Jan. 31, 2024 — Healing & Compassion

Our “theme,” such as it was, was healing. For the second week in a row, Father Kavenaugh came by. He presented a lesson on the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. I really appreciated that, since this is a sacrament I always have had trouble getting my arms around. He brought his sacramental kit, with olive oil and lamb’s wool and showed the students how and why the sacrament is administered.

From there, we went to the exercise on the front cover of the Venture pamphlet. It posted several situations, like “There s all kinds of trash in the bushes along your street.” We asked the students to circle several of the situations where they thought they might make a difference. We had a good discussion.

Mrs. Baran took over and had volunteers read the story on pages 2 & 3. It was basically about a bully who shut out the new kid in school, and how the main character and his friends responded to it. We discussed the “think questions” on page 3. This included a discussion of how the “good guys” reaction to the bully was not a lot better than the bully’s actions itself. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Was there a better way to respond?

We had volunteers read/role play the gospel passage on page 4 and discussed the “think questions.” We discussed the importance of compassion for others.

And, as always, we asked the students to cite one thing they learned that evening, and all were able to do so and were rewarded with a Giradelli chocolate.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Class #16 Feb 12, 2020 Confirmation

Last week, we tackled the Sacrament of Confirmation. We started by talking about the Holy Spirit and Pentecost. We emphasized that the Holy Spirit is God and that aspect or person of God that stays with us daily. We told the story of Pentecost and then showed a short video to reinforce the concept.

We transitioned into a discussion of the role of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation. We discussed the idea of confirming their basic beliefs as Catholic. We broke them into pairs and asked them to list some of their core Catholic beliefs. We gave them some hints, like “Think of the Apostle’s Creed.” It went OK.

We discussed 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 spent some time talking about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and completed a match-game exercise.

We finished up with a game of Hangman. Unfortunately, despite going through nearly the entire alphabet, they weren’t able to solve “Pentecost.” Too bad.

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Class 15, Feb. 5, 2020 Mass

We started the class a little differently this week. We have had a small problem lately with classroom behavior. It hasn’t been terrible, but some of the antics have been distracting, both to the rest of the class and to me. We usually go through this about this time every year.  Mrs. Hanzel has not been able to help out since the Christmas break, so I have been on my own. I realize that the CCD class comes at the end of a long day for them. Their regular school is their “job.” Our class is like overtime.

So I asked the class for their cooperation. I don’t expect or want them to just sit there with their hands folded. We want a lively class with a lot of exchange, but we need some better focus. I try to present lessons that, while not necessarily entertaining, are interesting. We engage in activities like role playing that break up the routine. That doesn’t work when several students are trying to make themselves the center of attention. I asked them to work with me, pay attention and avoid activities that disrupt or distract. For the most part, it worked. I did have to call out two young ladies, who ironically, were late for class and didn’t hear the message. When I was making a point, one who was sitting in the front row, stood up, turned around to her friends and used both hands to point to herself. I addressed her and told her about my talk before she got to class. I told her and the class that was exactly the kind of attention-seeking, distracting activity I was talking about.

For the lesson, we finished our discussion of the Eucharist by focusing on the Mass. Most of the class agreed that they really didn’t understand what was going on. To start off, we compared the structure of the Mass to visiting some friends with their family. In this case, we are visiting in God’s house.

— We start a visit by going to the door and being welcomed by our hosts. This is like the introductory rites.

— Typically, we visit and chat with our friends. This like the opening prayers and the readings. We talk to God and God talks to us.

— And since we never show up for dinner without bringing something, we do the same at Mass. This is the offertory and presentation of the gifts.

— Eventually, we and the host prepare the meal and we sit down and eat. This, of course, is the consecration, Eucharistic prayer and communion.

— And finally, we say good bye and go home. The same at Mass.

We passed out a one-sheet outline of the Mass. It included a column indicating when we sit, stand and kneel. Typically, we stand when we are praying, sit when we are listening and kneel during the most sacred part of the Mass.

We played a video that covered a lot of the same information, but it reinforced the lesson. These Catholic Central videos are energetic and interesting. They may be slightly advanced for 5^th graders, but not by much. The class seems to enjoy them. You can watch the one from this week here.

We finished up by passing out the missals/hynmals we use in the church, and showed the class how to use the missal to follow along with the Mass.

Next week, we will begin a two-week lesson on Confirmation.

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Class 14, Jan. 29, 2010 Eucharist 1

This is a way-late update for last week’s class. Being partially retired with two small (23 mos and 8 mos) grandchildren is busier than working full time.

We began our coverage of the Eucharist. We talked about the Passover and how the first Eucharist, at the Last Supper, was a Seder meal. The class was quite surprised to learn that Jesus and his followers were all Jewish.

If the class got anything out of the lesson it would be the concept of “real presence,” our belief that Jesus is truly present in the host and wine.

We had the class team up with a partner and read a passage from the text that explained the Eucharist as being a memorial, a sacrifice and a meal.

This week, we will finish up on the Eucharist by looking at the structure of the Mass and explaining how to use a  missal (hymnal) to follow along.

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Class 13, Jan. 22, 2010 Baptism 2

We continued our coverage of the Sacrament of Baptism. We emphasized that everyone is called to be baptized. And a Baptism in another Christian church is usually accepted by the Church. We then had volunteers read the first page of Ch 5 in the textbook. We had written questions on the white board for them to find answers in the text which we discussed.

1. Does everyone get baptized at the same age? (No)
2. What do we call adults or older children who are preparing for Baptism? (catechumens)
3. Who helps prepare people for Baptism? (the entire Church community)
4. What do Godparents do? (multiple answers)
5. What is the best day to be Baptized? (Sunday)

On the issue of godparents, we did make a distinction between what it means in the Church, as opposed to a common lay meaning. Outside the church godparents are often considered the intended guardians of a child if both parents should die. Within the Church, that may or may not be the case. We explained that frequently godparents are not a couple, and may be married to other people (eg: an aunt from one side of the family and an uncle from the other.) Within the Church, the godparents stand up for a child during the ceremony and answer questions in his or her place. They are also expected to be involved in the child’s life, especially their spiritual life. I am not sure even broaching this topic was a great idea. It caused quite a bit of confusion and questions along the lines of “What happens if my parents die and….?”

Then we came to the fun (risky) part of the lesson. We divided the class into three groups of three and had them role-play a Baptism. One student was the priest, one the catechumen and one the godparent. We had water, but didn’t have oil, a white garment or a candle – the four symbols of the Sacrament – so we faked those. We gave them a few minutes to prepare and then had them walk through the process. I let the “priest” say the prayers and anoint with make believe oil, and dribbled the water.

The exercise did not go totally off the rails. It actually went fairly well. The students really got into it. Hopefully, by acting out the Sacrament, they may actually remember it.

This week, we will start our coverage of the Eucharist and the Mass.

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Class 12, Jan. 8, 2020 Baptism 1

We barreled into our first class of 2020 full throttle. Between all the holidays, Penance service and the Christmas pageant, it’s been nearly two months since our last “regular” class session.

Our topic was the first of two classes on Baptism (Ch 4 in the text.) We started off with a short video that provided a broad overview of the Sacrament. You can view it here.

One element that was in the video but not in the rest of our lesson was that the Church recognizes the baptisms from most other Christian denominations. We discussed this.

We then asked the students to read page 44 and highlight key points. These included:

• Baptism is the foundation of Christian life.
• Baptism frees us from past sins. We discussed infant Baptism.
• Through Baptism we establish a connection with God and become a part of the Church.

Volunteers read page 45 aloud. It presented the concepts of original sin (which we did not do a very good job explaining), incarnation and salvation. We emphasized that the Sacrament of Baptism opens the path for us to have a relationship with God.

We finished up with a game of “hangman” using words from the lesson. The students really got into this, so we will do it again in the future.

Next week, we hope to finish up our coverage of Baptism, with more on the specifics of the sacrament, and some role playing.

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Class #10 Nov. 20, 2019

This will be a short entry, as there isn’t much to say that I haven’t already said. Last night, we had our second rehearsal for the Dec. 18 Christmas Pageant. We have ten students who are narrators and four who are shepherds, angels or biblical royalty.

No class next week for Thanksgiving.

The parish Advent Penance Service will be held on Dec. 4 at 6:30 pm. (That is the correct time.) Please, come with your child(ren). If you want to sit with us, Mrs. Hanzel and I will be up near the choir. Last night, we did spend a few minutes going over the procedure for a confession. I distributed some “cheat sheets” with the step-by-step process and the Act of Contrition. I collected them back,however, and will bring them on Dec 4.

Dress rehearsal will be Dec. 11. Drop off and pick up at the church.

Christmas Pageant on Dec. 18. Please have your child at the church by 6:15 at the absolute latest. Students coming in late and sliding in under the tag just causes chaos for all of us, including the other students.

Mrs. Hanzel and I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and we’ll see you in two weeks.

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