Last time, I mentioned that I was trying to begin a Youth Ministry group in our parish.  That has really taken up quite a bit of time.  The original core group of adults had a very different view of youth ministry than I did.  That being said, I tried to be accommodating because if it’s one thing I learned over the years, it’s that I do not have all the answers.  Well, the two other adults decided to leave the program and that left me having to do everything.  The good news is that I get to structure the group in a way I think best balances faith and social activities; the bad news is that it is all me at this point, which I think limits how much we can do.  I’m praying and asking for more help, but we’ll see what happens there.

As I mentioned, Religious Education is pretty challenging this year.  I have a group of 9th graders, and about a third of the class is made up of members of a local high school’s freshmen football team.  Additionally, two thirds of the class are boys that know and feed off of each other.  Discipline is a challenge and they seem so disconnected from their faith that they just don’t get the curriculum from this year.  I’m going to talk to my CRE about the possibility of changing the content for next year.  While I love the idea of going through the Mass in detail, there are some basic things these students seem to be missing, which significantly limits how much they can get out of the material.  Can you say “blank stares”?

Anyway, I’ve recieved some great feedback over the last few years on my blog and encouragement to keep it up.  I’ve also gotten a lot out of posting and reading the comments some of my readers leave, so I’m not ready to give this up.  I truly hope to have more content to offer going forward, but I also recognize that I’ve said that before and have then fallen off the face of the blogosphere.  I ask for your patience and forgiveness as I try to get back in a routine that will allow me to share with all of you again.

Until next time (which I hope will be much sooner than last time), keep sharing the faith.

Real life.  It’s an unpredictable thing.  Things pop up that you don’t expect.  Your free time begins to dry up.  You put things on the back burner.  You get busier and those things never get moved back to the front.

That’s sort of what happened to me.  Family life got hectic.  Projects at work went into a ridiculous level of overdrive.  Religious Education continued at a steady pace but still required a good amount of prep time.  And then there is Youth Ministry.

Yep, that’s right, Youth Ministry.  I am helping start up a youth ministry at our parish.  I don’t think I could have ever anticipated how much work would need to go into building a youth ministry from the ground up — training, idea generation, comprehensive structure, volunteer needs, budgeting (or lack thereof), activity coordination, marketing, dealing with varied opinions on what this ministry should look like, coordinating with other parish ministries — I’m sure I left something out.

I have not given up on blogging.  It is a great vehicle to share my joys and let out my frustration.  I have to rejigger my time and figure it all out, but I definitely want to get blogging its due time.  If you are still reading here, please stay tuned and activitry should kick back in at some regular intervals soon.

Until next time, keep sharing the faith!

I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!!

Until next time, keep sharing the faith!

Does your life ever take on a life of its own? Mine seems to have done just that. I guess being busy is a good thing. When it comes to my day job, it can lead to some amount of job security, or at least the appearance of security. It can lead to less wasted time simply because I always seem to have something to do next. When it comes to Religious Education, more challenges easily leads to more knowledge and an ever growing appreciation for the faith, with the added bonus of a strengthened relationship with the Almighty.

Let me catch you up.  My diocesan Catechist Certification came through.  Yay for me!  It’s nice to have that behind me.  I was also asked by the Archdiocese’s Office of Religious Education to write an essay about my experiences while going through the certification process.  The essay ended up being published in The Pilot, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston, last month.  If you are interested in reading it, I’ve posted the essay text here.

As I mentioned previously, I’m teaching 9th Grade this year and the theme of the year is the Mass.  The class has been going pretty well, but it didn’t start off that way.  The first couple of weeks had such a power struggle that it would have put the movers and shakers in Washington D.C. to shame!  But my focus on respecting them and commanding respect from them ultimately paid off.  Of course, showing them that I respect them by bringing in candy each week didn’t hurt either.  Hey, I’m not above a little bribe of sweetness, nut-free of course.

With a couple of months under my belt at this point, I’ve make one clear observation so far.  It has become obvious as to just how much the secular media has impacted my students’ thinking and beliefs.  I know that this isn’t unique to my students or my community and I’m pretty sure that my 6th graders last year were just as strongly influenced; however, I think the 9th graders are much more confident and comfortable expressing what they believe, even if they are not a Christian beliefs.  As a Catechist, I have a responsibility to show them where they are going astray in their beliefs and why, but with responses like, “but that is what I believe” and getting comments like, “you’re just not going to change my mind” can be very disheartening.  I only take comfort that Jesus never forced someone to believe.  I can only lead them to the well but it is up to them to choose to drink.  That being said, I have a good class and I can only pray that the seeds that are planted will grow some day.

Until next time, keep sharing the faith!

I will not recap the events of the event.  Many others have done that already and are much better at that sort of thing then I am.  I will highlight a few things that were most powerful for me.  First, I met people … a lot of people.  Many of these individuals I know from Twitter, Facebook as well as the podcasts and blogs that I follow.  I was amazing to talk to these individuals in person and to witness their drive and energy first hand.  People like Barb Gilman (a.k.a. Barb in Nebraska), a 3rd grade teacher in a Catholic school who has so much energy that she probably puts her 3rd graders to shame; and Maria “Bego” Johnson from another cup of coffee, who is the classic Cubanita and a hoot to be around.

There were so many others that I met and had the opportunity to chat with, including Pat and Brian Padley from In Between Sundays, Dr. Paul Camarata from The SaintCast, Fr. Jay Finelli from iPadre, Fr. Jim Tucker from The Catholic Creativity Community and even Dane Falkner who leads the team at DivineOffice.org.  I even made some new local friends while I was there too.

The highlight for me was being able to chat briefly with His Eminence, Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley, the “Blogging Cardinal” and who happens to be the shepherd of my Church.  He is such a humble man!  The Archdiocese of Boston is truly blessed to have him. His blog , Cardinal Seán’s Blog, gives you a peek into the life of a bishop and is a great way to stay on top of all the good work happening across our diocese.

Reflecting on the events and speakers of the CNMC, I have decided to add a new segment to my blog that will focus on catechesis.  I will select a topic monthly and write a reflection on the catechesis behind that topic.  Ultimately, I would not be using this blog to it’s fullest potential if I did not use it to share the Gospels in some way.  I hope this proves helpful to those that have questions about the faith and the Church’s teachings.

For those interested, you can view recording of the various sessions at SQPN’s uStream Archive and you can see pictures at the Archdiocese’s Flickr Page

Until next time, keep sharing the faith!

The Catholic New Media Celebration is an annual gathering of podcaters and bloggers where ideas are shared, newbies are inspired, and old friends (whether virtual or physical) get together.  This year, the CNMC will be happening in Boston, right in my neck of the woods.  I decided that I just could not pass up this opportunity, not only to meet the people behind the voices and the text, but to learn a thing or two from those in attendance.

The CNMC MMX (i.e. Catholic New Media Celebration 2010) will be happening on August 7th at the Pastoral Center for the Archdiocese of Boston.  Will you be there?

For more information, watch the video below or go to http://www.celebration.sqpn.com.

Until next time, keep sharing the faith!

All that being said, I have been busy. Not spectacular busy, but more like boring, every day busy. It’s time, however, to refocus on sharing my experiences with you — experiences of catechizing, experiences of personal spiritual growth and experiences of sharing the faith to all. Stay tuned for more regular updates and thanks for sticking with me!

In looking over his list of over 100 speakers, I came upon Matthew Pinto. Much of Matt’s work focuses around Catholic youth, young adults and family life. As a Catechist, that resonated loudly with me because I constantly see the influence that family has, both positive and negative, on the faith development of today’s youth and young adults.

As part of his ministry, Matt has spoken on a number of television and radio shows, including Life on the Rock, Mother Angelica Live!, and Living His Life Abundantly, both explaining and defending our faith.  He has also participated in a number of seminars across the country covering a wide variety of topics that are important to having a fruitful Catholic life and he continues to speak on many important Catholic issues.

Prior to starting his ministry of evangelization and apologetics, Matt ran a successful advertising business. After heeding God’s call, Matt sold his business and began his work with youth and young adults through the Diocese of San Diego.  Over the years Matt has authored or co-authored a number of works, including “Did Adam and Eve Have Belly Buttons? and 199 Other Questions from Catholic Teenagers”, “Did Jesus Have a Last Name? and 199 Other Questions from Catholic Teenagers” and “Friendly Defenders Catholic Flash Cards”.

In addition to his writing, Matt is also a co-founder of CatholicExchange.com and in 1996 he teamed up with Patrick Madrid to co-found Envoy Magazine, which Matt was also formerly the president of.  Currently, he is the president as well as founder of Ascension Press and lives with his wife and five children in Pennsylvania.

I’ve been fortunate to have had this opportunity to profile Matt.  Learning about all of his work and accomplishments has been inspirational.  He has strengthened my own belief of just how important it is for us to continue to guide our youth to a fruitful life with and in Christ.

Until next time, keep sharing the faith!!

I’ve registered for my first class, Catholic Beliefs, at the VLCFF as part of the Catechist Certification program for the Archdiocese of Boston.  The online class begins on July 12th and goes for 6 weeks.  I also received my book for the class, Being Catholic by Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk, which I look forward to diving into.

Additionally, I got confirmation this week that I will, in fact, be teaching 6th Grade again next year.  I had told our CRE that I could be flexible if she had a greater need for another grade, but the 6th Grade is where I will remain.  I’m excited about this because I think the more you work with a grade level, the more you grow in understanding, appreciating and delivering the material.

Lastly, I’ve started to notice a pickup in SPAM hitting the blog these past few weeks, which means one of two things.  Either (1) the blog is getting more popular, or (2) I’m an easy target.  I hope it’s 1, but just in case it’s 2, I’ve added CAPTCHA to the comment box to help fend off the spammers.

Well, that’s it.  Short and sweet.  See you guys soon, either here or at the Online Retreat for Catechists at Catechist’s Journey.  ;)

To help share these resources, I’ve created a Tools page on the blog.  On this page, I will link to the various tools that I have used or intend to use in the future.  I hope other Catechists find some value in them as I have.  To access the page, go to the Menu Bar above and click on “Tools“.