This evening’s session will be an Advent Prayer Service in the Church and my guess is that by the time all is said and done, it’ll be at least 45 minutes before we get back to the class room. This, of course, does not leave me with too much time, so instead of trying to cram in a lesson on the Old Testament, I plan to spend the remainder of time focusing on Advent. I […]
This is a guest post by David and Mercedes Rizzo. Around the time of our daughter’s fourth birthday, she was diagnosed with autism. We refer to this period as when the autism bomb dropped. When faced with a diagnosis like that many thoughts flood the mind. One of the thoughts we had was how would Danielle be able to make her First Holy Communion and her other sacraments? We were fortunate that a parish close […]
WEEK TWO: Sacraments (Celebrating the Christian Mystery) DAY 4: We Are All Broken (The Sacraments of Healing) No doubt you are familiar with Horatio Alger. Horatio Alger, Jr. was a 19th century American author who wrote a number of what came to be known as “rags-to-riches” stories, which embodied what became known as the American Dream—that is, the idea that through hard work, determination, and courage, anyone could lift themselves up out of poverty. This kind of thinking is […]
In last night’s Webinar on The 7 Keys to Spiritual Wellness (if you missed it, a recording will be available here on my blog within a few days), I began by asking what folks are doing to maintain their spiritual wellness before I added my suggestions. Here’s a sampling of what folks are doing (I love the variety!) What are YOU doing to maintain your spiritual wellness? Daily mass Daily prayer active participation in […]
In this segment of Catechists in Action, 3rd grade catechist Steve Lascola welcomes the Associate Pastor, Fr. Matt to class to speak to the children about recieving the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Watch for the following: Steve has the children stand to greet Fr. Matt as he enters – a nice show of respect. Steve welcomes Fr. Matt as the “expert” on Reconciliation Fr. Matt goes over the sheet that outlines the procedure for going to […]
In this segment of Catechists in Action, 3rd grade catechist Steve Lascola tells the story of the Prodigal Son in preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Watch for the following: Steve introduces the story of the Prodigal Son as a love story To keep their attention from wavering, Steve continually pauses to add his own thoughts, to restate things in his own words, and to ask questions of the children. Steve summarizes the story and […]
In this segment of Catechists in Action, 3rd grade catechist Steve Lascola teaches about the Lord’s Prayer and forgiveness as he prepares the children for the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. Watch for the following: Steve reads some thoughts about the Our Father from a book about Our Lady of Medjugorje. (Steve agreed with me afterwards that this was above the kids’ heads and that things we personally find edifying may not always connect with […]
In this segment of Catechists in Action, 3rd grade catechist Steve Lascola tells the children the story of Zaccaheus as part of their preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Watch for the following as Steve: asks for extra special attention reads the story slowly, pausing to comment as he goes along explains why Zacchaeus was not liked by others invites the children to think about a time when they had a fight with a friend […]
Welcome to another edition of Catechists in Action where we have an opportunity to watch real-life catechists teaching their weekly religious education sessions. Today, we meet Steve Lascola, a 3rd grade catechist at Most Holy Redeemer parish in Evergreen Park, IL. Steve’s “day job” is coaching so we have another opportunity to see how a guy with a coaching mentality translates that into catechetical ministry. It is especially unique to see a guy like Steve […]
Ash Wednesday Wednesday, February 14 My Lenten Calendar: 40 Crosses Color a cross each day for 40 days showing good deeds done out of love for Jesus. Thursday, February 15 Lenten Actions Cards Encourage families to take practical steps toward practicing the traditional Lenten pillars of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Friday, February 16 A Prayer for Fasting Pray with young people to help them understand the purpose of fasting. Saturday, February 17 Hooking Your Students: […]
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