On August 27 and August 28, the feast days of two Catholic saints—mother and son—are celebrated back to back. It figures.St. Monica could be called the "persistent mother." A North African woman living in the fourth century, Monica was married to Patricus, a pagan, through the arrangement of her family. Monica endured plenty of emotional abuse from her husband, but her greater challenge was her oldest son, Augustine.When he was a child, Monica taught her son the Catholic catechism and how to pray. When Augustine grew seriously ill, he requested Baptism, but when he began to recover, Baptism was forgotten.Later, as a student in Carthage, Augustine came to follow a heretical teaching, Manachaeism, that claimed that the body was evil while the soul alone was good. He also liked to party, and he lived with his girlfriend and their son. Monica was so disgusted with Augustine that she would not let him eat or sleep in her home.Mother and son rarely spoke to each other. Still Monica continued to pray for Augustine after a bishop told her that it was better to talk to God about Augustine than to Augustine about God. The bishop also told her: "At present the heart of the young man is too stubborn, but God's time will come. It is not possible that the son of so many tears should perish."Augustine's time came some years later. In Milan, Augustine was inspored by the preaching of the Catholic bishop there, St. Ambrose. Soon after, Augustine became torn between living chastely and his past sinfulness. Augustine went out to an outer garden at the place where he was staying. He threw himself on the ground under a tree and cried out, "How long, O Lord?" Will you always be angry with me? Remember not my past sins."Just then Augustine could hear the singing of a neighbor child on the other side of the wall. The child kept repeating the same verse over and over, "Tolle lege! Tolle lege!" which means "Take up and read!" He got up, went inside, and found the Bible opened to Romans 13 where he read: "Let us throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh' (Rm 13:12-14).Augustine was baptized by Ambrose on Easter Sunday in 387. Soon after, his mother died. She said shortly before her death, "I do not know what there is now left for me to do or why I am still here. All I wished to live for was that I might see you a Catholic and a child of heaven."Augustine lived chastely from that time on. He was ordained and named bishop of Hippo. St. Augustine is one of the great scholars of the Church. He is a Doctor of the Church.His mother has not been forgotten either. St. Monica is the patron saint of mothers and fathers and of all lost and wayward children. And the church recently moved St. Monica's feast day to August 27 so that it would be near her son's the following day.ActivitiesGive each person a Bible. Ask them to randomly open to any page, as Augustine once did. Encourage a period of quiet meditation. Then go around the group asking each person to tell which words, verses, or longer passages spoke to them on the pages they opened to.Ask the students to write a story about a person they know who, as St. Augustine once did, needs conversion to a Christian lifestyle. Tell the students to used fictitious names in their writing. When they are finished, collect all of the stories. Get permission to read some of the stories aloud.Journal QuestionIf you asked your parents to tell the one dream they have for you, what do you think they would say?
Yes, in the Olympic spirit and with the knowledge that school and parish programming is upon us, consider this outdoor icebreaker as a way to bring a class or group together, raise money, and have some fun.What's Needed: a large football field with at least one goal post softball, 6 hula hoops, several cones, plastic baseball, plastic baseball bat, four-square ball a scorekeeper for each event other items for any other games you chooseDescription:In "Pay and Play Olympics" teenagers pay a quarter to participate in each field event. Scores are recorded for each person at each event. At the end of the competition, a percentage of the event profits (e.g., $1) is given to the person with the winning score. Listed below are some events you can include for this outdoor event. Feel free to add some others!
Obstacle Course.Mark an obstacle course with cones around the football field and surrounding area. The course may include running up bleachers, climbing over a low fence, navigating a patch through bushes or woods as well as running on the field. Record the times for each participant.Softball throw.Set up six hula hoops in three rows of 3, 2, and 1 in a pyramid form on the 50 yard line of the field. Have the participants remain behind a line (e.g., the the 20 yard line for stronger throwers, 35 yard line for weaker throwers) and throw a softball aiming for the hula hoops. Allow three throws per quarter. Award points based on particular hula hoops where the ball lands. Home Run Derby.Use cones to set up three "home run lines" with a graduating value of points as follows: 10, 5, 1 based on distance.Give each batter five swings for a quarter. A fly ball landing in one of the sections give that number of points. Total all of the points for five rounds to give a person a score.Rubber Ball Field Goal Contest. Using a rubber dodge ball, have the participants attempt field goals through the football uprights. Allow them three kids per quarter and to choose the yard line from which they will attempt the kick. The only rule is that the ball must be kicked from the ground (no punts). record the yard line of the farthest successful kick for each person.
As you begin a new semester, the Church is celebrating a special jubilee year dedicated to St. Paul. It began on June 28 and will run until June 29, 2009. Pope Benedict XVI hopes the Church will draw inspiration from St. Paul on the two thousand year anniversary of his birth.St. Paul was the Church’s greatest missionary. Though he experienced fear at his momentous task, he persevered and eventually suffered martyrdom. Pope Benedict hopes that all will be inspired by St. Paul during this year and be able to overcome all kinds of fears.We encourage you as you plan lessons on the Year of St. Paul to share them in the comments section of this post as a service to all who share your ministry.Here is some information to help to get you started:The Catholic News Agency offers a two-minute video on the Life of St. Paul:
The Life of St. Paul(excerpted from Encountering Jesus in the New Testament by Michael Pennock)Saul of Tarsus—the future St. Paul—was an extraordinary disciple of Jesus Christ. Thirteen out of twenty-seven New Testament books are attributed to him, though scholars today agree that St. Paul probably only wrote seven of them—Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, Philippians, and Philemon. Six other letters—2 Thessalonians, Ephesians, Colossians, and the so-called “pastoral letters” 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus—were likely penned by close disciples of Paul or by his admirers who wanted to keep his apostolic legacy alive. Collectively, these six letters are called Deuteropauline, or secondary, Pauline letters. The teaching in these letters, however, represents the kind of thinking Paul would have used to address later problems that crept up in the various first-century local Churches. The practice of using the master’s name to gain support for one’s own teaching was an accepted practice for disciples in the ancient world. Who was St. Paul? Paul’s own letters, and the Acts of the Apostles, give us a fairly detailed portrait of the man. Saul of Tarsus of the Jewish tribe of Benjamin was born approximately AD 10 during the reign of the Emperor Augustus. Tarsus was a city in Cilicia. Like many Jews of his time living outside of Palestine, he had both a Jewish name and a Roman name. The Jewish name was that of the first king of Israel, Saul, who was also from the tribe of Benjamin; the Roman name Paul (Paulus) was a well-known family name. Paul received an excellent Greek education in Tarsus. He also learned the trade of tent making there, an occupation he often used to support himself during his later missionary activity. As reported in Acts, Paul was also a Roman citizen, an important fact that spared him a beating in Jerusalem and ultimately led him to Rome for a trial. His upbringing in Tarsus made him familiar with Gentile religions, philosophies, and customs. This knowledge would help him in later life to preach the Gospel of Christ to Gentiles. In Acts, Luke tells us that, as a young man, Paul studied to be a rabbi in Jerusalem under the famous teacher Gamaliel. Paul was a strict Pharisee, trained in the Law, and willing to persecute anyone he thought was deviating from true Jewish practice. Thus, Paul was among the leaders who persecuted the early Christians. After a time of persecution of Christians, around AD 36, Paul received a dramatic revelation from Christ on the road to Damascus. The glorified Lord spoke to Paul in a blinding light, identifying himself with the Christians Paul was persecuting. Paul was subsequently baptized by Ananias and then spent some time in the Arabian desert before returning to Damascus. In 39, Paul took a brief trip to Jerusalem to meet Peter and James. He then returned to a city in Cilicia—possibly Tarsus—and remained there for nearly four years. In approximately AD 44 Barnabas invited Paul to help minister in Antioch, the third largest city in the Roman Empire (after Rome and Alexandria) and the future base of his missionary activity. After he had worked there for a year, the Antioch church sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to help the Christians of Judea during the time of famine. Between 46 and 58 Paul engaged in three extensive missionary journeys, depicted on the map, and described below: Journey 1 (46-49). On the first journey, Paul and Barnabas visited the island of Cypress and the Asia Minor locales of Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia. They established churches in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. At the end of this journey, in 49, Paul attended the famous Council of Jerusalem. There he argued for the inclusion of the Gentiles into the Church without their first converting to Judaism. Journey 2 (50-52). Antioch was the starting point of the second journey. Accompanied by Silas, and later by Timothy and Luke, Paul revisited the churches from the first journey, then passed through Galatia, went to Macedonia, and made his way to Europe preaching in the following cities: Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea, Athens, and Corinth. He wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians from Corinth. He returned to Antioch by way of Ephesus and a side trip to Jerusalem. Journey 3 (54-58). Again, this journey began in Antioch. Paul revisited the same areas as the second trip, but remained in Ephesus for three years, perhaps where he was imprisoned for a time. There he probably wrote his letters to the Philippians, Philemon, Galatians, and the first letter to the Corinthians. In early 57, Paul left Ephesus for Troas and then went to Macedonia where he likely wrote the second letter to the Corinthians. He eventually made his way to Corinth where he stayed for three months and from there wrote the Romans. On a return trip to Jerusalem in 58, Paul’s enemies had him arrested. After two years detainment in Caesarea, he finally made it to Rome around 61 where he was under house arrest for two more years. The Acts of the Apostles concludes in AD 63 with Paul in Rome happily preaching the Gospel, though under house arrest. One tradition has Paul martyred under Nero in 64 about the same time Peter was killed. Another tradition claims he was released from prison, traveled to Spain where he preached the Gospel, and returned to Rome where he was again arrested and then beheaded by Nero in the year 67. Paul’s life is an unparalleled adventure story of commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. He eloquently describes his motivation, “I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me” (Gal 2:20). Paul felt this divine love so deeply that he felt compelled to preach this good news to everyone. Because of his call to spread the Gospel, he founded countless churches, opened the Gospel to Gentiles, wrote faith-rousing letters that teach us yet today, and inspired loyal disciples to continue his work of instruction and encouragement by writing letters in his name. Paul was a model disciple of Christ, worthy of emulation for his courage alone. He wrote:Five times at the hands of the Jews I received forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I passed a night and a day on the deep; on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own race, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent fastings, through cold and exposure. And apart from these things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led to sin, and I am not indignant? (2 Cor 11:24-29).
More Resources:The Vatican link on the Year of St. PaulThe Catholic Culture website offers many valuable resourcesSeveral introductory articles are linked at the St. Anthony Messenger American Catholic website.Don't forget to attach lesson plan ideas for the Year of St. Paul as you develop them. Your colleagues will certainly appreciate your efforts.
Rev. Bosco Peters, an Anglican priest from New ZeaIand has forwarded a link to a blog focusing on ecumenical issues, especially in the area of liturgy with links to other blogs with many good articles on spirituality. He invites high school Catholic theology teachers to peruse his sites for helpful links. He wrote:
I run an ecumenical liturgy and spirituality website "Liturgy" with resources on the Three Year Sunday lectionary, weekly reflections on significant, historic prayers, monasticism, the Liturgy of the Hours, lesson suggestions, and much more. For the school context, there are resources for both classroom and chapel. I have been teaching (though not continuously) in Catholic, Anglican, and state schools since 1980, and have been chaplain to an Anglican boys' school for over a decade.
There are many useful links – and if you want to link your school, Religious Education, or chaplaincy website, or from a parish or personal blog – just let me know.
The life of teenagers is filled with choices. In the sumer time, some choices are as simple as whether they will spend the day at the beach or at a friend's house. Other choices are more difficult. Teens who you will be ready to greet in your classroom in the next few weeks may have been faced with or will soon face some of the following choices: To drink alcohol or not. To choose a college prep or vocational track of high school classes. To follow their parents' rules or to break curfew. To keep the same group of friends or to hang out with a new group. To have sex or to live chastely. To go to Sunday Mass or not.These kinds of choices are both difficult and important, and they can have life and death implications for a teenager's future. As Catholics, we believe that we are not alone in making important decisions. Jesus has left us the Holy Spirit to inspire our hearts and to help us to make good and right choices.The process of distinguishing between right and wrong, what you want and what you really need, and what is realistic and what is only an unreachable dream, is known as discernment.There are several discernment processes you can share with your students for when they are about to make an important decision. All of these should involve prayer. One process can be taken from the Spiritual Exercisesof St. Ignatius Loyola, a former sixteenth-century soldier from Spain.While involved in a battle, Ignatius had his leg shattered by a cannonball. The medics in the field set the leg poorly and Ignatius was forced to spend months in recovery. He found the idle time boring and asked his attendants to bring him some romance novels for reading. None of this type of book could be found. Rather, Ignatius was given books about the life of Jesus and the saints. As he read them, Ignatius was gradually transformed. On his sick bed, he made the promise that he would imitate the lives of the saints as much as he could once he recovered.One of his first stops after was well was a small town of Manresa where Ignatius made a retreat, living for a year in an outdoor cave. There he began to formulate his Spiritual Exercises, from which the following decision-making process is drawn. Share these steps with your students for making any important decisions:
Pray. Recognize God's presence in all that you do. When you pray regularly, you will easily be able to approach God for help in making a difficult choice, even when you must do so at the spur of the moment.Look at All Sides of the Issue.Make a list of pros and cons. Weigh each side. You need to consider what people who you respect would say about this choice. Also consider what the Church has to say.Imagine Your Final Decision.Think about the consequences if you choose the way you think you will. What would your parents say? What woud a younger brother or sister think about your choice?> If you are uncomfortable with the answer to either of these questions, you may be about to make a wrong choice.Make Your Choice and Act.If you have done the previous three steps, trust that God is helping you make the right choice. Act on what you have decided.Evaluate Your Choice.If you later feel a sense of satisfaction after you have acted on your choice, you have likely made a good choice. Ask yourself if your relationship with God and others has improved or worsened because of the choice you made.Others became attracted to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, and eventually with ten other men, he formed the "Company of Jesus," whose mission was to be of service to the pope. Today, the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, is the largest religious order in the Catholic Church and the sponsor of many high schools and colleges.And, St. Ignatius of Loyola's Feast Day is on July 31.Additional Lessons1. Distribute wallet-size index cards. Have the students print the decision-making steps listed above on the cards. Tell them to keep them handy for future reference.2. Give real-life examples from the choice categories listed above. Take the participants through the discernment process to help them see how to make a good choice in the situations described.3. Have the students finish this sentence in writing: "I promise to make a commitment to Christ by...."
On October 11, Ave Maria Press is offering its annual Teacher Enrichment Day at Notre Dame. This year's keynote speaker is Brother Robert Bimonte, FSC, who will speak on the importance of providing brain-compatible learning in religious educucation. The Hewlett/Packard Foundation has recognized his work in this field. Br. Robert, who is currently the Executive Director of the Elementary Department of NCEA, has conducted numerous retreats and workshops on a wide variety of topics, including collaborative learning, the power of myth, transformational leadership and brain-compatible learning. Reprised below is an article Br. Robert wrote for the Ave Maria Press Religious Education newsletter.For more information and to register for this year's Teacher Enrichment Day, please contact Karey Welde. Admission is free! Teaching with the Brain in MindBy Robert R. Bimonte, FSC Trying to get adolescents excited about religious studies is often a challenge. In my experience, their most frequently asked question was, “Why do we need to learn this? But if truth be told, that is a very good question. All learners—whether they are children, adolescents or adults—need motivation to learn because that is how our brains work.In order to activate the chemicals and proteins needed to allow our brains to focus and pay attention, the limbic region of the brain must be stimulated. This area is located in the middle of the brain above the spinal cord and below the cerebral cortex. It is the center of both memory and emotion, and thus the two are inextricably linked—both literally and metaphorically.In terms of perception, this is the first part of the brain to be stimulated when taking in information. Whatever we perceive through our senses travels to the limbic brain for evaluation. In a split second, this part of our brain determines whether or not this sensory information or experience is new or old, interesting or boring, similar to a pleasurable experience from the past or one that we would rather forget. If the limbic system determines that this is something worth our attention, it triggers a series of chemical changes in the rest of our brain that cause us to focus and pay attention. Thus, in a very real sense, stimulating the limbic system is the key to turning on the brain for learning.The main challenge for educators, therefore, is stimulating the limbic part of students’ brains. How do we do that? Remember the word “CUE,” which is an acronym for: C reativeU sefulE motional ConnectionCREATIVECreativity in teaching is one of the best ways to ensure that learning will take place. Humor, novelty, rhyme, music, dance, drama—anything out of the ordinary will cause the limbic system to take notice and activate the brain’s learning processes.USEFULUsefulness is the answer to the question, “Why do we need to learn this?” Telling students that they need some piece of information or a particular skill for the future only provides motivation if students know what they plan to do in the coming years. Usefulness is really determined by the individual learner in the here and now. The answer to that question needs to be in the present tense. How is learning about my faith going to help me today? Helping adolescents discover how faith can help them in the challenges and decisions they face each day is essential.EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONDid you ever have a teacher you really loved or admired? Did you learn for that teacher? You absolutely did. When students know that they are loved and cared for, the emotional connection that is established between teacher and student provides a very powerful motivation to learn. Teachers must not only communicate love for their students, but just as importantly, love for their subject. Teachers of religion must be on fire with the love of God and communicate that passion to the young people in their classrooms. Passion and enthusiasm are signs of God’s presence and that is truly what we want our students to catch.
The twenty-third World Youth Day begins tomorrow in Sydney, Australia. The Vatican offers a chronology of the previous events from their foundational events in 1984.This year’s event will bring 15,000 young people from the United States to Sydney from July 15 through 20 the largest delegation representing any country outside of Australia. The pilgrims will be joined by 50 U.S. bishops, including Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.The gathering of thousands of Catholic in Australia has brought out the typical negative stories in the media about how the Church is out of touch with today’s youth.However, a more detailed study by the German Bertelsmann Foundation found that 85% of young adults between 18 and 29 are religious, and 44% are deeply religious. Only 13% have no appreciation for God or faith in general."The assumption that religious belief is dwindling continuously from generation to generation is clearly refuted by our worldwide surveys — even in many industrialized nations," Dr. Martin Rieger, project leader of the Bertelsmann Foundation's Religion Monitor, concluded in a press statement.There are several sources for keeping up with the World Youth Day events on the Internet. The official World Youth Day website is the best source to track the daily schedule of events. Also note the virtual website recommended by the U.S. Bishops for sneaking live looks at the festivities.
Most Catholic high schools require a summer reading program for their students in several subjects. But how many schools require reading in the area of religion or Catholic studies?The website catholicsummer reading.com promotes such reading for Catholics of all ages Several suggestions are posted at the website.More suggestions for summer adult reading can be found at several sources, including the magazine America. Fr. John McCloskey suggests 100 books to form a "lifetime" Catholic reading plan.It may be too late to reach your students for this summer with some of these great books. But it's not too late for you to forge a lifetime of reading to support the practice of your faith and ministry.
