Blog_Banner_1.jpg

Engaging Faith

Practical Lesson Ideas and Activities for Catholic Educators
Filter by Archive

The Latest

engaging_faith_placeholder.svg

Guided Meditation: Readying Your Body for Prayer

Prior to classroom prayer—especially guided meditative prayer—it is wise to help your students unwind and relax. Several relaxation techniques can help. The following focuses on readying the physical body for prayer, especially connecting the five senses to the image and likeness that we bear to God. It was written by Fr. Thomas F. Catucci. Read this prelim to prayer slowly. Pause at each ellipse.     Gently close your eyes... And block out everything around you... Just relax and be still... With your eyes close...focus on your feet... Wiggle your toes... These are strong feet...feet that God created just for you... Feet that have felt the cool, wet sand at the beach... Feet that have felt the damp softness of fresh cut grass in the spring... Feet that have felt warm, squishy mud ooze up between the toes after a summer rain... Good feet...strong feet...feet that God will use...     Now with your eyes still closed...feel your legs... Strong legs...sturdy legs that God has given you... Legs that have climbed hills... Legs that have run and skated... Good legs...strong legs...legs that God will use...     And now just relax... Concentrate on your arms... Strong arms... Arms that have carried groceries... Arms that have dug in the garden... Arms that have shoveled in the snow... Arms that are strong enough to work hard... And gentle enough to wrap around someone you love... Strong arms...gentle arms... Arms that God will use to love others with... Relax...relax and be at peace...     Concentrate on your hands... Hands that are strong...strong to do housework... Strong to wash and clean... Hands that have written papers...dried dishes...combed hair... Hands that God has used to plan seeds...to write love notes... Hands strong enough to scrub and polish...and gentle enough to wipe away tears... Strong hands...gentle hands...hands that God will use... Be at peace...and relax...     Concentrate on your ears...and all they've heard... Ears that God has used to hear the songs of birds returning home in the spring... Ears that have heard the laughter of children on a playground... The thunder of waves on the shore...of water falling into a lagoon... Have heard the beauty of music...the sound of night crickets... The harmony of laughing friends... And the tender whisper of an "I love you"... And be at peace.     Think of your eyes and all they have seen... The rainbow splashed against a fresh washed sky... Eggs hatching with new life... Snow drifting and covering the earth... The softness of fog drifting over a lake... Tulips opening in the morning sunrise... The gifts of God...the eyes to see gifts... And be at peace...at peace.   And we pray...

Read More
engaging_faith_placeholder.svg

Jim McGinnis, R.I.P.

We are saddened by the death of Jim McGinnis, author, friend, and founder of the Institute for Peace and Justice in St. Louis. Jim died from an apparent heart attack while out for a walk near his family home.Jim created the manual Activities for Catholic Social Teaching: A Resource Guide for Teachers and Youth Ministers to provide several ancillary lessons and materials for high school teachers and students.Please follow the following link for information about Jim's funeral arrangements and a Facebook page devoted to sharing remembrances of his life.Our condolences are extended to Jim's wife, Kathy, and his entire family.

Read More
engaging_faith_placeholder.svg

Assumption of Mary

August 15 is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven.   The Assumption was when Mary's body was assumed or taken up to Heaven through the power of God to be with her Son, Jesus. By declaring that the Assumption was a dogma of faith, Pope Pius XII was only confirming what the people of the Church had believed for centuries.  An annual feast day on August 15 to honor Mary is thought to have been celebrated in the Holy Land as early as the sixth century. A bishop of that era wrote about a celebration on the anniversary of Mary's "falling asleep." The Eastern Church named the feast "The Falling Asleep of the Mother of God."   The dogma of the Assumption holds that Mary's body, born without Original Sin, was incorruptible and was taken to Heaven after her death. The Assumption of Mary has been included in many legends and stories. In the fifth century, at the famous Council of Chalcedon, the Eastern Roman emperor asked the Bishop of Jerusalem to have the relics of Mary's body brought to Constantinople. The bishop is said to have responded, "Mary died in the presence of the Apostles, but her tomb, when opened later on the request of St. Thomas, was found empty, and thus the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to Heaven."   Mary was the first disciple of her Son and her Assumption is a preview of our own fate after death. Catholics believe in the resurrection of the body and soul.   In 1 Corinthians 15:40–44, Paul describes the attributes of our heavenly bodies as imperishable, glorious, powerful, and spiritual. In Heaven, we will never die again.   The Feast of the Assumption is a good chance to remind everyone to take care of their bodies and respect them as Temples of the Holy Spirit, for our bodies are the seed from which our heavenly body will some day blossom. Discussion Questions How do you imagine your own heavenly body? What "age" do you think you will be in Heaven? Do you think it is important for the Church to speak infallibly on certain matters of faith? Which ones? Why? Assumption Activity Outline a workable program of diet and exercise you plan to take as an adult to show respect for your body.

Read More
engaging_faith_placeholder.svg

Thinking about God

No matter the subject of your theology course, a good place to begin is to remind your students of the natural and insatiable human desire for God. Reprint the following as a worksheet. Choose five different students to read the quotations. Then allow time for all of the students to write answers to the questions in their journals. Allow the chance for followup discussion, first in small groups, and then by calling on volunteers to summarize the discussion for the entire class. Our Desire for God As human beings, we believe that all good things must come to an end and that nothing beautiful lasts forever. But we don’t like it. We want the good without end and beauty that never fades. That’s why we are constantly on the lookout for whatever is lasting and real. As Christians, we acknowledge that that everlasting reality is no thing or talent or attribute or even virtue. It is nothing less than God.   As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. My being thirsts for God, the living God. When can I go and see the face of God? Psalm 42:1–3   The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for. Catechism of the Catholic Church #27   If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. C. S. Lewis   For everything that is not God is unable to fulfill my desires. It is you alone I seek, that I may have you. O Lord, open my heart. Jesus Christ, my Savior, the express image and character of your essence is that image and likeness I desire. Blaise Pascal   The simple desire for God is already the beginning of faith. All of us have doubts. They are nothing to worry about. Our deepest desire is to listen to Christ, who whispers in our hearts. Brother Roger of Taizé   Journal Questions Do any of your desires (e.g., relationships, reputation, security, comfort, material things, other) compete with your desire for God? Which ones? Have any of the desires you illustrated—or any others (e.g., sexual desire, selfishness, over-indulgence, status, money, etc.)—been overwhelming for you? What are you afraid of? What, if anything, does your fear tell you about your relationship with God? Right now—at this moment in your life—what is the state of your desire for God? Do you desire God? Do you desire to desire God? 

Read More
engaging_faith_placeholder.svg

World Youth Day 2011 Logo Unveiled

The logo for World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, Spain was unveiled last week.The logo designer, José Gil-Nogués, explained that the image symbolizes "youth of the whole world united to celebrate their faith together with the Pope, at the foot of the cross, and they form the crown of Our Lady of Almudena, patron of Madrid." The crown forms the "M" of Mary and of Madrid. The cross of Christ presides over the event.As a fun exercise, have your students translate the Archdiocese of Madrid announcement of the World Youth Day logo from Spanish to English. Or, they can do a similar exercise from the official World Youth Day 2011 website.

Read More
engaging_faith_placeholder.svg

St. Maria Goretti and Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha

St. Maria Goretti and Bl. Kateri Tekawitha together lived a total of 35 years. Their courages examples will no doubt live on forever. Each saint is honored in the month of July. Maria Goretti was born in 1890 in the village of Corinaldo, near Ancona, Italy. Her family was poor. When she was nine years old, Maria's father died while her mother was pregnanat with the family's sixth child. In order to survive they had to migrate as tenant farmers. Traveling with the Goretti's was a family friend, Serenelli, and his fourteen-year-old son Alesssandro, whose mother had also died.The two families came to share living spaced in an old barn divided into separate quarters. A statue of the Blessed Virgin was placed in the common area in the center. At age 12, Maria's job was to care for the younger children while the others worked in the fields. She didn't know how to read or write, but she had been taught the Gospels and the Catechism.Alessandro became sexually attracted to Maria. He threatened her with his advances, telling her he would kill her if she told anyone about them. One day he came in early from the fields and told Maria to come inside the house from the upstairs landing where she was sewing a shirt. Maria refused. Alessandro grabbed Maria and dragged her into the kitchen area. Covering herself, she told him he would go to Hell for what he was about to do. Alessandro took a sharpened knife and stabbed Maria fourteen times.She survived for about 24 hours. During that time she forgave Alessandro. "I want him to be with me in Heaven," she said.For the murder of Maria, Alessandro was sentenced to thirty years in prison. There, he had a vision of Maria handing him flowers. His heart was changed. The first thing he did when he was released was to visit Maria's mother and beg for her forgiveness. When Pope Pius XII canonized Maria in 1950, Alessandro was at St. Peter's Square in attendance. Her feast day is on July 6. Kateri Tekawitha was born in 1656 in an area which is now upstate Nw York. Her father was a Mohawk chieftain who had married her mother, Kahenta, an Algonquin, during the conequest of her tribe. What her father didn't know was that Kahenta was a Christian. She had been converted by the Jesuits and secretly prayed with a white Christian captive.Kateri's entire family died of smallpox when she was only four years old. The disease left Kateri's faced pocked, her eyesight poor, and her legs weakened. In a culture where marriage was a prime goal for a woman, Kateri was shunned by her people because of her appearance. She was treated harshly and forced to do much of the menial labor for the tribe.When her tribe allowed the Jesuit missionaries to preach to them, Kateri was attracted to the Gospel and was baptized. (Kateri means "Catherine.) Finally she was able to escape to Canada where she spent her last years helping the sick and elderly and living with other Catholics. She died at the age of 23.In a society and culture obsessed with outward bodily appearance and sex outside of marriage, Maria Goretti and Kateri Tekawitha represent the importance of inner beauty and moral decision-making. As St. Paul wrote, "The body, however, is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the the Lord is for the body" (1 Cor 6:13).As teens grow in their sexuality, they should be reminded that sexuality is a gift from God, that God gives them the powerful feelings that attract them to other people. Also, God gives us the self-control to be able to act on the choices that are right. Remind teens that our bodies are God's gift to us. They are meant to give glory to God, not to bring shame.Additional Lessons Present a lesson on chastity, drawing on the material in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2331-2359. Assign 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 for reading. Ask the students to consider how the description of the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit might affect the choices they make regarding their sexuality. Have the students prepare and enact role-plays that express attitudes of respect and care for their bodies and the bodies of others. Discussion Questions When was a time you feared for your life or physical safety? How was the situation resolved? How important is physical and outward appearance to people in your peer group? St. Paul wrote that the body is a "temple of the Holy Spirit." What does this mean to you?

Read More
engaging_faith_placeholder.svg

Prayer Experience: Away with Sin

Provide teens with a piece of drawing paper and some colored markers. Tell them to take your cues and write their responses to the following in graffiti-style on the paper. Tell them they will not have to share what they write, but that they should do this exercise in the spirit of prayer. Read each of the following cues, pausing between each to allow for writing.Prayer Cues Write the first name of someone from elementary school you once teased. Write a word or symbol to describe an argument you had with a parent. Write a word or symbol to describe a lie you once told or that was told to you. Write a word or symbol to remind you of an act of vandalism you once committed or was committed against you. Write a word or symbol to remind you of a time you once listened to gossip or told a rumor about someone else. Write three practical steps you can take to put an end to one area of sinfulness in your life. Ask the participants to close their books and put their pencils down. When it is silent, read from Paul's Letter to the Colossians:Away then with sinful, earthly things; deaden the evil desires lurking within you; have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires; don't worship the good things of life, for that is idolatry. Now is the time to cast off and throw away all those rotten garments of anger, hatred, cursing, and dirty language. Don't tell lies to each other; it was your old life with all its wickedness that did that sort of thing; now it is dead and gone. You are living a brand new kind of life that is continually learning more and more of what is right, and trying constantly to be more and more like Christ who created this new life within you. Since you have been chosen by God who has given you this new kind of life, and because of his deep love and concern for you, you should practice tenderhearted mercy and kindness to others. don't worry about making a good impression on them but be ready to suffer quietly and patiently. Be gentle and ready to forgive; never hold grudges. Remember, the Lord forgave you so you must forgive others. Most of all, let love guide your life. Let the peace of heart which comes from Christ be always present in your hearts and lives, for this is your responsibility and privilege as members of his body. —Colossians 3:5, 8-10, 12-15Ask the teens to stand, take both hands of another person, and look the person in the eyes as they say the Confiteor from Mass. With your prompting, they should be able to join in:I confess to almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do; and I ask blessed Mary, ever Virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray to me to the Lord our God.

Read More
engaging_faith_placeholder.svg

Making New Friends

As teens begin a new school year, there will be many opportunities, some of them wasted, for making new friends. Hold a discussion on friendship and the ways to meet new friends. Ask teens to share some of the ways they have made new friends. Summarize and record their responses on a board. Then offer the following suggestions to complement their list: Be yourself. This is probably the most important rule. Think back to when you were a little kid: you didn't have to be a "phony," that is, pretend to be someone else in order to make friends. The same holds true today. When other people see you doing things like expressing your own beliefs in a classroom discussion, going out of the way to talk to all classmates (not just a certain few "cool" people), dressing the way you like, etc., they will know much of the real you before even having the chance to talk with you. Their expectations of you will be realistic: "What they see will be what they get." Ask someone to do things with you. Most people are "just waiting to be asked"—to play basketball, to study together, to go to a movie, to sit together at lunch. Take some initiative and invite someone you have never talked with to do something with you. The worst that can happen is that the person will say no. Participate. Try out for a team, audition for a play, join a club, volunteer your time for a service organization. When you participate in something you like or deem worthwhile you are likely to find other people with the same talents and interests. Friends are often drawn together because of these similarities. Communicate. One side of communication is to be a good listener. Friends listen to each other and carry on productive dialogue. This is different from a "shared monologue," in which two people trade off telling their stories without really paying attention to the other. Optional: Invite a teen who has been at the school (or youth group) for less than a year to talk about the transition he or she faced and how he or she went about meeting new friends. Ask the person to respond to the following questions: Could you tell us about someone who greeted you when you first arrived? How were you made to feel welcomed? What is something you learned about "making friends" in your first year at this school (or parish)? - For links. Paste the URL in between the "".

Read More
Filter by Archive
Follow Us
Categories
activities
advent
apologetics
black catholics
christmas
christology
church history
church year
current events
easter
ecclesiology
holy cross
holy week
icebreaker
introduction to catholicism
lent
lesson plans
marian devotion
morality
most popular resources
national framework
news
new testament
old testament
parish programs
paschal mystery
pope francis
prayer
relationships
resources
rosary
sacraments
saints
scripture
social justice
teacher enrichment
technology
tech tips
vocation
world religions