The wonderful season of Advent is just weeks away! One of my favorite Advent homilies was delivered by the late Fr. Jack Daley to the students at Quigley South High School, where I taught in the 1980s. Fr. Jack began by doing some of the most incredible imitations of cartoon characters, including Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, and Woody Woodpecker. He had the students in stitches. He then went on to talk about how […]
What sacred story (yours or that of another) has recently inspired you? How has Christ led you to an encounter with him in a new and unexpected way? How has your prayer life deepened over the past few months? These are questions Jayne Ragasa-Mondoy uses to conclude her piece “Light in Darkness” over at our sister site, LoyolaPress.com. The story is about a visit to the emergency room, but the questions are good ones to […]
Every season and feast of the liturgical calendar serves as a reminder of how we “ought to be” as followers of Jesus Christ. The season of Advent, which is now upon us, reminds us that we are to be a people of hope—not to be confused with wishful thinking. I “hope” I win the lottery some day, but I have no confidence that will ever happen. Our hope in Jesus Christ is a confident hope—an […]
Recently, I had the opportunity to see the HBO movie, My Dinner With Hervé, in which actor Peter Dinklage plays the late actor Hervé Villechaize, who was best known for his role as Tattoo in the TV series Fantasy Island. The character of Tattoo was most famous for excitedly shouting, “The plane! The plane!” whenever guests were arriving to the island. With that in mind, imagine how you would react if you were stranded on […]
Welcome to the third installment of this series on the Scripture readings for Advent, Year C. I mentioned in the first installment that, as I reflected on the Advent Scripture readings, I thought of the image of castaways on a deserted island, feeling hopeless and abandoned. The readings for the First Week of Advent reassured us that “help is on the way,” and the readings for the Second Week of Advent told us that we […]
Welcome to our second installment of this series on the Scripture readings for Advent, Year C. I mentioned in the first installment that, as I reflected on the Advent Scripture readings, I thought of the image of castaways on a deserted island, feeling hopeless and abandoned. The readings for the First Week of Advent reassured us that “help is on the way!” The Scripture readings for the Second Sunday of Advent tell us that, while […]
Welcome to the first installment of our Advent series for the 2019 liturgical year (Year C), which begins on Sunday, December 2, 2018. Each week, I will draw a theme from the Sunday Scripture readings, offer some reflections for your enrichment, and provide some suggestions and resources for bringing this theme to life in your learning setting. As I reflected on the Scripture readings for the Sundays of Advent this year, I thought of the […]
Believe it or not, we are once again preparing to enter into the season of Advent in just a few short weeks! As always, it is a privilege to walk that journey with you here at Catechist’s Journey. This year, Advent begins on Sunday, December 2, 2018, and we enter into Year C of the Lectionary cycle, which means that we will primarily be hearing the Good News according to St. Luke. Here are the […]
![O Come Emmanuel - By Einsideln (http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/sbe/0611) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://catechistsjourney.loyolapress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/O-Come-Emmanuel-675x450-326x245.jpg)
During Advent, we sing the traditional hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” a beautiful song based on the “O” Antiphons from the Liturgy of the Hours (Vespers) for the octave (eight days) before Christmas (beginning December 17). One verse of that song is of particular interest to catechists, because it speaks of our longing for being taught to live according to God’s way: O come, Thou Wisdom from on high, Who orderest all things mightily; To us the […]
What does it mean to call something “sacred?” According to the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (InterVarsity Press), “a sacred space is a place where God is encountered in a special or direct way by virtue of which the very place becomes holy and set apart from ordinary space.” This Advent, embrace the season as a sacred space and do so from the ease of your e-mail inbox. Sacred Advent is a daily e-mail prayer break during […]
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