Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, so we’ll take all the children in the religious education program to church for Mass. It’s the same Mass the full parish is invited to, and it’s usually crowded. By taking the children to this Mass, we emphasize that not only is Ash Wednesday something special, but that we are part of a parish community. Because of the Mass, we don’t have a class session this week to discuss Lent; we had […]
As I reported a couple of weeks ago, I am assisting Christ the King Parish in Chicago in implementing small faith groups for the Lenten season. We did many preparations to get this initiative off the ground, including the following: recruiting small-group leaders displaying posters and signs on parish grounds training leaders advertising with bulletin announcements for the month of January having priests speak at all the Masses on January 17 hosting Sign-Up Sunday on […]
Realizing that over the next few days, many of you will be preparing people for Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, I thought I would remind you of some resources that might be of assistance to you. Ashes (blog post) What’s That on Your Forehead? (my popular Ash Wednesday post) Lent FAQ with Joe Paprocki (video) Arts & Faith: Ash Wednesday (video with transcript and activity) What is Ash Wednesday? (video from De La […]
During the “Christmas honeymoon”—those few weeks of Ordinary Time between Christmas and Lent—I found that I had been lulled into a sense of complacency. My second-grade class had covered a lot of material during the fall, and I felt good about their grasp of the material. But then reality hit me—their First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion were only weeks away! I started to panic, and I wondered if my students were really prepared for […]
This year, I have been dedicating my efforts to building up adult faith formation at Christ the King Parish in Chicago. Our first foray into this area is forming small faith groups for the season of Lent, and I am happy to say that they are getting off the ground as I write this! Over the past five months or so, I have been meeting with the pastor, Fr. Larry Sullivan, and his staff to […]
Have you ever noticed that many heroes in popular culture are loners? These heroes save the day, but they tend to do it all by themselves. Think of Batman, Superman, Ironman, Wolverine, and for those of us who are a little older, the Lone Ranger. Our heroes tend to be rugged individuals who, even if they engage in an alliance or loose affiliation with others, do so reluctantly. A good example of this is Han […]
Today we once again find ourselves in Ordinary Time—at least for a month or so until Lent begins on February 10. Ordinary Time gets a bad rap, as though it is time that is easily ignored because it is so “ordinary.” First of all, we call it “ordinary” because it is “counted time,” as in “ordinal” numbers. We count time to remind ourselves that all time belongs to God. Thus, while today is January 11 […]
You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. —Deuteronomy 11:18–20 In 2015, Moses […]
This Christmas, my wish for you is that you proclaim the birth of Jesus with renewed spirit, fire, and enthusiasm! The great Christmas song, “Go Tell it on the Mountain,” inspires us to proclaim the birth of Jesus “on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere!” That’s what catechists do. We tell the world that Jesus is in our midst and invite others to make him the center of their lives. I know that readers of Catechist’s […]
Our parish celebrates First Penance and Reconciliation in early December. As beautiful as it is to celebrate this sacrament in Advent and to be able to focus our efforts in the spring on First Holy Communion, the date always seems to creep up faster than I want it to. Since we have such limited time together in faith formation classes, I rely on the parents to help prepare their children for the sacrament at home. […]
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