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Intermediate Grades

Session 5: God Creates Something Good out of Nothing

Tonight, we are going to focus on the gift of God’s creation as presented in Genesis, chapter 1. Here is my plan. Big Idea: God Creates Something Good Out of Nothing Preliminaries: (25 mins) As students enter, have them work immediately on a Scripture search worksheet, using their Bibles and their Bible bookmarks from The Bible Blueprint. Allow 10 minutes total and then review. Invite a volunteer to review how to pray the Rosary. Do “Ave […]

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Intermediate Grades

I’m Out of Breath! Summary of 10/8/13 Session

Wow! Did we accomplish a lot last night! I’m still out of breath just thinking about how the evening went because we really packed in a lot and finished just under the wire! Here’s a summary of the highlights and lowlights: The kids are doing a nice job on their homework assignments. Last night, 7 of 9 returned with their parents’ signature. 6 completed the assignment in its entirety (including one child with no parent […]

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Being a Catechist

VIRTUAL Pilgrimage to Italy, Day 6: The Tomb of St. Peter

After all of the VIRTUAL walking we did on the first several days of our VIRTUAL pilgrimage to Italy, my VIRTUAL feet were a tad tired! It was nice to sit yesterday at the International Conference for Catechists and to soak up so much wisdom concerning the catechetical ministry. Wasn’t Pope Francis wonderful? I love his comment about not keeping Jesus to ourselves lest we become like statues in a wax museum “and we have […]

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Being a Catechist

VIRTUAL Pilgrimage to Italy, Day 5: Getting Down to Business

Up to this point, our VIRTUAL Pilgrimage to Italy has been filled with lots of sight-seeing which has been wonderful. Today, things get a little different as we jump headlong into the International Conference for Catechesis, the centerpiece of this whole experience to mark the Year of Faith with an emphasis on catechesis. Here’s our itinerary for the day (be sure to bring a notebook and pen with you…looks like lots of opportunities to take […]

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Miscellaneous

More Updates from Italy Pilgrimage: Dr. Joe Bound

Here are more updates from Dr. Joe Bound, who has been kind enough to send along reports of his participation in the pilgrimage to Italy over the course of this week. Thanks, Dr. Joe! Wednesday, September 26 This morning right after breakfast at our hotel we took a cab to the Vatican Museum.  We had made arrangements for a 3 hour tour of the Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Bascilica which started at 9am.  […]

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Intermediate Grades

Pics from Bible Basics Learning Stations

Here are some pics from Monday’s Bible Basics Learning Stations (notice how there’s one boy in each group: divide and conquer!). Also, as much as possible, I avoid having kids sit at desks so it doesn’t feel like school. They are still carpet-crawlers at heart!  

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Intermediate Grades

Summary of Session Two (9/24/13) – Mass and Bible Basics

First of all, thanks to those folks who were concerned because they thought I actually flew home from Italy to teach my class and then fly back! I guess a few folks missed my emphasis on the word VIRTUAL in reference to the pilgrimage to Italy! I’m not on the actual pilgrimage but am conducting a VIRTUAL pilgrimage so that we can, in some small way, share in the experience of those pilgrims who actually […]

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Being a Catechist

Session Two – September 24, 2013: Mass and Bible Basics

Wow! I had to rush home from my VIRTUAL Pilgrimage to Italy to get ready for my class tonight! Thankfully, cyberspace was pretty clear so I made good time! This evening will be my 2nd class with the 6th graders at St. Cajetan. One new feature that the parish is trying this year is to bring the young people to church once per month for Mass. This is a wonderful way to initiate young people […]

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Art and Music in Catechesis

Contemporary Versions of Traditional Hymns

When it comes to playing music in class, I am always torn between my desire for children to hear and learn hymns they will hear in church and songs that have more “pop” to them: a more contemporary sound. I like some Christian rock, but I feel that if I rely only on that, the kids are not being catechized for the liturgy, which is an important part of our role. With that in mind, […]

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Intermediate Grades

First Session for 2013-14: Off to a Great Start!

I couldn’t be happier with how my first session went last evening, thanks to a great group of kids, a highly organized DRE, and a wonderful aide (my wife!) I ended up with 9 students having lost one boy and gaining one girl, so now, I have 6 girls and 3 boys. They come from 5 different schools but have “traveled” together through religious education at St. Cajetan for 6 years and have a great […]