Yesterday, we celebrated the wonderful Feast of the Epiphany, when Jesus is revealed to all the nations as the Son of God. This Feast contains so many messages and images that are apropos for catechists. Here are a few thoughts: The Magi do not travel alone… The Magi observe signs… The Magi seek direction… The Magi offer gifts… For the complete, updated post, see Leading Others to Epiphany.
Sometimes, our head is telling us one thing but our heart and our gut are telling us something else. This past Sunday’s Gospel tells us that St. Joseph was experiencing this inner turmoil. His betrothed, Mary, is pregnant—and he’s not the father. According to Jewish Law, she should be stoned. At the very least, he decides to quietly divorce her; that would be the righteous thing to do. And yet, something within him continues to […]
I received an email yesterday from a co-worker announcing that another co-worker had given birth to a healthy beautiful baby boy. The subject line of the email was “Show me a day when the world wasn’t new.” This really caught my attention. Apparently the quote is attributed to Sr. Barbara Hance (1928-1993) and I think it’s a wonderful Advent thought. In fact, this quote and the email about the newborn baby made me think of my pastor’s […]
One of my favorite movie quotes is from Breaking Away when Daniel Stern’s character, Cyril, daydreams out loud to his buddies: “You know what I’d like to be? A cartoon of some kind. You know, like when they get hit in the head with a frying pan or something, and their head looks like the frying pan, with the handle and everything? They just go boi-ing—and their head comes back to normal? Wouldn’t that be […]
Back in the day, 1970 to be exact, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young released a song titled Carry On. In the refrain they sang, Carry on. Love is coming. Love is coming to us all. I thought of this song this past Sunday while at Mass for the First Sunday of Advent. No, my mind wasn t drifting! Actually, quite the reverse. The pastor was delivering a splendid homily about the Gospel’s call for us […]
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I did! 🙂 Here we are in the First Week of Advent! Hard to believe this great season of joyful anticipation is upon us already. Tonight, we’ll be celebrating an Advent Prayer service with the kids in church. I had the privilege of working with my DRE, Arlene, to put together the prayer service. Here it is: Advent 2010 Prayer Service After the prayer service, […]
As we prepare to celebrate the Feast of the Ascension, it might be good to look at an FAQ associated with this feast, namely, “Isn’t the Ascension of Jesus based on outdated science?” I have to admit that this question has popped into my mind, making me wonder just what it is that we are celebrating on this feast. If science has shown that “heaven” is not to be equated with “outer space,” then where […]
Happy Easter everyone!!! I received the following email from Margaret Ann, asking for some help. Hi Joe, I started putting together my next Family Program for the Home Schooler Rel. Ed. folks at my parish. I’m thinking along the lines of the Easter Season Readings/Feast Days – Ascension, Pentecost. I am leaning on the theme of New Growth, Gardening, Spring, Rogation Days (the ritual of blessing the fields – this year they are May 10, 11, […]
The Easter Vigil last night at St. Julie Billiart Parish in Tinley Park was exquisite! What a beautiful experience of celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord! Here are the catechumens and candidates gathered around the soon-to-be-lit fire. The Easter fire is lit in the darkened narthex of the church. The Deacon did a wonderful job of singing the Exsultet…the Easter Proclamation…in the darkened church lit now by the candles held by all the faithful. The […]
The graces of the Triduum continue to flow as we marked the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion and the Veneration of the Cross on this Good Friday at St. Julie Billart Parish in Tinley Park (this is where my wife and I usually attend Mass on Sundays). The solemn beginning in which we prostrate ourselves (through the priest and deacon) before the Cross reminds us of the […]
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