previous week Chris asks about their Confirmation: the bishop’s homily, his vestments, whether everyone showed up, etc. Notice how relaxed and free-flowing the conversation is. Occassionally, Chris needs to “shush” them but it is just a gentle reminder to not all talk at […]
We’re heading into the last quarter of our Catechists in Action series. Today, we meet 8th grade catechist Christ Brett (Most Holy Redeemer Parish, Evergreen Park, IL). I had the pleasure of being on the 8th grade team with Chris for several years and was always inspired by his enthusiasm. In this episode, we meet Chris who is welcoming his 8th graders back for their first session after Confirmation – always a question mark as […]
While at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, I had the pleasure of listening to a keynote delivered by Rev. Anthony Gittins, CSSp on the Urgency of Discipleship and Evangelization. In his talk, Fr. Gittins made some excellent points about evangelization. First, he identified 4 requirements for evangelization: Proclamation Witness (which he says is “proclamation with our mouths shut!” – I love it!) Dialogue (with an emphasis on listening) Liberation He also went on to explain […]
I had a great experience delivering a presentation on Practice Makes Catholic yesterday to about 1000 people here at the L.A. Religious Education Conference! It was very exciting to speak to a crowd that big! Thanks to all who came out to make this such a wonderful experience. Here’s a pic of HALF the room before it filled up with folks. After my presentation, I had an encounter with someone who made the “soup nazi” (from Seinfeld) look […]
I’m celebrating Catholicism California style at the annual Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, which draws about 40,000 people over four days! It is always an exciting experience. I’m thrilled to be giving a talk this afternoon and I’ve met so many wonderful people in just the few hours I’ve been here. I’ll tell you more about it as the weekend goes along. Here are a couple of pics. Here I am enjoying dinner in Downtown […]
In this segment of Catechists in Action, 3rd grade catechist Steve Lascola welcomes the Associate Pastor, Fr. Matt to class to speak to the children about recieving the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Watch for the following: Steve has the children stand to greet Fr. Matt as he enters – a nice show of respect. Steve welcomes Fr. Matt as the “expert” on Reconciliation Fr. Matt goes over the sheet that outlines the procedure for going to […]
While in Tucson, AZ, at their catechetical conference last week, I spent some time at a booth in the exhibit hall sponsored by The World Community for Christian Meditation. There, I found some very nice resources for teaching Christian meditation to children. The WCCM traces its contemporary roots to London, 1975, when John Main established the Christian Meditation Centre. It considers itself a “monastery without walls.” Recently, Bishop Michael Putney of the Diocese of Townsville […]
In this segment of Catechists in Action, 2nd grade catechist Steve Lascola tells the story of Zacchaeus. Watch for the following: Steve explains that the story of Zacchaeus is a celebration of forgiveness Steve reads the story of Zacchaeus to the children and then summarizes in his own words Steve directs the children to participate in a short prayer and has one of the children stand to lead httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NQBBI7vZfc
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