Ideas for the Whole Community

Spiritual practices inspired by Julian of Norwich

2007-10-05T11:16:00.000-07:00

In the November/December 2007 issue of Today's Parish Minister, Colleen Griffith wrote a splendid piece on how to discover love this Advent. She describes how Julian of Norwich attuned herself to recognizing God's love for all humanity. Here are two spiritual practices for Advent from Colleen which are inspired by St. Julian.

Take a few moments to enter silence. Allow your own depths of spirit to be opened to drink in God’s love. Stay with your heart’s stirring. Write your own psalm in response.

Julian makes many references to God’s maternal love. Spend some time in prayer with Scriptures that reference the maternal love of God. Choose, for example, Psalm 131 or Isaiah 46:3-4 or Isaiah 49:15.

Should we give money to street people?

2007-10-04T11:29:00.000-07:00

Want to start an argument? Ask a group of Sunday-going Christians if we should give money to panhandlers. I've been on both sides of the issue. There are many good reasons to not give money to street beggars. I was at a dinner with some folks from a liturgy conference once. The food was bounteous, and many of us had to take home doggie bags. As we were walking away from the restaurant, a woman in our group placed her bag on the sidewalk next to a beggar and wished him a good evening. In the few steps it took for him to realize the bag had food in it, he came rushing up to her to return it. He was looking for cash or something he could sell for cash.

People who work with the homeless (and even more who don't) will tell you of professional beggars who can clear several hundred dollars a day, tax free, with the right story in the right part of town. Some city governments will tell you it is your civic duty not to contribute to panhandlers because it encourages them to keep begging and discourages tourism. Drug and alcohol rehab counselors will tell you that contributing to panhandlers is simply contributing to their addiction. And some beggars, no doubt, are aggressive and dangerous. It wouldn't be prudent to interact with them in any fashion if you were by yourself. Some people walk around with McDonalds coupons or bus tokens to give to beggars, but those are refused as often as accepted. And they can also be sold for cash.

Lunch and a beer
That was more or less my thinking for a long time. Then one day, many years ago, a colleague and I were walking to lunch in a nice part of town. We were approached by a beggar who wanted a quarter. Without hesitating, my colleague pulled out his wallet and gave the guy a dollar. A little embarrassed that I hadn't responded as quickly, I fished out a dollar for the beggar as well.

During lunch, I asked my colleague, who is not a Christian, why he had given the beggar money. "It's lunchtime," said my friend. "And I can spare it."

"But what if the guy spends your money on booze?" I asked.

"It's not my money now," he said, lifting his glass of beer. "Besides, that's what I'm spending it on."

So I've changed my thinking. If I've got some spare money and someone asks me for a handout, I'll often give him something. I don't ask him if his hourly rate is higher than mine. I don't ask him what he's going to spend it on. My change in attitude led to an interesting relationship.

Sunday drivers
Shortly after the lunchtime incident, I was driving to church. I came to a red light, and there was a beggar with a sign, asking for a handout. I lowered the window and gave him a dollar. Next week, same thing. That went on for weeks, and then months, and then a couple of years. We'd chat for as long as the light would allow or until another driver waved a bill at him. Then one Sunday he asked me to pray for him. "I'm going to a job interview tomorrow," he said. "Good luck!" I said. "God bless," he said as the light changed.

I told some friends at church the story. I laughed about it a little. I didn't believe him. It sounded like he was rehearsing a new story for drivers that weren't as soft a touch as I.

But he wasn't there the next week. He hasn't been there since. Maybe he found a more profitable corner. Maybe he really got a job. I don't know if he changed, and it doesn't matter. I did.

Reform of the sacrament of reconciliation

2007-10-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

Bill Huebsch writes in the November/December issue of Today's Parish Minister, "Advent is coming soon. Let's find a way to help folks celebrate [reconciliation] in a way that will touch their hearts and reconcile them to the gospel."

Below is a brief timeline of the reform of the sacrament after Vatican II.

The Reform of the Sacrament

In 1973, a new rite for the sacrament of reconciliation was promulgated. The new rite followed norms set down by Vatican II itself, and there were five:

the rite should be clear and the effect of the sacrament comprehensible,
the role of the community should be emphasized,
a public form of the rite should take precedence over the private form,
readings from Scripture should be central to the rite,
and the rite should be short and free from useless repetitions.

The revised rite has four forms:

the individual rite,
the communal rite with individual confession and absolution,
the communal rite with general absolution,
a brief rite to be used in emergencies.

Three ways to link liturgy and justice

2007-10-03T11:24:00.000-07:00

Gregory R. Kepferle, the CEO of Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County in San José, California, wrote a splendid article about liturgy and justice in the November/December issue of Today's Parish Minister. Below are three more ideas he has for linking liturgy and justice.

Three ways to link liturgy and justice in your parish

Cross train your liturgy team and your social justice team. Help folks that are liturgically-oriented see the justice themes in Scripture and the church year. Help social justice-oriented folks appreciate the richness of the liturgy. Participate in an immersion action-reflection experience together and ritualize what you learn.
Celebrate your social justice and outreach ministries. Institute a commissioning ceremony for your parish volunteers engaged in social concerns. Invite the liturgy team to work on it in collaboration with the social concerns team.
Plan ahead and calendar special occasions that can link liturgy and justice through Scripture, music, prayers of the faithful, the choice of eucharistic prayers, and psalms.

Some examples include:

the Feast of Christ the King, which is often the Sunday for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development’s anti-poverty collection;
a Sunday when Catholic Charities has a special collection for the needs of the poor;
January, when the USCCB Migration and Refugee Services celebrates immigrant and refugee awareness.

Litany for the church's social ministry

2007-10-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

In the November/December 2007 issue of Today's Parish Minister, Kenneth R. Himes, OFM, wrote a guide for helping parishioners live a life of justice and peace. Below is a litany he composed.

Dear Lord, we ask these things in your Name:

Victims of violence, may your suffering end.

Sufferers of injustice, may your rights be vindicated.

Wounded creatures of God, may the scars of waste and pollution be healed.

Builders of Peace, we pray your work bears fruit in our world and our hearts.

Defenders of Justice, we pray your example inspire us all.

Protectors of the Environment, we pray God’s creation may be cared for by us all.

Children of God, let us serve our brothers and sisters.

Followers of the Lord Jesus, let us practice what we profess.

Receivers of the Spirit, let us be inspired by divine vision.

Be a dreamer this Advent

2007-09-28T07:39:00.000-07:00

I have one of those weight-lifter art books that nobody really reads. You know, the kind you get one of the kids to help you drag off the bookshelf onto the coffee table when company is coming over. Well, in this tome is a picture of a painting by a 15th-century painter, Domenico Ghirlandaio, titled “Adoration of the Shepherds.” It’s a nativity painting in which the whole world is coming to adore the newborn Christ child. Seriously, this painting looks like it could have been inspired by the crowds at LAX the day before Thanksgiving. And every one of the throng is focused on Jesus. Everyone, that is, except Joseph.

Joseph is oblivious to the commotion, gazing far off into the distant sky, looking, in fact, in the opposite direction of his adopted son. He is depicted as an elderly man, and, when I saw the painting, I thought he’d already slipped off into dotage.

We know from Matthew’s gospel that Joseph is a man of dreams. And we know that a guy who dreams up the kind of stuff Matthew tells us about—angels appearing right and left with life-changing exhortations like “flee to Egypt”—isn’t a guy who only has three or four dreams in a lifetime. This guy lives in a dream.

How did Joseph get to be saintly? After all, when he found out Mary was pregnant, he planned to divorce her (Mt 1:19). Not shocking, but also not what you’d expect from a saint. It was his dreams that changed him. Because he was a dreamer, he was able to welcome Mary into his home and into his heart.

I took another look at the picture. In Ghirlandaio’s painting, Joseph is not an addled old man. He is a man of purpose. His hand rests firmly on a sarcophagus that serves as the Christ-child’s crib in the painting and a foreshadowing of his fate. That is to say, Joseph is grounded in the paschal mystery. With that foundation, he looks to the sky, far off in the distance, focused on what everyone else is too busy to see.

The challenge that Advent poses for us is to dream. And to teach our children to dream. But what are we to dream of? Joseph teaches us: A messenger of God, bearing good news.

The wicked stewardship problem

2007-09-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

"Stewardship" has become the new beige. It goes with everything and seems pretty neutral.

Here's what I struggle with. If the parish belongs to the parishioners, how do we get them to take ownership? At the same time, how do we legitimately assert the authority of the bishop and the pastor to make "final decisions"? And, in the midst of all this, how do we ask parishioners to pay for the re-sources needed to accomplish a mission they don't always feel completely responsible for?

How do we even begin to solve the problems surrounding stewardship? If you are like me, you fantasize that there is "an answer" out there. Some parish or some person smarter or more experienced than I am must have solved all this already. But down deep, we know that really is a fantasy, don't we?

Wicked problems
These kinds of problems are what Horst Rittel, a pioneering theorist of design and planning and late professor at the University of California, Berkeley, called "wicked problems." Rittel figured out that many problems cannot be solved by "experts" dropping in and delivering a ten-point plan, even if they have experience in your specific area of difficulty. This is, in fact, the very type of solution most of us go looking for. We go to a workshop or buy a book or hire a speaker to just tell us what to do. The thing that makes your problem "wicked" is that there is no one solution. And each potential solution raises other problems. And, this is really key, each problem is unique.

Jim Conklin, author of Dialogue Mapping: Creating Shared Understanding of Wicked Problems, went on to develop Rittel's ideas further. Conklin says wicked problems have these characteristics:

The problem is not understood until after formulation of a solution.
Stakeholders have radically different worldviews and different frames for understanding the problem.
Constraints and resources to solve the problem change over time.
The problem is never solved.

Don't you just hate that last one?

There is no "solution"
But think about it for a minute. Isn't the lack of a "solution" the very thing that makes the whole of parish life an encounter with grace? Stewardship is not a puzzle. There is no final answer. In the end, we are stewards of a mystery—a mystery of love. How do we solve that mystery? We can't. We can only enter into it.

Conklin says, "Because of social complexity, solving a wicked problem is fundamentally a social process. Having a few brilliant people or the latest project management technology is no longer sufficient." We might paraphrase that to say that because of the radical, loving relationship of the Father and the Son (in which we are immersed through the power of the Holy Spirit), solving a wicked problem is fundamentally an ecclesial process. Having a few brilliant theologians or stewardship experts is insufficient.

The answer is the community
In other words, stewardship is the responsibility of the entire parish community.

This means that all the multiple, complex, disjointed, busy, and distracted parts of the body of Christ must share a commitment to entering into the complex process of stewardship together. And they must share a commitment to love and support one another in that process. This won't "solve the problem." But it will bring us all more fully into the love of Christ.

[This was inspired by knowledge-management expert Jim McGee. See his post on "Solving puzzles or framing mysteries" for more information on wicked problems.]

Stewardship: Hospitality is the key

2007-09-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

In the September issue of Today's Parish Minister, Cathy Rusin describes how hospitality is the key to good stewardship. She offers some criteria for measuring the "welcome factor" in your parish:

Can people locate and read your sign, including Mass times?
Is the entrance to the church building easy to find and attractive?
Once inside, what sort of experience will they encounter?
Do new members simply get a set of donation envelopes, or perhaps a basket with a ministry handbook, city map, and freshly baked bread?

Learn more
For more on stewardship and hospitality, Cathy recommends you contact the Archdiocese of Louisville (502-636-0296, comm@archlou.org). They publish Christian Hospitality, a comprehensive handbook which “provides a theological basis for hospitality,…tips for welcoming all people, and a sampling of models and programs…. Parishes will be able to evaluate their hospitality ministry and find suggestions for improvement.”

Liturgy lacks imagination

2007-08-28T10:34:00.001-07:00

In the August 27, 2007, issue of America, Cardinal Godfried Danneels writes about liturgy 40 years after the Council. The entire article is deserving of a careful read, but here are my favorite lines:

How many celebrants consider the homily to be the climax of the liturgy and the barometer of the celebration? How many have the feeling that the celebration is more or less over after the Liturgy of the Word?

Too much attention is also given to the intellectual approach to the liturgy. Imagination, affect, emotion and, properly understood, aesthetics are not given enough room....

Liturgy is neither the time nor the place for catechesis....

Nor should liturgy be used as a means for disseminating information, no matter how essential that information might be. It should not be forced to serve as an easy way to notify the participants about this, that and the other thing. One does not attend the liturgy on Mission Sunday in order to learn something about this or that mission territory....

The church fathers, too, adhered to the principle that mystagogical catechesis (in which the deepest core of the sacred mysteries was laid bare) should come only after the sacraments of initiation. Their pedagogical approach was “sensorial”: participate first and experience things at an existential level in the heart of the community, and only then explain....

Knowing Christ is our goal

2007-08-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, we didn’t have “tech.” If we did, I would have been identified as “tech-challenged.” I once tried to make a telephone out of two soup cans and string. Let’s just say AT&T’s R&D department has nothing to fear from me. I also bought a set of those X-ray glasses that were in the back of the old Superman comics. In the ad, the kid using them could see people’s bones. When I finally got them, they were two plastic rims, each encasing a single chicken feather. I guess it was supposed to look like you were seeing “bones” when you looked through the feathers.

My next door neighbor, on the other hand, two years younger than I, was a budding scientist. He built a volcano one summer. It was about four feet high and spewed rivers of colorful muck all over his father’s driveway. He also built a working telegraph, which put my tin-can phone to shame. We stretched the wires between our bedroom windows, and he’d send me Morse code messages. The fact that I didn’t know Morse code dimmed neither his enthusiasm nor my amazement.

I feel the same amazement when I see children text messaging their friends or tricking out their MySpace pages. While I struggle to set the alarm correctly on my cell phone, people who have to be “this high” to get on a Disney ride are practicing a tech wizardry that must surely be classified somewhere under the dark arts.

How do we know?

I suppose I should be more disturbed than amazed by this. After all, as an elder to these tech-savvy youngsters, I should be the one who, after long years of experience and study, has acquired a superior and even mysterious knowledge. But I don’t think of knowledge that way.

To think of knowledge as something I have, like a bottle of water, which I open up and pour over you at my discretion, isn’t really how knowledge works. That bottle of water is more like information

Knowledge on the other hand is more like the ocean. It’s not mine to give or to keep, but only to discover. I can help you discover it or not. But if you get anywhere near it, you’ll discover it with or without me. The more of us who dive in together, the more we will discover. The more we will know.

As catechists and teachers, our ministry is about discovering knowledge, not dispensing information. The General Directory for Catechesis says our goal is “to know [Christ’s] ‘mystery,’… the requirements…in his gospel message, and the paths that he has laid down for anyone wishing to follow him” (80).

If we discover a new facet of the mystery, we could try to let others know by using my soup-can phone. But the kids will have it posted on their MySpace pages before I can find my can opener. More than any previous generation, they’ve turned the idea of “teaching” on its head. They are teaching us elders what it is to be co-discovers of the Mystery of Christ. Just as the gospel requires. I think that’s amazing.

Mary on Edge: A Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

2007-08-14T22:03:00.000-07:00

Do not be afraid, Mary.

We hear the gospel words
but any mother can tell you
fear and worry fall heavy on the heart.

Do not be afraid, Mary.

What about colic and ear infections?
What about school?
Will my child have friends?
What will I say when others make fun of my child?

Do not be afraid, Mary.

It began in fear, and the fear did not flee.
It tugged at her heart each time the baby’s cry turned shrill,
each time he ran from the house—as little boys do—
only to come back with a swollen lip or blood matted hair.

Fear.

This son of hers,
cradling lepers with open sores
lifting children into his lap;
going down to the river, out to the desert
out on the sea to pull in fish
with arms bronzed with the sun.

And she knew—as only a mother can know—
blood would string down his arms
now so strong, but once so small.
And nails would pierce the hands she once washed.

And some day soldiers would come—she knew—
they’d come for him.

--Jim Schmitmeyer

Expect September to be full of possibility

2007-08-14T21:55:00.000-07:00

It was a warm September day more than 20 years ago, and I was late for my first day on the job. (I hadn’t lived in Twin Cities long enough to fully grasp the difference between I-35E and I-35W.) I didn’t have a key yet and had to ring the bell. The parish secretary answered the door, and she seemed to know who I was. She showed me around the building—a converted rectory—and eventually showed me to my office on the second floor. A real office with a window, a door that closed, and a typewriter on the desk. (Back in those days, personal computers were still too expensive for most church workers.)

She left me there, with instructions on how to use the intercom if I needed anything. I sat down on the armless swivel chair and stared at the wall. I remember two dominant feelings: creeping panic and a sense of unlimited possibility.

The panic eased with time, but the sense that anything is possible never has. Sure, it wanes and waxes, but it seems like every September there is renewed expectation and hope. Perhaps that comes from those early days in the parish. Our parish, like most, was a little drowsy in the summer. But come September, everyone was back from vacation, rested, and ready to go.

One of the first things I did to those unsuspecting-but-well-rested souls was start a liturgy committee. I’m afraid I conducted it a bit like a graduate course, showing off my new master’s degree and my book learning. They were a tolerant bunch of folks though, and together we read the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Environment and Art in Catholic Worship, and Music in Catholic Worship. It was only the third or fourth time I’d read the liturgy documents. It was the first time for most of them. We had a couple of English teachers on the committee who the bemoaned the grammar and sentence structure, especially of the Constitution. But no one failed to get excited by the promise those texts held. Ours was a Vatican II parish. The Council had only closed 15 years earlier, and everyone on the committee knew what liturgy was like before. While they weren’t ready to endorse every trend and fad coming down the pike, they were heart and soul committed to the primary aim of the Council: the full, conscious, and active participation of the people.

Well, that was a long time ago. Some say those days are over, the reform has been completed, and perhaps we should think about returning to some of the practices from before. I don’t know. It doesn’t sound right to me.

The last liturgy committee I served on was just a few years ago. I was a parish volunteer, not the staff liaison. At my first meeting with them, I was the only one who grew up speaking English. I’m pretty sure I was the only one who had read the liturgy documents. But we didn’t talk about that. We didn’t talk about Vatican II. And we really didn’t do much planning. We did talk a lot about what we loved about liturgy.

We also told stories about the best liturgies we’d ever participated in. And every story was about the participation of the folks. In every story, the people were heart and soul fully involved the priestly action of doing the liturgy. We all agreed we wanted more of that.

When he opened the Second Vatican Council, Blessed Pope John XXIII said, “The human family is on the threshold of a new era.” Maybe I’ve got too many “Septembers” under my belt, but it still feels to me like we are only on the threshold. Unlimited possibility lies ahead of us. Why would we ever think of going back?

Teaching as a sacrament

2007-07-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

Fall is a good time to look forward. It is often a time of new beginnings, new hopes, and new quests. In looking forward to this year of publication, Religion Teacher’s Journal began by looking back. In the first issue, Neil Kluepfel, editor and publisher, wrote:

If the articles [in this first issue] have helped to reinforce your convictions to continue to strive to make our religion the most important thing in the lives of your students, then the magazine this month has achieved its objective.

As we looked at that first issue and at the mission Neil laid out for the magazine, we realized that the core of the catechetical ministry is teaching. However, it is not teaching so much in the pedagogical sense (although it often includes that). Primarily, catechesis is teaching in the sacramental sense.

What is a sacrament?
The more ancient word for “sacrament”—the word the apostles used—is “mystery.” The sacraments take on a slightly different meaning when we call them mysteries. We certainly “receive sacraments,” but we “encounter mysteries.” A mystery is something that draws us in, fascinates us, perhaps even frightens us. Sacraments are always about an encounter with the Mystery of Christ. And like any mystery—the mysteries of love, or art, or music, or nature—there is much to be revealed. It can take a lifetime.

Jesus never administered a sacrament. At least not in the sense of following a ritual text inside a church. Jesus is as sacrament. Jesus is mystery. When Jesus wanted to feed the first disciples, handing on small bits of himself to his nervous, confused, child-like followers, he told stories. He drew them into the mystery of himself with parables and signs. He taught.
Teaching is first of all a mission of mystery. Pope John Paul II said the first task of a catechist is to lead people to intimate communion with Christ. To even imagine what that might look like, and how to go about it, is both fascinating and frightening.

Perhaps we fail more than we succeed. Sometimes we are stiff and formulaic. Often we are not quite sure what we are doing. Sometimes we feel like we haven’t accomplished much. But we teach, nonetheless, because we are fascinated by the Mystery. And perhaps we succeed more than we think. Because we know that even on our worst day the sacrament happens.

As we begin this new year, Religion Teacher’s Journal joins you in looking forward to the future of teaching the faith, just as it did more than 40 years ago.

Help parents share faith at home

2007-07-23T09:41:00.000-07:00

In the September 2007 issue of Religion Teacher's Journal, Harry J. Dudley has written a terrific article on how to involve parents in the faith formation of their children. Below is a lists of resources he suggests for use in the household churches.

Harcourt Religion has a section of their Web site dedicated to faith at home. Go to tinyurl.com/yqwzto.
Loyola Press prints a parent newsletter called “Finding God” Our Response to God’s Gift. For more information go to tinyurl.com/2djgoo.
Twenty-Third Publications offers a number of resources to help you become more comfortable with faith sharing and the stories from Scripture. Go to 23rdpublications.com and search on “family faith.”

Welcoming new members

2007-07-01T12:40:00.001-07:00

Bob Harris, CAE, offers free tips for nonprofits and suggests this plan for welcoming new members:

In the 1st month of joining, members get a welcome kit.
In the 4th month a member of staff calls to introduce her or himself as a source of contact.
In the 7th month, a member of the board calls to inquire about member satisfaction.
In the 9th month a membership committee member calls to encourage renewal (as bills will soon be mailed in the 10th or 11th month).

How can his schedule be adapted for parish communities? What welcome strategies have you used and found successful?

For more of Bob Harris' thinking, visit www.nonprofitcenter.com.

Family Prayer Resources

2007-05-25T10:17:00.001-07:00

Looking for ways to support the domestic churches in their prayer lives? Check out these resources:

"Harcourt Religion - Family Prayers." your.harcourtreligion.com. 25 May 2000. 25 May 2007 .

Lewis, Suzanne. Children's Daily Prayer. Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2006.

Martin, Michaelann, Carol Puccio, and Zoe Romanowsky. The Catholic Parent Book of Feasts: Celebrating the Church Year With Your Family. : Our Sunday Visitor, 1999.

Renz, Kelley. God Listens to Our Children: Kids' Prayers for Every Day of the Liturgical Year. : Our Sunday Visitor, 2006.

"Ten Prayers Every Catholic Child Should Know - Ten Prayers for Catholic Children." Catholicism - Roman Catholicism - Roman Catholic Christianity. 2007 .

Thompson, Katie. The Complete Children's Liturgy Book: Liturgies of the Word for Years A, B, C. Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 2004.

United States Catholic Conference. Catholic Household Blessings & Prayers. Washington D.C.: Usccb Publishing, 1989.

Catholic Prayers (Small Prayerbook). Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1990.

Table Prayer Cards: Table Prayer Card for Autumn and Winter. Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2001.

What would Jesus drink?

2007-05-11T06:54:00.001-07:00

I'm a fan of Starbucks. It's not so much that I like paying $4.00 for a cup of coffee. It's my amazement at how many people, especially young people, seem to be hanging around all the time. Starbucks is good a creating a community gathering place. That didn't happen by accident. Starbucks CEO Jim Donald says it is part of their marketing psychology. Starbucks wants us to think of their coffee shops as a primary place in our lives.

We say the first place is home, second place is office, and then Starbucks is a third place. They use our stores for gathering spots, and we think that that that's what makes that whole experience what it is today.

Anyone see "church" on that list? Me either. What I wonder, every time I stand in line with people ordering "half-caf fraps" and "double shot lattes" is what can we learn from Starbucks to make our parishes as inviting, especially to young people.

[ABCNews.com]

Prayer space in the domestic church

2007-05-09T11:06:00.001-07:00

We arrange our homes to reflect our personalities and interests. Literature lovers fill their rooms with books and comfy reading chairs. An enthusiastic cook may spend thousands turning a dull kitchen into a glittering showpiece. Yet aside from occasional holiday decorations, the spiritual side of life rarely plays a starring role in the home.

Read rest of this helpful article on creating a prayer space in the domestic churches of the parish. Click here.

How Latinos practice their faith

2007-05-02T07:23:00.001-07:00

According to a major study released this week, Latinos are very religious.

The report's main conclusion — that Latinos and their embrace of charismatic styles of worship are reshaping the nation's religious landscape — garnered the most attention when the document was released Wednesday. But the study also took a close look at how Latinos practice their faith.

Read all about it in the L.A. Times.

Cyber confession

2007-05-02T07:18:00.001-07:00

A woman kept her secret for nearly two decades.
Finally ready to confess, she turned not to a minister, but to her computer.
The confession appears at ivescrewedup.com, a website launched by the Flamingo Road Church in Cooper City. It's one of a growing number of such sites across the country -- some secular and others church-sponsored -- that offer a place to spill out ugly secrets or just make peccadilloes public.

The Miami Hearald reports confession Web sites attract hundreds of admissions a day.

Just click and confess. [via DallasNews Religion]

How important is religious literacy?

2007-04-27T08:40:00.001-07:00

Boston University professor Stephen Prothero says you need to be literate about religion in order to be an effective citizen. And he says religious literacy is on the decline in the U.S. In his new book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know--And Doesn't, he notes that while 20 million bibles a year are sold in the United States, many people are unable to name the authors of the Gospels or one of the apostles.

Read a Zenit report about religious literacy in Ireland and the U.S. here.

Concerned about the future church?

2007-04-26T10:37:00.001-07:00

You're not alone. Futurist Rex Miller writes:

The current church model (denominational, contemporary and postmodern) stands on the same modern platform along with every other institution that holds our world together. Our industrial mindset infiltrates the Church with its “efficient spiritual delivery” system approach. This efficient spiritual delivery system poisons the well of community life and threatens our spiritual eco-system. We should ask, “Are we creating the same kind of unintended negative consequences that every other institution now faces?” What if the activities of our traditional church model actually induces lostness?

Read more of Miller's thoughts and concerns about the future here.

If you want to hear him live, and you are in the Dallas area, click here.

Church kids are better behaved

2007-04-25T07:47:00.001-07:00

According to LiveScience.com:

Kids with religious parents are better behaved and adjusted than other children, according to a new study that is the first to look at the effects of religion on young child development....

The kids whose parents regularly attended religious services—especially when both parents did so frequently—and talked with their kids about religion were rated by both parents and teachers as having better self-control, social skills and approaches to learning than kids with non-religious parents.

Read the entire story here.

Read anything good lately?

2007-04-11T12:36:00.001-07:00

TeachersFirst.com has list of all-time great works for students young and old. While this list contains many classics for adult and young adult readers, it also includes many contemporary works, as well as material suitable for milddle school students. And they have links to loads of specialty lists, including Banned Books Online, A Guide to Girl's Literature, and Hispanic Fiction for Young Adults.

Why the church isn't dying

2007-04-11T07:17:00.001-07:00

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the nation’s largest archdiocese, with over 4.4 million Catholics, celebrated two Rites of Election in order to accommodate all 1,294 catechumens and their sponsors. In addition to the catechumens, nearly 1,500 candidates in Los Angeles will be formally welcomed into the church Holy Saturday.

To read more about the tens of thousands of people who joined the Catholic Church last weekend, click here.

How green is your parish?

2007-04-01T08:45:00.001-07:00

Today, Palm Sunday, many churches will be using "eco-palms" in their liturgies.

Slightly more expensive than the average palm, eco-palms are the rage in churches across the United States because of the social and environmental benefits they represent. They are collected in a way that helps preserve the forest, and more of the sale price ends up in the pockets of the people who cut them.

Read the entire story in the New York Times.

What does the parish of the future look like?

2007-03-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

Overall, Mr. Wagner is optimistic about the state of the Catholic parish in coming years.

"Generally, it's going to be an exciting time in the near future as these changes come into place," he said. "I'm a person who enjoys newness and change, and I think that challenge is ultimately what the Catholic faith is about: seeing the face of Jesus Christ in that challenge. It's going to be a lot of fun."

Click here to read the rest of Karen Dietlein Osborne's interview of me regarding the parish of the future.

7 things you need to tell young Catholics

2007-03-31T10:49:00.000-07:00

Twenty-Third Publications author Michael Carotta was in San José for a workshop on young adolecent Catholics. (The event was hosted by Harcourt Religion Publishers). He spoke on some of the recent data regarding middle school aged children and how that data relates to catechesis. He said that 6th, 7th, and 8th graders have more in common with college students than college students have with their parents. This is primarily because of the postmodern outlook that folks in their 20s and younger share. This age group, from middle school to college age, is commonly referred to as Gen Y. For them, everything has to be immediate. They do not understand delayed gratification. Mike identified five myths about this generation:

They have low self esteem
There is a large parent-teen gap
They are generally troubled
They are all the same
They have little faith

None of these are true. However, two things that are true: they have diminishing levels of hope and their ability to make moral decisions is not based on traditional, authoritative voices.

Mike said we have to do two things catechetically. We have to turn up the volume on hope. And we have to start conversations on morality from the perspective of who gets hurt. Gen Y places a high value on not hurting anyone and not allowing anyone to be hurt.

He said this generation has two basic questions about Catholic identity: how are we different and why do you (the adults in their lives) remain Catholic.

He said he would spend the short time we have with them on these issues:

Spirituality
Hope
Providing a powerful experience of God
Emphasizing the multicolored richness of Catholicism
Engaging their moral imagination
Attending to stories
Teaching discipleship. What is the difference between a believer and a disciple?

He had lots of data, most of which he culled from the National Study on Youth and Religion, pulling out the specifically Catholic data. He emphasized over and over again that this group has a high level of faith. He urged catechists not to spend precious catechetical time trying to evangelize this group. "The already believe," he said.

A couple of the statistics he cited struck me as especially interesting. 8 out of 10 believe in God, and yet only one third of them have had a powerful religious experience. I wonder if they have not had a powerful experience of God, what or who is the God they believe in.

Another interesting thing is the majority of them talk with their parents about religion at least five times a month. And the majority of them are interested in learning more about their faith. This seems like a huge opportunity to provide catechetical resources for the domestic church so they will know how to talk with their kids.

Finally, half of them find liturgy to be boring. I'm amazed it's only half. Still, there is a lot of work to do to keep this group engaged liturgically.

What did you give up for Lent?

2007-03-29T07:13:00.000-07:00

(CNN) -- For some, it's chocolate. For others, it's coffee or cigarettes. But as this Easter approaches, some young and devout Christians are anxious to return to what they gave up for Lent: Internet sites Facebook and MySpace.

Read the rest of the story here.

How Veiled Statues Might Blind the Catechumens

2007-03-23T14:14:00.001-07:00

On her Work of the People blog, Diana Macalintal does an excellent job of clarifying the various understandings of the rubrics regarding the veiling of crosses and statues during Lent. Regardless of the permissions allowed however, one has to wonder about the retention of this medieval practice in the post-Vatican II church.

The veiling of images in the Western church has its origins in shrouding of all the liturgical elements (including the chalice!) in unbleached linen or silk during the middle ages. This shrouding took place at the beginning of Lent, and everything remained covered until the Gloria of the Easter Vigil. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the symbolism of the shrouding was to remind us that this is a time when Christ remains hidden and does not walk openly among the people.

With the reform of the Second Vatican Council, we no longer think of Lent as a time in the desert, absent of Christ’s constant presence. Indeed, the reverse is the case. With the Elect among us every Sunday of Lent, Christ is perhaps more intensely recognized than at other times of the year. The intensity of Christ among us is clearly symbolized in the “recognition” stories of the Woman at the Well, the Man Born Blind, and the Raising of Lazarus, which are proclaimed during the Scrutinies.

While the theme of repentance is not forgotten during Lent, it is contextualized as a “special season for the ascent to the holy mountain of Easter…[that] disposes both the catechumens and the faithful to celebrate the paschal mystery… (Ceremonial of Bishops, 249). The Ceremonial goes on to say that “the bishop should be deeply concerned to promote the formation of catechumens” (250).

What formation will the veiling of statues provide for the catechumens? That Christ is not in the font, but in the tomb? That Christ is not now welling up in their hearts as with the Woman at the Well, but will be delayed in arriving until the Gloria of the Easter Vigil?

There seems to be little value in the veiling of statues beyond nostalgia, and the practice has the potential of providing a counter-catechesis for the Elect and the faithful. When it comes to shrouding the images in Lent, it is best we paraphrase the words of Jesus to Lazarus’ startled loved ones: “Unbind them, and let them go.”

The Upper Room

2007-03-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

Did you ever have one of those “strong driving wind” experiences in which the Spirit rushed upon you, and all of a sudden anything seemed possible? That happened to me recently. I met the new director of our local Catholic Charities office a couple of months ago. I was making small talk and asked him what his plans were for his new position. “To cut poverty in half in this county,” he answered. Well, yeah. I meant in this lifetime. But he meant within this lifetime. Actually, he meant within 15 years. I was startled. The trends are in the opposite direction. Child poverty is actually getting worse, up 12 percent since 2000. But he has a plan. And I believe it’s possible. That’s what the Spirit can do.

But it’s not just the Spirit that does these kinds of impossible things. It is the gifts of the Spirit. If you turn to page 20 [of the April / May 2007 issue of RTJ], you’ll see a listing of the gifts the Holy Spirit gives us. Now I know there are a lot of gifts, and I can even name most of them. I’ve taught classes about them. Nevertheless, something about seeing the gifts all lined up on the page that way—well, I was startled again. It’s like your favorite Christmas as a kid when you not only got all the stuff you asked for, but also the stuff you never dreamed your parents would ever get you.

So here’s a challenge for all of us who love kids. Let’s put some of those gifts to use. Let’s cut poverty in half in 15 years. Or choose your own impossible goal. But start working on something. All we need is a plan. Not sure where to start? Marian Wright Edelman, the founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, has some suggestions that can help us start putting our gifts to use:

Don’t feel entitled. Don’t assume a door is closed; push on it. Don’t assume if it was closed yesterday that it is closed today.
Assign yourself. If no one has given you a task or a job to do, assign yourself one. Take initiative. Be persistent.
Be honest and demand that those who represent you be honest. And don’t ever confuse morality with legality. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. told us, “Everything Hitler did in Nazi Germany was legal, but it was not moral.” Don’t give anybody the proxy for your conscience.
Don’t be afraid of taking risks or of being criticized. An anonymous saying is, “If you don’t want to be criticized, don’t do anything, don’t say anything and don’t be anything.” Don’t be afraid of failing; it is the way you learn to do things right.
Listen to the sound of the genuine in yourself. If you cannot hear it in yourself, you will spend all of your life on the end of strings that somebody else pulls. Today, there are just so many noises and so many competing pulls on us. Find ways and times and spaces to be silent to listen to yourselves and to listen for other people.
Never think life is not worth living or that you can’t make a difference. Never give up.

Why I would get fired in the parish of the future

2007-03-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

I don’t think I’d last long as a leader in the parish of the future. Here’s why.

I’d give the pastor more time off. Not exactly vacation days, but days away. At least two contiguous days (in addition to his day off) to work on his homily, the question of the week, and the pastor’s letter in the bulletin.

I’d ask the director of religious education and the school principal to work a lot more. Catechesis would happen year-round in the parish and school community. Instead of a week or two of “down time,” Christmas and Easter would be the busiest times of the year for catechetical ministers.

I’d change the receptionist’s schedule. Sunday would be a work day, and she’d be available to answer the phone, welcome new parishioner sign-ups, and direct people to the activities taking place on the parish campus. She would also be on hand for major liturgies in the parish, even if they happen at night or on the weekend. I’d also move her office. At least during the liturgies, the “front desk” would be right inside the main doors of the church.

I’d make the ushers networkers instead of seat-finders. Going to church on Sunday would be less like going to a play and more like a huge family reunion. No one seats you at a family reunion. Everyone greets you and introduces you to folks you haven’t met yet.

I’d stop charging for sacraments. I understand the budget implications. I understand many folks “use” the parish services without contributing on Sunday. But I don’t understand how we can say sacraments are a free gift of grace, and it will cost you $60 to have your baby baptized or $200 to get married.

I would make the director of the catechumenate the highest paid member of the staff. I’d do a national search and find the very best leader available. She would hire and manage the director of religious education, the school principal, and the director of liturgy. All catechetical and liturgical ministries of the parish would be oriented toward evangelization and catechesis.

I would end second collections, including those for the annual contribution to the diocesan structures. I would work with the parish council to devise a stewardship plan that includes all the charitable contributions to needs outside the parish.

I would ask everyone—pastor, staff, volunteer ministers, catechumens, the parish as a whole—to each have a set of goals for their ministry. I would ask them to devise a method for reaching their goals and a method for talking to each other about their progress on their goals.

I told you I’d get fired. Or maybe never hired in the first place. This vision of parish is, perhaps, too idealistic. Maybe it’s too threatening to some of the parish “pillars.” It could be too edgy for some communities.

It probably wouldn’t work in your parish because of your unique circumstances. It might not work in the neighboring parish either. The pastor probably would never go for it, not to mention the bishop. And who is going to fund all these grand ideas?

I guess that’s all true. But before I’m shown the door, I have to tell you the first thing I would implement in any given parish. I would declare a permanent, parish-wide ban on the sentence, “We’ve never done it that way before.” I would replace it with this sentence, which would be memorized by every child, confirmation candidate, and catechumen in the parish: “For human beings it is impossible, but not for god. All things are possible for God” (Mk 10:27).

[To read a spirited(!) reply to this post, click here.]

The Final DaVigil Code Entry

2007-03-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

In the April/May 2007 issue of Today’s Parish Minister, this clue appeared.

The key to the clue is “The answer faces the question” and “emboldened looks.” On the page facing the clue (page 7), several words have a single letter printed in bold face.

Put all the bold faced letters together and you get:

The Easter Vigil

When did they change confession?

2007-02-27T08:24:00.000-08:00

In "What is a Sacrament? New Wine, Old Wineskins," (Religion Teacher's Journal, Februray 2007) Sr. Linda Gaupin writes:

Catechists and teachers must be people who themselves have been transformed by sacraments and who live the sacramental life. It also goes without saying that they know the meaning of sacrament as set forth in the revised sacramental rites of the church. In my ministry of forming catechists it is not uncommon to find catechists who are unaware that the ritual forms of reconciliation have changed from “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.”

Apparently she was right about the amount of formation we still need to do. Ever since the article appeared, she has been getting e-mails from catechists (and from DREs and priests!) asking when the sacrament of reconciliation changed. Here is her response:

The sacrament was revised following the Second Vatican Council. It was published in Latin in 1973 for the universal Church and issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship. Pope Paul VI approved the revised Rite of Penance and ordered it to replace "the pertinent titles of the Roman Ritual hitherto in use." The decree issuing the rite states: "The Rite in its Latin original is to come into force as soon as it is published. Anything the contrary notwithstanding" [Decree].

The English translation of the revised Rite of Penance was approved by the Congregation for Divine Worship in 1975. The Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy [BCL] recommended that the new rite not be introduced until adequate catechesis had been done for clergy and the faithful. To allow time for a full and authentic catechesis, they delayed the effective mandatory date for implementation until the First Sunday of Lent, 1977. To facilitate this catechesis the BCL prepared The Rite of Penance: Study Book Edition. This book contained the entire official rite plus introductory material to acquaint priests and religious educators with the richness of the meaning of the sacrament as well as the renewal of penance in the church.

In the revised Rite of Penance there are three sacramental forms.

The first is entitled the "Rite of Reconciliation of Individual Penitents." This is the sacramental ritual that is to be used between a penitent and the priest.
The second sacramental form is used when several pentitents are present. It is entitled "Rite for Reconciliation of Several Penitents with General Confession and Absolution." This ritual form can be found in the Rite of Penance.
The third sacramental form is entitled "Rite for Reconciliation of Several Penitents with General Confession and Absolution." This form is generally not permitted for use in the United States.

I trust this helps. You may want to contact your diocesan director in the worship office of your diocese if you need further assistance with this.

Click here for a list of resources on the sacrament of reconciliation.

Preaching from Triduum to Triduum

2007-02-24T09:40:00.000-08:00

In Whole Community Liturgy, I suggest that parish leaders develop a year-long preaching plan based on how they plan to lead parish growth and faith development in the coming year. The best time to start this plan is in the weeks just after the Triduum. That way, parish growth and development can be measured from Triduum to Triduum. The parish should ask itself how it has grown in faith and holiness in the last year. The homilies throughout the year should be the inspiration for keeping the parish on track with investing its talents.

For a simple outline for a preaching planning retreat, see the Center for Excellence in Preaching site. The day is based on a Bible-preaching (vs. liturgical preaching) model, and is designed for a single person. However, it could easily be adapted to a liturgically oriented team retreat.

DaVigil Code, March issue

2007-02-21T11:37:00.000-08:00

This clue appeared in the March 2007 issue of Today’s Parish Minister.

If you Google “Caesar’s Cipher,” you will learn that a Caesar's cipher is a simple substitution cipher in which each letter in the original message is replaced by a letter some fixed number of positions further down the alphabet. For example, with a shift of 3, A would be replaced by D, B would become E, and so on. The method is named after Julius Caesar, who used it to communicate with his generals.

If you go to the Web address listed in the clue, you will find a “calculator” that will decipher the message for you, using a shift of 23 (“encrypted three and twenty more provides the key”). Type the encrypted text into the “Shift cipher” box, set the decryption key to 23, and click on “decrypt.” You will get the following unencrypted text:

Saints awake the victory’s won.
Death has fled trod down by light.
Angels hymn the sheep now one.
Ransomed on this holy night.

What is the church’s hidden treasure? If you haven’t figured out yet, all will be revealed in the next issue of Today’s Parish Minister.

RCIA resources

2007-02-19T12:15:00.000-08:00

In the March 2007 issue of Today's Parish Minister, Paul Turner writes:

To receive a previously baptized Christian into the church in the same ceremony when catechumens are being baptized blurs the nature of the Easter Vigil.

He provides some supporting resources below that back up his statement.

What do you think?

Johnson, Maxwell E. “Let’s Stop Receiving ‘Converts’ at Easter.” In Worship: Rites, Feasts, and Reflections. Portland: Pastoral Press, 2004, 83–94.

Journey to the Fullness of Life. Washington DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2000.

Oakham, Ronald A., ed. One at the Table: The Reception of Baptized Christians. Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1995.

Sieverding, Dale. The Reception of Baptized Christians: A History and Evaluation. Forum Essays 7. Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2001.

Turner, Paul. When Other Christians Become Catholic. Pueblo. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2007.

The Fire of Faith

2007-02-14T12:16:00.000-08:00

The choir huddled together near a wood pile stacked higher than Jane’s head. “Holy Week,” she thought. “Yeah, right. What’s so holy about it?” Nothing had gone right since it started. She loved her sixth grade Sunday school class, but the only part of the Passion play they got right last Sunday was the mob scene. Not exactly a dramatic stretch for most of them.

Then she and Tom had had a fight about…what? She couldn’t remember. But he should know better. rehearsals for the kids, planning Easter dinner, trying to get caught up at work (and failing) so she could take Good Friday off. “Wouldn’t a good husband cut you a little slack?” she thought.

And then John had been a real pain all day. “Mom, do we have to go to Easter Vigil?” he whined. “It’s going to be cold.” He had begged her to join the seasonal choir with him. “It would be a lenten family thing,” he explained. “Like Father Thompson told us to do on Ash Wednesday.” She knew it had much more to do with Mary Beth Richards in the soprano section than Father Thompson, but whatever gets the kid to church.

Her own voice, unused to regular singing, was raw from practicing and from the rainy weather. The seminarian intern—-what was he thinking?—-had talked Father Thompson into starting the Vigil outside this year. John stood sullen at her side, alternating between pouting and stealing glances at Mary Beth.

“Dear friends in Christ,” said Father Thompson, “on this most holy night….” John stifled a yawn. Jane elbowed him, and gave him her best “DON’T YOU DARE” look. “We ask this through Christ our Lord.” Boom! Boom! Boom! Someone was pounding a drum. A torch appeared, snaking its way above the heads of the crowd.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Jane realized they were too close to the wood and began to inch backward. The torch bearer tossed the flame into the wood. Woosh! Flames lit up the night. Boom! Boom! Boom!

Jane grabbed her son’s arm to pull him back, but he wouldn’t move. He stared into the flame, his face glowing in the fire light. “Wow!” he said to the fire. “Is that what God’s like?”

“Holy Week,” thought Jane. “Holy indeed.”

Genius Tool

2007-02-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

We posted earlier about mind maps. Here is a short video of Tony Buzan, the inventor of the concept, discussing how to use mind maps to boost your thinking power.

[via Slacker Manager]

The Sixth Station

2007-02-01T12:04:00.000-08:00

When she saw him fall, she tried to call out but could only whisper. Her throat was raw and her voice spent from earlier shouting his name against the mob. “Barabbas,” they had yelled in unison, drowning out her frantic pleas.

Then Simon called out to the guards. They pulled him from the crowd to help, and she tried to follow. The guards pushed her back, and she stumbled and fell, just as he had.

From the dirt, she remembered this was how she had first encountered him. She had been trying to reach through another crowd, crawling on the ground, intending only to touch his sandal or his cloak. Somehow, in all the jostling, the people pressing round him, he’d known her touch. He turned and looked directly at her, down in the dirt, her tunic stained and caked. She was embarrassed, ashamed to be in public, ashamed for him to see. She buried her head in her hands and wept. But he would not take his eyes off her. He knelt down and cupped her chin in his hand. She looked up and saw his face.

It was unlike any face she’d ever seen. It was ordinary and plain and unremarkable. And at the same time it was completely extraordinary, a most remarkable face. She couldn’t stop staring. Long after he’d gone, she would still see his face as if it were inches in front of her, looking back, deep into her soul.

As Simon shouldered some of the weight off of him, he turned toward her once again. The pain she saw was too much for her. Blood dripped into his eyes and off his chin; sweat and tears mixed with the dirt of the road, making his face into a gruesome mask. And still somehow, it was his face, that face that had stared back at her on the road to Capernaum. He reached out to help her up, but the guards lashed him and pushed him forward. The crowd cheered and urged him on with taunts and jeers.

She tore a piece from her new tunic, the first she’d had in years that was not stained with her own blood, and charged after the mob. She slipped under the guard’s arm as he tried to stop her and reached out to touch him once again. But this time, standing, face to face. She wanted him to see—see what she’d become because of him. Healed. Whole.

She took the unstained scrap torn from her dress and wiped the blood and dirt from his face, praying she could stop the pain for him as he had for her. As the guards pushed the procession onward, she held the bloodstained rag in her hands and wept, still seeing his face, inches in front of her.

Empty font for Lent?

2007-01-29T12:25:00.000-08:00

I've never quite understood to motivation to empy the bapsimal fonts and holy water dishes during Lent. Don't we want the Elect to be confronted with the awe-filled power of the plunge they are about to take? Where is the conversion to be found in a dry hole?

So keep the fonts filled this year, and keep the challenge of baptism in front of the whole community—especially those who will be entering the water for the first time.

(For another look at the same issue, click here.)

Photo by Michael Wilson.

Funeral planning

2007-01-26T14:18:00.000-08:00

When I first started in ministry, I worked with a pastor who advised people not to plan their own funerals. He believed funerals were for the living, and the dead should leave the planning to the surviving family and friends. I recently came across a similar opinion written by Mary Roach in her book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers:

Here's the other thing I think about. It makes little sense to try to control what happens to your remains when you are no longer around to reap the joys or benefits of that control. People who make elaborate requests concerning disposition of their bodies are probably people who have trouble with the concept of not existing. Leaving a note requesting that your family and friends travel to the Ganges or ship your body to a plastination lab in Michigan is a way of exerting influence after you're gone—of still being there, in a sense. I imagine it is a symptom of the fear, the dread, of being gone, of the refusal to accept that you no longer control, or even participate in, anything that happens on earth. I spoke about this with funeral director Kevin McCabe, who believes that decisions concerning the disposition of a body should be made by the survivors, not the dead. "It's none of their business what happens to them when they die," he said to me.

What do you think?

Quiz Bowl

2007-01-24T09:38:00.000-08:00

In the March 2007 issue of Religion Teacher's Journal, Michael Haggartey suggests hosting a quiz bowl to renergize your youth gatherings. Here are a few questions ~~from the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament~~ to get you started. For lots more questions, click here.

Do you have a question you have been wondering about? Click on the comments link below, and post it here for an answer.

Lent on your iPhone

2007-01-23T07:08:00.000-08:00

The Church of England is bringing Lent to your iPhone, Blackberry, or cell phone this year. For "10 pence a day," you can text he word "Lent" to 64343 to begin receiving daily suggestions for actions from Monday 19 February through to Easter Monday. The messages are simple actions (50 in all) that church leaders hope will encourage kindness across the planet.

Actions include:

Give up your place to someone in a traffic jam or a queue
Have a TV-free day and do something you have meant to do for ages
Take part in an environmental clean up
Watch the news and pray about what you see
Leave a £1 coin in the shopping trolley or where someone will find it.

The campaign Web site, Love Life Live Lent, also includes downloadable prayers, background information on Lent, PowerPoint presentations, and doezens of ideas for living Lent well.

[via Chrisitan Today]

10 Ways to Inspire Others

2007-01-11T11:59:00.000-08:00

Lisa Haneberg has listed 10 ways to inspire employees on her Management Craft blog. The suggestions are all business oriented, but several could be translated to parish or school environments. Here's my favorite:

Be a role model of courage. When our managers demonstrate courage, this will inspire us to do the same, and we will respect them all the more.

That could be adapted to read:

Be a role model of courage. When pastors demonstrate courage, this will inspire parishioners to do the same, and we will respect them all the more.

Or:

Be a role model of courage. When teachers demonstrate courage, this will inspire students to do the same, and we will respect them all the more.

Can you suggest some adaptations or some brand new ideas for inspiration? Post your thoughts here, and I'll compile a list of the best entries.
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/7455470

DaVigil Code — January 2007

2007-01-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

This clue appeared in the January 2007 issue of Today's Parish Minister.

The Vigenere cipher (“erenegiv” spelled backwards) is named after a 16th century French diplomat, Blaise de Vigenere, who created a very simple cipher. If you Google “Vigenere cipher,” you’ll learn that the cipher uses an alphabet square as the basis for the code. In addition, the cipher relies on a repeating keyword to encode the letter based on the alphabet square.

So, in this case, the keyword is “Asterius.” The letters in “Asterius” are repeated as many times as necessary over the text to be encoded. For example:

Keyword: Asteriusa ste

Text: Christmas Day

Ciphertext: Czkmjbgss Vtc

The first letter of the text, C, is coded using the alphabet in row A, which is the first letter of the key. This is done by looking at the letter in row A and column C of the alphabet square, namely C. Similarly, for the second letter of the text, the second letter of the key is used; the letter at row s and column h is z. The rest of the plaintext is coded in a similar fashion. Decoding is done by reversing the process.

Using this process, the decode text from clue 4 reads:

O night more light than day
More bright than the sun
O night, night more white than snow
More brilliant than many torches
O night of more delight than is paradise.

So what night was Asterius, Bishop of Amasia in the fourth century referring to? More clues to follow!

The cross and hoe

2007-01-09T10:17:00.000-08:00

An RTJ subscriber wrote in about the February poster:

I have ordered the Stations of the Cross posters for my Sunday School program. I am working on activities to correlate with the poster. However, I do not understand the symbol that is used for the 5th Station. A hoe? Can you explain the relevance? Any help you can offer is appreciated.

Gwen Costello, who authors the monthly posters, replies:
In the gospels of Mark and Luke, Simon of Cyrene is referred to as "coming from the country," which has traditionally been interpreted as coming from the fields. The hoe is the symbol of his work in the fields. I'm sure there might be other symbols for Simon but I don't know of them personally. I hope your class enjoys the poster. My best wishes for some wonderful lenten lessons.
To order copies for your group or class, click here.

Holy Smoke

2007-01-09T09:56:00.000-08:00

The first time I was an M.C. for an Easter Vigil, I used so much incense I think the choir, up in the loft, had trouble seeing their music. If I only I would have had this contraption, think what might have happened!

12 Days of Christmas?

2006-12-31T13:53:00.000-08:00

How long should the Christmas trees stay up?

~~Take the survey!~~

For the results, click here (PDF file).

How to evangelize with Web 2.0

2006-12-31T08:45:00.000-08:00

The United Church of Canada recently launched $10.5 million advertising campaign centered on hot-button religious issues like gay marriage and sexual boundaries. One advertisement shows a whipped cream bottle in the fridge along with the question:

"We hope is that it will be much more than a website, we hope that it will be a gathering place for people with their faith questions—the big questions of life as well as the small ones," said Right Rev. David Giuliano, moderator of the United Church of Canada.

"How much fun can sex be before it's a sin?" The goal is to lead people to a Web 2.0 style site where controversial topics can be discussed.

The primary target audience is said to be 30- to 45-year-olds, but the site seems to skew younger than that. Take a look for yourself, and see if you come up with some ideas for evangelization in your own community.

WonderCafe [via social media group]

Hospitality in the New Year

2006-12-28T12:51:00.000-08:00

Why not resolve to ramp up your hospitality efforts this year? Catholic parishes can seem cold and unfriendly to newcomers. Here are 20 suggestions to guage your warmth factor from an outsider’s point of view.

What does your outdoor sign say? If a person who knew nothing of Catholicism read it, would they be drawn in?
Is there enough parking for newcomers who may arrive late? If your lot is overflowing, can you reserve a few spaces for visitors? Or provide a valet service?
Do you have parking lot greeters?
Do you have a hospitality team? Do you have more than one?
Do ushers and greeters have name tags?
Do ushers and greeters go out of their way to say hello to people they do not recognize and provide them with a hymnal or worship aid?
Are restrooms clearly marked?
Is there a place to hang coats?
Do regular parishioners “slide in” so newcomers don’t have to climb over them to find a seat?
Do regular parishioners introduce themselves and at least one other parishioner to a new person each Sunday?
Do communion ministers smile? Really, check next Sunday.
What’s in the bulletin? Are there confusing (for newcomers) words and acronyms such as “RCIA” and “CCD”? Is it clear who to contact if someone wants more information about the parish or parish programs?
What happens at coffee and doughnuts? Are newcomers sought out and welcomed into circles of conversation? Really, stand back and watch next Sunday?
Is there a simple way for newcomers to request more information? Cards in the pews or a book in the gathering space for example? If someone fills one out, how long will it take for a staff member or parishioner to reply?
Is there a live receptionist on duty on Sunday? Think about it. Sunday is the parish’s biggest day to receive and welcome people.
How does the receptionist answer the phone? Call anonymously sometime (or listen in while a friend does), and think about how a newcomer would hear things.
Do you have a parish Web site? Try looking at it from the eyes of someone who knows nothing about Catholicism. What does it “say” to seekers?
Is there child care for young families during Mass? One of the biggest draws of your neighboring evangelical parish is that they have child care on Sunday.
Does your parish recognize and celebrate the diversity of “family”?
Do people on the margins feel welcome at your parish? How do you know? What are you doing to reach out to them?

Pastor/Principal as CEO

2006-12-22T08:29:00.000-08:00

Thomas J. Healey writes in the San José Mercury News:

If the pursuit of best practices and improvements in corporate governance has pushed companies to higher performance levels, why couldn't the Catholic Church -- whose workforce of 1 million is triple the size of General Electric's, and whose annual operating budget of nearly $100 billion would rank it among the nation's largest corporations -- reap the same kinds of rewards?

That's the message the church is beginning to hear from a small group of parishioners who also happen to be CEOs, CFOs and other senior executives from some of the country's most successful private and non-profit organizations. They've formed a team of consultant volunteers known as the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, which is offering a range of talent and expertise, free of charge, to the Catholic Church.

[More; free registration required]

Who should sing the Christmas proclamation?

2006-12-21T13:34:00.000-08:00

The Christmas proclamation is the formal announcement of the birth of Christ. The birth is related to events in secular and sacred history, going all the way back to the first moment of creation. It is traditionally sung at the Midnight Mass, although it can be sung at other times. (You can download a PDF version here.)

Note that the rubrics identify this proclamation as a ministry of the deacon, cantor, or reader. It is not a presidential role. Nor is it necessarily an ordinary role of the deacon if the assembly would be better served by a trained singer chanting the proclamation. When planning the Christmas proclamation, the needs of the assembly are paramount.

Empty your “mind-clutter”

2006-12-19T08:36:00.000-08:00

In the January 2007 issue of Today's Parish Minister, Jason Womack has written a terrific piece on getting rid of the stuff that clutters up our lives. Here are five additional suggestions from him:

Outline: Create a linear hierarchy of ideas with supporting data for each point. To create an outline in MS Word, go to the Format menu, click Bullets and Numbering, and then click the Outline Numbered tab.
Mind map: Sketch a loosely connected, non-linear association of ideas linking similar concepts in an organic method. For more on mind maps, click on the example image above that Jason created. Also see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindmap.
Sticky note collage: Use Post-it® notes as movable puzzle pieces to create and change the flow of information as needed.
Index cards: Use 3x5 index cards as data points that can be grouped and resorted as topics grow and change.
MindManager® (software): Use a digital version of a mind map that creates an outline at the touch of a button. This has the flexibility of easily moving data and regrouping like sticky notes and index cards (www.mindmanager.com).

Cold coffee, burning hearts

2006-12-13T10:51:00.000-08:00

I got my start in professional ministry in Minnesota. The year I moved there, it snowed on Labor Day. My sense of dread at being snowbound during what the rest of the country calls “Fall” was mitigated by this saving grace: I would surely have scores of eager parishioners who would turn out for an adult education series in which I could show off all the learning that earned me a newly-minted master’s degree. What else were folks going to do in those long, dark winters?

Well. Let’s just say I was the one who had a lot to learn. I spent many winter nights trying to warm the parish hall with a budget-conscious thermostat, an industrial-sized pot of coffee, and the body heat of two or three good souls. The pastor, who’d been around the ecclesial block a few times, had the good sense to hold forth only on Sunday mornings between masses. The attendance was respectable, but even he never had what you’d call a “turnout.”

This is the image many of us have of adult formation. It was in the face of this image that eight years ago the bishops of the united states said:

There are many obstacles to adult catechesis, many challenges to overcome to bring the living word of god to the adults in our faith communities. But just like the disciples after Jesus revealed himself to them, our hearts burn within us to proclaim the good News of the reign of God. We are committed to this plan and are willing “to exercise utmost courage and patience” as we implement it. We move ahead full of hope, knowing this vision of adult faith formation can become reality. (Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us, 181, 182)

I want to believe, I really do. I have, at times, been hopeful, patient, maybe even courageous. I’ve also been frustrated, disappointed, and discouraged over the years as I poured countless gallons of undrunk coffee down the drain.

I’ve heard all the reasons adults don’t show up for formation classes. We all have. Say them with me:

We live in a post-Christian society.
There are many more entertainment options now.
Parents are busier than they used to be.
There are more single parent homes than there used to be.

Okay, okay. All true, I suppose. But I walked into borders bookstore last November, and in the magazine section, at eye level among Entertainment Weekly and Sports Illustrated, were three religiously-themed magazines. No big deal you say? The magazines were Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News and World Report. Featured on their covers were, respectively, a cross, a rosary, and a renaissance painting of Christ. A whole lot of post-Christian, entertainment-saturated, busy parents must be reading those kinds of stories.

Newsweek, et. al., are not evangelizing. They are selling stories. if faith stories did not sell, they’d dump them and sell other stories. So how is it that the secular media can sell faith stories and those of us with faith cannot? Perhaps we disciples have forgotten how to put the news in good News.

I was at a diocesan religious education conference the day after I saw the magazines at borders. At the closing mass, the local bishop gave a standard closing homily. Not bad, but nothing to write home about. And then he ended with a story. It was a story of a very personal and deep loss he had suffered. He told us why, and how, in the face of such loss, he still had faith. The assembly was rapt. Some were in tears. All of us were formed in our faith in that moment.

That bishop’s sharing of his personal faith struggle was exactly the kind of courage the conference of bishops promised us in Our Hearts Were Burning. It was a new model (or renewed model) of how to teach faith. That’s news. Good news.

Dreaming of a white Christmas?

2006-12-11T08:57:00.000-08:00

If you're shopping for a nativity set this season, be sure to check out the Newsweek story on the historical protrayal of the Holy Family:

While we can never be exactly sure of what Jesus, Mary and Joseph actually looked like, we know they were not fair-skinned, flaxen-haired Europeans. And, though an emerging fringe of historians would argue otherwise, it’s fairly certain they weren’t black Africans. In all likelihood, what they were was something in between: olive-skinned, dark-featured Semitic Jews living in Israel.

Read the entire article here.

Actual Grace

2006-12-10T15:24:00.000-08:00

Sister Paul Mary turned her piece of chalk sideways and slashed a long, wide swath of white across the middle of the blackboard. “We’re all born with original sin,” she said.

Then she rubbed a big black felt eraser back and forth until only a faint shadow of white dust remained. “Baptism washes away our sin,” she said. She drew a bottle and, turning her chalk sideways again, filled it in neatly with white. “Baptism fills us with grace.”

To my second grade eyes, the grace looked exactly like the sin, except there seemed to be less of the grace.

Pictures teach louder than words, especially for children. I learned that grace was rather limited and controlled while sin was apparently unlimited and uncontained. Grace had to be constantly replenished as you used it up to wipe away the unrelenting sin. Never enough grace. Always too much sin.

This past October, we were taught a new lesson in grace. Charles Carl Roberts IV walked into a schoolhouse and slashed a long, wide swath of darkness across the Amish community. After releasing the boys and adults, he threatened to kill the ten remaining girls. The girls responded by asking him to pray with them. A picture of grace.

When he refused, 13-year-old Marian Fisher stepped up to him and said, “Shoot me and leave the other ones loose.” Marian, full of grace.

After the madman shot the girls, killing five and severely wounding the others, the grandfather of two sisters killed told an interviewer he bore no anger toward the killer’s family. And he had forgiven the killer. “How is that possible?” asked the reporter. “Through God’s help,” replied the grandfather.

After shooting the girls, Roberts killed himself. There were 75 mourners at his funeral. Half of them were Amish. The Amish have received over a million dollars in donations since the shootings. They have pledged some of it to help Roberts’ wife and his three children. Overflowing grace.

The Catechism says grace “escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith.” Perhaps it can also be known in the pictures of grace we see. Pictures such as the Amish give us. Pictures of unlimited, uncontainable, unrelenting, almost unbelievable grace.

DaVigil Code—November/December clue

2006-12-07T08:56:00.001-08:00

This clue appeard in the November/December issue of Today's Parish Minister.

The key to this clue is "Caesar" and "His box." If you Google "Caesar's box," you'll learn that it is a cipher supposedly invented by Julius Caesar. The cipher works by rearranging the letters of a secret message vertically and breaking the columns in such a way as to from a perfect square or box. So, if you spell out the first column of the box above horizontally, you will read:

Sacra

Continue on in the same fashion, and the entire text reads:

Sacramentary Easter Season nmbr. 8

If you flip open a sacramentary to the section titled "Easter Season," and then find the paragraph numbered "8," you will read:

Dear friends in Christ, on this most holy night, when our Lord Jesus Christ passed from death to life, the Church invites her children throughout the world to come together in vigil and prayer. This is the passover of the Lord: if we honor the memory of his death and resurrection by hearing his word and celebrating his mysteries, then we may be confident that we shall share his victory over death and live with him for ever in God.

If you know which night the text refers to, you are closer to finding the church's hidden treasure. Stay tuned for more clues.

Candle maintenance

2006-12-05T07:06:00.000-08:00

Back in the day when I was a parish liturgist, I always used oversized candles for Advent (about four feet high by about four inches in diameter). Inevitably, they would get nicked and scratched in the goings on that happen in churches during the holidays. This recent post on Lifehacker reminded me of a useful trick; use old pantyhose to polish up your pillars just before liturgy begins.

"Do I hafto?"

2006-11-24T11:34:00.000-08:00

That's the lament I used to wail at my mother when she'd tell my brothers and me it was time to get up and go to church. It's sure to be heard this coming Christmas weekend when the Fourth Sunday of Advent falls on Christmas Eve. Here is a helpful bulletin announcement to encourage your parishioners to make the extra effort.

Do I need to go to Mass twice on Christmas weekend? [via Work of the People]

What makes a parish Catholic?

2006-11-21T17:15:00.000-08:00

In the November 3 issue of the National Catholic Reporter, William C. Graham lists seven approaches that make a college Catholic. Much of what he says could also apply to a parish or parish school. (You need a subscription to view the article online.) His list includes:

Teach people that life is messy. No black and white answers.
Teach people that, while tolerance is good, not all cultural voices are equal.
Teach people to read the Bible in a responsible, intellectually respectable way.
Teach people the importance of the sacraments.
Teach church history.
Teach the church’s constitutional preference for the materially poor.
Be the person of Christ for all those whom we teach and minister to.

Glorification of clericalism?

2006-11-14T10:25:00.000-08:00

Paul Dion sent in this reaction to the November/December issue of Today's Parish Minister. You can follow the thread of our discussion in the comments below—and add your own.

I am writing to tell you that I am deeply disturbed, not to say angered by the article "DEFINING PARISH MINISTRY" by Mark F. Fischer in the November/December issue of " Today's Parish Minister.

I quote, "Professionalism can intimidate ordinary parishioners. It can lead to the wrong conclusion that real ministry pertains to the professionals only." Stercus Taurorum and a pox upon your house! The conclusion about ministry in the Church is already in. It is conducted by people who are chosen by the priests because they know the mysteries of the rosary by heart. The lack of professionalism in the Church is the root cause of many of the problems. I could name some of them, but I would take too much of your precious time. Look around. You'll have to admit that professionalism in ministry is non-existent...OK, maybe about 20%, to be generous. This guy Mark Fischer teaches in a seminary. I can just see now what he is teaching. "Remember, you're the one with the education. You're the leader; you're the ordained one; you're the one with the magic Moses wand; don't too many professionals into your inner circle, the "little people" won't relate to them and you won't be able to control them." It's a great day for the glorification of centralized clericalism.

How to write a homily — or a bulletin announcement

2006-11-10T08:32:00.000-08:00

Time magazine lauds Alice Munro’s newest collection of short stories, The View from Castle Rock (Knopf) as a master class in the craft. In the review of the book, Pico Iyer draws out ten writing principles, many of which can be adapted to writing homilies, letters to parents, parish policies, and bulletin announcements. My favorite is:

2) Don't eschew the plain. In one typical exchange here, 38 spoken words out of 39 are just one syllable long (the exception is "cannot"). In a later story, 37 straight words last one syllable each.

Age of Confirmation

2006-11-05T08:30:00.000-08:00

At what age should children be confirmed? Diocesan policies differ, but most require a delay beyond the norm set in canon law (age of reason) until pre-teen or teen years. However, a norm is a norm. According to Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university, if parents of a child who has reached the age of reason, or even the child herself, asks to celebrate confirmation before reaching the designated diocesan age, the bishop is bound to grant permission.

McNamara quotes the Congregation of Divine Worship:

Consequently, when a member of the faithful wishes to receive this Sacrament, even though not satisfying one or more elements of the local legislation (for example, being younger than the designated age), these elements must give way to the fundamental right of the faithful to receive the Sacraments. Indeed, the longer the conferral of the Sacrament is delayed after the age of reason, the greater the number of candidates who are prepared for its reception but are deprived of its grace for a considerable period of time.

Good communications

2006-11-05T08:12:00.000-08:00

Every parish should have a pastoral plan for public relations, according to Archbishop John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Here is an excpert from an address he gave at a meeting of new bishops Sept. 23.

By the way, even local parishes can engage in effective public relations. For example, when there is a first Communion or a confirmation or a graduation, the local parish can send a press release to the local or community newspaper indicating the five "w's" -- the who, what, when, where and why of the event, including the names of all those involved in the event, because very local newspapers love to print names, because those whose names are mentioned or their families will buy and keep that issue of the paper.

Also, at the end of the five "w's" there can be an explanation of what first Communion or confirmation is -- in that way, providing a type of evangelization or religious instruction regarding the sacraments. The newspaper will not always publish the explanation, but they will sometimes -- and that means we have obtained free access to a means of religious instruction and evangelization.

Read the entire address here.

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Process for Financial Decision-Making

2006-10-30T07:47:00.000-08:00

In the October 2006 issue of Today's Parish Minister, Patricia Talone, RSM, refers to budeting as a theological reflection process. The process for decision making that she suggests is listed here:

Plan within the context of prayer
Gather the facts (financial, human resources, status of parish plant)
Identify the stakeholders (including those who are not at the table, but who nonetheless stand to benefit or lose from parish budget discussions)
Articulate the operative values or principles (e.g., parish mission statement, church teaching, common good, etc.)
Weigh viable options
Arrive at a decisions
Articulate the decision, explaining the process (and be able to respond to challenges)
Evaluate the decision (quarterly, at parish council meetings, finance meetings, or other suitable venues).

Some questions that might assist in this process include:

Given our history and stated values, which decision best fits our mission?
Given our history and stated values, is any option clearly incompatible for us?
Whose voices are not being heard as we engage in this decision-making process?
How will this affect our intangible assets?
How will this further our parish mission?

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Finding your voice

2006-10-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

There is a great post on the D*I*Y* Planner site about The Authentic Voice. It applies to journalling and writing, but the advice is excellent for homilists and preachers to consider as well. Note these four guidelines from the article:

Cater your writing style to match the intended audience. You wouldn't speak to your boss and your mother the same way, would you? Changing what words you choose to use in your writing, whether personal or creative can help you uncover and develop your writing voice by matching it to the audience.
Practice what you speak. Try writing as if you were talking to someone else. How would that sound on paper? Try speaking to another person as if you were happy, sad or mad at them and see how different the passages are.
Write as if you were the character. Sometimes helping to develop an authentic voice means writing as if you were that person. Step into your character's shoes. What words do they prefer using? Speaking as if you were that character teaches you how to use voice as if you were that character and in doing so, it helps you uncover the nuances that make your own voice special.
Try and examine the topic you're writing about from multiple perspectives and share the reason you feel the way you do. Sometimes when you explain the other side, you're able to view and relate to your own musings more truthfully.

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Adult Faith Formation Resources

2006-10-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

Margie Sullivan of ConSpirita Consulting Network provides us with this list of useful resources. Be sure to see her article, "Five Simple Steps for Moving to Year-Round Catechesis," Today's Parish Minister (January 2007)

The General Directory for Catechesis tells us that all formation is to be modeled on the baptismal catechumenate (90-92). The vision of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (a.k.a. “the baptismal catechumenate”) is that the process takes place in the midst of the community throughout the year, summer and winter, rain or shine. Some resources that may be helpful:

General Directory for Catechesis (USCCB)
National Directory for Catechesis (USCCB)
Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us (USCCB)
An Apprenticeship in Christian Life: Exploring the Baptismal Catechumenate as Inspiration for All Catechesis. Marie Kordes and Loyes Spade. (NCCL/N.A. Forum on the Catechumenate)
Whole Community Catechesis in Plain English, Bill Huebsch (Twenty-Third Publications)
Generations of Faith, John Roberto (Center for Ministry Development)
Heritage of Faith, Jo McClure Rotunno (Twenty-Third Publications)
Leading Change in the Congregation: Spiritual and Organizational Tools for Leaders. Gilbert R. Rendle (Alban Institute)

Other possible resources:

Handbook For Success in Whole Community Catechesis, Bill Huebsch (Twenty-Third Publications)
Here Comes Everybody, Leisa Anslinger (Twenty-Third Publications).
Whole Community Catechesis: Come To the Table, Bill Huebsch, general editor (Twenty-Third Publications).
The General Directory For Catechesis In Plain English, Bill Huebsch (Twenty-Third Publications)
RTJ: The Magazine for Catechist Formation (Twenty-Third Publications)
Today's Parish Minister (Twenty-Third Publications)
Ministry and Liturgy (Resource Publications, Inc.)
Catechist (Peter Li Education Group)

DVDs and videos

7 Key Principles from Handbook for Success in Whole Community Catechesis, Bill Huebsch (Twenty-Third Publications)
Fr. Michael Himes videos such as “The Mystery of Faith” or “Questions of the Soul.”
Seeds Of Promise, Seeds Of Faith, Vision and Themes of the General Catechetical Directory, video and workbook (USCCB)

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Stewardship

2006-10-20T07:48:00.000-07:00

In the January 2007 issue of Today's Parish Minister, Cathy Rusin will be writing about several stewardship programs for the whole community. One in particular is the Archdiocese of Louisville's Stewardship Curriculum Guides for Young People. There are three components:

Good Things are for Sharing – Guide for Elementary School Level … $9.95

Good things are for Sharing is a three to five week thematic guide for students in kindergarten through the eighth grade level.

From the Heart – Guide for Middle and Senior High Levels … $13.95

From the Heart is a collection of lessons and activities that incorporate the theme of stewardship into academic subjects regularly taught in middle and senior high school courses such as: language arts, math, science, and social studies.

Sharing Our Gifts of the Heart – Guide for Religious Ed (CCD) programs…$13.95

Sharing Our Gifts of the Heart is a curriculum designed for use in religious education (CCD) programs. This thematic lesson guide covers topics such as: defining stewardship, stewardship and social justice, stewardship in the parish, stewardship in prayer and scripture, and lifelong stewardship.

For more information, contact the Office of Stewardship and Development at (502) 585-3291 or stewards@archlou.org.

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Happy hour

2006-10-17T13:21:00.000-07:00

Kalamata olives. And figs. You have to have figs. Fresh, if they’re in season, but dried will work. You need a ratio of about three to one or two to one (olives to figs). I don’t really know for sure. I do it by taste. You put those in a food processor. I suppose you could hand mince them, but I don’t. Then a little balsamic vinegar—the good stuff, not the cheap supermarket brand. And, depending on your mood, maybe a little minced garlic, maybe a little minced thyme. Fresh thyme. Always fresh. I grow it on my deck.

Then you process this down to a chunky paste. If it seems a little dry, add some olive oil. Stir it around. Taste it. Add stuff. Get it just right. Now what you want to do is scrape this out into a fancy dish. Not the good china, but not a cereal bowl either. Maybe that little pottery piece you bought at the art fair last summer and haven’t used since. Then you need some crackers. Not the square kind with salt that you used crunch up into tomato soup when your Mom let you stay home “sick.” And not fancy, delicate things that come in round metal canisters at Christmas time. Just a box of good, sturdy water crackers. Put those in a fancy dish too. Or maybe a small basket lined with a napkin. Cloth, not paper. And certainly not a paper towel!

Ten minutes. That’s about all it takes. Once everything’s ready, pour a little libation. In a fancy glass or cup. Even if it’s just water. Use water from a glass bottle. Pour it into a nice glass. Do it right.

Now take all this somewhere nice. Not in front of the TV Maybe outside on the deck if weather permits. Or by a window in a favorite chair. And then enjoy. Have joy. Do not answer the phone. Do not answer e-mail. Do not read the newspaper. Maybe listen to music. Or, share some conversation about the day if you have someone to share with. The nice stuff. Save the bad stuff for later. Unless it was a really bad day. Then, okay.

That’s my plan for the end of the workday. Not everyday, but a lot of days. Enough days that I miss it when I don’t do it. It’s kind of a master plan for me. A happy hour template. A reminder that, at the end of the day, life should be a joy. Maybe happy hour is not for you. For a friend of mine, it’s breakfast. For you it might be dessert. Whatever, we all need a plan.

Usually we make plans to keep ourselves out of trouble. But making a plan like this—a plan for reveling, for soaking up the goodness, for joy—won’t do that. In fact, it will get us into trouble. That’s kind of the point. We want to stand counter to the culture of scarcity and despair. We want to look happy. We want to be happy in a world that awash in misery. But that makes us stand out. Sometimes it makes us seem odd. Sometimes it gets us into trouble.

I went up for Communion at Mass last Sunday—the church’s happy hour plan—and no one looked happy. Not the presider, not the ministers, not the assembly, not even the musicians who were hymning us to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”

Maybe they were worried about something. Maybe it was a really bad day. Maybe they didn’t have the right ingredients on hand. But I rather think that maybe they just hadn’t planned on being joyful that day.

Probably just need more practice. I’d recommend they start with kalamata olives.

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DaVigil Code—October Clue

2006-10-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

This clue appeared in the October 2006 issue of Today's Parish Minister.

The church possesses many treasures. One of our most prized is still hidden away from many Catholics. Roam through these clues (which will appear in each issue for 2006-2007) to discover where our treasure lies. If you solve the puzzle sooner rather than later an image of your brilliance will be reflected in the choirs of angels.

The hint for solving this is in the word "reflected." This clue can be decoded by holding the bottom edge of it perpendicular to a mirror. After you do that, you will read:

Here is born in Spirit-soaked fertility
a brood destined for another City,
begotten by God's blowing
and borne upon this torrent
by the Church their virgin mother.

Where is "here"? If you haven't already guessed, you'll need to keep following the clues each month to see where they lead.

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Mystagogy

2006-09-26T15:43:00.000-07:00

Mystagogy is simply the process of reflecting on the depth and meaning of God's love.

I often encounter folks in ministry who are mystified by the word "mystagogy." "Mystagogy" is a big concept that sometimes leaves us flustered. But it doesn't have to be that complicated. Mystagogy is not a program that needs staffing and class schedules. It is a simple reflection on the mystery of God's love as we celebrate it. Without trivializing it too much, think of mystagogy as you might think of talking with a friend about a movie. Sometimes we don't really absorb the full impact of a movie until after we've talked about it. And if you're a movie buff, you really talk about it. You talk about the cinematography, the plot, the directing, and all the subtle symbolism throughout the film. And there are those powerfully deep movies that we might see several times because they reveal deeper and deeper meaning each time we see them.

Mystagogy is simply the process of exploring that same kind of depth of meaning throughout the celebration of the liturgical year. What happened in the liturgy? How did it happen? What does it mean for my life this week? Mystagogy can be that simple.

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Google mission

2006-09-18T07:41:00.000-07:00

The Digital Samuri has listed 14 insights he got from reading the Google Story. Here are two of my favorites:

Have a healthy disregard for the impossible. If someone hasn’t done it yet, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
Spend 20% of your time on blue-sky ideas without worrying about how they will make a profit. If it might change the world for the better, it needs to be done, even if it can’t make money.

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Bored at Mass lately?

2006-09-15T13:10:00.000-07:00

Steven A. Shaw, executive director and co-founder of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters and author of Turning the Tables: The Insider’s Guide to Eating Out, penned (keyboarded?) this essay on dining out.

His thoughts about how to have a fine dining experience could be easily tranlated into how to have a fine eucharistic experience.

You have to be willing to expend some effort. People often bristle when confronted with the reality that they have to work in order to get a good meal. They want to be served. But it doesn't work that way. Just as with any kind of human relationship from a marriage to a business partnership, you get more out of dining when you put more into it. It's like when you decide to buy a new TV. You have two choices: walk in to the store and buy whatever the salesperson convinces you to buy (or, in the case of a low-service store like Costco, pick something at random), or take control of the situation by doing some research: go to Consumer Reports online, read product reviews on CNet, check message boards and Amazon feedback, compare prices. You'd put an hour into it, wouldn't you? Well, guess what? Dinner for two at the top restaurants in the Western industrialized nations now costs as much as a new TV. And the value of participation remains high once you get to the restaurant. If you want to get the best possible meal out of a restaurant, you've only got two choices: resent being an active participant in your dining experience, or learn to enjoy it.

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A Catholic Vision of Education

2006-09-13T18:25:00.000-07:00

The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) is the largest employer of teachers in Northern Ireland (8500 teachers). They have an extensive website, including a current issues section. Here's a sample:

The Catholic educator must be interested in enabling young people to take up roles of leadership and responsibility in society and this necessarily involves the attainment of academic success. Yet we aim to form Christian people of competence and conscience, people who can play a full role in society with a Christian vision and value system, a concern for their fellow humans and a deep desire to put their talents at the service of others. To do less than this is to run the risk of reducing education to a simple acquisition of value-free 'facts' or skills to be traded on the market for individualistic and egoistic advancement and betrays not only the Church's mission but also the individual who receives such 'education'. The true test of Catholic education is not simple quantitative results but how the students use his or her gifts and talents.

Click here to read more.

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RTJ
Teachers

Do you believe in God? Why?

2006-09-08T11:30:00.000-07:00

According to students who participated in a study by Sheffield University a year ago:

What else can you believe in 100 percent?
Who created us then?
Why not?
You have to believe in something.

Today’s Parish Leader

2006-09-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

A 14-part training program for lay ecclesial ministers

Wouldn’t it be great if you could have Tom Groome, Jane Regan, and the entire training team from Boston College’s pastoral ministry center come your parish? If you can’t have them in person, the next best thing is to have their ideas in hand. Today’s Parish Minister and the Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry have teamed up to bring your parish leaders a 14-session training program and theological reflection process.

General editor Jane Regan, an excellent teacher and author, has crafted this training program to make sure you get:

Theological grounding
Plain, understandable English
A broad overview of central Catholic teaching
A spiritual reflection process
Group discussion starters
A compact style that is accessible to time-crunched ministers

The easy-to-use, four-page format works well in small group settings. Individuals will also benefit from the deep insights they will gain from studying the central topics of Catholic teaching. In the 2006-2007 year, the Boston College team will be covering these topics:

Catholic Identity (two sessions)
Church
Family as Domestic Church
Scripture
Spirituality
Catholic Social Teaching

Part one of “Catholic Identity,” is available now. Get a copy for each of your ministers today. Available in packs of 10 for only $4.95. E-mail nwagner@twentythirdpublications.com or call 1800-321-0411 ext. 161.

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Pope encourages vocations vacations

2006-09-06T11:35:00.000-07:00

Pope Benedict recently spoke on the value of vacations:

Vacation also makes for a precious opportunity to spend more time with family, to reunite with relatives and friends, in a word to give more space to the human contact which the rhythms of everyday tasks keep from being cultivated as we would like.

Click here to read the entire text.

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Pope

The business of parish

2006-09-06T11:23:00.000-07:00

Is your parish too business-like? Or not enough like a business? The Office of Parish and Planning in the diocese of San José offers some thoughts and resources for pastors and parish councils to consider.

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ParishCouncil

In the name of faith

2006-09-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

I had to sign my name the other day on one of those electronic card readers. My name was illegible even by my standards. There’s something about the angle and feel of those screens and non-pen pens that makes signing your name an act of faith.

Staring at my receipt, trying to imagine how the clerk, who reminded me of my mother, could let me get away with such lousy penmanship, I remembered a little girl from a parish I used to work in. We were celebrating the rite of sending for election, and she was a candidate for baptism that year. The other catechumens each came forward and signed their name. When it was Rosita’s turn, we had to pull the Book of the Elect (which was bigger than she was) off the table and hold it low for her to reach.

Later that day, she sat in the cathedral with the other catechumens waiting for the Rite of Election to begin. One of the ushers began to chat with her and asked her how her day was going. “I wrote my name in a big book!” she told him.

“Really?” he answered. “And are you are getting baptized at the Easter Vigil?”

It was the first time I had ever seen her so quiet. Her body tensed up. She took a deep breath, raised her shoulders up and down, and stared down at her hands. I realized she was scared to death of what lay ahead of her. I wanted to comfort her, or I wanted her parents to, or somebody to just do something so this usually bubbly child would not be so afraid. But then I wondered what any of us would say to her. Hadn’t we asked her to put her name on the line? Hadn’t we asked her—urged her—to embrace the cross?

The liturgy began, and eventually the bishop would ask us, the community of faith, if we were willing put our own names on the line by supporting Rosita and the other catechumens.

Of course we would, wouldn’t we? But I was thinking it over. I was thinking about Rosita and what this decision would cost her, what she would have to die to. Sure, I believe St. Paul and the baptism-into-his-death-so-that-we’ll-have-eternal-life story. Really I do. But it’s never just that simple and easy. That “death” clause is for real. Could I really ask Rosita to just sign up for all this on some big act of faith? Most days, I have trouble living up to what I signed up for myself.

Moment of truth time. The bishop looked out at the assembly. “And now I speak to you, my brothers and sisters.”

He wanted to know if we were ready to support the catechumens. If we were ready to be there for them. If we were ready to teach them how to die to themselves and live for Christ. If we were ready to do what we signed up for.

I could have bailed. I could have said nothing. No one would know. Or I could have just mouthed the words. It’s just words, right. It’s not like Rosita is ever going to actually knock on my door and ask for my help. Will she?

“WE ARE,” we all thundered. I am. I will. That’s something I can put my name to.

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DaVigil Code—September clue

2006-09-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

This clue appeared in the September 2006 issue of Today’s Parish Minister:

The church possesses many treasures. One of our most prized is still hidden away from many Catholics. Use these clues (which will appear in each issue for 2006-2007) and your knowledge of tradition (both East and West) to discover where our treasure lies. And remember, don’t be evil.

The parenthetical phrase “(both East and West)” is an indication that this clue has something to do with the Eastern Rite tradition. The last phrase, “don’t be evil,” is Google’s famous motto. So you might have to Google something.

The next part of the clue is a word scramble: “nepgip phcrie.”

Unscramble the word to get: “pigpen cipher.” What’s a pigpen cipher? Ask Google! Then you will discover that the odd looking characters below are written in pigpen cipher.

—χρυσός στόμα

Using a key that you can find through a Google search, you would decode the cipher to read:

IF ANYONE HAS ARRIVED
EVEN AT THE ELEVENTH HOUR
LET HIM NOT FEAR
ON ACCOUNT OF HIS DELAY

There appears to be an attribution below the text, and it written in Greek. If you Google the phrase, you learn that it translates to “Golden Mouth” or “Golden Tongue.” That’s the nick name for St. John Chrysostom, the great Eastern Rite church father.

So what is Chrysostom referring to? Stay tuned for more clues!

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Name change

2006-04-25T16:12:00.000-07:00

My predecessor, Dan Connors, had already begun a process of re-orienting the focus of Today’s Parish before I came on board. His intent was to provide a clear emphasis on forming parish ecclesial ministers, both lay and ordained.

The 2006-2007 year, readers will see several new developments that reflect that emphasis. Perhaps the most visible will be the new name on the cover. Starting with the September 2006 issue Today’s Parish will become Today’s Parish Minister. This has the benefit of retraining the “Today’s Parish” brand and also focusing on the person the magazine is intended for.

Some of the other new elements include new associations with both Boston College and the National Association of Lay Ministers, an increased focus on pastors as ministerial leaders, and an increased emphasis on training for all parish ministers.

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TodaysParishMinister

Partnership with Boston College Ministry Institute

2006-04-25T16:01:00.000-07:00

Today's Parish Minister has established an exciting new partnership with the Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry (IREPM) at Boston College. Dr. Thomas Groome and Dr. Jane Regan of the institute are going to be spearheading a training project for parish ministers that will take place every month in the pages of Today's Parish Minister. This regular four-page section will give a clear, pastoral, theological underpinning to the content of each issue of the magazine. This will provide some important training and background for many parish ministers across the country.

The first topic, written by Tom Groome himself, deals with Catholic Identity. He discusses how our core beliefs affect our day to day ministry and how knowing our beliefs enlivens our spirituality.

Parishes can use these pages as effective training material with parish councils, volunteer ministers, or updating for lay ecclesial ministers. Pastors will find a lot of help here getting the whole parish on the same page about church teaching. Don't miss the first installment in September 2006.

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TodaysParishMinister

National Association of Lay Ministry

2006-04-25T15:38:00.000-07:00

In the 2006-2007 year, members of NALM will be providing a regular article in Today's Parish Minister that focuses on the standards for lay ecclesial ministers. The first installment is written by NALM president, Chris Anderson, and he discusses the rising profile of lay ecclesial ministers in the U.S. Don't miss what he has to say about certification, competency, rising salaries, and retirement planning.

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TodaysParishMinister

Faith content

2006-04-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

RTJ brings a monthly focus on the content of the Catholic faith. In the September 2006 issue, look for Diana Dudoit Raiche to discuss how liturgy can be a teaching moment of the faith. Mike Daley returns with a monthly column on the symbols of the faith. And every issue will include a free classroom poster, along with an accompanying supporting article for the teacher or catechist that goes more deeply into the doctrine.

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Teaching Techniques

2006-04-25T15:25:00.000-07:00

RTJ is packed full of ideas, tips, and advice on teaching techniques in 2006-2007. In the September issue, Anne Cromeaux gives some solid background on "Planning for a Successful Year." And Mickey McGrath will show you how to use "Sacred Art and Symbols for Your Prayer Corner."

Mary Kay Cullinan returns with her popular column, "Keeping Kids Safe." And a new column by Kathy Kleinlein shows catechists and teachers how to use "The Last Five Minutes" as a mystagogical, catechetical reflection on their classroom or sesson experience.

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Spirituality

2006-04-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

This season, RTJ attends to the spiritual development of teachers and catechists with two of the most popular writers in the field. Each month, Joyce Rupp will be be on tap as "Your Spiritual Director." And Kathy Chesto will measure the holiness that surrounds us everyday in a new column titled "Grace Meter." And Kris Bergen returns with her poplular reflections on "Sharing the Sunday Gospels."

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