One Catholic Life Blog

Pope Paul VI

Homily

No More War, War Never Again! – Homily for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

This weekend is Catechetical Sunday, the day we recognize and commission those who assist parents in the important task of handing on the faith. While the primary duty of handing on the faith belongs to parents, it’s such a monumental task that it’s good to have some assistance. That’s why Catholic schools and religious education programs exist. It takes an entire community working together in Christ to build the Kingdom of God. And in the work of catechesis, there are three teaching strategies that are particularly helpful: asking...

Moving In

Homily

Liminal Spaces – Homily for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

This past week on Facebook a former student posted a picture of herself with her husband. They’ve been married almost two years, and they were standing with their arms around each other next to the “Sold” sign in front of their very first house. She’s about five months pregnant as they get ready to welcome their first child this coming December. I imagine there are lots of families moving into new homes this summer, getting used to new cities, new neighborhoods, children about to start the year in...

Mountain Meadow

Homily

Back to the Meadow – Homily for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s readings form a beautiful progression: In the first reading God makes a promise. The responsorial psalm responds to that promise. The Gospel shows the fulfillment of the promise. And all three center on the figure of the shepherd. First, God promises. During the time of the prophet Jeremiah, the people of God were scattered. They were beaten down. The Babylonians had laid siege to Jerusalem, and had ultimately destroyed the Temple. The chosen people are in exile. The kings of Israel, who were supposed to shepherd the...

Rembrandt - Christ Calming Storm

Homily

The Message of the Sea – Homily for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

I love a good historical novel about ships and sailing, especially stories set in the Napoleonic era, when England and France battled on the high seas. But, though my mom and dad were both in the Navy, I’m not much of a sailor myself. The first and only time I sailed on the ocean was twenty-five years ago, when Brenda and I took the ferry from Seattle to Victoria, British Columbia, on our honeymoon. For a short period of time—only about 15 or 20 minutes— land was out...

Cloud Computing

Homily

Into the Cloud: Homily for the Ascension

On this Solemnity of the Ascension, the Scriptures describe Jesus as being lifted up into the cloud. We hear a lot about “the cloud” these days. We can put our documents in the cloud. Or we can keep our pictures in the cloud. We can even put our music and books in the cloud. It’s really convenient having our music or all of our books at our fingertips. But for many of us, switching to the cloud can be a difficult transition. We’ve probably got file cabinets full...

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...