Showing a segment of the DVD Jesus of Nazareth worked out beautifully last night. As I mentioned yesterday, I showed the segment beginning with the Way of the Cross, leading up to the end of the film as the Risen Christ assures his apostles (and us) that he will be with us always. This is about 40 minutes. I paused the video frequently, pointing out information and asking questions and inviting the young people to ask […]
For class tonight, I am going to show the final scenes of Zefferelli’s Jesus of Nazareth focusing on the death and resurrection of Jesus. (I had planned to do this a couple of weeks ago, but that night we were invited to attend a special presentation by the 6th graders). I’ve always thought that Jesus of Nazareth was a very good portrayal and is very educational for the young people without the uneccessarily extreme graphic […]
I had the pleasure of listening to Bishop Blase Cupich (pronounced soopich) of Rapid City, South Dakota, speak at the NCEA convention in Indianapolis the other day. He spoke about exploring “proven pathways” for facing the challenges that we face in the catechetical ministry in our culture and times. In particular, he presented an Augustinian model of passing on the faith, grounded in St. Augustine’s communications to Deogratias (A.D. 403) titled “On the Catechizing of […]
In honor of Holy Week, I offer you these links to prayerful reflections on the Seven Last Words of Christ and the Stations of the Cross: The First Word The Second Word The Third Word The Fourth Word The Fifth Word The Sixth Word The Seventh Word The Stations of the Cross
How often do we hear kids say, either about Mass or about religious education class, “It’s boring”? Too often, I’m sure. Kids (and most of us in general) are engaged when there is drama involved. That’s why sports is so big…we don’t know how the game is going to turn out and so we are engaged. Movies and video games are big because we don’t know how they will end. One of the challenges we […]
Here’s something you might be interested in. The Archdiocese of Chicago Office for Catechesis and Youth Ministry sells “Know Your Catholic Faith” folders. Here’s the description: Pocket folders custom designed with Catholic prayers and the parts of the Mass printed inside and on the back. Buy them for your catechists, students, or persons in a special program. Available in English, Spanish, and Polish. The folders (2 pockets, no clips, 9 x 12) are available for […]
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of presenting to about 150 high school teens and their group leaders at St. Francis Xavier in LaGrange. Our topic was Living the Mass and we had a very engaging experience together. One of the parts I most enjoyed was speaking about the Lord’s Prayer. Here’s what I did: I recently purchased a replica of the Declaration of Independence (it’s poster size and only cost $9.95 from American Family Traditions […]
It is with great sadness that I provide a link to my 4/16/07 post that followed the Virginia Tech shootings. In that post, I offered some strategies for helping children to cope with disaster. In light of the shootings at Northern Illinois University yesterday, I’m aware of the fact that some of us catechists may find ourselves in a situation where it would be prudent for us to speak about the incident. My thoughts and prayers […]
In two weeks (we have no class this coming Monday), the 8th graders will be given their Confirmation Test/Assessment. As I’ve been explaining to them, this is not a pass or fail proposition, but rather, an assessment of each student’s grasp of the basic content of the Catholic faith. For those who do not do well on the assessment, my aide and I will design some steps to take to assist them in grasping the […]
Last night, we took our classes to church for the Lenten Sacrament of Reconciliation. For the most part, they behaved very well and it was a very nice service (it includes individual confessions which means the kids need to behave for a long stretch of time). My aide, Kris, and I were talking afterwards about how funny the kids can be. While some of the behavior can be a bit maddening, most of it makes […]
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