Last year, during Lent, I offered 40 ideas in 40 days – 40 creative ways to engage those you teach in the mystery of the Lenten season. This year, I am happy to provide all 40 of those ideas in one convenient list with links to each of their descriptions! Enjoy and please share with me (us) how you’re using these ideas and any variations or ideas of your own that you’ve come up with!!! […]
Tonight, our 8th graders will be celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the church. Advent is indeed an appropriate time to celebrate this sacrament, making straight the path to the Lord. I found the following examination of conscience which is based on the scripture passage of the Visitation and the Magnificat (Luke 1:39-56) which makes it quite appropriate as an Advent examination of conscience. Advent Examination of Conscience
Here’s another opportunity for you to find enrichment during this wonderful Advent season. Loyola Press is hosting an Advent retreat on the Days of Deepening Frienship Web site. The retreat features a new Advent article each week written by some pretty talented authors! November 30: James Martin, SJ, shares tips on going from the secular to the spiritual in our Christmas preparations and celebrations. December 7: Liz Kelly will share some insight on Advent rituals […]
Last evening’s class went very nicely. I was especially grateful for the very relaxed rapport that the 8th graders seem to have developed with me. They are upbeat and pleasant, smiling and talking with one another and with me. They genuinely seem to enjoy being there and we seem to be very comfortable with each other. With Advent beginning, our focus was on the theme of HOPE. Because of the good vibes, we were able […]
Happy Advent! I hope that your Thanksgiving weekend was an opportunity to enjoy family, friends, and some recreation and renewal! Well, it’s back to “work” for me tonight, wrapping up the short unit on Church history. Here’s my plan: As the kids enter, I’ll give them pages from daily newspapers and set them to work finding examples of “bad news.” Each of the kids will share their examples of bad news stories with the group and I’ll talk […]
I wish you a very Blessed Easter season!!! May the grace of the Risen Lord be with you always! Experiencing the Triduum was a blessing as always. Holy Thursday and Good Friday were at St. Julie Billiart parish in Tinley Park and the Easter Vigil was at St. Clement in Chicago. All were celebrated with great reverence, style, and grace, and the the richness of the sacramentality of these days filled all of my senses. […]
The other day, I drove past a Protestant church whose marquee read “He is Risen!” I joked with my wife that “they’re a week early!” And yet, of course, we know that Jesus is Risen. As we proceed through this Holy Week, we reflect on the suffering and death of Jesus through the lens of the Resurrection. We don’t pretend this week that we don’t know how the story ends. Good Friday is not a wake service for […]
Throughout Lent, a number of catechists weighed in with contributions of their own. I’m pleased to share the following activity with you from a catechist named Greg in my home state of Illinois! Thanks, Greg! A Holy Week Gift Box Hi Joe, I teach my last class before Easter this week on Palm Sunday afternoon (to my 7th graders). I would love to leave each of my students with something as both a “gift” and […]
Today’s Lenten activity comes from an eighth-grade catechist in Ohio who just loves her kids and wanted to share something she does with them during Holy Week. She calls them “Resurrection Eggs,” but they could easily be referred to as “Holy Week Eggs” or “Passion Eggs,” since they help children to recognize various elements of the Passion reading. Resurrection Eggs I found some “Resurrection Eggs.” They are plastic eggs that have a symbol of the Passion, Death, […]
This Lenten activity is an opportunity for catechists to connect Holy Week and the end of Lent to the celebration of Easter. Holy Week Basket We are all familiar with Easter Baskets. This activity takes the Easter Basket and transforms it into a Holy Week Basket in preparation for the celebration of Easter. Place a traditional Easter Basket (filled with that fake green grass!) in the center of the room. In the basket, place a number […]
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