Over the past year, I’ve been looking at a lot of resources on the internet gathering ideas on class setup and lesson structure.  Part of what I plan to do next year is to throw my students off their game a bit.  The grade’s primary curriculum will be an in depth look at the Mass.  This will be a topic that will lend itself to discussion, so I’m going to move the students away from the tables and have the chairs placed in an open circle in the center of the room.  My hope is that the proximity to me and the other students will make the discussions more lively and intimate.  It should set the tone that all must participate and it doesn’t give anyone a place to hide. A huge plus is that there will be no table there to help them hide their texting under and while that hasn’t been a huge problem in the past, with an older grade I wanted to eliminate the temptation. My CRE is also working on a way to incorporate Theology of the Body into the year.  My experience is that sex is on every teen’s (and tween’s) mind, but they are uncomfortable discussing the topic with any reliable source of information.  I suggested a student retreat as an option for covering some of the material.

Intimidation aside, I’m actually excited about the change.  The Mass is such a central part of how we express our faith that I think this has so much potential.  Additionally, I’m hoping the three year difference in age will make for more intelligent discussions as compared to what I was able to have with my 6th graders.  I’m pretty sure the students will keep me on my toes, so I ask for your prayers that the Holy Spirit wins out.

Until next time, keep sharing the faith!

I have been lucky enough to have participated in two excellent webinars over the past couple of weeks that have really helped me to reconsider how I should engage in my ministry.

The first webinar was presented by Jonathan F. Sullivan, who is the Director of Catechetical Ministries for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.  The webinar was titled “Catechizing Digital Natives” and focused on the different ways that today’s kids process and learn information.  Below is the video recording of the webinar and here is a link to some of the resources discussed in the video.

The second webinar was presented by Joe Paprocki from Catechist’s Journey.com and Loyola Press.  Joe is well known among Catechists as not only an author of numerous books about being a Catechist, but also as an 8th Grade Catechist himself.  His webinar was titled “Growing as a Catechist: A Self-Evaluation Based on 7 Critical Tools from The Catechist’s Toolbox” and focused on how to reflect on our own ministries with the goal of tweaking our approach and preparation to add more impact when we catechize.

I found both of these webinars so valuable that I just had to share them with you.  As Catechists, sometimes we feel like we are left to our own devices and it’s nice to know that there are others out there who share their ideas with us.  It’s amazing when you find out that the problems you face in your classrooms and parishes are not as unique as you might think.

Until next time, keep sharing the faith!

When I arrived at Church for Religious Education, my CRE asked if I would be willing to merge my class with another because we had a catechist out.  I figured “why not” and agreed to teach both classes.  Historically, having students that normally part of my class has been hit or miss, but I was going to make the best of it nonetheless.  The first question I get is, “Do you give homework” and I start doing a victory dance in my head.  I tell the student to ask my students that question and the standard response of “only if we don’t cooperate” puts them all in the palm of my hand.  The expectation is set and I see things looking up.  I probably shouldn’t be too joyful about using homework as a threat, but it makes things so much easier when we all understand each other.

We start class with a prayer, Come Holy Spirit, which was not only topical, but I’m convinced that prayer was answered last night.  Then my students ask if we can do the Three J’s.  For those that are not familiar with the Three J’s, it’s something that I picked up from In Between Sundays, a podcast that I frequently listen to.  It consists of sharing your Junk, Joy and Jesus Moment for the past week.  I had my students participate and made it optional for my guests.  I think my guest students were more into it then my own students!  It was a huge success last night and ended up being a great ice breaker.

Our formal topics last night were focused around the activities of the Apostles after the Resurrection.  We discussed Jesus’ first appearance in the Upper Room.  We discussed Doubting Thomas.  We discussed Pentecost and the effect the Holy Spirit had on the Apostles.  I spent time focusing on the before and after of the Apostles’ behavior, including the effects of some of the gifts they received on Pentecost.  Additionally, we discussed how we (and they) knew the Holy Spirit had arrived, namely wind and fire.

After spending some time on Pentecost, we moved on to the missionary activities of the early Church leaders.  We reviewed how they traveled and thier ministries in obedience to the command of Jesus to make disciples of all nations.  We also connected this to Pentecost by discussing how those gifts they received from the Holy Spirit helped them be successful.  We spoke about the Conversion of St. Paul, and how appropriate since yesterday was the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.  We also discussed why we call St. Paul an Apostle even thought he was not a follower of Jesus during his earthly ministry.  To help drive that story home, I finished the segment by showing them an artist’s representation of that conversion moment on the road to Damascus.

We discussed what martyrdom was and why the Church believes that martyrs have a special place in heaven.  We spoke about the martyrdom of St. Peter and why he was crucified upside down.  Once again, I showed them an artist’s representation of his martyrdom to help drive that story home.

I ended the class by handing out the lyrics to “Kyrie” by Mr. Mister and played the song.  After listening to it, we discussed the lyrics and what the artist was trying to say through his song.  The references to the Holy Spirit and being sent on a mission are so strong in that song that I love tying it to this lesson.

I left class last night feeling like I myself was on fire!  Not only that, but my students, and I mean all of my students last night seemed fired up as well.  I can’t beleive how much I was able to cover in one hour; and to be honest, I felt like I actually got through to them as opposed to being rushed and lost.  I’m sure it was with a little help from above.  I truly hope that the Holy Spirit can come and kindle in us the fire of His love every week!!

Until next time, keep sharing the faith!

So what’s been going on you might ask?  Besides all the things at work that would bore you, I’ve been busy working on Religious Education stuff.  My classes have been going well.  In my 6th Grade class, we’ve discussed wisdom, focusing on individuals like King Solomon.  I was able to use one of my favorite Old Testament stories (1 Kings 3:16-28) to show wisdom in action.  It was great to see their reactions as I read parts of the story and stopped for impressions.  We’ve also discussed some of the prophets that foretold of the coming of the Messiah, like Isaiah & Zechariah.  I think the differences of how the Messiah was described were a bit tough for them to grasp.  With those topics, we wrapped up the formal curriculum around the Old Testament.

This week, we moved into the New Testament, exploring parts of the Gospels in a little more detail.  We got to focus on one of my favorite New Testament stories, “The Boy Jesus in the Temple” (Luke 2:41-52).  Oddly enough, the prior week I got asked the question if Jesus knew he was God from the time he was born.  I referred to this passage to help express my opinion.  As we reviewed this story, I chose to focus on Luke 2:51.  We discussed the significance of the fact the Jesus was “obedient” to his parents.  I always find it such a powerful example that Jesus, who is God, was obedient to His human parents.

On top of my 6th Grade lessons, I had the opportunity to present at RCIA this past week.  My topic was “The Sacraments of Healing”.  As much as I felt comfortable with my knowledge around the Sacrament of Reconciliation, I still felt that this needed to be spot on, so I did a lot of work with the Catechism and some other resources to help make sure I got it right.  Additionally, I had never done much work around the Anointing of the Sick, so this gave me an opportunity to increase my own knowledge as well.  I felt very good about my presentation and our catechumen asked some insightful questions which was a signal to me that my presentation was giving him reason to think.

On top of that, I’m also working with my CRE and fellow catechists in developing a plan for our 6th Grade Retreat that will be happening in early February.  My CRE provided me the framework and I helped build out a more detailed discussion plan.  The theme of the retreat will be the Ten Commandments.  Lastly, I’ve been methodically working on my pastor to allow me to create a Facebook page for our parish.  After months of my pastor not having time to focus on it, we met today and he agreed that we needed to do it.  And just like in the business world, the person who has the idea gets the project.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m very excited about doing this.  It will be a great opportunity to stay connected to parishioners beyond the Sunday Liturgy, but for it to be successful, it needs constant focus.  Please pray for me as I deal with whatever the game of life throws my way.

Until next time, keep sharing the faith.

We focused on superheroes last night in class with the 6th graders.  We spoke about their favorite superheroes as well as some of their real-life heroes.  We discussed some of their qualities, like courage and love of their fellow man.  We spoke about the challenges that they each face and how difficult it truly is being a hero.

Then we transitioned to one of the great Old Testament heroes.  To quote the movie, it was “Moses, Moses, Moses.”  We reviewed Moses’ early days and how he came to leave Egypt, but we focused mostly on his calling.  We spoke about what it means to be called.  Each and every one of us is called to impact the world, albeit in different ways; but being called can be a scary thing.  Most times, you are being called to do something that you haven’t done before or that you think you just cannot do.  I know I’d be a bit scared if I saw a burning bush that was telling me to take off my shoes, because last I checked, bushes don’t speak.  We know that’s how Moses must have felt, among feeling other emotions.

What if Moses had said “No thanks, God, I’m not your guy so go with your backup plan”?  News flash – God doesn’t make backup plans.  We each have a purpose for being here, most likely more than one; but we all have a choice to fulfill that purpose or not.  If I had not accepted my call as a Catechist, then maybe some kids would not learn their faith as fully.  Sure there are other Catechists, but there is only one Catechist that does things “exactly” the way I do it (we are all unique, after all) and maybe my style impacts some students in a special way; or maybe this ministry is preparing me to help someone in the future who is struggling with their faith that would not otherwise be helped, or maybe I help set an example that will touch someone’s heart.  None of us truly know what our purpose is, but saying no to our calling will definitely have an impact that none of us will ever truly understand, sort of in the same way that saying yes will have an impact.  If Moses had said no, then who knows what might have happened to the Israelites.

Luckily, Moses said yes.  Afraid and unsure, but trusting in God, he went back to Egypt to demand that the Hebrews be freed per the command of God.  We discussed how God supported Moses’ words and reviewed the first 9 plagues.  Then we discussed the biggie – The Angel of Death, and why Passover and the Passover Seder have been and continue to be so important for the Jewish faith.

That was the perfect segue over to the Eucharist.  We all know the Last Supper occurred at the Passover Seder that year.  Just as the Jews celebrate and remember through a meal the saving power of God by His freeing them from Egypt, we too remember the saving power of God through Jesus through a meal.  Of course, there are differences between the two celebrations as well, but it was interesting to see some of the links.

So, whether it’s one of the Super Friends, Mighty Mouse, Moses, Jesus, or even your grandmother; heroes love, sacrifice, trust in good, help others and show people the way.

Next time, the class will discuss the rest of the Exodus and the Ten Commandments.  Until then, keep sharing the faith.

We basically spent the first half hour doing an Examination of Conscience, me trying to ease some students’ fears at the realization of what was going to be happening and then going upstairs to the Church for the actual sacrament.  When we returned to the classroom, somehow it all fell apart.

We were supposed to review the story of Abraham, Issac, Jacob and Joseph.  To tie it into what we already learned, I reminded them of the story of Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel and the story of Noah and the Great Flood. That’s as far as we got.  The questions started like if this was the first time they had ever heard this story (we only covered it two weeks ago) and it digressed from there.  Questions like:

Why was it Adam & Eve’s fault?  The snake made them do it.
What does God look like?
Does God have hands?
God killed everyone on earth?
Why did he pick Noah?
God killed?  That’s mean! Didn’t he commit a sin?
What if there were other good people on earth?  How could God kill them all?
What if God does it again?
What if he doesn’t keep his promise?
What if …
What if …
What if …

I’m always torn with how far to let questions go.  I see myself heading into the spiral, but the questions show some amount of interest and curiosity on the students’ parts that I don’t want to discourage.  The problem with allowing it to continue is that I can’t cover the material I’m supposed to cover.  In tonight’s case, I was able to cover none of the material I needed to.  Additionally, 90% of tonight’s questions came from the same student and were becoming slightly argumentative.  I couldn’t really tell if they were sincere questions or an attempt to take control of the direction of the class.  In any case, I probably allowed this to go on too long before the light bulb in my head went off … “These are all good questions.  Why don’t you stay after class and we can discuss it further?”

The student of course could not stay tonight, so I immediately offered staying after next week’s class as an alternative.  But by that time, the damage was done.  There was 5 minutes left to class and I needed to close up the impromptu Q&A discussion with some very specific points to ensure that everyone left the class with an accurate understanding.

By the time I left class, I was completely exhausted, totally frustrated and had nothing accomplished from my lesson plan to show for it.  Did I do the right thing by allowing the questions to continue?  Should I have covered the material and just left Q&A for after class time for those that wanted the information?  I’m sure I would have gotten no takers and would have lost an opportunity there.  All I know is that next week I now have two weeks of material to cover in a one hour time span.  I also have an new appreciation for what school teachers face on field trip days.

What do you other catechists do in situations like the one I encountered tonight?  When do you cut off the Q&A and focus on your lessons and when do you let your lessons slip to help satisfy your students’ thirst for understanding?  I’d love your thoughts since I suspect this will happen again.  In the meantime, I need a stiff drink to recuperate.  Time for some hot chocolate!!

Thanks and until next time, keep sharing the faith.