Archive for October, 2007
Remember how Rodney Dangerfield would always use the line, “tough crowd, I tell ya, tough crowd”?
Well that’s how I felt after last night’s class! The kids were pretty wired for some reason. I think it had to do with the fact that they had the day off from the school district and spent the day at the mall drinking slurpies (sugar) and Pepsi (caffiene)!
Having a fire drill 15 minutes into class didn’t help either!
Anyway, in general, 3 or 4 of the kids were pretty hyper and couldn’t sit still or stop making noises or side-talking. I had to stop a number of times to get back their attention and eventually told a couple of them that if it keeps up, I will have to call their parents.
“You have our parents’ phone numbers?!” one of them asked, apparently in shock.
“You bet I do and I’m not afraid to use ‘em,” I replied. That seemed to get them to calm down!
We did spend a good chunk of time learning about how the Nicene Creed teaches us what we need to know about Jesus and then we looked at examples of heresies in the early Church that led to the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople where the Nicene Creed was eventually hammered out. We focused specifically on the understanding of Jesus as FULLY human and FULLY divine and why we need to avoid descriptions like “part human/part divine” or “half human/half divine.” We also talked a little about modern day “heresies” such as the Da Vinci Code which can lead people to false understandings about Jesus.
What worked best, however, was moving into our reflective prayer for the last 20 minutes or so. By spreading them out througout the room and assigning space to the few who were acting up, I was able to lead them into a prayerful mood. They were very quiet for the 15 minutes or so that we reflected, first listening to a recorded dramatic rendition of the “Who do you say that I am?” passage (on CD in the Finding God program) and then listening to me as I led them to imagine Jesus sitting down with them and asking them, “who do you say that I am?” I asked them to enter into a simple conversation with Jesus, sharing anything they wanted to talk about, listening to Jesus, and thanking him for this time together.
They are learning to really appreciate this prayerful time and they ask each week if we’re going to “do that prayer thing.”
Hopefully, next week they will be back to normal, tired out from a long day at school and less hyper!
Hey, that’s life as a catechist!
Today has been designated “Blog Action Day.”
On October 15, bloggers around the web unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment.
So what does the environment have to do with being a Catholic catechist? Plenty!
The Catholic Conservation Center reminds us that “long before the current ecological movement developed, saints taught respect for all of God’s Creation.” The Center goes on to say:
Since its inception, the Church has instructed us on the proper dominion and stewardship of Creation. This wisdom is made known to us through sacred Scripture, the living Tradition of the Church, the message of Creation, and the voice of conscience enlightened by God’s law.
The Catholic approach to environmental justice is based on the two commandments of Jesus Christ: to love God above all things and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Love of God requires respect for God’s gifts and for God’s will for Creation. Love of neighbor requires justice, which prohibits the selfish destruction of the environment without regard for those in need today or for the needs of future generations.
The Catholic attitude toward nature, in a word, is stewardship. Stewardship is the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care. From the first pages of the Bible, we are instructed to “cultivate and care for” God’s Creation (Genesis 2:15). Created in the image and likeness of God, we are granted dominion over the rest of Creation (Genesis 1:26-28). Dominion means that we have sovereignty over and responsibility for the well-being of God’s Creation. We resemble God primarily because of this dominion; hence, our dominion must also resemble God’s dominion. We must cultivate and care for the Earth as God does, with love and wisdom. We are called to exercise dominion in ways that allow God’s original Creative Act to be further unfolded. And because we resemble the Creator, we are also in a sense co-creators with Him.
Simply put, whenever we teach love of God and neighbor, that implies love and respect for all of God’s gifts, not the least of which is creation, and the unselfish sharing of those gifts with others.
Finally, Catholic spirituality has a long tradition of recognizing God’s presence mirrored in all of creation. As a sacramental faith, we see the grace of God manifested in the physical world. Hence the Ignatian concept of “Finding God in all things.”
With all this in mind, it seems most appropriate to dwell on Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins’ great poem, God’s Grandeur:
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; Bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
On my train ride this morning, I saw a marquee for a church that announced, “It’s All About Jesus!”
I realized right then and there that this is the theme of my class this upcoming Monday evening! We’re beginning the unit on Jesus and, in essence, focusing on the notion that, for us Christians, it’s all about Jesus.
By the way, in my last class, one of my students asked, “what’s the difference between Catholics and Christians?” What she really meant was, what’s the difference between Catholics and Protestants, which is something we’re going to learn more in depth later this year. However, for now, it was important to explain that Catholics are indeed Christian. On Monday, we’ll explore the very heart of what it means to be Christian, namely, that it is all about Jesus!
Have a great weekend!
Greetings to all the good folks up in Rice Lake, Wisconsin!
I was up there Tuesday and Wednesday for the Diocese of Superior Fall Conference, doing a couple of workshops on “Teaching to Generation Me.” Some of you may recall that a few months back, I did a series of posts on a book titled “Generation Me” by Jean Twenge, M.D. and offered some thoughts on how catechists can respond to the unique challenges this generation presents. The Director of Pastoral Services of the Diocese of Superior, Richard Lyons, read my posts and invited me to speak at their conference. What an amazing world we live in that we can connect on matters of faith over hundreds of miles that separate us!
Anyway, I enjoyed talking with catechists and Catholic school teachers about the generation of kids (and their parents) that we are ministering to. We all agreed that the Holy Spirit will guide us to find the most effective ways to communicate the Gospel to this generation!
Let me add as well that it was a beautiful 6 1/2 hour drive (one way) with the leaves changing colors all around me!
Let’s not forget that October is the Month of the Holy Rosary.
I’ve spent some time on previous posts talking about reflective prayer, aka, meditation. The Rosary is a unique form of meditation for Catholics. By focusing on the mysteries - events in the lives of Jesus and Mary - we encounter the Lord in a special way, through the intercession of Mary.
It occurs to me now that praying the Rosary with my 8th graders this month will be a wonderful opportunity to introduce them to another form of reflective prayer.
Any other plans out there for incorporating the Rosary into your lessons this month?
Please permit me a day off from being a catechist (we have no class tonight…Columbus Day) so that I can share my reflections on the demise of the 2007 Cubs.
Alas, Lucy has pulled the football away from Charlie Brown once again, just when we thought that maybe, just maybe, this will be the time that he’ll finally get to kick that ball! Don’t we know any better?
Like Jeremiah, we Cubs’ fans are lamenting (and I paraphrase Jeremiah 20:7 here), “You duped me Cubs, and I let myself be duped.”
After the painful collapse of 2003 (which followed painful collapses in 1984 and 1969, not to mention disappointing losses in 1989 and 1998), I,like many Cubs’ fans, swore not to get my hopes up again. Paraphrasing Jeremiah once again, “I said to myself, I will not mention them, I will speak their name no more. But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it.”
So, like a fool, I succumbed to the vortex of hope. I went to several games down the stretch. I wore my Cubs jersey and cap. I even sat in the bleachers once! I cheered and rooted (and yes, I was one of the people who boo-ed Zambrano a month or so ago…I’ve been a fan for over 40 years…I’ve earned the right!). They clinched the division on my birthday and a little part of me said, “maybe, just maybe, this is the year.”
Of course, if you blinked your eyes, you missed the playoff series…the Cubs never really showed up. As I watched the first game of the series, I said to my wife, “OK…2 strikes on Soriano…here comes a big sweeping curve ball in the dirt.” Sure enough, a big sweeping curve ball in the dirt…and Soriano whiffs. As did Lee, and Ramirez and countless others. I thought, “If I know what pitch is coming next, and they’re the ones getting paid mega-millions, shouldn’t they know as well?” That would be asking too much, I guess.
And so, we welcome many newly initiated Cubs fans to the world of disappointment…all those young Cubs fans who thought that by being positive they could will the Cubs to a championship. These are the folks who chided me and other veteran Cub fans for being pessimistic about the Cubs’ chances. Seasoned Cub fans know that it is emotionally safer to be jaded and cynical when it comes to the Cubs’ chances. It hurts less when they let you down. We don’t see it as being pessimistic…just realistic. Why are we afraid that the other shoe will drop? Because it always has (at least for 99 years).
Now, the familiar refrain goes up (for the 99th time): “wait till next year.” Perhaps the commisioner of baseball can proclaim 2008 to be a jubilee year when, after 100 years of waiting, prisoners of futility will be released, the Cubs’ debt will be forgiven, and the baseball gods will shower mercy on all of Cubdom, bringing about a year of joy.
I, myself, will keep expectations very low…less chance of being disappointed. The quiet pessimism of many of us veteran Cubs fans will not affect the Cubs as they will have 40,000 screaming and cheering fans rooting them on at every home game and singing the Steve Goodman anthem, “Go, Cubs, Go!”
I for one, will be recalling the refrain from Steve Goodman’s other great Cubs’ song, “The Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request:”
Do they still play the blues in Chicago
When baseball season rolls around?
When the snow melts away,
Do the Cubbies still play
In their ivy covered burial ground?
When I was a boy they were my pride and joy
But now they only bring fatigue
To the home of the brave
The land of the free
And the doormat of the national league
Why does this story not surprise me?
Apparently, according to a survey, most folks can more readily name the ingredients in a Big Mac than they can recall the 10 commandments.
Now, I’m not posting this to cause despair or to send up the white flag of surrender. Rather, it is a reminder that there are methods available for “getting into people’s heads!” We need to always be creative and vigilant in our efforts to be sure that those we teach have the “right stuff” in their heads and hearts!
Get the whole Big Mac/10 Commandments story here.
I think that one of the most effective ways to grow as a catechist is to be able to observe another catechist in action. I learn a lot by watching the techniques that other catechists use as well as observing the rapport that they develop with their students.
Of course, arranging peer observation is not easy. For many of us, the only time that other catechists are teaching is when WE are teaching. That doesn’t rule out the possibility, however. Perhaps your DRE can arrange to have a substitute for you once so that you can go and observe another catechist in action.
Such observation works both ways. You can learn from the person you’re observing, and the person you’re observing can ask you for feedback on what you observe in their technique!
Of course, if there are various times that catechetical sessions take place in your parish, it is easier to arrange to observe another catechist in action.
When I was a high school religion teacher, we voluntarily began a peer observation program so that we could learn from one another and offer one another feedback. It was an excellent experience. I hope that catechists can do the same.
For last Monday’s session, as we were focusing on the nearness of God, I began by showing a 5-minute clip of the movie E.T. (The Extra Terrestrial). The clip is the very beginning of the movie that shows how E.T. gets left behind on earth. Most of the kids had seen the movie before so, after a little trip back to their early childhood, I asked them to summarize the plot of the movie. Simply put, E.T. spends the rest of the movie trying to get the attention of his home planet (”E.T. phone home”) so that they will return and save him.
I used this to illustrate the mistaken notion that many of us have about our relationship with God. All too often, we have this impression that we are alone down here and God is way up there somewhere and that we need to get God’s attention by being good and by praying hard enough. I explained to the kids that prayer is not about us trying to get God’s attention, but is about us responding to God who is trying to get our attention! I used the phrase, “God is nearer to us than we are to ourselves” and asked the kids what that meant. One girl responded, “that means that He’s in our heart.” She got it right.
From there, I was able to explain why, when we pray, we try to remove distractions, quiet ourselves, and focus inward…because that is where God resides and that is where we encounter him.
We are not E.T. - struggling to get God’s attention so that he will “come down” and save us. We are temples of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is our attempt to enter into the temple of our hearts where God resides. It is there that we come to know God and ourselves.
Last night saw great improvement in the kids’ behavior and ability to participate more maturely in reflective prayer (meditation).
By the way, one of the boys asked at the outset of class, “Are we gonna pray again like last week?” I got a kick out of that because he was one of the kids who had trouble being still the previous week, although he was not a problem per se. I think he enjoys the “something different” feeling that the prayer opportunity gives him and he was eager to have this time again. I’m sure he doesn’t fully understand the reflective prayer experience, but he’s obviously attracted to the experience if only for the change of pace.
I did a reflection on the nearness of God, focusing on Psalm 139. As always, I began with a few directions for centering and relaxing…focusing on breathing, relaxing shoulder and back muscles, etc. Throughout, I had soft instrumental music playing in the background. The kids were spread out around the room, most on the floor, some in their chairs. Lights dimmed. Fake candle flickering (we have fire restrictions).
Next, I guided them through some reflections on Psalm 139 (provided in the catechist guide) eventually ending up with them speaking and listening silently to God who is nearer to them then they are to themeselves. In all, the reflection lasted about 10 minutes. The last 3 minutes, I faded out the music and told them to just spaek to God about whatever is in their hearts.
THE KIDS WERE PERFECTLY SILENT FOR THOSE 3 MINUTES!
I invited them to gradually return their focus to the room and to return to their seats. I congratulated them, saying, “Congratulations, 8th graders…you just meditated!” They were very proud of themselves. I told them that what they just accomplished is not easy nor is it common for kids their age in this noisy and busy world.
This was very good progress and it bodes well for future guided reflections (meditations). Soon, I will show them how they can take this technique and use it on their own instead of relying on someone to lead the meditation.
