Newsworthy

Not so long ago, I announced the availability of my (previously out-of-print) video, Welcome to God’s Library, on DVD! In the year 2000, I filmed a video titled Welcome to God’s Library which provided a basic introduction to the Bible for Catholics (intermediate/junior high through adult). The video summarizes the thrust of my book God’s Library. Several years ago, this video and the original edition of the book went out of print. Since then, I’ve been receiving […]

At the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership (NCCL) in Houston this week, I was blown away by the presentation by John Allen, NCR’s Senior Vatican Correspondent and CNN’s Senior Vatican Analyst, who spoke about what he calls the Mega-Trends in Catholicism: The Forces Turning the Catholic Church UpsideDown. What I like about Mr. Allen’s presentation (aside from being very engaging) is that he sees his job as informing…he informs all of us of what is happening inside […]

Some people have been asking me about resources for the Pope’s upcoming U.S. visit (April 15-18). Kids may have questions and this could be a good teaching moment. The U.S. bishops have an official Web site for the papal visit at http://www.uspapalvisit.org/ In particular, there is a link there for teaching resources.

Showing a segment of the DVD Jesus of Nazareth worked out beautifully last night. As I mentioned yesterday, I showed the segment beginning with the Way of the Cross, leading up to the end of the film as the Risen Christ assures his apostles (and us) that he will be with us always. This is about 40 minutes. I paused the video frequently, pointing out information and asking questions and inviting the young people to ask […]

I had the pleasure of listening to Bishop Blase Cupich (pronounced soopich) of Rapid City, South Dakota, speak at the NCEA convention in Indianapolis the other day. He spoke about exploring “proven pathways” for facing the challenges that we face in the catechetical ministry in our culture and times. In particular, he presented an Augustinian model of passing on the faith, grounded in St. Augustine’s communications to Deogratias (A.D. 403) titled “On the Catechizing of […]

I had a list of topics that I’ve wanted to blog about and couldn’t decide which one to pick so I thought I’d address them all! Here goes: They came back! Kudos, once again to my DRE, Arlene, for making it clear that Confirmation is not the end. All of my students (save for one absentee) returned last night for their first class after Confirmation! Their biggest comment about Confirmation? “The bishop put SO much […]

Here’s something you might be interested in. The Archdiocese of Chicago Office for Catechesis and Youth Ministry sells “Know Your Catholic Faith” folders. Here’s the description: Pocket folders custom designed with Catholic prayers and the parts of the Mass printed inside and on the back. Buy them for your catechists, students, or persons in a special program. Available in English, Spanish, and Polish. The folders (2 pockets, no clips, 9 x 12) are available for […]