Your Space: You Are the Light of the World
The learning area needs to inspire and engage your students. Here is an idea for how to decorate and arrange your learning space and prayer table using a theme that reflects Jesus’ teaching about our being the light of the world.
Advice from Master Catechists—April/May 2012
Master Catechists answer questions from readers
Sharing Prayer
In recent weeks, you and the team have been preparing for the learning year ahead by reviewing texts and working on lesson plans. In this prayer, you will bless one another in a special way and profess your beliefs in the creed.
From Manger to Mission
Through Baptism, We Are Sent; Through Eucharist, We Are Nourished
Living in the Between Times
Dag Hammerskjöld, twentieth-century diplomat and author, wrote a short prayer that is especially good for us to recall at this time of year: “For all that has been, thanks. For all that will be, yes.”
The Joy of Love: Encountering Jesus
As we celebrate the Year of Faith, let us position the Church to engage not only the older generations but the emerging generations that are asking different questions and have different expectations.
Igniting the Fire of Faith
This Year of Faith is an invitation, not a command. It is not a time to complain that the Divine should take a more active role in the world, but that we should “make God credible in this world” (Fisichella). It’s more than being nice or doing one’s duty. It’s going to demand sacrifice, courage, and an enormous amount of energy—but probably not more than the original disciples needed in order to follow the Great Commission. They may have been the first to witness like their hair was on fire.
Your Space: Called to Be Saints
The learning area needs to inspire and engage your students. Here is an idea for how to decorate and arrange your learning space and prayer table for October.
Finding a Home
Sacrament preparation is one of the best opportunities the Church has to welcome families and convince them they are in need of a permanent residence. Offering them a listening presence, moments of renewal and growth, and opportunities to discover their own needs for a more spacious place to live may result in a new spiritual home for them.
VBS: A Gift to Your Parish
Vacation Bible School has become a fruitful blessing to the Catholic Church in recent years. Once seen as a Protestant tradition, numerous Catholic publishers now provide informative and exciting thematic materials that celebrate great stories of the Bible and tenets of our Catholic faith. Today, most diocesan offices make recommendations for resources, and parishes can find online catalogs from their favorite publishers.
