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Engaging Faith

Practical Lesson Ideas and Activities for Catholic Educators
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Contemplating the Contemplative Life

Contemplating the Contemplative Life

Use a class period to introduce your students to the beauty of the contemplative vocation to which our Lord calls some men and women.  1. The contemplative life has origins in the life of the Blessed Mother. According to tradition, Mary was consecrated in the temple as a young girl, where she lived, studied, and prayed until her betrothal to Joseph. Just as Mary lived hidden within the temple, entirely devoted to God, so too do monastic religious live “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3), separated from the world so that they can intercede and fast for the needs of the world day and night. In a uniquely beautiful way, cloistered nuns live as Christ’s Brides, providing an icon of the intimacy we are all called to enjoy with Christ in heaven.  2. To give students an introduction to cloistered life, watch these two trailers for documentaries that have been made about men’s and women’s monasteries: Official Into Great Silence US Trailer (youtube.com) Cloistered:God's Women of Steel-A Life of Adoration and Prayer (youtube.com)  3. Divide students into groups (separate guys and girls) and have them use their laptops to open cloisteredlife.com.  4. Have each group pick a different religious order to explore on the website. Boys should look at male monasteries and girls should look at female monasteries. They should be able to answer these questions: Which saint founded the religious order? What is their charism (special focus in prayer and way of life)?  What does their habit look like? What are the closest monastery of this order to your school or diocese?  5. Regather the groups and have them share about their community with the class.  6. Discuss the following questions as a class: Do you know anyone who has entered a monastery? Why did he or she enter? What seems beautiful and appealing about the cloister? What seems difficult and frightening? What are ways that we can grow in openness to our personal Vocations? Do we actually believe that the Lord is still calling souls to be His hidden spouses here on earth? How can we support those with a contemplative vocation? (Donating to monasteries, writing to loved ones in the monastery, writing to monasteries asking for them to pray for specific intentions, discussing cloistered religious life as an actual possibility for ourselves or our peers who are not yet in their permanent Vocation)  6. Conclude with praying the following prayer for the World Day of Cloistered Life from cloisteredlife.com: Eternal Father, We praise and thank you for those sisters and brothers who have embraced the gift of the cloistered and monastic life. Their prayerful presence is indispensable to the Church’s life and mission, and is the foundation of the New Evangelization. As we celebrate World Day of Cloistered Life, let us honor the holiness and glory of the Blessed Virgin. May she, who was presented in the Temple, intercede so that many young people might dedicate themselves entirely to Your divine service by hidden lives of contemplative prayer and selfless sacrifice. May all of us be mindful of the spiritual and material needs of those who commit their lives to seeking God by fixing their gaze on those things which are eternal. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. Larisa Tuttle University of Dallas Senior

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What Is Marriage?

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops offer an abridged article on marriage entitled Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan. Make copies of the article for each student. Ask them to read through the article and then go back a second time and underline the six sentences that begin with “Marriage is . . . “. These are the sentences from the USCCB article: Marriage is a natural institution established by God the Creator. Marriage is not merely a private institution. Marriage is important for the upbringing of the next generation, and therefore it is important for society. Marriage is meant to be a lifelong covenantal union, which divorce claims to break. Marriage is a vocation, or divine call, as necessary and valuable to the Church as other vocations. Marriage is a school of gratitude, in which husband and wife are thankful for the gift of each other. Clarify each of these statements in a class discussion. Call on students to share their own ideas on what each statement means and examples of how they have witnessed these statements being lived out in marriages they are familiar with (e.g., parents, grandparents, neighbors). Next, on the back of the handout, ask students to write three of their own statements beginning with “Marriage is . . . “ When complete, continue with the discussion based on some of the examples the students came up with.

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Two Assignments on Work

Due to our human dignity, all people have both the responsibility and right to work. However, work is not equated with the type of work we do or the product we make. Because work is an expression of human dignity, through our work we are able to join with God in shaping the world. 1. Hold a class debate. One side should take the stance of Genesis 2:15 on work; that is, work is part of our nature and our destiny. We participate in God’s work. The other side should take the stance of Genesis 3:17-19; that is, work is a curse for human sin. Have the students meet as a team and come up for reasons that support their position on work. Call on representatives from each team to share a reason. Allow the other team to respond to the point. Then switch the order. To conclude the debate,  have them students individually write short answers to the following questions: Why do you think both messages about work appear in Scripture? Why do you think the Church adopted the teaching of Genesis 2:15 rather than Genesis 3:17-19?   2. Have the students explore Jesus’ attitude toward work by reading the following passages and writing a short essay under the heading “What Jesus Believed about Work.” Tell them to reference at least three of the passages in their essay. Luke 4:14-22 Matthew 12:9-14 John 5:1-30 Mark 2:23-28 Luke 14:1-6 John 9:1-17

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Have a "Praise Day" with Your Students

Lou Holtz, the Hall of Fame former Notre Dame football coach, has written a book, A Lifetime of Love: A Game Plan for Marriage and Family Life, filled with loving stories about his fifty-nine year marriage to his wife, Beth, who passed away in 2020. In narrative form, there is practical advice that students in a high school Marriage or Vocations course could benefit from. One of the practical suggestions could be applied directly to your students. The Holtz’s would designate one day per month in honor of one of their four children. They called it “Praise Day.” Each member of the family would go around the dinner table sharing one specific statement of praise for the person being honored. They would also give that person a small homemade gift. Consider breaking up your class into groups of four or five students. Have each person write  praise notes for the other people in the group. The notes should be specific such as “I admire the way you take care of your younger siblings” or “You are so kind to underclassmen. I saw you help a freshman with directions to Room 33 the other day.” After the notes have been written, have the students distribute them around the group. The last minutes of the activity should be reserved for quiet reading of the notes with no further discussion. Below is an excerpt from A Lifetime of Love, describing  “Praise Day” in the Holtz household by Coach Holtz and his adult children.   No matter your profession, any parent will experience ups and downs in raising their children. Children themselves, especially today, face several cruelties that can bring them down. One of the most important things we discovered as parents was that we had to be able to lift our children up when things weren’t going particularly well. Consequently, we came up the idea of holding a “Praise Day” for a child who was discouraged, had a setback, or needed a lift. A couple of days in advance, we would designate an entire day of the week in that child’s honor. We didn’t do anything fancy. We let the child pick out the menu for dinner. After we ate, each sibling and then my wife and I would take turns saying nothing but positive things about the child being uplifted. The comments had to be positive, and they had to be sincere. I felt that really did an awful lot to help our children’s self-image, particularly when they were down. Also, whenever one of our children had a birthday, we also gave a small present to the other children because we wanted them to look forward to their sibling’s birthdays as well as their own. Luanne: When it was my turn for Praise Day, I always chose steak. Liz: And Skip always liked spaghetti. But no matter what we ate we had to go around the table and say something nice about the person whose night it was. Kevin: I remember we had to say two positive things. No negatives. Sometimes we had trouble coming up with two! Skip: The comments had to be sincere, and we also had to give a gift. Luanne: We’d get a couple of small gifts. Liz: They weren’t expensive, but they meant a lot. Skip: It was a neat thing. I remember getting homemade things. Liz would draw a picture for me. Liz: It was like having a birthday every six weeks. Skip: Praise Day was a day when we knew we were appreciated by the family. Kevin: It really made us feel needed and loved. I don’t know any other families that did something like that. Maybe more should. Liz: After Mike and I got married, my parents gave us a special red plate. We use that red plate when our three children are together with us. Everyone has to go around the table and say something positive about the person who has the red plate. Over the years a lot of love has been shared over the red plate.

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Work and Career in the Year of St. Joseph

In this Year of St. Joseph, the second of his feast days is approaching on May 1. On this feast, we celebrate St. Joseph the Worker. In the days leading up to this feast, have your students consider their future jobs and careers along with the meaning of work. Here are a few resources to help you begin planning a lesson.   Read this quotation from the USCCB document Economic Justice for All: All work has a threefold moral significance. First, it is a principal way that people exercise the distinctive human capacity for self-expression and self-realization. Second, it is the ordinary way for human beings to fulfill their material needs. Finally, work enables people to contribute to the well-being of the larger community. Work is not only for oneself. It is for one's family, for the nation, and indeed for the benefit of the entire human family. (52) Have the students write these three reasons in their notebooks or journals in their own words.   Have students honestly answer these questions as a way to help them gauge their strengths that might translate to a future career. What do other people say are your strengths? What do you think you are good at? What talent do you enjoy using the most? What school subjects to you excel in? What honors or special awards have you received? What special experiences have you had?   Ask students to list both positive and negative reasons for considering each of these options after high school: Attending a trade, technical, or business school Enrolling in a local junior college Attending a state four-year college Attending a private four-year college Enrolling in an online college program Being trained on the job Entering the military service where you can get job training   The following are top ten personal characteristics employers seek in job candidates. Have students rate themselves 1 to 10 (10 being the best) for each characteristic. Then ask them to write a short summary evaluating what their ratings taught them. Honesty/Integrity Motivation/Initiative Communication skills (oral and written) Self-confidence Flexibility Interpersonal skis Strong work ethic Teamwork skills Leadership skills Enthusiasm   Pray together the Prayer to St. Joseph the Worker. O Glorious St. Joseph, model of all those who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my natural inclinations, to work with gratitude and joy, in a spirit of penance for the remission of my sins, considering it an honor to employ and develop by means of labor the gifts received from God, to work with order, peace, moderation and patience, without ever shrinking from weariness and difficulties, to work above all with purity of intention and detachment from self, having death always before my eyes and the account that I must render of time lost, of talents wasted, of good omitted, of vain complacency in success, so fatal to the work of God. All for Jesus, all through Mary, all after thine example, O Patriarch St. Joseph. Such shall be my motto in life and in death. Amen.

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Celebrate Black Catholic Americans

February is Black History Month in the United States, which is an opportunity to focus on Black American Catholics. (Another opportunity is Black Catholic History Month  in November.) Recently, several Catholic high school theology teachers shared some excellent resources and lessons to on Black Catholic Americans on the Ave Maria HS Theology Teachers Facebook page. To make sure that these resources are searchable in years to come, we have also included them here on this platform. Feel free to add any other links you might have in the comment section of this post or on the Facebook page linked above. Also search “Black Catholics” on the Engaging Faith blog for other resources.   Black Catholic Messenger Notre Dame’s Grotto Network Catholic University of America Three resources courtesy of Deacon Ned Berghausen’s Foot-Washer Blog are listed below. Deacon Berghausen is director of campus ministry at Mercy Academy in Louisville. Black and Beautiful The Catholic Church Alone Can Break the Color Line Envisioning a World that Has Never Existed   The photo in this posting is of Daniel Rudd, the founder of the Black Catholic Congress and the first Catholic newspaper in America.

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Helping Teens with Career Planning

Your students may not be fully in aware of the resources available at your school for career planning. Help them develop a plan and some sample questions to use in an interview with their guidance counselor. Share the format below. State your aims. Explain your dreams. In the best way that you can, tell your counselor the outcome that you want from your career. Reach for the sky. Share your vision. Explore alternatives. Ask your counselor to suggest more than one way to go about achieving your aims. What have other people done who have the same career goals? Where can you find additional information? What is the most practical alternative for you to pursue? Identify your resources. What do you have to do to work with as far as time, finances, and talent? Are there ways around any limitations you might have? (For example: scholarships, grants, or loans may be available to help you meet some or all of your financial obligations.) Review the alternatives and make a decision. Which alternative will most likely assist you in reaching your goal? Which alternative is most compatible with your resources? Combining the answers to these two questions will help you in reaching a decision. Take the first step of your plan. Ask your counselor to direct you to the first step of the plan. This may mean helping you to arrange an interview with a college recruiter or employer, or simply helping you with a college or job application. Here are some other questions you may wish to ask your counselor: How often am I able to see you? Must I make an appointment or will one be scheduled for me? Does the school have any special programs that might fit my aptitudes? Can you refer me to any community organization that could help me with my post-high school plans?

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Jim Caviezel's Powerful Message for Young Catholics

Jim Caviezel, the actor who played Jesus in The Passion of Christ, told the audience of young Catholics to "shake off their indifference" and "express their faith in public." This presentation--just under sixteen minutes in length--is well worth the time to show in its entirety to your students. Caviezel spoke at the recent SLS18 (Student Leadership Summit 2018) conference sponsored by The Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) in Chicago. He was there to promote his new film Paul: Apostle of Christ which is scheduled for release on March 28, 2018. After the students watch the presentation, ask for their reactions. You may wish that they share their favorite quotations by Caviezel. For example: "Shake off indifference." "Pray. Fast. Meditate on the Holy Scriptures. Take the sacraments seriously." "Embrace your cross." "Race to your goal." "You are not given freedom to do what you like. You are given freedom to do what you ought."

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