Jan. 10, 2024 — Who is God?

Students asked a couple of interesting questions about 40 minutes into the class, and that caused us to throw our planned lesson out the window and address a large elephant in the room. More on that in a minute, but first… (Back when I was producing TV newscasts, we would call that a “tease.”)

This was our first class back after almost two months. It was great to see all be one of our students were there, and we picked up a new one.

After an opening prayer, we had the students complete a “bingo” exercise on the front page of the Venture pamphlet. It was a series of questions about the Church, the parish and other Catholic “trivia.” We provided them with last week’s Sunday bulletin, that had lots of information about the parish staff on the front cover. Not surprisingly, there was not a great depth of knowledge about subjects like our current pope and current bishop. Some of the other questions were easier, but it was funny to watch them struggle with “Name a couple who has celebrated the Sacrament of Matrimony?” or “Name two volunteers in your parish.” (Are there any here in the room with you?) Almost none of the students could name their godparents. Parents might want to follow up on that.

We then had volunteers read a rather lengthy story about Pope Paul XXIII (after we explained the Roman numerals.) The students had questions about what is a pope, a bishop and a diocese, which we explained and discussed. We talked about the Second Vatican Council and the major changes it created in the Church, and especially the way we, the faithful, interact with the Church.

At one point, one of the students asked, “Is Joseph God?” After explaining that Joseph was Jesus’s human father, but Jesus is God, another student blurted out, “What? Jesus is God?” It quickly became very clear that most of the class lacked a basic understanding of the nature of God and the Holy Trinity. And that is where our original lesson plan went off the tracks.

We discussed that God is the supreme being, but who comes to us in three persons or forms; the father, who created the world; Jesus, who redeemed us from our sins; and the Holy Spirit, who continues to guide us today. They are all equally God and one being. We told the class that it is difficult to resolve the apparent conflict of one God, but three persons. We told them that, as mere humans, we are not able to totally understand this mystery. We gave them two concepts to consider that, while not a complete explanation, might help them to have a better understanding.

In the first, we asked the students to name one or more roles or identities they “play” in their life. For example, they are students, athletes, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, dancers, artists, etc. They all have multiple roles or identities, but they are still one person.

We also asked them to think about themselves. They have a physical presence in their body. They have an intellect in their thoughts, their dreams, their worries, their loves and their fears. This is separate from their physical body. And they have their soul or spirit, which will live on after their body and minds are gone. All are part of them, but they are still one person.

We asked for questions, and it appears that the class “got it.”

At that point, we had only a few minutes left in the class. Mrs. Baran got short-changed by my poor clock management. She jumped to page 5 in the Venture pamphlet and discussed vocations for a little while. She asked the students to take their pamphlets home with them and to read the Gospel and discussion on page 4, which we had skipped over. We finished up, as always, by asking the students to cite one thing they learned that evening. All were able to do so and were rewarded with a couple of Hershey Kisses.

Nov. 15, 2023 — Using Your Talents

Last night’s class was the last “regular” class lesson we will have until mid-January. The main focus of the lesson, as derived from the Gospel (Matthew 25:14-30), was on identifying our individual talents and making good use of them.

As the students gathered, we had them work on the exercise on the front page of the Venture pamphlet. It asked them to identify things they are good at, enjoy, known for, etc. We then went around and asked each student to cite one of their answers. As expected, we got a lot of “soccer,” “dance,” “karate,” etc.

Mrs. Baran took over and had students play the role of the various characters in the story on pages 2-3, which was about a girl who really wanted to participate in sports and activities, but wasn’t really all the good at any of them. She did end up as an alter server. We used this as an opportunity to emphasize the importance of participation and keeping a good attitude if you aren’t the star. We discussed the “Think Questions” on page 3.

I mentioned that I have encountered a number of children who gave up on activities or sports because they weren’t willing to undergo the learning curve that everyone goes through when they try something new. They should realize that anytime you try something new, it will take time and practice to become good at it. They shouldn’t worry about how they “look.” If they enjoy it, they should stick with it and practice until they improve.

We moved on to the Gospel reading, and volunteers read the roles of the different characters. The Gospel story focused on making good use of the talents that God has bestowed on us. In this case, I pointed out that there is a little play on words in English, as the “talents” in the Gospel referred to a mass of silver, while it also applies to “talent” as we use it today. In the “Think Questions,” we emphasized that our talents, skills and abilities are all gifts from God, and God expects us to make good use of the, hopefully for the betterment of our neighbors.

We finished with a role-play exercise on pages 6-7. We broke the class into groups of 3-4. We assigned one scenario to each group and appointed a leader to keep things organized. After they had a chance to consider their scenario, each group role-played their scenario, with one student reading the story and the others mimed the action. We discussed the questions for each scenario. I wasn’t really sure how well this was going to work out, but the students actually got into it and did well.

And as always, we finished by asking the students to cite one thing they learned during the class, and were rewarded with a treat.

Nov. 8, 2023 — Preparation, Promises and Psalms

First of all, please note the changes in the class schedule for the remainder of 2023. We will have only one more “regular” class session, and that will be next week. Your child should have brought the new schedule home for you.

Our lesson this week centered around two main themes, being prepared and keeping promises or commitments.

As the students arrived, we had them start working on the exercise on the front cover of the Venture pamphlet, which asked them to predict the outcome of preparing or not preparing for five different situations, like taking a test. Then, we discussed their answers. Of course, the consensus was that it is better to be prepared than not to be.

We asked for volunteers to read the story on pages 2-3, which dealt with three friends who were preparing as a team for a talent contest. The two girls prepared well, but the one guy on the team slacked off on his preparation so the team did not do well. As it was being read, we had the students underline all the poor choices Juan made in the story. We discussed the “think” questions, especially on the consequences of not preparing, not keeping commitments and letting our friends down.

We had volunteers role-play the Gospel on page 4 (Matthew 25:1-13.) This parable dealt with the importance of being prepared. Although the story was about a wedding, the message is that we should always be prepared to meet God, because we do not know when he will come again or when we might die. We discussed this in the “Connecting Gospel and Doctrine” section at the bottom of page 4.

We then moved on to the week’s featured part of the Mass, in this case, the Responsorial Psalm. We had the students locate the first reading (Wisdom 6:12-16) in the Bible, and had one student read it aloud. Volunteers read the description of Psalms, and then we prayed this Sunday’s Psalm with responses.

As we were finishing up, we had the students read the “comic book-style” story of St. Frances Cabrini on the back cover.

As always, we asked each student to name something they learned that evening and rewarded them with a home-baked cookie. (Except for one student with a food sensitivity, who got a Kit-Kat bar instead.)

Oct. 25, 2023 — More Hunger and Greatest Commandments

First off, I would like to thank all parents for coming to the door to pick up their students at dismissal. Now that it is pitch dark at 7:30 pm, we really don’t want the children running around in the parking lot. Please continue this practice.

Next Wednesday is Nov. 1, All Saints Day. Our family program will be to attend 6:30 Mass as a family. While most teachers will be there, this is not an organized class activity, and we won’t be sitting as a class. Please, stay with your children for the Mass.

Our class this week was OK. In honor of the World Series, I’ll say it wasn’t the home run we were hoping for, but it wasn’t strikeout either. It felt more like an infield single.

After an opening prayer, I started by talking about All Saints Day and what a saint is. I distinguished between the group of saints comprised of all who have died and have gone to heaven (saints) and the much smaller group (Saints) who have been recognized by the church as Saints.

Mrs. Baran was back with us this week. She led the first half of the class. She started with the exercise on the front cover of the Venture pamphlet. It covered the main theme of the lesson, Christ’s two greatest commandments, which was also the focus of the Gospel reading.

1. Love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind.
2. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

We then had volunteers read the story of Feeding America, the largest hunger relief organization in the U.S. We discussed the “think questions,” including ways to prevent food waste at home and ways to help those in need. I presented a challenge to the class. During this time of year, there are typically any number of food drives. Also, St Peter’s maintains a food pantry, with drop-offs in the church and church office. I suggested that, if they wished to make a food donation, that they not simply go to your pantry and grab a few cans of soup or vegetables. In that case, you, the parents, would be making the donation, and the students would just be a middle man. Instead, I challenged them to find a way to make a few dollars, either through their allowance, doing extra chores around the house, or by doing something like raking leaves for a neighbor. They should take that money and go with you to the grocery store and purchase food bank-appropriate supplies to donate. That way, the donation actually comes from something they did or sacrificed.

We moved on to the Gospel on page 4. (Matthew 22:34-40) In discussion, we talked about who are your neighbors. Matthew does not include the story of the good Samaritan, but Luke does, immediately following the description of this episode. So I read from Luke 10:29-37 to show that “neighbors” encompasses everyone.

We also noted that Jesus said to love your neighbor, but without any “buts” or “except if…” He didn’t say to love unless someone looked different, was from another place or had a different opinion from you. He said simply your neighbor.

We skipped over page 5 and went to an exercise on pages 6-7. We asked the students to pick an identity to role play from a list of frequently misunderstood people on page 7. We paired the students and had them role play a TV talk show, with one student as he interviewer and the other as the guest. Then they swapped roles. The pamphlet had suggested questions like,…

Tell us a little about yourself

What are your greatest challenges?

How can others help you?

We had a couple of students who were uncomfortable standing up in front of the class, but for the most part, they got into it.

I was going to skip the “Tell us something you learned tonight” exercise and just allow them to have a treat as a reward for their work in the previous role play. However, the class didn’t want to skip it. They wanted to cite what they learned. That was a bit of a surprise to me. That also explains why we were a minute or two late at dismissal.

Oct. 18-2023 — To cheat or not to cheat

As the students started to arrive, we had them work on a fill-in-the-blank exercise on the front cover of the Venture pamphlet. It consisted of familiar sayings, like “Actions speak _ than words.” There were two bible quotes, and I had to look up one of them. “Don’t let the sun go down upon your __.” (Ephesians 4:26) We had a good time talking about them.

We then move on to “The Project” which was a story about two students working on a school project and faced with the temptation to cheat by plagiarizing some material. We had volunteers read six scenarios that evolved depending on what the students chose to do. There were lots of opportunities for discussion of the various outcomes and consequences.

We addressed the upcoming Sunday Gospel reading (Matthew 22:15-21) which is the well known “Give unto Caesar…” story. We discussed how the Pharisees tried to trick Jesus. We also discussed what we owe God and how we can give to God.

We had volunteers read page 5 which describes the Pharisees.

We wrapped up by asking the students what they learned that evening. All were able to cite something and were rewarded with a piece of candy.

Oct. 11, 2023 — God’s Invitation to Us

Each week, our lesson is based on the upcoming Sunday’s readings. Rather than having a single textbook for the entire year, we have weekly “pamphlets” or magazines. We use these in class and send them home with the children. You can refer to these in conjunction with my descriptions of the weekly class sessions. Each has the title “Venture” on the front.

We started the class with special opening prayer in light of events in the Middle East. It focused on peace. We asked the students to close their eyes and to listen carefully to a reading of the Beatitudes. It finished with all reading a Peace Prayer from St. Francis.

Last Wednesday’s class was a little odd in that it had two entirely different messages. It was based on Matthew 22:1-14. The first part of the lesson dealt with the issue of poverty and especially hunger. The second part focused on hearing and answering God’s invitations.

We started with the hunger quiz on the front cover and discussed the answers and the problem of food insecurity.

We had volunteers read the story of Cynthia’s Kitchen on pages 2-3 (True story, by the way.) and discussed the “Think” questions. We showed a short video from NBC News “Kids News” about a food pantry in Texas.

We moved on to the Gospel reading and had volunteers role play the parts of the Gospel on page 4. We reemphasized the idea that a parable is a story with a message in it. In the parable, Jesus tells the story of a king who invites people to a wedding feast, but most refuse the invitation, even killing the messengers who carry the invitation. The king invites others to the feast, but one shows up without being properly dressed. The king has him bound and thrown into the darkness.

We discussed that Jesus is not really giving an etiquette lesson on how to respond to a wedding invitation. The key is in nature of Jesus’s audience. They are the chief priests and elders, who are Jesus’s enemies. We pointed out that Jesus was a rabblerouser, looking to make changes. His audience was the religious power structure of the time — those who were invested in the status quo and resisted Jesus’s message. Through discussion, we drew out the idea that the king in the parable is God; the wedding is the Kingdom of Heaven; and the invitations are God’s invitation for us to join him. Jesus is warning his enemies the repercussions of refusing God’s invitation.

In the “Connecting Gospel and Doctrine” section on page 4, this concept is reinforced. “As baptized Christians, the Eucharist is the feast to which God invites us.”

As usual, we ran out of time before we ran out of material. We finished up by asking each student to cite something they learned that evening. All were able to do so and were rewarded with a piece of candy.

Sept. 27, 2023 — Making Good Decisions

After an opening prayer, we started with a “bible challenge” on the front of the lesson pamphlet. Mrs. Baran taught this segment. We had the students pair up with a partner and work together to locate Sunday’s Gospel and first reading. We reviewed the differences between the old and new testaments and how to use the book, chapter and verse to locate a passage. We had a volunteer read the Sunday Gospel passage.

We emphasized that the evening’s lesson would focus on making good decisions, keeping our word and how to change if you make a bad decision.

We had volunteers read a fictional story on pages 2-3 about some siblings who made some bad decisions, and one who corrected himself and made the situation right.

Since we had already read the Gospel , we jumped to page 5 and talked about the liturgical year, the lectionary and ordinary time. The students completed a match-quiz on page 5.

Before we dismissed, we asked the class to take a moment and to think quietly about any ways they might change to become a better person. We told them we were not going to require them to tell the class what they would change about themselves, but several students volunteered all the same.

Before we actually started, we told the class that at the end of the lesson we would ask everyone to cite one thing they learned that evening, and we would reward those who were able to do so with a piece of candy. We did this little exercise, and it went very well. The students were very much into it.

We didn’t do a particularly good job with time management that evening. We left some good activities undone. Hopefully, we will do better in the future.

Welcome to PREP/CCD 2023-24

Hello 4th, 5th and 6th grade CCD/PREP parents!

This introductory letter is about two weeks past due, but some family issues have kept me very busy for the past three weeks.

Mrs. Connie Baran and I are looking forward to teaching your child’s CCD class on Wednesday evenings.

Just a little about my background. I am a “cradle Catholic” and have been a member of the St. Peter’s parish since 1992. I have been teaching CCD since 2005, mostly 5th grade. My wife, Patty and I have two grown children and two grandchildren, ages 4 and 5. All live nearby. The first half of my career was spent in TV news, most of it as a local news director. Last May, I retired from the UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography after 18 years. I was the External Affairs Manager.

I will let Mrs. Baran introduce herself if she wishes.

OUR CLASS

Grades 4-6 are combined this year, and our class has about 11 students. A couple of years ago, we switched to a new curriculum. Each lesson is based on the Sunday readings for the upcoming weekend. That puts the lessons on a three-year cycle and means the older kids won’t be getting just repetition of what they learned last year. While we have some material we need to cover, including some memorization, we also hope to make the short time we will spend together rewarding and enjoyable for your child.

This curriculum does not have a single textbook. Rather, it provides weekly “pamphlets” containing that week’s lesson. Your child will bring these home after each class. You can get a pretty good idea of what we covered by looking at those. Also, see the information about the class website below.

It has been our experience that, when they get going, children these ages are full of interesting questions. If it has anything remotely related to God, the Church, religion, or living, we will talk about it.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Please understand we will have your child for less than an hour, just once a week. You can do several things to help us make this a productive experience for your son or daughter.

• Ask your child if we have given them a task to do during the week and assist them with it.
• Please have your child to the parish center before 6:30 p.m.
• Please support us and encourage your child to come to CCD/PREP class willingly and with enthusiasm.

Since the Mass is the center point of our faith, we have also been asked to strongly encourage attendance at Sunday Mass.

OUR EXPECTATIONS OF YOUR CHILD

We have only three class-rules, and we hope you will help us reinforce these to your children.

1. Show up.
2. Participate
3. Don’t be a “jerk.”

Rule #3 can sometimes become an issue. We don’t expect our students to sit quietly with their hands folded on their desk; we don’t want them to do so. We encourage them to be enthusiastic, active and engaged. However, we have a fairly low tolerance for behavior that is overtly disruptive. We try to plan activities that will engage and interest the class, but that only works if the students are at least slightly cooperative.

You are most welcome to sit-in on the class at any time, and we encourage you to do so.

THE CLASS WEBSITE

I hope you will stay abreast of what’s happening with your child on Wednesday evenings. To help you do so, I have created a blog/website. I will try to keep it updated on a weekly basis with reports on the class activity and announcements.

https://stpeterccdgrade5.wordpress.com/

I haven’t had the chance to update the first two weeks, but I hope to summarize last week’s lesson shortly.

The summaries of past years’ classes are there on the site, but they reflect the lessons from the last curriculum (Sadlier), not the current one (Pflaum.)

OTHER STUFF

As we have done for the past several years, we ask that you come to the classroom to pick up your child at 7:30 p.m. Please do not instruct your child to leave the building on his or her own and meet you in the parking lot. If you have a situation that makes it difficult for you to come into the building, like a sleeping baby, just let us know. We would be happy to walk your child(ren) to your car.

Feel free to contact me.

Mike Sullivan
Cell: 484-2622
savannahmike1130 at gmail.com

All the best,

Mike Sullivan

March 23, 2022 Ten Commandments

Wow!  It seems like it was last year when we had our last class. We are getting down towards the end of the CCD season and one of our more interesting (and my favorite) lessons. When we last met, our main focus was the Ten Commandments. We had lots of discussion and lots of questions.

We started with a story, telling the class the background that lead to God delivering the Commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai. We had volunteers read the passage from Exodus 20 that is the first mention of the Commandments. (Despite my warning, the references to an “ass” (ie: jackass) and “alien” caused more than a little giggling.)

We distributed list of the traditional “Ten Commandments” that demonstrated how some different religions count them. For example, Catholics count the God-related commandments as the first three, while many Protestant churches count them as four. On the other end, Catholics divide the last two “you shall not covet…” Commandments into two separate statements, while most Protestant sects combine them into one. We pointed out this only a concern if they are talking to a Protestant friend about the 4th Commandment, for instance. A Protestant would be talking about the Commandment to respect the Sabbath, while the Catholic would be honoring his father and mother.

As we walked through and discussed the first three Commandments, we talked about some of these points.

With the first Commandment, we spent some time talking about false gods. In the time of Moses, the issue was not to worship the sun, the Earth, a statue, etc. We asked the students to think about some of the false gods people may encounter today. They came up with ideas like money, drugs, alcohol, fame, celebrities, and so on. We connected the Commandment to relevant issues today.

The second Commandment, to not take the Lord’s name in vain, was fairly easy for them to grasp.

We talked about the concept of a Sabbath and why most Christians consider Sunday the Sabbath, rather than the “seventh day” (Saturday.) We pointed out that many early Christian leaders wanted to make a distinction between their older Jewish faith and their new Christian religion. Designating Sunday, the day Christ rose from the dead, as the Sabbath was one way to do that. We also discussed that in today’s culture, we have largely gotten away from the concept of resting and avoiding work on the Sabbath, and not necessarily for the better.

Tonight, we will finish up our discussion of the final seven commandments. I will be out of town next week. Mrs. Hubert is arranging for either Monsignor Costigan or Father Kavenaugh to meet with the class. The following week, will be the last session and it will be a family night.

March 9, 2022 Confirmation 2

This week we finished our discussion of the Sacrament of Confirmation.

First, we reviewed last week’s work which focused on Pentecost and the Holy Spirit. I guess I didn’t do a very good job teaching Pentecost, because, in spite of much discussion and a role-playing exercise, not a single student could describe what happened. Sigh. Fortunately, they did remember that the Holy Spirit is simply God. We transitioned into a discussion of the role of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation.

We discussed the reaffirming of baptismal promises in Confirmation. We had the students pair up with their table-mate, and think of and write down some of the core beliefs of Catholics. We gave them some hints, like “Think of the Apostle’s Creed.” It went OK.

We discussed, again, the role of Confirmation as a major milestone on their growth as Catholics. Most of them weren’t asked if they wanted to be baptized, but when they approach young adulthood, they do get the chance to decide and confirm their faith. We compared it to other young adult ceremonies in other religions, like evangelical protestants “born again” or the Jewish Bar Mitzvah

We returned to the text and asked them to read a page silently and look for the answers to a few questions.

Why does the Confirmation sponsor place his or her hand on the shoulder of the candidate?

How does the bishop anoint the candidate?

Why does the newly confirmed offer peace to the bishop?

We talked about taking a Confirmation name and the role of a sponsor. We finished up with a short discussion of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The next two classes will be devoted to the Ten Commandments. This is one of my favorite lessons of the year, because it usually prompts a ton of questions and discussion. I hope these lessons will do he same. Parents, as always, you are welcome to sit in.