Happy New Year, everyone! While I don’t make a big thing out of New Year’s resolutions, I think it is always good to set goals and to articulate them. As we begin 2024, I thought it would be fun for us to make and share some catechetical New Year’s resolutions! Mine is to cut down on the amount of talking I do during presentations so as to leave more time and space for discussion. What’s […]
With the new year upon us, many of us are undertaking New Year’s resolutions, which is all well and good. Unfortunately, many of our resolutions fall by the wayside within a few weeks for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that many of them are simply unrealistic! When it comes to making changes in our habits, the changes need to be realistic and incremental, lest we become overwhelmed and give up […]
For many, New Year’s Eve can be an occasion for excessive drinking. There are many reasons for that, but one of them, for sure, is the desire that many of us have to put things behind us. As we turn the page on the calendar with high hopes for better days to come, we can’t help but call to mind the regrets, failures, hurts, pains, and disappointments of the previous year. Perhaps one way that […]
Like most people, I find myself making one or two New Year’s resolutions—usually associated around some form of self-improvement (diet and exercise). Some I keep; others I’m less successful at keeping. While New Year’s Day is about new beginnings, there is an important distinction to be made between our approach to the new liturgical year that has just begun and the New Year on our secular calendar. Ultimately, New Year’s resolutions are about something that […]
As much as Facebook can sometimes be annoying and frustrating, with people venting and over-sharing, I also find a number of gems along the way. One person I can count on for that is my friend Bob Burnham, who recently posted the following phrase: “Hope is not a feeling; it’s a practice.” He then generously shared a link to a very nice article he wrote for Busted Halo: “3 Ways to Practice Hope,” in which he […]
Let’s approach the new year with some encouragement to organization. Do you ever feel like this? There’s so much to do that I don’t know where to start. I think of everything I’m responsible for and everything I’d like to accomplish, and I panic—and sometimes I cope by doing nothing at all. Time to make a list. When life gets cluttered, it can be a good thing to get a huge sketchpad and just list […]
It’s hard to believe that tomorrow evening is the first catechist meeting of the year for the 2013-14 catechetical year! I will once again be teaching 6th grade (Finding God), however, I will be doing so at a new parish! I will now be at St. Cajetan Parish on the far southside of Chicago, about 5 minutes south of my home in Evergreen Park. With the retirement of Arlene Astrowski, the DRE at Most Holy […]
Our new catechetical year gets off to a start tonight with our first catechist meeting! This will be an opportunity for me to meet the other 4th grade catechists that I’ll be working with as well as my aide. There’s always a sense of excitement at this meeting, as we all look forward to the challenges and opportunities of the coming year. I’m honored to have been asked by Arlene, our DRE, to speak to […]
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