I really enjoyed the final episode last night, especially because it ended on such an uplifting note. And yet, what permeated the episode last night was the notion of appreciating the ordinary – especially the last 5 minutes and the final line spoken by the character Pam: “There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that the point?”

Indeed, it is. How Ignatian!

Have a good weekend and may you find beauty and God’s presence in ordinary things!

Days of Faith conveniently provides everything you need to host a mini-retreat or faith-formation event during the summer months. In this kit, I share 4 PowerPoint® presentations with notes, handouts, a Leader’s Guide, and 4 of my best-selling books to help you celebrate a Day of Faith (or a series of Days) during the summer months of this Year of Faith.

Summer is a wonderful time to invite people to leisurely faith formation, perhaps even in a picnic setting. Let Days of Faith help you grow in faith during these summer months.

EACH KIT INCLUDES

• DVD with 4 PowerPoint® Presentations with
  detailed scripts and my notes!
• Leader’s Guide
• Supporting Handouts
• 4 of my best-selling books

Living the Mass
The Bible Blueprint
A Well-Built Faith
Practice Makes Catholic

Facilitators have everything they need! Each PowerPoint® presentation contains friendly, detailed scripts for each of the four 60-minute sessions on

 Liturgy (from Living the Mass)

 Scripture (from The Bible Blueprint)

 Catholic faith (from A Well-Built Faith)

 Catholic practices (from Practice Makes Catholic)

There were over 600 people in attendance, mostly catechists and catechetical leaders along with many pastors and pastoral staff, to honor the efforts of numerous catechetical ministers in the Archdiocese of Chicago. His Eminence Francis Cardinal George presented the awards along with Maruja Sedano, the Director of the Office for Catechesis and Youth Ministry.

Congrats to all and especially to Arlene!  Here are more photos from the evening.

Whether you consider yourself an artist or not, we are all drawn to beauty. In fact, “Seeking Beauty” is Key 6 in my 7 Keys to Spiritual Wellness. We can encounter and express beauty through painting, sculpture, music, drama, dance, and so on. To celebrate the arts, Loyola Press launches a new online series called Arts and Faith. It’s a celebration of the many creative ways people use art to express their faith.

Stories in the series include profiles of artists and—helpful for those of us catechists who aren’t as artistically inclined—articles about using art in catechesis. Using art can help those who are visual or auditory learners, so I hope you’ll visit the series for inspiration as we move into the downtime of summer. And share your own stories of how you use the arts in your catechetical sessions!

I’m just a regular Martha Stewart!

The statue belonged to my late Mother-in-Law, Sophie, who had a great devotion to our Blessed Mother and now is with her in eternity.

It occurs to me that it might be helpful to invite young people to identify and articulate goals at the beginning of the catechetical year. My inclination would be to provide a list of “habits” for living as a disciple of Christ – habits that would be age-appropriate and measurable – and invite young people to select or prioritize them with the option of adding some of their own. Then, young people can be invited to keep a journal in which they track their progress through the year and write thoughts about their experiences.

Here are a few “habits” that I might include for intermediate age kids. What other habits would you suggest?

With God’s grace, I hope to achieve the following goal(s) this year in religious education:

• begin and end my day with prayer
• recall from memory the Ten Commandments
• practice an act of kindness each day
• regularly attend Sunday Mass
• become involved in an ongoing service activity at my school or parish
• go out of my way at least once per week to reach out to someone who’s hurting
• participate in a liturgical ministry such as altar server or reader
• regularly read the Bible
• recall from memory the Act of Contrition (or another prayer _______ )
• learn to pray the Rosary
• begin recycling at home

Add your suggestions in the Leave a Reply feature below!

 [photo courtesy of Andrea R via Compfight]

Keystone habits are those that, when changed, “dislodge and remake other patterns.” For example, when people add exercise to their daily schedule, it triggers widespread change in their lives. In essence, one good habit somehow makes other good habits easier. Duhigg says that developing keystone habits helps “other habits to flourish by creating new structures, and they establish cultures where change becomes contagious.”

I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this. The Church, we are told, exists in order to evangelize: to bring about conversion of hearts and minds. We do this by introducing keystone habits of the Catholic faith into every environment in which we live and, in doing so, help other habits to flourish thus “creating a culture where change becomes contagious” and “new values become ingrained.”

I firmly believe this is why the General Directory for Catechesis tells us that the most effective catechesis takes place when that catechesis is “permeated by a climate of prayer.” (#85) Prayer is a keystone habit in the life of a Catholic. When we establish a climate of prayer in our catechetical settings, we establish a habit that helps other habits to flourish: reverence, respect, compassion, selflessness, and so on. This is precisely the point I’m making in my book Beyond the Catechist’s Toolbox: when we establish a habit of prayer in our catechetical setting, a domino effect takes place and other good habits are capable of flourishing. As a result, we are “creating a culture where change becomes contagious” and that, my friends, is the goal of the New Evangelization!

P.S. One thing I’m contemplating trying next year to establish a climate of prayer at the very beginning of my classes is to invite the young people to take a few minutes of solitude to quietly”walk” (using their finger) a labyrinth that I’ll print out on heavy card stock (I’ll probably paste a picture of Jesus in the center of the labyrinth and will also play some instrumental music in the background). By developing this “keystone habit,” I hope to establish a climate of prayer from the get-go that can be built upon as the session progresses.

Our discussion got me thinking about the notion of readiness and the fact that all of our catechesis takes its cue from the process of Initiation which is an apprenticeship into a way of life. Assessment of knowledge of the faith is just one part of ascertaining readiness. What we really need to learn how to assess (and, more importantly, how to imbue) are habits: habits of prayer, Sunday worship, stewardship, and Works of Mercy just to name a few.

It’s important to keep in mind that habits – especially good habits – take time to develop. Forget the myth that it takes 21 days to change a habit. Research now reveals that the length of time varies depending on the complexity of the habit (as few as 18 days for simple habits and as long as 254 days for complex habits) but that the average is 66 days.

Suffice it to say that we need time to develop the habits mentioned above that come with a life of discipleship. That, of course, has ramifications.

• The first is the realization that a process of initiation – in particular, initiation into the Sacraments of the Church – cannot and should not be locked into an academic calendar. The RCIA, whether for adults or children, needs to be fluid and open-ended with opportunities along the way to assess the develop of habits. The various stages of the RCIA are provided precisely for that reason…to signify readiness to move on to another stage. Thus, when someone is not yet ready to move on, they are not “held back” but simply extend the period they are in until they are ready to move on.
• The 2nd ramification is the fact that we need to utilize interviewing techniques when assessing sacramental readiness in order to focus on the development of habits (thanks to those folks who suggested interview questions in our discussion on sacramental readiness).
• The third ramification is that we need to better utilize sponsors – mentors – to help those preparing for the Sacraments to incorporate the habits of discipleship into their lives.
• Finally, the fourth ramification that I can think of is that we need to address these habits upfront and ask inquirers – in an initial interview – not only if they desire to receive a sacrament, but also how interested they are in developing the habits of discipleship: prayer, Sunday worship, stewardship, Works of Mercy, and so on. This can be used to establish expectations for the initiation process as well as criteria for ongoing assessment of readiness. It’s not enough to ask them if they desire to receive a sacrament because they may “desire” it because to do otherwise will upset someone in the family. We need to ask if they desire to develop new habits and are willing to invest the time to do so.

Your thoughts about all this?

[photo courtesy of  massimo ankor via Compfight]

Hi Joe — One of our RCIC students, 13 year old, missed lots of classes, has not done any home make up work (his Mom says they have been too busy with ‘work’); and the boy is rather glum, sullen, disinterested.  Polite enough, but lethargic, etc. He missed receiving First Communion and Confirmation with the rest of the students (about 5 others, younger) on Easter Vigil and has an opportunity to receive the Sacraments at Pentecost – our Bishop will be here for that. We have asked our youth minister/head of catechism program for guidance, but wondered if we should “Ask Paprocki”. How do we decide and how do we express our concerns to the mother. Thanks.  We have two more Saturday classes before Pentecost.  Tomorrow and May 18. 

-Monica

What other music resources would you recommend for use in a Confirmation program?