I’m not one to claim mystical experiences of hearing God talking to me (as in actually hearing a voice and spoken words) however, I have had a couple of moments in life when I felt that God tossed a few syllables my way. One such occasion occurred some years ago on Father’s Day. Now, let’s be honest, Father’s Day pales in comparison to Mother’s Day (a cookout and a new tie often are considered sufficient […]
We don’t use the word meek too often nowadays. For me, the only time I heard this word when I was growing up other than in the Beatitudes (“Blessed are the meek”) was in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy introduces herself to Oz, the great and powerful, as Dorothy, the small and meek. So, naturally, I grew up thinking that to be meek was to be the opposite of powerful: weak and powerless. If […]
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. In this great story, we find a model for evangelization: fresh from her encounter with God, Mary swings into action (she went “in haste”), joyfully carrying (literally) the Word of God to others and being of service to someone in need. Mary’s visit to Elizabeth was not to brag about her new-found status as the Mother of the Savior. Mary did […]
One of the most loved and famous Christmas hymns is O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles) and it’s great refrain: “O Come let us adore him!” To adore someone is to desire to devote all of your attention to him or her. It means to think of that person as being above all others and to admire his or her beauty. Catholics have a great tradition called adoration. For a good description of the practice […]
There seems to be no shortage of movies about the lives of human beings AFTER the earth is destroyed (Wall-E, Oblivion, After Earth, just to name a few). We seem to be resigned to the notion that our penchant for disposability will result in the eventual destruction of this planet. Unfortunately, too much of Christianity does little to combat this notion since the false notion persists that our ultimate destiny is to escape this planet […]
Last week, I posted about the beautiful Catholic tradition of May Crowning and my quest to find out how to either acquire or make a small “crown” for my backyard Mary Statue. As it turns out, the miniature floral crown that I ordered was WAY too mini! So, instead, I went to Michaels and found resources to make my own which I placed on Mary on Mother’s Day! I’m just a regular Martha Stewart! […]
We’ve had a good conversation here about sacramental readiness over the last few days thanks to a plea for help from “Monica.” Thank you to all who have so generously shared their wisdom. Our discussion got me thinking about the notion of readiness and the fact that all of our catechesis takes its cue from the process of Initiation which is an apprenticeship into a way of life. Assessment of knowledge of the faith is […]
Here in Chicago, we endured a lot of April showers in order to enjoy the May flowers—which, of course, means that it’s that time of the year for May Crownings! I posted a couple of years ago about May Crownings and encourage you to go back and take a look at that, but I also have a few new details to share with catechists. In particular, I’ve recently been wondering where and how you go about […]
Last evening’s session was very enjoyable on a number of levels. First and foremost, I had an opportunity to once again teach an entire class and I think the kids enjoyed getting back to a sense of normalcy after all of the special events they were a part of over the last six weeks. We spent the evening focusing one more time on the Bible. The activity with this Bible worksheet (Session 23 Bible Worksheet […]
After what seemed like an endless string of interruptions (days off, practices for Seder Meal, Lenten and Holy Week prayer services, etc.) in our regular teaching schedule, I finally get to teach a lesson this coming Monday! With only 3 classes left for teaching, I am going to do one more session on the Bible this Monday before sending their Bibles home with them. Here’s my plan: Session 23 – Encountering God in the Bible Session […]
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