. . . when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Yesterday’s 7.0 earthquake was a catastrophic event for a country already suffering from tremendous heartache. Listed below are some opportunities for you and your students to get involved in the relief efforts. As time goes on there will be more and more opportunities for organized relief services. If you teach social justice, then please interrupt whatever you are teaching – this is time for both prayer and action!Fact Sheets about Haiti (pre-earthquake)“Haiti – Fast Facts,” Food for the Poor“Haiti Fact Sheet,” Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights“Haiti,” USAIDHaitian Earthquake Prayer ServiceLeader: Let’s begin in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We gather today in prayer for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. May the Lord provide comfort to those in need and strength for those who aid them.Reading: A reading from the book of the Prophet IsaiahThe Lord is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint nor grow weary and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny. He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak he makes vigor abound. Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall, they that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles’ wings; they will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.Isaiah 40:28-31Leader: The Response is “Lord, hear our prayer.”All: Lord, hear our prayer.Leader: For all those who died during the earthquake in Haiti, that they experience the peace of Christ in heaven. We pray.All: Lord, hear our prayer.Leader: For families who have lost loved ones, that they would be comforted in their time of need.All: Lord, hear our prayer.Leader: For the organizations and governments that will be providing aid during the coming weeks and months, that their work will be blessed with speed and efficiency.All: Lord, hear our prayer.Leader: For an alleviation of the devastating poverty of the country of Haiti, that in the rebuilding of the country new structures would be set in place to assist in the growth of its people.All: Lord, hear our prayer.Leader: Let us take a moment of silence for the people of Haiti.All: Our Father…All: AmenWhere can I donate?Catholic Relief ServicesAmerican Red Cross released $200,000 in AidFood for the PoorUNICEFMercyCorpsWays to stay connected with up-to-the-minute news on the relief efforts:www.twitter.com/CatholicReliefwww.twitter/com/CRSnewswww.twitter.com/FoodforthePoor
Tell the teens that this activity (adapted from an activity by Sr. Kieran Sawyer, SSND) will help them to remember some of the events, people, and experiences of childhood and imagine a time when in the future when they will look back on their entire lives in the company of Jesus. Have the teens sit near a partner and with a piece of scratch paper and a pencil. Tell them to doodle words, phrases, or pictures that will help them remember how they finished each of the following sentences: Sentence StartersMy Success Stories The first time I new my parents were proud of me was . . . My greatest accomplishment in junior high was . . . My most recent success is . . . Learning the Hard Way A lesson I had to learn the hard way was . . . Childhood Favorites As a kid, my favorite video game was . . . As a kid, my favorite television program was . . . As a kid, my favorite outdoor place to play was . . . Favorite Summer Fun The best vacation experience I had with my family was . . . Grown-up I first realized I was grown up when . . . You Are My Hero My childhood hero (not counting my parents) was . . . My hero now (not counting my parents) is . . . Special Gift The most special gift I ever received was . . . Disappointment The greatest disappointment I ever had was . . . God's Presence A time I realized God was present in my life was . . . After you have read all the sentence starters, read the first category. Tell them to take turns sharing a memory fro that category. After one person shares a particular memory, the other person should also share the same memory. Then, the second person can choose a memory to share. Repeat in the same pattern for all of the categories.
Wishing You and Your Familya Holy and Blessed Christmas 2009 Ave Maria PressNotre Dame, Indiana
We are pleased to announce the publication of Jesus Christ: God's Revelation to the World. This high school textbook presents an introduction to understanding Divine Revelation, especially through Sacred Scripture. It is the perfect text to support students and teachers alike who are enrolled in or leading the first course of of a high school theology curriculum, especially in sequence with Course 1 "The Revelation of Jesus Christ in Scripture" from the United States Catholic Bishops Doctrinal Elements of a Curriculum Framework. More information to follow. In the meantime, contact Karey Circosta for details on how to have an complimentary adoption review copy sent to your school!
As a last-minute service project, provide space for teens to offer a baby-sitting service for parents who need to do last-minute Christmas shopping. The teens baby-sit the children at the school or parish while the parents are shopping. Recommendation: Do not accept children who have not been potty-trained. If you can pull this event together in the short-term, the Saturday before Christmas would be an opportune date.At the event itself, arrange several stations where the teens can interact with and supervise the children, for example, two or three different craft areas where teens lead the construction of things like Christmas wreaths, coloring projects, or the cutting out of snowflakes from white construction paper. At another station, keep several DVDs on hand. It's preferable to have short thirty-minute presentations rather than full-length movies in order to continually attract the attention of more and more kids. Finally, many teens can spend one-on-one time with the children playing board games and interacting in many other forms of play.Make sure to go through any proper channels and provide permission slips and sign-in sheets as needed. Keep the teenagers around to clan up the nursery area when the baby-sitting is over.
In remembrance of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12, note the following resources to apply for lessons and prayers on the feast and on the Blessed Virgin Mary in general. Song to Our Lady of Guadalupe A beautiful rendition of a "Song to Our Lady of Guadalupe" is performed by Molly Chesna, perfect for a prayer reflection: "Hail Mary" from Dago Red by John Fante The following selection is quoted in The Catholic Spirit: An Anthology for Discovering Faith Through Literature, Art, Film, and Music. It is written in a "stream of consciousness" style that attempts to capture the inner thoughts of a person as the thoughts occur. They had said at the hospital that Papa was going to die, and nobody knew it but me and Mamma and you, you Honey, but we had prayed and I sat smirking, pooh-poohing at death because we had prayed and I knew we had done our share for Papa, and that he would live. The rest of them wouldn’t go to bed that night, they were afraid Papa would die, and they all waited, and already Grandma planned the funeral, but I smirked and went to bed and slept very happy, with your beads in my fingers, kissing the cross a few times and then dozing off because Papa could not die after my prayers, because you were my girl, my queen, and there was no doubt in my heart. And in the morning there was wild joy to wake me, because Papa had lived and would live some more, a lot of years to come, and there was Mamma back from the hospital, beaming and sticky when she kissed us for joy, and I heard her say to Grandma: “He lived because he has an iron constitution. He is a strong man. You can’t kill that man.” And when I heard that, I snickered. They didn’t know, these people, they didn’t know about you and me, you Honey, and I thought of your pale face, your dark hair, your feet on the serpent at the side-altar, and I said, she’s wonderful, she’s sure wonderful. Oh, those were the days! Oh, I loved you then! You were the celestial blue, and I looked up at you when I walked to school with books under my arms, and my ecstasy was simple and smashing, crushing and mad and whirling, all these things across my chest, sensations, and you in the blue sky, in my blue shirt, in the covers of my blue-covered book. You were the color blue and I saw you everywhere and then I saw the statue in the church, at the side-altar, with your feet on the serpent, and I said and said a thousand times, I said, oh, you Honey, and I wasn’t afraid of anything. . . . Assignment Write your own "stream of consciousness" about your faith and friendship with Mary, the Mother of God.
