Daily Scripture Reflection: Saturday, Feb. 4

Reading: 1 Kings 3:4-13 Mark 6:30-34

Drawing Near: In today’s Gospel, I call my disciples to come and rest awhile. As a catechist, you are my disciple. Come. Rest with me awhile.

To view the complete Gospel reading, click here.

Idea of the Month: January

Finding Secret Valentine Messages in the Bible
by Patricia Banner

Are you looking for a fun project for Valentine’s Day? Invite children to make valentine puzzles with secret messages from the Bible.

Catechist Patricia Banner uses these valentine puzzles to teach children how to find passages in the Bible. And here’s how she does it.

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Idea of the Month: December

Traveling Vocation Tote Bags
by Donna Stachulski

Vocation Tote Bags are the invention of DRE Donna Stachulski and are intended to increase vocation awareness at St. Linus Parish in Dearborn Heights, MI. Eight Vocation Tote Bags travel throughout the year to families of the children in the religious education program at St. Linus.

Continue reading "Idea of the Month: December"

St. Juan Diego Wooden-Spoon Puppets

by Sr. Vivian Giulianelli, S.A.

Make these charming wooden-spoon puppets with your students. The objective of this activity is to learn about Our Lady of Guadalupe (whose feast day is December 12) and St. Juan Diego (whose feast day is December 9) and to have students retell the story with their puppets.
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Idea of the Month: November

Prepare Your Hearts—An Advent Prayer Service*
by Sister Jenada Fanetti, SDS

In this prayer service, Jeremiah, Ruth, and John the Baptist come to life and share their stories to urge children to prepare for Jesus’ coming by finding everyday ways to follow him.

Sister Jenada Fanetti, SDS, pastoral care minister for St. Isidore Congregation in Mount Calvary, WI, has written scripts for each of these biblical figures. She wants children to see that God continues to send prophets to prepare the way for the Savior. Sister Jenada has played the roles of all of the biblical figures. But you may wish to ask adult leaders or older students to take the parts of Jeremiah, Ruth, and John the Baptist.

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The Empty Manger

Empty and Welcoming Hearts
by Jeanne Heiberg

The empty manger is a strong symbol of the longing
of the human heart for something noble and great.
The empty manger represents simple and humble
hearts that are ready to welcome Jesus when he
comes. To help your students experience Advent as
a time of longing for Jesus and preparing for his
coming, have them make mangers to keep on your
classroom prayer table or to put in their family
creche at home. If you have a class creche, put
the students’ mangers in and around it.
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The Wreath Symbol Craft and Prayer Activity

by Jeanne Heiberg

An Advent wreath with its candles glowing on a dining table, a wreath of evergreens, pinecones, and berries on the front door, circles of greenery hung on the pillars and walls of the church apse—all convey Christmas warmth and cheer at this coldest, darkest time of the year. The wreath’s circle shape has meanings that touch people deeply, most often at an unconscious level.
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Bits O' Wisdom: A Woman Clothed in the Sun

by Cullen Schippe

What is so darn fascinating about royalty? For a democratic people, we seem to have an inordinate love of all things royal. I am not talking about just kings and queens, princes and dukes. I include our passion for celebrity. We enjoy peeking into the homes and lifestyles of the rich and famous. Magazines that let us ogle the private lives of celebrated people fly off the shelves. Just about everyone has a few “star sightings” to share—at the drop of a hat.

In the liturgical year, forming a bridge between the Sundays in Ordinary Time and the Advent and Christmas Seasons are feasts that actually focus our attention on royalty. One is the Feast of Christ the King and another is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe—Queen of Heaven and Patron of the Americas.

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Start with Prayer!

by Eric Ruszala

No part of any curriculum is more important than prayer. If I teach my students everything there is to know about the Catholic faith but have not taught them to be aware of God, to go to God, to talk to God, and to listen to God, I have failed as a catechist.

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10 Techniques for Teaching the Bible

by Kate Ristow

The fifth graders were called forth from the pews after the homily. As catechists called names, the children went to the pastor and received a Bible. When each child had a copy of the Sacred Scriptures, the pastor invited the children to face the assembly. He asked several questions about how they would treat God’s Word. He then encouraged the assembly to extend our hands and join him in blessing the Bibles and the children.

As the children returned quietly to their places, I couldn’t help but think, “What will happen to these Bibles now? How will catechists help the kids ‘get into’ the Scriptures?”

Here are some strategies for working with the Bible in your classroom and enabling your students to recognize God’s Word as a lifelong resource for growing in faith.

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Saintly Stewardship

by Kathy Carlisle

Each year, our students participate in a stewardship drive to identify ways they can commit their time, treasures, and talents to the parish and broader community. We added a new element of faith to this topic by incorporating the saints.

Associating Saints
I present one lesson on the lives of saints who are often paired together, such as Joachim and Anne, Perpetua and Felicity, and Peter and Paul. I offer basic information about each saint and explain the virtues that each one demonstrated in his or her life of service and faithful living. If time permits, I have students spend a few weeks
researching these saints.

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Idea of the Month: October

The Saints Go Marching!
by Kelley Van Lanen

The saints go marching into church for the All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day celebration at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Bark River, MI.

Preparation for the celebration begins when DRE Kelley Van Lanen has each grade in the parish’s program choose a saint to study. Each group prepares a presentation on their saint and one or more students from each group dress up as the saint they studied.

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Think of God — Like the Saints

by Jeanne Heiberg

God promises to be with us, carrying us through difficult times. Jesus and the saints knew this and so we can trust they are always present, helping us to practice the golden key: to think of God when things are difficult. Help students understand that God doesn’t want us to go through difficulties alone with this Golden Key Mobile activity.

Sitting in the dentist's chair waiting to have
a tooth pulled, I used my time to do some
meditating from a favorite daily prayer guide.
The title of that day's mediation was "The
Golden Key." It said that when things get
difficult, don't think of the difficulty.
Think of God.

Continue reading "Think of God — Like the Saints"

Bits O' Wisdom: By Their Fruits

by Cullen Schippe

For me, one of the highlights of the Church year was not liturgical. It was the parish fall festival with the freshly harvested fruits and vegetables, with home-baked goodies, with fun and games, and with a warm sense of family all around.

The fall festival was a parochial Linus blanket, and thoughts of it are reminders of a simpler and more secure time.

Today security is less a sense of home and community. Security is now a product that insures our well-being. Our home needs to be as safe as a fortress. Investments need to be insured. Wages must be guaranteed. In a world in the wake of events such as the Murrah Federal Building destruction, the attacks of 9/11, or the massacre in Norway, security cannot be left to chance.

Yet, everyone knows that there are no security systems—no comforting fall festivals—that can keep out all dangers. Living and growing involves risk. Christ is not the master insurance broker with the Church as an exclusive agent. Rather, Jesus offers assurance not insurance.

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Presenting Changes to the Mass

The Mass: Helping Kids Take Their Part
by Kate Ristow

The publication of the Roman Missal, Third Edition presents us with a unique opportunity of guiding learners to rediscover the meaning of the Eucharistic liturgy in their lives.

We can help students understand that, as my favorite liturgist says, they can get more out of the Mass by putting more into it. The timeline for the inauguration of the new translation gives us the gift of time. Kids—and adults, too, for that matter—are simply not going to learn the revised Mass texts overnight.

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Editor's Note: Yikes! No Lesson Plan?

Yikes! No Lesson Plan
by Kass Dotterweich

It happens -- rarely. But when it does, we can feel anxiety, stress, guilt, and embarrassment. On top of all that, we might pile on a sense of being irresponsible.

That's the mental distress of the moment when we find ourselves entering the learning space without a lesson plan.

What to do? Ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Then, consider one of these ideas that some of you have shared with me over the years.

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Teaching Students to Show Reverence at Mass

by Sandra Hoolihan
As you teach your students about the celebration of the Mass, emphasize the importance of outwardly reflecting the truths we hold internally. Promote the formation of deliberate, sincere, reverent, and prayerful habits by role playing and reviewing the following behaviors with your students.

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Teaching the Sign of the Cross

by Amy Swager

Do you remember being taught how to make the Sign of the Cross? You’ve probably been doing it so long that it’s become second nature. It is important to teach our children the proper way to make the Sign of the Cross. Here's how catechist Amy Swager uses the teaching of the movements as an opportunity to impart some of the deeper truths of our faith.

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Eucharist: Connection and Unity

by Jeanne Heiberg

Before Jesus was crucified, he prayed for us to be connected to God, to himself, and to all others: “…that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us…” (John 17:21). He gave us a way to help the connection happen. At the Last Supper, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, gave it to his Apostles, and said, “This is my body, given for you. Do this in memory of me.” We follow what Jesus said and we do this at every Eucharist.

This prayer activity helps students to understand that their lifelong calling is to grow in their deepest being where they meet and connect with God.

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I Can Use Technology in My Ministry!

by Dave Baudry and Marc Puechner

Faith formation, especially for young people, has always been about meeting them where they are. Kids today use technology, in particular social networking, to communicate and build communities with one another.

Here are some ways you can incorporate technology into your formation programs.

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Is Jesus Here Today?

by Lee Danesco

Calling the student roll is a well-established
method for simultaneously counting heads
and bringing a classroom to order.

This simple act of taking attendance also can
be crafted to prompt awareness of and
conversation about the presence of Jesus
in our daily lives.

Continue reading "Is Jesus Here Today?"

Idea of the Month: September

Practice Kindness! Make It a Habit!
by Fran Battipaglia

Catechist Fran Battipaglia has found a way to
encourage her students to practice acts of
kindness until kindness and helping others
become a habit. In her own words, here's
how Fran gets her students excited about
doing good deeds!

Continue reading "Idea of the Month: September"

Bits O' Wisdom: Mission Possible

by Cullen Schippe

My perception of the role of a catechist was changed for good while I traveled on a journalism assignment through pre-revolutionary Nicaragua almost 40 years ago.

For much of my time there, the political climate and social tensions made me feel like I was in an endless episode of Mission Impossible. On more than one occasion, the show’s familiar theme would start playing in my head.

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The Light of Service

by Sheila Kearney

This Advent season, share with your students the special Lights of Advent. Help your students’ inner lights shine by doing this Light of Service project that the older elementary students (fourth, fifth, and sixth grade) can organize and execute on their own for younger students (kindergarten through third grade), with your help.

Have older students provide a Christmas Store for younger students. This is bound to be a huge success among the young children, their families, and those youngsters who organize and operate the store. This experience benefits your parish in many ways. It offers older elementary students the experience of planning, organizing, and executing a short-term project for the good of others; it gives younger children the opportunity to “shop” in a safe environment; the proceeds are contributed to an existing parish outreach program.

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Presenting Changes to the Mass

Helping the Family Focus on the Roman Missal, Third Edition
by Kate Ristow

Today’s parents want to be part of their children’s activities. Make it possible for moms and dads to learn with their students about the changes in the Mass by implementing one or more of the following ideas.

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Tips for the New Year

Be Welcoming

From the very first class, be sure to stand at the door as students arrive. Greet each student, introduce yourself, and ask your students' names. Tell them where to put their coats and ask them to be seated. Distribute name tags when all students have arrived and are seated.

Idea of the Month: August

Prayer Place Mats
by Tina Westergaard

Catechist Tina Westergaard found a fun and easy way for her first graders to learn their prayers. She makes prayer place mats that her students can take home as a reminder to practice their prayers at every meal.

To make prayer place mats for you students, follow these simple instructions.
Continue reading "Idea of the Month: August"

Tips for the New Year

The Most Important Thing You Teach

As a parish catechist, you represent the Church to the young people assigned to you. What you say and do, how you look, how you treat each child--all these things teach how you and, by extension, how the Church regards its young people. The most important thing is to make children feel good about coming to their parish, to make them realize that they will always be warmly welcomed, and that the Church community cherishes them and extends the love of Jesus to them.

Copyright 2011, Peter Li, Inc. This article may not be reprinted or reproduced in any form without permission, except for use with your classes or families.

Tips for the New Year

Getting Acquainted

Often the youngsters in your class come from different neighborhoods and schools and do not know each other. And you may not know many of your new students either. That's why you need to spend some of your first class learning names. Start with name tags. You can buy blank ones that can be pinned on at a school supply store. Or you can have children make their own. Click here for handmade name tag ideas. Collect the name tags at the end of class because you may want the children to wear them for the first few classes.

At the next class, gather the students in a circle and make a game of giving the correct tag to each child. Hold up a tag and caution the person to whom it belongs to say nothing, and have the class identify the owner. When all are wearing their tags, go around the circle and have each child share some personal information, for example, a favorite song, a favorite computer game, the name of a family pet, and so on.

Encourage children to use each other's names and to use yours as well. Tell them using a person's name is a sign of respect, and respect is important in every learning situation. Be sure to write on the chalkboard or a large sheet of paper how you prefer to be addressed, for example, Ms. Wilson, Mr. Bates, Sister Mary William, Brother Rob.

Copyright 2011, Peter Li, Inc. This article may not be reprinted or reproduced in any form without permission, except for use with your classes or families.

From the Editor: NSVC, The Place for You

NSVC: The Place for You

Think of a place where you like to go: where you feel respected, embraced, cared for, and safe; where you find strength to face painful and unpleasant circumstances; where you can share your struggles and celebrate your accomplishments.

The concept of "place" isn't limited to a physical location. For example, a gathering of my children -- anywhere -- is a "place" that brings me great joy. When I find myself surrounded by books -- or absorbed in a single book -- I am in a "place" of promise, adventure, and excitement.

This feeling of "place" is exactly what we strive to provide to catechists with the National Society for Volunteer Catechists, a service of CATECHIST magazine.
Continue reading "From the Editor: NSVC, The Place for You"

Idea of the Month: July

Sacramentals Memory Game
By Joanne M. Sheehan

Here’s a fun way to introduce students to some sacramentals and other items familiar and important to Catholics. Catechist Joanne Sheehan created The Sacramentals Memory Game, which uses a tried and true baby shower game and turns it into classroom fun. Here are Joanne’s directions.

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Idea of the Month: June

Creation Cadence
by Susan Powell

Catechist Susan Powell was looking for a fun way to teach about how God created the world. She came up with a cadence, or rhyme, to help her students learn and understand the creation story.

Continue reading "Idea of the Month: June"

Idea of the Month: May

Teach About the Different Forms of Prayer with I P-R-A-Y
by Bill Donovan

When catechist Bill Donovan wanted to introduce the different kinds of prayer to the class he teaches with Anthony Laverdi, he remembered the ACTS mnemonic formula that he had once learned – Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, Supplication.

He noticed that in many lists of the types of prayer, Intercession has also been included. Wanting to include Intercession in his lesson, Bill developed his own mnemonic formula to help his students understand and remember the types of prayer.

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Why the Egg is a Symbol of Easter

The egg is like Jesus’ tomb. It is enclosed, it is quiet, and it seems lifeless. Yet within an egg, the promise of new life is waiting to burst forth. Jesus’ tomb was like an egg until early on Easter when Jesus rose up to a new and glorious life. Because of this rich symbolism, we add beautiful decorations to our eggs at Eastertime. Candymakers have added even more richness by creating wonderful candy treats in the shape of eggs.

Some people say that at an egg roll, the egg takes on a different Easter symbolism. They say that the egg stands for the huge rock that sealed Jesus’ tomb. When children roll eggs, they are reenacting the rolling back of that huge rock, so that Jesus can come forth once more into the bright sunshine of life.

Idea of the Month: April

Kindergartners Say “Yes to God!”
by Bridget Banner

When spring fever invades your classroom, you’ll recognize the signs, especially the restlessness. Catechist Bridget Banner devised this fun game that fills her kindergarteners' need to get outside!

Continue reading "Idea of the Month: April"

Spring Crafts Using Egg Cartons

by Jeanne Heiberg

Who would have thought you could use simple egg cartons to make so many crafts with your students! Ask your families to save egg cartons—plastic, pasteboard, or foam—for these fun Spring crafts.

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And the winners of the December Catholic IQ contest are ...

Five winners were randomly chosen from the entrants who answered all five questions correctly to receive a Liturgical Year Calendar Poster Set!

December Catholic IQ Winners
Jean Martin, Edinburgh, IN
Toni Colombo, San Diego, CA
Mary Jo Raps, Newark, NJ
Patricia Davis, Northumberland, PA
Barbara Anderson, Tea, SD

Click on 'Continue Reading' below to see the answers to the December questions.

Watch for a new What's Your Catholic IQ? contest in February!

Continue reading "And the winners of the December Catholic IQ contest are ..."

Stones & Blooms for Lent and Easter

by Sheila Kearney

Halfway through Lent is a good time to help students think about their Lenten resolutions and renew the spirit of Lent. So I plan a two-part lesson for my fourth-graders about sin (represented by stones) and Jesus’ Resurrection, when he overcame sin and death and made eternal life possible (represented by the empty tomb and flower blooms).

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Way of the Cross Strike a Pose

As you lead the prayer, have learners
strike a silent pose, statue-like, of a
person depicted or suggested at each
station. At the end of the Stations of
the Cross, allow several minutes of
complete silence.

Idea of the Month: March

Seeing Lent Turn into Easter
by Kathleen Brulc

Teacher Kathleen Brulc has found a way
to bring a powerful visual reminder of the
Lenten experience into her classroom.
“All you need,” she explains, “are branches
cut from a dormant forsythia or pussy
willow. On Ash Wednesday place the
branches in water in a simple vase on
your prayer table. A purple table covering and simple crucifix make this a stark but meaningful prayer focus.”

Continue reading "Idea of the Month: March"

Saint Joseph and Familyhood Craft

by Jeanne Heiberg

On March 19 the Church honors St. Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Because the catechetical theme for this year is “Matrimony: Sacrament of Enduring Love,” it’s a great time to honor Joseph and celebrate fatherhood and familyhood. This puppet craft activity will help you do just that.

The feast of the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary honors Joseph as the foster father of Jesus and protector of the Holy Family. Joseph was a good worker. He used his hands and the tools of his carpentry trade to provide for his family. In doing so, he also met the needs of the community in which he lived.

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A Lenten Cross for Your Classroom

Use two bare branches, one longer than the other, to make a cross. Attach a shorter beam across the longer one with a piece of violet yarn and display the cross in your learning space.

Each class period during Lent, invite your learners into a brief examination of conscience. And then have each student tie a short piece of violet yarn or ribbon to the cross as a symbol of their repentance. For the first class after Easter, drape a white piece of cloth across the beam of the cross and explain that Jesus dies for our sins and how his joyous Resurrection is our promise of eternal life.

Editor's Note: Challenge Your Excuse List

I'm not a joiner. I easily can come up with a Six-Excuses-Not-To-Join List.

I don't like to drive after dark.
I'm very bad at names.
I'm not good at small talk.
My work schedule demands some evening hours.
I'm an introvert.
I fear over-committing my professional and personal time and resources.

That said, I joined a group.

Continue reading "Editor's Note: Challenge Your Excuse List"

Scrapbooking through Lent

by Lee Danesco

Here's a creative and entertaining teaching
tool to present a serious and sacred season.
Just add your personal enthusiasm to this
guide and you can present a multi-week project
that will encourage learners to discover for
themselves some of the spiritual richness
of the centuries-old spiritual disciplines
of Lent.

Continue reading "Scrapbooking through Lent"

Editor's Note: God Waits at the Next Station

My dear son Jerome and his wonderful wife Melissa found themselves overwhelmed in a New York City subway for the first time -- and on a holiday weekend at that.

Seeing the chaos, they made a pact: "If we get separated getting on the train, whoever gets on will get off at the next station and will wait, and whoever gets left behind gets on the next train and gets off at the next station."

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Prayer Table for the First Week of Lent

Lent begins on Wednesday, March 9.
The Gospel proclaimed on the First Sunday
of Lent is about Jesus being tempted in
the desert. Place on your prayer table a
large bowl of sand with rocks and twigs in
it, creating a symbolic representation of
the desert. Use the color violet in your
prayer space. Violet is the liturgical
color for Lent.

Bits O'Wisdom: Hi-Yo, Silver, Away!

by Cullen Schippe

The legend of the Lone Ranger was simple and appealing to me.

Obviously, it was appealing to generations of radio listeners, television viewers, and moviegoers. It was an iconic view of the rugged individualism that described the American frontier.

The stories of the Lone Ranger followed an inevitable pattern. Somebody got into trouble. A masked stranger rode into town on an impressive white horse. The masked man made everything right again—and then rode off. There were no ties or emotional bonds.

As the stranger rode away on that “fiery horse with the speed of light,” someone always asked, “Who was that masked man?” “Why, that was the Lone Ranger!” was the answer. Then the audience was treated to the signature cry, “Hi-yo, Silver, away!”

Jesus was the polar opposite of our masked friend. Jesus had an identity. Jesus gathered a community around him. He called disciples and loved those disciples, wept with them, challenged them, and shared his mission with them. Jesus touched people and ate with them as well. He forgave sinners. He taught people to view life as a banquet where everyone was welcome.

Continue reading "Bits O'Wisdom: Hi-Yo, Silver, Away!"

The Lord's Prayer during Lent

A Collage Activity and Blessing
by Jeanne Heiberg

This Lent, let the Lord’s Prayer guide you and your students into a deeper relationship with the Source of All Life as you invite God’s Kingdom of Heaven into your minds and hearts and the whole world.

Use the following outline with your students to make the Lord’s Prayer your Lenten guide. Discuss and pray each line. Then make collages that express each line, working with one line each week. Or, toward the end of Lent, take one class period to make the collages, letting each child visually express a different line to form the prayer together as a class.

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The Art of Selecting Catechetical Materials

by Cullen Schippe

Choosing catechetical materials need not be an onerous process. It is a process that goes on every year in parishes across the land. In the choice of a new series or new sacramental preparation programs, a lot of the work has been done for you already.

You'll find all the resources you need plus specific, simple criteria that will help you make a wise choice of catechetical material.

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A Lent-Easter Wreath

by Veronica Glenn

A Lent-Easter wreath can help students
pray through Lent—the same way an Advent
wreath helps students pray through Advent—
and celebrate Easter.

The wreath has violet, rose, and red triangles,
and tree twigs on one side for Lent and bright
spring-colored blooms on the reverse side
for Easter.

Continue reading "A Lent-Easter Wreath"