Miscellaneous

In honor of Columbus Day, we have no religious education classes tonight, so I thought I would just mention a few odds ‘n ends. Over the past few days, I’ve received emails from catechists in Indonesia, the Philippines, and a number of states all over the U.S. It’s always amazing to realize just how much we catechists from all over the world share in common. Yesterday, my wife and I went to Mass at the […]

With class beginning tonight, my only thoughts are, “Lord, send out your Spirit!” Here is a Catechist’s Prayer from the Finding God catechist manual that I am using: Loving God, creator of all things, you call us to be in relationship with you and others. You are the giver of all I possess, the source of all my blessings, for which I thank and praise you. Help me to desire nothing more than to be […]

I received my class list today and I have 13 eighth graders: 8 boys and 5 girls. Of course I would have hoped for a better gender balance but oh, well! I’ll be planning my lesson this weekend and gearing up to go Monday evening. Have a nice weekend! p.s. a shout-out to all the wonderful catechists I met in Iowa on Wednesday and Thursday!

I’ll be in Iowa doing some catechist formation for Dubuque and Dyersville and maybe get a chance to see the Field of Dreams again like I did last year. I’ll be talking about the Catechist’s Toolbox and God’s Library and meeting about 300 catechists over the couple of days that I’ll be there.

My Year of Paul began with a whimper on June 29, the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles. My wife and I were vacationing in Florida and attended Mass on the day that the Year of Paul began. I was pleased that the priest announced the beginning of this special year and then he set out in his homily to educate folks about St. Paul. Unfortunately, he offered only information…a homily is supposed to […]

The I.T. folks have finished updating software that I use for this blog meaning that the short “under construction” period is over. So, I’ll be back to posting. In the meantime, here’s a cool pic of my grandmother from her First Holy Communion in 1902!!! I just received this pic from a distant relative. I wonder how old Granny was when this pic was taken…she looks older than 7!  

My site may be under construction for a day or two so hang in there and I’ll be back soon!

Last night I attended my end-of-the-year meeting with Arlene, my DRE. She schedules grade level meetings to informally evaluate the year and to look at the schedule for next year. So I was with several of my fellow 8th grade catechists last night as we chatted about what worked and what we’d like to tweak for the coming year. It was a good opportunity to compare notes with colleagues and to hear how they dealt […]

I’m in the Diocese of New Ulm, MN with their catechetical leaders and youth ministers. I’ll be back to posting on Wednesday. Talk to ya then! -joe

This Sunday is, of course, Trinity Sunday. One problem that we often fall into when it comes to the Trinity is that we are always trying to explain the Trinity. Early Christians did not occupy themselves so much with explaining the Trinity as they did with KNOWING the Trinity. We can KNOW someone or something without fully understanding or being able to explain that someone or something. I KNOW my wife and she KNOWS me […]