Author: Deacon Nick

Pope Francis Washing Feet

Homily

Sacrifice and Service: Homily for Holy Thursday

What if, at communion, after receiving the Body and Blood, after consuming the consecrated bread and wine, we were handed a consecrated towel? What if we came forward with arms held out, and the priest or deacon or eucharistic minister said, “The Body of Christ,” and handed us the host, and then, “The Blood of Christ,” and handed us the cup, and then “The Service of Christ,” and gently placed a white towel in our hands? And what if we took that towel walked out of this building...

Isenheim Crucifixion by Matthias Grunewald

Homily

The Isenheim Crucifixion – Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Lent

Do you remember the first picture of Jesus you ever saw? Was it a picture in a children’s Bible? A coloring book page from Sunday school? The actor Robert Powell in Jesus of Nazareth? There are many famous images of Jesus, and some of them hang on the walls of our homes. There’s the famous Warner Sallman painting of the Head of Christ, which has sold over 500 million copies. There’s the familiar Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Divine Mercy image. Another popular painting of Jesus is...

Ice Skating Rink in Lloyd Center, Mall, Portland, OR

Travel

Ice Skating in the Mall

Happy Feast of St. Joseph! I’m back at the conference after another beautiful walk from the hotel, and I’m excited about today because the exhibition hall opens up this morning. The exhibition hall is where technology vendors come to display their gadgets, software and services. Hopefully there will be some cool things to take pictures of and learn about. Today I plan on attending some sessions on Google Apps, game-based learning, and (if there’s room in the workshop) coding with Scratch. If you’re reading this during class today,...

NCCE 2015

Technology / Travel

First Day of Workshops

I’ve attended three workshops today so far, and they’ve all been excellent: Extend Learning Using Online Discussion Forums – In this 2-hour workshop I learned all about using Schoology and Edmodo to extend learning beyond the classroom. This is something I will definitely be trying with some classes when I get back. Make Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Programs Work – This was another two hour workshop about how some schools are having students bring their own devices to use for schoolwork, instead of the school providing them...

Oregon Convention Center

Photos / Travel

Oregon Convention Center 

It’s a beautiful morning in Portland, and after a brisk 10-minute walk from the hotel to the Oregon Convention Center I was greeted by this statue of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Trimet Light Rail

Photos / Technology / Travel

Light Rail

Found the light rail terminal and took it all the way to my hotel. Pretty impressive (and inexpensive) way to travel. A smooth 25-minute ride, and only $2.50.

On Board

Photos / Travel

Empty Seats

Sitting on the plane, a Bombardier Q400. Small, but lots of empty seats, so I ended up getting two seats to myself.

NCCE 2015 Logo

Technology / Travel

NCCE 2015

I’ll be leaving for Portland, Oregon in a few days to attend NCCE 2015, “the largest ed-tech conference in the Northwest.” As I travel I’ll be posting about the trip here.

Luke Skywalker on Tatooine

Homily

On Lent and Avoiding the Star Wars Effect – Homily for the First Sunday of Lent 2015

Every year on the First Sunday of Lent, the gospel takes us into the desert where Jesus was tested for forty days. And we follow Jesus into the desert for these forty days of Lent so that our hearts can be transformed, so that we can be ready to enter fully into the Mystery of Easter. This means being careful of the Star Wars Effect. When the original Star Wars movie came out in 1977, every kid my age wanted to see it. It was the first movie...

Grandmother and Granddaughter

Homily

Eli, John and Andrew – Homily for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

In the first reading we hear that “Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD.” Now that doesn’t mean you get to sleep here in church during the homily! But we do have something in common with Samuel: at one point, we, too, were not familiar with the Lord. Samuel is called three times, but he does not recognize who is it is. It is the priest Eli who helps him understand that it is the Lord who is calling. In the gospel, too, Andrew and an...