Soeren Palumbo, now a junior at the University of Notre Dame, delivered a powerful testimony of love for his sister, Olivia, prior to his high school graduation in 2007. Soeren spoke out against the use of "retard" as a word that both teens and adults use disrespectfully toward people with disabilities. His reminder to treat all people with dignity and respect is an important one. Check out a tape of his speech:
The National Directory for Catechesis shares the following guidelines for providing catechesis for persons with special needs:
Catechesis for persons with disabilities must be adapted in content and method to their particular situations.
Specialized catechesis should help them interpret the meaning of their lives and give witness to Christ's presence in the local community in ways they can understand and appreciate.
"Great care should be taken to avoid further isolation of persons with disabilities through these programs which, as far as possible, should be integrated with normal catechetical activities of the parish" (quoting Pastoral Statement of U.S. Catholic Bishops on Persons with Disabilities, no. 16)
Catechetical efforts should be promoted by diocesan staffs and parish committees that include persons with disabilities.
Encourage your students to learn these relaxation techniques for prayer. Take some time during a class period or other gathering to allow them to practice these three steps. Consider providing a religious icon or image for them to observe and contemplate on during this time. 1. Awareness of Your SensesAssume a comfortable position. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Hold it momentarily, and then let it go. Relax your body. Begin with your neck muscles, then your shoulders, your chest and your back, your arm and legs. Be aware of the clothing on your shoulders, on your back. Become aware of your legs. Let the tension of your legs leave through your feet. Become aware of your hands. Easily bend your fingers back and forth. Repeat this pattern of awareness. Take a deep breath. Relax the neck muscles, the shoulders, the trunk of your body, your arms, your legs. Feel the heat or coolness of the room. Dwell for a moment on the part of your body that is most tense. For example, relax the forehead, the jaw, the neck. Let your arms and legs rest. Come to a total stillness. You are now ready to pray. 2. Breathing Take a relaxing position. Let the tension drain from your body. Now focus on breathing through your nose. Observe your breathing. Feel the air as it comes in and goes out. Don't try to control your breathing. Just observe it for a few quiet, peaceful moments. Be aware of how it comes in to fill your lungs and how it goes out of your nostrils. After a short time observing your breathing, begin to count your breaths silently. Count "one" as you inhale. Count "and" as you exhale. Count "two" as you breathe in again; "and" as you exhale. Continue to count to 15 or 20. You are now ready for prayer. 3. Listening Take a comfortable position. Close your eyes. Relax the tension in your body. Feel the tightness drain from your face, your neck, your shoulders, your arms, your legs. Feel the air on your skin. Be aware of each breath that you take in and let out. Block your ears with your thumbs. Listen to each breath as you take it in and let it out. After ten breaths, let your hands reset on your lap. Now be attentive to all the sounds around you. Hear them all: the sounds near to you and the ones in the distance. Listen to the sounds, big and little, blend together. Continue with this exercise as you ready yourself for prayer.
Encourage your students to read, reflect, and pray for peace. The following activity is taken from Activities for Catholic Social Teaching.
Scripture Passages for Peace:
“If a grain of wheat falls in the ground and dies, it yields a rich harvest” (John 12:24*). “Love one another as I have loved you. . . . No greater love than to lay down your life” (John 15:12-13). “By the blood of Christ we have been brought close together. He is the peace between us, breaking down barriers that used to keep us apart, . . . restoring peace through the cross” (Ephesians 2:13-16). “Those who lose their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel will find life” (Mark 8:35). “Love your enemies; do good to those who persecute you” (Luke 6:27, 35; Matthew 5:44). “Pray for those who persecute you; ask God to bless those who insult you” (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:28). “Seek first the Kingdom of God and then all these other things will be given you (Matthew 6:33). “Forgive others and God will forgive you” (Luke 6:37). “An eye for an eye? No, don’t try to get even with those who have hurt you” (Matthew 5:38-39). “Take the log out of your own eye . . .” (Luke 6:42). “Turn the other cheek; walk the extra mile” (Luke 6:29; Matthew 5:40-42). “Give to everyone who asks and . . . lend without expecting to be paid back” (Luke 6:30, 35). “Blessed are the poor, the meek, the gentle . . .” (Matthew 5:3-4, 7). “but woe to you rich and well-fed” (Luke 6:20-21, 24-25) “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice” (Matthew 5:6). “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9). “Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of right” (Matthew 5:10). “Integrity will bring peace; justice give lasting security” (Isaiah 32:17).
Questions
Which of these Scripture passages challenges you most at this moment?
Which most touches your heart and what does it reveal about the things that make for peace?
What one thing could you do specifically to put this passage into practice?
Sunday, June 7, is Trinity Sunday.
Many images—including the shamrock—have been used to try to express the mystery of the Triune God. The Shield of the Trinity is one.
The translation reads this way: The Father (Pater) is (est) God (Deus); the Son (Fillus) is God and the Holy Spirit (Spiritus Sanctus) is God. Thus, God's unity is professed. Equality among the persons is symbolized by the equilateral triangle. And the distinction between each person of the Trinity is again conveyed by the Latin: the Father is not (non est) the Son nor the Holy Spirit; and the Son is not the Father nor the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is not the Father nor the Son.
Assignment
Read each of the following quotes about the Blessed Trinity. Then write at least two of our own quotations that describe the Trinity.
God is the beginning, the middle, and the end of every good. But the good cannot become active or be believed in otherwise than in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.—St. Mark the Ascetic
The Trinity is our maker. The Trinity is our keeper. The Trinity is our everlasting lover. The Trinity is our endless joy. —Belssed Julian of Norwich
The Spirit works, the Son fulfills his ministry, and the Father approves; and man is thus brought to full salvation.—St. Irenaeus
Author, teacher, colleague, and friend Michael Pennock is in home hospice care in Austin, Texas, suffering from stomach cancer. Mike called me today with thanks for all of the prayers and wishes of love and support he has received from you, his fellow teachers, and your school communities. Each wish has been forwarded to Mike and read to him by his loving wife, Carol. (If you would like to leave a new message for Mike, you may also do so in the comments section of this entry.)On behalf of everyone at Ave Maria Press, I thank you as well for your prayers for Mike.Today, he told me that he understands better how Pope John Paul II could describe dying as serene. While admitting that he feels scared, Mike said that being surrounded in love has been overwhelming.Thank you again! Please continue praying for Michael Pennock.
Life is uncertain and, in fact, may be very brief. If we compare it with eternity, we will clearly realize that it cannot be more than an instant.
A happy death of all the things of life is our principled concern. For if we attain that, it matters little if we lose all the rest. But if we do not attain that, nothing else will be of any value.Blessed Junipero Serra
As you approach the end of the school year, here is a fun and rewarding class session to engage your students in. What's Needed:
a copy of the bingo card described below for each student
award ribbons with attached blank cards
slips of paper with each person's name and a bowl to put them in
pens, markers, and crayons
arrangements for food and drink
Description:
To begin, have the class play a game of "People Bingo." Prepare a bingo card with at least 16 squares. Print a talent or skill in each square that the students might be able to share of demonstrate, for example:
recite a poem
do a fifteen-second handstand
sing the "Brady Bunch" theme song
French braid hair
introduce himself/herself in a language besides English
know the name of last season's Heisman Trophy winner
tell a (clean) joke
Give each person a bingo card prepared with items like those listed above. Tell them to get one signature for every square. A person can only share a another person's card one time. A signature on a particular square indicates that a person has that talent. Play until a person yells "bingo." To check if he or she is the winner, randomly call on some of the people who signed the card and ask them to demonstrate their skills. If all checks out, the person holding the card is the winner. If not, continue playing the game until someone else has bingo. After the game, pass out award ribbons with attached blank cards to each person. Have them draw a slip of paper with the name of a person in the class. then have them create a positive award for the person whose name they drew and write in on the card with the ribbon. The award should be related to the person's personality, contribution to the class, or talents (e.g., "Most Energetic" or "Most Helpful"). Arrange for some simple food and drink to share. As the students' eat and converse, call on each person to explain the award he or she is giving and then have them give it to that person.
Our dear friend and colleague Michael Pennock is gravely ill, suffering from stomach cancer. We ask that you and your students remember Mike in your prayers. In his 30 plus years of teaching high school theology, mostly at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Mike taught over 12,000 students. He continues to remember and cherish them all.
Prayer to Mary for the SickMary, health of the sick,Be at the bedside of all of the world's sick people, especially Michael Francis Pennock;
of those who are unconscious and dying;
of those who have begun their agony;
of those who have been abandoned
and hope for a cure;
of those who weep and cry out in pain;
of those who cannot receive care
because they have no money;
of those who ought to be resting
but are forced by poverty to work;
of those who seek vainly in their beds
for a less painful position;
of those who pass long night sleepless;
of those who are tormented
by the cares of a family in distress;
of those who must renounce
their most cherished plans for the future;
of those, above all,
who do not believe in a better life;
of those who rebel and curse God;
of those who do not know that Christ
suffered like them and for them.
Rabboni
Ask the students to reflect on the words of the "Hail Mary" as if they are hearing them for the first time. Quiet the room. Make sure the students sit with their backs straight, either on a chair or on the floor. Remind them that the first part of the prayer is contained in Scripture; the second part was added later as a formula of petition to Mary. Say: "As you hear the words, imagine you are hearing them for the first time. Let them sink in slowly so that you can reflect on their meaning. Play some background music (perhaps the "Ave Maria" or other Marian hymns). Then use the following script, praying each phrase of the Hail Mary in your own heart and slowly reading the reflections.
Script (based on Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2676-2677)
Hail Mary. (Pause.) God, through the messenger of Gabriel, greets Mary. A poor girl of an out-of-the-way village, Nazareth, Mary was probably an early adolescent when she heard this greeting. We are able to greet Mary in the same way and to exult in the same joy in Mary that God had for her.
Full of grace, the Lord is with thee. (Pause.) These two phrases are related. The reason Mary is full of grace is because the Lord is with her. The grace with which Mary is filled is the very life of God who is the source of all grace. Because she is full of grace, Mary is completely devoted to God who has come to dwell in her and whom she is about to bring into the world.
Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. (Pause.) These are the words with which Mary's cousin Elizabeth greets her. We join Elizabeth in greeting Mary this way. Elizabeth is the first of countless numbers of people from every generation who have called Mary "blessed." Mary is blessed because she believed and accepted for herself God's words to her. As the patriarch Abraham was the father of all believers, Mary has become the Mother of all the faithful, including a new generation of Gentile believers who are welcomed and received by her Son, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God. (Pause.) This beings the second movement of the prayer. Because she has given the world Jesus, Mary is the Mother of God. She is also our Mother as Jesus spoke from the cross to his beloved disciple John:" Behold your mother," Jesus said. We are deeply indebted to God for having given us Mary as our Mother. We, too, marvel with Elizabeth at this great gift, echoing her words: "And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" When we bring our prayer to Mary, like her, we give ourselves over to the will of God for ourselves. We say with Mary, "thy will be done."
Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour our death. (Pause.) We acknowledge ourselves as poor sinners as we reach out to our Mother of Mercy. We give ourselves to Mary, first for today, and with an eye to the future when we will entrust our lives to Mary at the hour of our death. We pray in the confidence that she will lead us to her Son, Jesus, in paradise.
