Last evening was the last teaching session for this year with my 8th graders. Next week, we gather for Mass, some presentations, and then pizza. I enjoyed last night and overall, I feel it went very nicely, a fitting ending to a good year with a good group of kids. Here are the highlights: I met the young people at the door as they arrived. I was holding a tray with their little vigil candles […]
Another element that I’ve developed for this coming Monday’s session is a look back on our year together, inviting the young people to select what their favorite session(s) was/were and what they learned from it/them. I put together a handout that summarizes briefly what we did in each session and asks them to rate the sessions on a scale of 1-10 (1=poor and 10=excellent). After we’ve read through the descriptions of the sessions and the […]
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 […]
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, […]
I was very pleased with last evening’s class, for a variety of reasons. Here’s a summary of what transpired: A number of 8th grade students were in church rehearsing for the Living Stations of the Cross (next Monday). I was missing 4 of my students but picked up 4 from my colleague Jim’s class since he had taken the night off to do a college visit with his son. His other students went to another […]
I realize that a lot of DREs regularly visit Catechist’s Journey, so I thought I would ask for some help. I’m piecing together a chart of what a DRE is thinking about/doing at various times throughout the year in a traditional religious education program (realizing that today there are numerous catechetical models being employed throughout our parishes). Please note that I am NOT including seasonal liturgical celebrations such as Advent prayer service, Lenten Stations of […]
I realize that, in the midst of providing my 40 Lenten activities in 40 days, I’ve not updated you on my own Monday evening classes. Actually, last night was the first time I saw my 8th graders in 3 weeks! Last week, I was doing a parish mission at another parish and needed a sub. The week before that was a day off (Pulaski Day in Illinois). So last night was an opportunity to get […]
A catechist e-mailed me with the following question about helping children to be able to explain why they are wearing ashes on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday: Do you have anything in print or an article you know of for kids to help explain why they wear ashes on their forehead on Ash Wednesday to their classmates at the public schools? I know the reasons and such but from an elementary child’s perspective would help. […]
I have another Living Stations of the Cross script to share with you. This one is from the parish where I serve as a catechist – Most Holy Redeemer, Evergreen Park, IL. The script comes to us from the DRE, Arlene, who does a wonderful job of pulling this together every Lent. living-stations-arlene-a Have a great weekend!
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