lone tree in Tanzania - image courtesy of Kathleen Butler
Spiritual Growth

Where Creation Inspires

Every summer, I take time to recharge my catechetical batteries, and this year, reading Joe Paprocki’s book, 8 Steps to Energize Your Faith, was exactly what I needed. Reflecting on his thought-provoking questions each week, I renewed my focus on God’s work in my life. In the chapter on delighting in nature and all of creation, Joe points out that Jesus was often catechizing outdoors—on mountaintops and seashores and any number of other places. He […]

family walking dog - Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com
Easter

Easter Season as a Time to Delight in Nature

The story of Jesus’ Resurrection tells us that he was buried in a tomb located in a garden (John 19:41). According to the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (IVP), throughout Scripture, the image of a garden represents both nature and a sacred space (representing heaven, the “place” where God dwells, the focus of human longing or life at its fullest, a way of life and a state of the soul). Of course, the Book of Genesis […]

butterfly - creation
Catechetical Issues & Topics

World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation: September 1

Beginning last year, Pope Francis has called for Catholics to celebrate the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on September 1. Here are a number of things you and those you teach can do to observe this day: Sign the Catholic Climate Petition. Join the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation Facebook event. Pray a prayer composed by Pope Francis for his encyclical, Laudato Si’. Pray the Rosary using […]

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Primary Grades

Caring for God’s Creation

I love that one of our first lessons of the new faith formation year is the story of creation. We began with a prayer and then we read the creation story out of a children’s Bible storybook. There were two things in particular I loved about teaching this lesson. The first thing I loved was that I had the opportunity to teach that God’s love is unconditional. I explained how God created every person in […]

summer beach
Spiritual Growth

God in the Big and Small Things of Summer

Summer can be a time of respite for the busy DRE. There is work, to be sure—VBS to run, youth activities to coordinate, fall curricula to plan. But there is, too, a leisure about summer. The school year is over. Spring sacraments have been celebrated. In a job where Sabbath rest can come all too seldom, summer can be a sabbatical season. God models for us, in the first creation story in Genesis, the rhythms […]

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Intermediate Grades

Summary of 10/15/13 Session: God Creates Something Good Out of Nothing

Yesterday, I gave a couple of little tidbits (Ave Maria activity and a humorous comment from a student) about this past Tuesday’s session so now I thought I’d give a more detailed summary. For the first time, I had a couple of absentees so I was down to 7 students. As soon as students entered, I put them to work locating passages in the Bible using their Bible Bookmarks from my book The Bible Blueprint and a Scripture Search […]

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Intermediate Grades

“My Dad’s Gonna Get Suspicious”

At last evening’s session, we focused on the gift of God’s creation and spent a lot of time learning about and reflecting on the goodness of God’s creation. As class was winding down, I encouraged the young people to look up at the night sky when they left to see the stars and the moon and to look around at all the people made in God’s image and to be grateful and joyful. One of […]

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Intermediate Grades

Session 5: God Creates Something Good out of Nothing

Tonight, we are going to focus on the gift of God’s creation as presented in Genesis, chapter 1. Here is my plan. Big Idea: God Creates Something Good Out of Nothing Preliminaries: (25 mins) As students enter, have them work immediately on a Scripture search worksheet, using their Bibles and their Bible bookmarks from The Bible Blueprint. Allow 10 minutes total and then review. Invite a volunteer to review how to pray the Rosary. Do “Ave […]