Celebrating Easter All Season Long

By our conviction of heart and mind, we can be witnesses to the Resurrection just as Mary Magdalene was, not just at Easter but every day. Here are some simple ways to evangelize and keep our Easter joy all season long! Read. Read the Acts of the Apostles between Easter and Pentecost. Immerse yourself in the excitement of the disciples trying to become the Church community that Jesus intended them to become. Marvel at the […]

Celebrating Holy Week as a Family

Holy Week is a feast for the senses. It is important to mimic the rhythm of what is happening at church in the home. For example, the songs heard in church during this week can be played at home, and the practices that happen at church can be explained to children beforehand. Here are some ways to celebrate the high points of this sacred time. Palm Sunday Turn palms into works of art by creating […]

8 Steps to Energize Your Faith This Easter Season: A Webinar with Joe Paprocki

Spring is a time when signs of life begin to pop up all around us, and our energy levels hopefully begin to rise with increased Vitamin D from the more plentiful sunshine and warmer weather. What a perfect season for us Christians to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the new life that we share in as a result of our Baptism! In the spirit of this wonderful season, I am excited to offer […]

Lenten Disciples: Martha and Mary at the Raising of Lazarus

In this Lenten disciples series, we have explored the stories of Jesus and the woman of Samaria (John 4:1–42) and the man who was blind since birth (John 9:1–41). We now turn to the dramatic story of the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1–45). Set in the small town of Bethany, which was about two miles from Jerusalem, we hear that Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, was very sick. The sisters sent word to Jesus, […]

Lenten Disciples: The Man Born Blind

In the Scriptures, we see examples of disciples at different stages of their faith journeys. Through the story of Jesus and the woman of Samaria (John 4:1–42), we explored the early stages of the discipleship journey. Later in the Gospel of John, we hear the story of Jesus restoring sight to a man born blind. (John 9:1–41) This story represents the next stage in the journey of discipleship. In this story, a man who was […]

A Stations of the Cross Webinar with Gary Jansen

Join award-winning author Gary Jansen and me for a special Lenten webinar that will draw from his book, Station to Station: An Ignatian Journey Through the Stations of the Cross, and offer a new way of looking at the Stations of the Cross to deepen your prayer life and provide hope in times of need. How do we respond to suffering? How did Jesus? And what can we learn from the Passion for helping us […]

Lenten Disciples: The Woman at the Well

In the Scriptures, we see examples of disciples at different stages of their journeys. For the next few weeks of Lent, we will explore three different encounters with Jesus and what these encounters tell us about discipleship. We will focus first on perhaps one of the best-known stories in the Bible: Jesus and the woman of Samaria (John 4:1–42). In this story, Jesus approaches a Samaritan woman and strikes up a conversation with her at […]

Pop-Up Prayer: Guest Fr. Andy Alexander, SJ

With the season of Lent upon us, the question looms: “Do we pray differently during Lent?” To answer that question, I turned to Fr. Andy Alexander, SJ, the Director of the Collaborative Ministries Office and Online Ministries at Creighton University and co-author (with Maureen McCann Waldron), of Praying Lent: Renewing Our Lives on the Lenten Journey. For more information about praying during the Lenten season, check out the following links: Praying Lent: Renewing Our Lives […]

Practical Ways to Observe Lent at Home with Children

As catechists and parents, we are keenly aware that there are a lot of ideas competing for our attention during Lent. When deciding on a focused Lenten practice, there are three questions to ask: Is this practice focused on God, others, or myself? Does this practice help me fast from something that I truly struggle with? Do I give, pray, and serve out of love or out of my own selfishness? After speaking with parents […]

Service Opportunities for Families During Lent

The Directory for Catechesis reminds us that the family “is indeed a Christian education more witnessed to than taught, more occasional than systematic, more ongoing and daily than structured into periods.” (227) Lent is a perfect time for parents to give witness to their children of the importance of serving others. During Lent, we make efforts to pray, fast, and give alms. Almsgiving is an activity that the whole family can participate in, because it […]

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