Who Taught You to Pray?

One of the best discussions we had at the Being, Knowing, and Doing seminar in Seattle, WA, last week and Rockville Centre, NY, this week centered around the questions of “who taught you to pray? and what are your earliest memories of prayer?” These are good questions to spark a discussion with catechists to get them thinking about how they pray as an adult (so that they in turn are more conscious of how they […]

Does God Decide Who Wins Based on Our Prayers?

I’ve written about this before, but every year the issue comes up again when teams are playing for championships. The matter touches very close to home this year with the Chicago Blackhawks battling the Philadelphia Flyers for the Stanley Cup. A friend of mine who grew up in Chicago, is a big Hawks fan, but now lives in Princeton, NJ, not far from Philly, sent me the following, which is about a nun and priest […]

May Crowning – Revisiting a Popular Post from Last Year

Last year, I posted about May Crownings during the month of May and it was a very popular post with lots of feedback. I invite you to take a look and, if you have some new comments, insights, or thoughts to share on the topic of May Crownings, leave them here on this post. Likewise, here’s a link to a post from last year about May Crowning from a blogger named Mary G. in Virginia!

A Case of the Sixth Commandment Giggles

On Monday evening, I had a cozy little group of 7 students, since 3 were rehearsing for the Living Stations. I used this opportunity to continue our exploration of the Ten Commandments, looking at real-life examples of how to live out the spirit of each of the Commandments. It turned out to be a very nice evening except for one thing: the boys (3 of 4) developed a severe case of the Sixth Commandment giggles. […]

Ten Commandments – Two-Minute Drills

I’m pretty excited about this one! I want to do something to reinforce the Ten Commandments as we move in to this last unit on Morality. I also want to place more responsibility on the kids now that they are confirmed, so that they sense a difference between how I taught them before Confirmation and how they are learning now. As a result, I’ve come up with something I call The Ten Commandments Two-Minute Drills! […]

Post-Confirmation Reflection

Congratulations to all of the 8th graders who were Confirmed yesterday, including my class of 10 students! I pray that they will feel the abundant graces of the Holy Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit, flowing in and through them all the days of their lives! As promised, I put together a guided reflection that I’m going to use tonight to help the young people reflect on yesterday’s experience. I think this will give […]

Reconciliation – The Light is ON for You

Tonight, our 8th graders will be going to the church to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the season of Lent. I see that in the Archdiocese of Boston, Cardinal Sean O’Malley has launched an effort titled “The Light is On for You” to encourage people to receive the Sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation. In essence, every parish and chapel in the Archdiocese of Boston will be open on Wednesdays during Lent from 6:30-8:00 pm for confessions. […]

Images of the Holy Spirit

Tonight, as we begin our first of five Confirmation Intensives (class will be for two hours instead of 75 minutes, comprised of five different mini-sessions), I will be teaching about images of the Holy Spirit: water, anointing, fire, and a dove. To introduce this concept, I am bringing in a blank red octagon that I cut out of construction paper and afixed to a stick. I plan to show it to the kids and to […]

Teaching About Mary on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Here is an idea for teaching about Mary on this Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It’s from The Sunday Connection: Tell the young people that some people benefit from having connections in high places. Invite them to imagine to whom they wish they had a connection. Distribute index cards to the young people and have them complete the following sentence: I wish I knew someone who… (Example: I wish I knew someone who could get […]

Jesus, I Want to Get to Know You

Tonight, we will complete our unit on Jesus. I have completed the PowerPoint presentation that the young people began work on in class last week which covers the various aspects of Jesus’ life and ministry: the world of Jesus, the people of Jesus, the words and actions of Jesus, and the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. I’m happy to share the PDF of the presentation: Who is Jesus – complete presentation PDF As we view the PowerPoint, […]

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