Pope Francis has raised the liturgical memorial of St. Mary Magdalene, the woman from the Gospels who, according to the pope, "so loved Christ and was so greatly loved by Christ, to a feast day. The text of Pope Francis' announcement, "Apostle of the Apostles," is available here.
As you find an occasion to share this news with your students, find time to also:
A news announcement on the lifting of the memorial to a feast
Information on the differences between a solemnity, feast, and memorial
Some background on the life of St. Mary Magdalene
Background on the possible location of Magdala
A reflection by Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles on the meaning of the life of St. Mary Magdalene
Barbara Jane Sloan, currently a doctoral student in theology at Marquette University, and formerly a Catholic high school theology teacher AND former poster in the Engaging Faith blog was featured this week in the New York Times with her new husband Nathaniel Peters. Enjoy reading of their unique and happy courtship. This is also an article suitable for sharing with your students as part of a marriage and vocations course. Congratulations to Jane and Nathaniel!
As the school year comes to a close, here are some prayers to share with your students as they embark on the immediate future of summer while considering what life will bring them in the semesters ahead. Each of the prayers is taken from Day by Day The Notre Dame Prayerbook for Students.
For Responsible Decisions
O God,
who has called me to place such complete trust in you
that nothing can tyrannize my life,
deliver me, I pray . . . .
from becoming a slave to my books
from daydreaming away my time
from an over concern about sex
from an over anxiety about my future
from an uncritical view of myself
from an overcritical view of myself
and from all the half-known deities
which try to dictate what I shall be.
Save me, that I may be free
to make responsible decisions
and serve you with wholeness
Amen.
--John W. Vannorsdall
For A Light in the Darkness
Father, grant that I may be
a bearer of Christ Jesus, your Son.
Allow me to warm the often cold, impersonal
scene of modern life with your burning love.
Strengthen me, by your Holy Spirit
to carry out my mission of changing the world
or some definite part of it, for the better.
Despite my lamentable failures, bring home to me
that my advantages are your blessings
to be shared with others.
Make me more energetic in setting to rights
what I find wrong with the world
instead of complaining about it or myself.
Nourish in me a practical desire
to build up rather than tear down
to reconcile more than polarize
to go out on a limb rather than crave security.
Never let me forget that it is far better
to light one candle than to curse the darkness.
And to join my light, one day, with yours.
Amen.
--Christopher Prayer Book
To Christ Our Only Teacher
Thank you, Jesus, for bringing me this far.
In your light I see the light of my life.
Your teaching is brief and to the point.
You persuade us to trust in our heavenly Father;
you command us to love one another.
What is easier than to believe in God?
What is sweeter than to love him?
Your yoke is pleasant, your burden light,
you, the only and only Teacher!
Your promise everything to those who obey your teaching,
you ask nothing too hard for a believer,
nothing a lover can refuse.
Your promises to your disciples are true,
entirely true, nothing but the truth.
Even more, you promise use yourself,
the perfection of all that can be made perfect.
Than you, Jesus, now and always.
Amen.
--Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464)
The end of the school year is time for review.
While the following “50 Questions” are part of the Send Out Your Spirit high-school Confirmation program, they serve well as a general review for students enrolled in just about any Catholic high school theology course. You may wish to assign some or all of these questions as part of a graded final, extra credit, or as part of a number of quiz games you might wish to play with your students in these last days and weeks of school.
50 Questions
1. Define “catechumenate.”
2. What are some differences between the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) and the Rite of Baptism of Children (RBC)?
3. Name the elements of the basic Rite of Baptism.
4. How many adults were baptized at your parish at the last Easter vigil?
5. How many children were baptized in the last calendar year at your parish?
6. What are the central beliefs about God espoused in our Catholic creeds?
7. Name at least four attributes of God.
8. Name and explain three dogmas about the Holy Trinity.
9. Where is the tabernacle placed in your parish? Why is it placed where it is?
10. When is the Feast of the Holy Trinity?
11. How did the early Church answer Arius’s claim that Jesus only took the “appearance” of a man?
12. Define “Incarnation.”
13. What did Jesus tell his disciples would happen to him in Jerusalem?
14. How can you come to know Jesus?
15. How do you think you would respond if someone held a gun to your head and asked, “Do you believe in Jesus Christ?”
16. Name and explain three kinds of writing in the Bible.
17. What are the three stages of the composition of the Gospel?
18. How did the Second Vatican Council encourage a renewed interest in the Scriptures for Catholics?
19. What is meant by the term “Septuagint”? “Vulgate”?
20. Which of the following translations of the Bible are accepted by Catholics? Protestants? Both?
King James New Jerusalem Revised Standard
New American The Way Good News
21. What were the causes of the schism between the churches of East and West and of the Protestant Reformation?
22. How does the Church answer the criticism that “Catholics pray to saints”?
23. Define “infallibility” related to Church teaching.
24. Who is the bishop of your diocese? What do you know about him?
25. Define and tell the function of each of these Church structures:
archdiocese college of cardinals parish
diocese deanery parish council
26. How does the morality of human acts depend on the object chosen, the intention, and the circumstances of the action?
27. Write the Beatitudes.
28. Write the Ten Commandments.
29. Write the precepts of the Church.
30. How can the Sacrament of Penance help you to live a moral life?
31. How is the Paschal Mystery like other historical events? How is it different from other historical events?
32. Define “transubstantiation.”
33. According to the Council of Florence, what three things are necessary for a sacrament to be valid?
34. Name the two main parts of the Mass. What takes place in each part?
35. Put these parts of the Mass in sequential order:
Penitential Rite Gospel Consecration
First Reading Our Father Communion
Homily Sign of Peace Holy, Holy, Holy
Eucharistic Prayer Offertory Concluding Rite
36. Name and explain three basic human rights.
37. What is meant by the phrase “preferential option for the poor”?
38. List the corporal works of mercy.
39. List the spiritual works of mercy.
40. Outline the Church’s basic positions on the justice issues of consumerism, the environment, and war and violence.
41. Write at least four ways Catholics are able to know the Holy Spirit.
42. What is the essential rite of Confirmation?
43. Name four effects of the Sacrament of Confirmation.
44. List the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
45. How many candidates will be confirmed at the next Confirmation at your parish?
46. How is self-concept related to self-esteem?
47. Who administers the Sacrament of Matrimony?
48. What does the Church teach about sex outside of marriage?
49. What is meant by the term “consecrated life”?
50. How is the ministerial priesthood different from the common priesthood?
If you are interested in an answer sheet for these questions, leave your name and email address in the comment section below this post and we will send them to you.
This interesting cartoon provides some food-for-thought on assessing the way students learn. You might ask yourself:
What is your first reaction on viewing this cartoon?
In what ways do you regularly encounter students who learn in different ways?
How can you more fairly assess students based on their different learning styles?
What type of resources (e.g., different styles of tests, assignment rubrics, etc.) do you need to more fairly address this issue?
You may also wish to share this cartoon with your colleagues and students themselves in order to gain their insights.
Multiple Intelligences
Additionally, you may wish to review the classical multiple intelligences that describe the ways that people learn. Developed by Howard Gardner, a professor at the Harvard School of Education, the multiple intelligences explain eight particular ways that students learn.
Though people learn using all different styles, each person usually has preferred ways of acquiring and processing information. The best learning takes places when teaching methods offer processes, assignments, and projects for all eight intelligences. This provides opportunities for students to access their preferred intelligence and to proceed from their chosen strengths.
What follows is a brief description of Gardner’s eight multiple intelligences and information about which methods students prefer.
Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence
Bodily/Kinesthetic intelligence involves the capacity to use one’s whole body to express ideas and feelings. It specifically involves using one’s hands to create things or to skillfully manipulate objects. A concrete way to think of people learning in this style is that they are active and engaged in a “learning-by-doing” assignment or project. Methods include:
developing and performing role plays
participating in a theater arts performance
creating and/or demonstrating the use of a relevant tool, instrument, or utensil
exercising or competing in athletics
Interpersonal/Relational Intelligence
This intelligence requires the ability to perceive and appreciate the feelings, moods, intentions, and motivations of other people. Those who prefer this type of learning flourish working in groups, teams, or with a partner. Learning methods include:
brainstorming ideas
playing cooperative games
dialoguing with others
working on a group project
Intrapersonal/Introspective Intelligence
The Intrapersonal/Introspective intelligence requires the ability to base one’s actions on self-understanding. Being in touch with one’s dreams, feelings, moods, intentions, motivations, and spirituality is a key aspect of this intelligence. People who learn best in this style usually prefer to work alone on self-directed assignments. Examples of the intrapersonal/introspective intelligence are:
writing reports or research papers
keeping a journal
explaining the personal connection of some given information
identifying with characters in a story
Logical/Mathematical Intelligence
The Logical/Mathematical intelligence requires the skill to work well with numbers and to use reason to solve problems. Persons who learn well in this style are adept, for example, at categorizing and exploring relationships within a set of data. They tend to find it difficult to function in an environment that is chaotic or one in which the goals are not clearly defined. Methods that complement this intelligence are:
categorizing names, places, and events
outlining bodies of material
exploring patterns and relationships
problem solving
Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence
Distinguishing rhythm, pitch, and melody is a characteristic of this intelligence. People who prefer to learn in this style often express themselves in musical forms. They enjoy being surrounded by sound and rhythm and understand these as learning tools. Some methods that are successful for this style are:
making and playing instruments
setting stories to music
creating or performing in a musical
writing new lyrics for familiar tunes
Naturalist Intelligence
A person who prefers a Naturalist intelligence is at home in the natural environment. He or she appreciates the joys of nature and is comfortable raising and caring for plants and animals. This person also often enjoys camping, hiking, and many other outdoor activities. Methods that are consistent with the Naturalist Intelligence intelligence are:
experimenting in a lab setting
classifying elements in the natural world
"digging” or any simulation of an archaeological experience
demonstrating proper procedure and care for gardens or animals
Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence
The Verbal/Linguistic intelligence involves use of the spoken and written word. A person who learns best with this intelligence appreciates being able to see things in print, hear spoken words, and say things aloud. Memorization is also a key learning method. Other methods consistent with this intelligence are:
debating
reading and summarizing the material
memorizing and repeating multiple facts
writing essays
Visual/Spatial Intelligence
This intelligence appeals to people who like to learn by visualizing and dreaming about concepts and ideas. Learners in this style incorporate both sight and mental images. Whereas the written word may frustrate these learners, visuals in the form of charts, pictures, graphs, and maps help them to grasp a topic. Other methods that fit into this intelligence include:
drawing, painting, and sculpting
creating collages, posters, and murals
designing maps and graphs
producing videos
It’s not often that a Kentucky Derby champion trainer and his wife make it into an Ave Maria Press high school theology textbook. But that’s the case with Doug O’Neill, trainer of 2016 champion Nyquist (and 2012 Kentucky Derby winner, I’ll Have Another) and his wife Linette Galvan O’Neill.
Doug and Linette both are graduates of St. Monica Catholic High School in Santa Monica, California. Due to a special friendship with their former teacher and coach who is also the author of Marriage and Holy Orders: Your Call to Love and Serve, the interesting story of Doug’s marriage proposal to Linette made it into a chapter on the Sacrament of Matrimony.
More backstory: Shanda Farmer, the daughter of Chicago White Sox announcer Ed Farmer, who communicated Doug’s proposal, was also a friend and classmate of Linette at St. Monica’s.
Doug and Linette have been married for over twenty years. They have two children, Daniel and Kaylin.
Encourage your students to reach the top of their vocations and professions and to strive for a successful family life like Doug and Linette. And root Doug and Nyquist on in this Saturday’s Preakness Stakes!
Does your school have any rituals or practices that help seniors make their first major transition in life? There are always those students who cannot wait to leave high school, but for many seniors, they are about to leave a place they feel like is a home with peers and adult faculty, staff, and coaches who have become familiar and dear to them. This may be just their first separation, though, as some will leave their families for schools or the military and go far away.
There seems to be more literature about how teachers and parents can say good-bye and let go with their graduating seniors than guidance for helping teens themselves leave their friends and families. Teens can use some help with transitioning too. Suggest some of the following opportunities:
Invite students see that their lives will no longer be the same although that does not mean that their lives will change for the worse!
Give students time for reflection, whether that be through meditation, journaling, or taking walks. Reflection can help students identify areas of challenge and worry. Class discussion then can help seniors surface these concerns in a safe place.
Suggest that students take one day at a time rather than taking on the totality of the change in front of them and try to live in the moments in a mindful way.
Recommend that seniors find adult mentors with whom they can process the upcoming changes, that is, with people who have “been there.” If you feel comfortable, offer your own time for this kind of conversation.
Encourage students to think optimistically about the future. Remind them of the Christian faith in the Resurrection: that life comes out of deaths like leaving one community for a new one. Hope is the appropriate Christian response to the unknown future.
Also, you may want to remind the students about Jesus’ first disciples. They had spent several years with Jesus and had given up their previous lives to follow him. All of a sudden, without much warning, Jesus died at the hand of the state. Their presence in the “upper room” reflects the type of paralysis and anxiety they felt even after encountering the Risen Jesus. They were in this interim state until they received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, at which point they were able to share the Good News and baptize just as Jesus had commissioned them to do.
Like those first disciples, tends need time to transition from one way of being in the world to a new one. Seniors should not expect that they can just sail through graduation and on to their new lives without some processing and “in between” time. They should be patient with themselves and expect the help of the Holy Spirit as they move on to the next stages of their lives. Remind your students that God, who loves them beyond their understanding, wants them to succeed. They should count on his help.
(Several of these suggestions are based on the short article, “Life Changes: 5 Tips for Getting through Any Period of Transition,” by Carolyn Gregoire, December 11, 2012, Huff Post Teen.)
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has announced the dates for the annual Fornight for Freedom, an occasion to pray, promote, and work for religious liberty. The year, the Fornight for Freedom will be held from June 21--the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More--to July 4, Independence Day. The USCCB has articles, documents, videos, prayers, and suggestions for Catholics to involve themselves in this effort at a special Fortnight for Freedom link on its homepage.
Prayer for the Protection of Religious Liberty
O God our Creator,
from your provident hand we have received
our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
You have called us as your people and given us
the right and the duty to worship you, the only true God,
and your Son, Jesus Christ.
Through the power and working of your Holy Spirit,
you call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world,
bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel
to every corner of society.
We ask you to bless us
in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty.
Give us the strength of mind and heart
to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened;
give us courage in making our voices heard
on behalf of the rights of your Church
and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.
Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father,
a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters
gathered in your Church
in this decisive hour in the history of our nation,
so that, with every trial withstood
and every danger overcome—
for the sake of our children, our grandchildren,
and all who come after us—
this great land will always be "one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
