Here in Chicago, we endured a lot of April showers in order to enjoy the May flowers—which, of course, means that it’s that time of the year for May Crownings! I posted a couple of years ago about May Crownings and encourage you to go back and take a look at that, but I also have a few new details to share with catechists. In particular, I’ve recently been wondering where and how you go about […]
The Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Advent provides us with a key for how to enter into Christmas. We hear of Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth. Mary enters and Elizabeth is filled with joy. Why? Because Mary is carrying Jesus within her. She is bringing Good News into Elizabeth’s home. She is bringing the nearness of God to Elizabeth. Mary knows how to light up a room! As we gather with family and friends […]
Here is my lesson for this coming Monday, October 29, 2012. The session focuses on Abraham! BIG IDEA: God is setting things right and we need to “get with the plan.” Abraham shows us how. Preliminaries (15 mins) welcome and introductions kids write their prayer intentions opening procession to set up prayer center opening prayer Engage (10 mins) Bring in a “home plate” (from baseball…I have a rubber one) to show the young people and […]
WEEK ONE: The Creed DAY 5: You’ve Got the Network (Church, Mary, Saints, and Eternity) I’m sure you recall the Verizon ad with the message “It’s the Network,” showing people on Verizon wireless phones backed up by a huge crowd of Verizon workers who represent their support network. The message is clear: wherever you go, the network is there with you and you are never on your own. A huge part of our Catholic faith is our […]
In honor of Mother’s Day, I share with you the following brief reflection from Amy Welborn’s A Catholic Woman’s Book of Days: There is no way I could have imagined, at the beginning of any of my pregnancies, who the child within me would turn out to be. Oh, I had my hopes and dreams, but in more than twenty years of watching the fruit of my womb grow, I have found, without exception, that […]
We catechists are always thinking and planning ahead, right? I recently received a comment from Joyce asking for ideas for a children’s liturgy for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. I’m wondering if some of you have some suggestions! Hi Joe… do you have any ideas for celebrating a Mass with children on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception? Looking for something new… we’ve done the Gospel drama for years, but hoping for something new… […]
Here is an idea for teaching about Mary on this Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It’s from The Sunday Connection: Tell the young people that some people benefit from having connections in high places. Invite them to imagine to whom they wish they had a connection. Distribute index cards to the young people and have them complete the following sentence: I wish I knew someone who… (Example: I wish I knew someone who could get […]
What do all of the following have in common? “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!” “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.” “I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.” Repetition, of course. We human beings tend to repeat ourselves whenever we feel strongly about something, are excited about something, or want to convince […]
October, of course, is the month of the Holy Rosary, a great opportunity to introduce young people to the devotion of praying the Rosary. Many parish schools and religious education programs have a “living Rosary” during October and the question often comes up, “How do you pray the living Rosary?” Here are sites that offer explanations and descriptions of praying a Living Rosary: The Living Rosary: Bring the Rosary to life for your Students Find […]
Welcome to the 7th and final week of our online retreat focusing on the spirituality of the catechist. Last week, we looked at the characteristic of missionary zeal. Thanks so much for all of your wonderful and inspiring comments! This week, we focus on the 6th aspect of our spirituality: devotion to Mary. If you’re just joining us, you can go back and “catch up” and then come back to jump in to week seven. […]
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