Engaging Faith

Your students may not be fully in aware of the resources available at your school for career planning. Help them develop a plan and some sample questions to use in an interview with their guidance counselor. Share the format below. State your aims. Explain your dreams. In the best way that you can, tell your counselor the outcome that you want from your career. Reach for the sky. Share your vision. Explore alternatives. Ask your counselor to suggest more than one way to go about achieving your aims. What have other people done who have the same career goals? Where can you find additional information? What is the most practical alternative for you to pursue? Identify your resources. What do you have to do to work with as far as time, finances, and talent? Are there ways around any limitations you might have? (For example: scholarships, grants, or loans may be available to help you meet some or all of your financial obligations.) Review the alternatives and make a decision. Which alternative will most likely assist you in reaching your goal? Which alternative is most compatible with your resources? Combining the answers to these two questions will help you in reaching a decision. Take the first step of your plan. Ask your counselor to direct you to the first step of the plan. This may mean helping you to arrange an interview with a college recruiter or employer, or simply helping you with a college or job application. Here are some other questions you may wish to ask your counselor: How often am I able to see you? Must I make an appointment or will one be scheduled for me? Does the school have any special programs that might fit my aptitudes? Can you refer me to any community organization that could help me with my post-high school plans?

Here's a Catholic quiz courtesy of the National Catholic Register. With 32 total questions, you might wish to divide the questions into groups of four or eight and use them to as seat work, extra credit, or as a class icebreaker. The answers to the questions and the complete quiz and credit can be found at this link. What Pope declared himself a prisoner of the Vatican? What two symbolic pieces of heraldic regalia are found in all basilicas? Who was the first non-martyr to be named a saint (pace Mary, St. John the Evangelist and of course, St. Joseph)? In Italy, which saint is so famous she is simply known as “THE Saint”? What were (are) the four “minor orders”? What was the name of the cave David took shelter in? During the singing of the Exultet at the Easter Vigil, what insect is extolled? During his papal installation, Pope Benedict wore what garment in an Eastern Catholic tradition? What two 20th-century British authors, both of whom were converts to Catholicism, soured on the liturgical changes of the Second Vatican Council? A crosier with two horizontal bars on it is called what kind of cross? Leon Bloy wrote a famous work on which Marian apparition? What cardinal died suddenly and immediately before the conclave of 1958? An atheist does not believe in God. An agnostic is unsure. But what is the technical term for someone who actively hates God? Which 20th-century saint wrote an autobiography entitled Journal of a Soul? What Doctor of the Church is literally named “Golden-Word”? What Renaissance artist practiced the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola? What epic English poet not only served in World War I, but went on to decorate many churches with his engravings and paintings? In a church what are bobaches used for? Who is the patron saint of editors? In the West, what are the tradition names given to the Magi (the “three kings”)? A priest with “O.A.R.” for a suffix belongs to which religious order? The “Miraculous Medal” was manifested to which saint? During the Sacrament of Baptism, the priest asks the godparent or the catechumen “What do you ask of The Church of God?” What is the answer? Who is “The Second Apostle to Germany” (the first being St. Boniface)? There are two arch-abbeys in the United States: what are their names and where are they located? Although he is always depicted in art as being shot through with many arrows, St. Sebastian did not die from arrow wounds: how was he finally martyred? What famous Lebanese-American actor had a public and strong devotion to St. Jude? Most tourists think that the Cathedral of Venice has always been the famed St. Mark’s Basilica—but from 1450 to 1805 the Cathedral of Venice was which other church? What are four different names for the Sunday following Easter? What Catholic writer and painter also invented—according to his own history—color and underwater photography (though he died broken and penniless in Venice)? What famous philosopher wrote books taking titles from the New Testament such as The Sickness Unto Death and Fear and Trembling? On the Feast of Saint Agnes, lambs are blest then shorn to fashion what ecclesiastical garment?