One Catholic Life Blog

Fire and Ice

Poetry / Teaching

Poetry Video Project Using Chromebooks, Librivox, and WeVideo

When school starts up again this week, one of my Tech classes is going to begin learning about video editing with a free online tool called WeVideo. Students will browse through public domain poetry at Librivox.org and find a narrated poem they like. They’ll download the mp3 narration of the poem to their Google Drives and then search for accompanying images. I’ll be showing them how to use Google’s image search to find images that have been labeled for “reuse with modification,” so that they use the images...

The Gift of Being Yourself by David Benner

Spirituality

Discovering Yourself by Getting to Know Jesus Better

The Gift of Being Yourself by David Benner was one of my favorite books from last year. and I’ve been slowly rereading it, trying to taking in all he has to say and put it into practice. One of the best chapters explains how to get to know Jesus better. He strongly encourages daily meditation on the gospel and on life experiences in the Ignatian style: “First, take a moment to quiet yourself in God’s presence. Close your eyes and ask God to take the words of Scripture...

A New Day

Prayer

A Prayer for False Starts

God, I meant to start over yesterday. It was a new year and everything. I even made a list. What happened? Old habits die hard, I guess. Thank you for another day and another chance to start over. You are the giver of second chances, and third, and fourth, and fifth. That’s a very good thing, because I have a feeling I’m going to need them. Help me to be a giver of second chances, and third, and fourth, and fifth, to those who need them. Amen.

The Long Run by the Eagles

Music

Soundtrack of My Life: The Long Run by the Eagles

What was your first record or cassette? How about the first time you heard a song that hadn’t been played on the radio? For me it was The Long Run by the Eagles. It was Christmas of 1979, and deep inside me a lifelong love for music was lying dormant under a denim jacket, a pair of brown corduroys, and a t-shirt with the Fonz on the front. (Aaaay!) I was in eighth grade. I owned a little one-speaker cassette/radio player and made my own mix tapes by recording my...

The Rosie Project by Graham Simsion

Books and Reading

My Favorite Books of 2014

2014 was a very productive and satisfying year for me in reading. I read 44 books, surpassing my goal of 40, and many of them were some of the best books I’ve ever read. One of the things I love about using Goodreads to keep track of my reading is how easy it is to see the patterns and trends of my reading habits. Here’s a breakdown of some aspects of my reading for 2014: 80% of the books I read were ebooks (35 out of 44), my...

Simeon and Anna

Homily

Good News for Old and Young Alike – Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family

On this first Sunday after Christmas, the Liturgy invites us to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. And today the gospel presents the Holy Family’s encounter with two elderly people of faith, Simeon and Anna. In the first and second readings, too, we hear about two more elderly people of faith, Abraham and Sarah. Today there is Good News for both the old and the young. Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to Jerusalem to be presented to the Lord, and one at a time, Simeon and Anna...

Kalamazoo Mystery Puzzle

Teaching

Can You Solve this 30 Year Old Mystery?

About thirty years ago my mom brought home a puzzle that someone had given her at work. She worked for Montgomery Ward, the now defunct department store chain, and on her lunch hour she and her colleagues would work on these little brain twisters that people would bring in from time to time. She would then bring them home for us kids. Little did my mom know that I would keep all of those puzzles and use them with my junior high students over the years. I’m not...

Giving Tuesday Baby

Service

#GivingTuesday Is Almost Here – Are You Ready?

Here’s a great idea for the beginning of Advent: #GivingTuesday! What is #GivingTuesday? Black Friday. Cyber Monday. #GivingTuesday! We have a day for giving thanks. We have two for getting deals. Now, we have #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back. On Tuesday, December 2, 2014, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give. It’s a simple idea. Just find a way for your family, your community, your company or your organization...

Nasrudin's Donkey

Homily

Donkeys and Moonwalking Bears: Homily for the First Sunday of Advent – Year B 2014

There’s a video that’s been online for about five years now, that I like to show to my students. It starts in a big parking garage with two street basketball teams, one wearing white t-shirts and sweats, the other wearing black. As they stand there in one line, each team with its own basketball, the announcer’s voice begins, “This is an Awareness Test.” “How many passes does the team in white make?” A voice yells, “GO!” and suddenly the teams start running around, weaving in and out, passing...

Thanksgiving - Brownscombe

Spirituality

How to Make Thanksgiving “A Good Day”

The five minutes it takes to watch this video meditation by Benedictine Brother David Steindl-Rast can make all the difference on the remaining 23 hours and 55 minutes. I hope it blesses your Thanksgiving Day.

Homeless in Rome

Homily

Fear, Trust, and the Worthy Wife: Homily for the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

The first reading and the gospel can be summarized like this: “Do not be afraid to use what has been entrusted to you.” In both readings something precious is entrusted to someone, and in both readings fear plays an important role. The master entrusts his possessions to his three servants. And the husband entrusts his heart to his wife. The third servant is afraid of the master. And the worthy wife has the Fear of the Lord. To entrust is to put something precious into another’s care. The...