Fun! Inspiring! Don’t miss this incredible video, the Mercy Pink Glove Dance from the students at Mercy High School:
For all the details, check out the article in The Detroit News.
Pope Benedict Explains What It Means to Be a Catholic Teacher Today
On Saturday, October 30, 2010, a teacher asked Pope Benedict, “What does it mean to be a teacher today?” Here is the Holy Father’s response:
“Being an educator means having joy in one’s heart and communicating it to everyone so as to make life good and 
beautiful; it means providing reasons and goals for life’s journey, presenting the beauty of the person of Jesus and making people love Him, His lifestyle, His freedom. … Above all it means holding up the goal of … that ‘extra’ that comes to us from God. This requires personal knowledge of Jesus, a personal, daily and loving contact with Him in prayer, meditation on the Word of God, faithfulness to the Sacraments, the Eucharist, Confession; it means communicating the joy of being part of the Church, of having friends with whom to share, not only the difficulties but also the beauties and surprises of a life of faith.
“You will be good educators if you are able to involve everyone in the good of the young. You cannot be self-sufficient but must make the vital importance of educating the young generations felt at all levels. Without the presence of the family, for example, you risk building on sand; without a collaboration with schools it is not possible to create a profound knowledge of the faith; without the involvement of the those who work in the sector of leisure and communication your patient efforts risk being unproductive and ineffective in daily life.”
Since the Church year is winding down, it might be a good time to ask ourselves, How is our…
- …personal knowledge of Jesus in daily loving contact with Him in prayer?
- …meditation on the Word of God?
- …faithfulness, to the Sacraments, the Eucharist, Confession?
- …joy of being part of the Church?
- …network of friends to share the difficulties, beauties and surprises of a life of faith?
I am extremely grateful for the network of friends I am gaining via this web site–you are part of the “beauties and surprises” that are part of my life of faith.
As Advent approaches, maybe we could choose one of the above areas to work on during the coming liturgical year.
Catholic Education Roundup
November is here, and maybe you’re feeling like winter hibernation is a good idea right about now. Cheer up, because it’s time for another roundup of recent blog posts by Catholic educators. It seems like there’s been an explosion of great articles lately. With all the fantastic content out there, I may have missed some good ones, so please leave a comment if you’ve discovered a valuable article recently.
- Jared Dees has a brand new ebook out: The Religion Teacher’s Guide to Lesson Planning. Price: FREE!
- Marc Cardaronella writes about The New Evangelization: “The New Evangelization is less about sending missionaries overseas as it is about re-evangelizing places (like South Louisiana) where Catholicism is supposedly firmly rooted but really isn’t. It’s targeted to cradle Catholics like me…baptized, sacramentalized, but never evangelized.”
- Lacy shows how to make a cute baby Jesus gift.
- Dorian Speed is about to make the switch to WordPress. Good luck! Can’t wait to see the new site.
- Mike McShane lists three advantages Catholic schools have over public schools when it comes to serving poor and minority students:
- They are not controlled by political bodies
- They have a clear sense of mission
- They foster strong communities
- Ann Oro has started a Catholic Education Wiki. Be sure to check it out, join the wiki and add your resources.
- Laura pays tribute to her “mom-mom” and the importance of having someone believe in you.
- Roy Petitfils “goes off” on using music to connect with youth.
- Michael Zalenka reflects on the birth of his first child. Congratulations, Dad and Mom! What a blessing to you and to the world.
- TJ D’Agostino gets philosophical about Catholic education:“Catholic schools are able to embrace a vision of education and a vision of the human person that is broader than a merely economic and political vision. A true education should be oriented towards the formation of the human person towards the fullness of life, towards the good, the true, and the beautiful, towards God. Education, to be full and real, must cultivate children towards the highest calling and the broadest vision of what it means to be human, towards the full realization of the good life. If we neglect the higher purpose and the higher calling of education, it is stunted and breeds a stunted society.”
Archbishop Gregory on the Transforming Grace of Catholic Education
“It would be impossible to imagine our American society today without the transforming grace of Catholic school graduates.” – Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, October 18, 2010
In the following video from last week, Archbishop Gregory explains the mission and value of Catholic schools, and points out three qualities that make them unique:
- Well defined curriculum
- Parental involvement and support
- Teachers, staff members and administrators who witness a sense of calling to assist students’ spiritual, academic, developmental and physical growth
Catching Up With Catholic School Bloggers
Is it just me or has life been a bit hectic lately? Between installing new office computers, tutoring struggling students, planning lessons, grading papers, and trying to keep up with blog posts, I’m barely treading water. But that’s what makes life worth living, right? Throwing yourself into a vocation that really matters, and doing the best you can.
If your life has been as busy as mine, you might have gotten behind in reading some of the great new blog posts from Catholic educators and catechists. Here’s what you might have missed over the past ten days:
- Jared Dees shares over twenty rosary activities.
- Ann Lusch ponders another Sunday.
- Michael Zalenka writes about beginning with the end in mind.
- Adam Fairholm discusses handing some control over to parents and alumni.
- TJ Agostino contemplates the implications of the film Waiting for Superman.
- Adam Thompson connects personal tragedy to Hamlet.
- Laura grieves for a fallen hero.
- Ed Allen challenges us to look for the good.
- Ann Oro muses on the benefits of social media.
- Karen McMillan (aka McTeach) plays with the Flip camera.
- Roy Petitfils asks if you’re making the most of “face-time” with youth.
- William Brannick is humbled by his experience starting a new Web 2.0 class.
- Mike St. Pierre reflects on what he’s learned from three weeks of prayer.
- Jonathan Sullivan comments on the spiritual role of the principal.
- Marc Cardaronella exhorts us to preach the gospel always…period.
Maryknoll Essay Contest Asks Students How to Spread the Gospel Digitally
The Maryknoll Society wants students to think about how they would use social networking and digital media to spread the Good News. The theme of this year’s essay contest is “iMission,” and students in grades 6-12 could win up to $1000 by submitting a 500-750 word essay before December 1, 2010.
This is a great way for students to think about being witnesses to the message of Jesus Christ. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, instant messaging or texting, today’s digital media makes mass communication fast and easy. I’ll be interested in seeing how my eighth graders can take these tools and orient them toward spreading the gospel.
For more details about how to enter, see Maryknoll Essay Contest Rules.