October 26, 2021- Class Update: Champions of Faith

Greetings everyone!

I'm pleased to share that we now have a class aide:  Francisco is a Fenwick student and he joined us for the first time this past Tuesday evening.  

So welcome to our class, Francisco! Thank you for volunteering to assist.

During class, we went "out to the ballgame", primarily spent watching the documentary Champions of Faith: Baseball Edition.  It profiles MLB players, along with a coach and a manager, sharing their stories and their perspectives on faith, both on and off the field.

At the conclusion of class, everyone got a sheet with prayers for the canonization cause of two different individuals, Blessed Father Michael J. McGivney and Servant of God Julia Greeley.

Please spend 5 minutes praying either prayer.  Then, mark one phrase that stood out to you in that prayer, and write at least 1 sentence explaining what stood out to you.  Be sure to bring the sheet back with you to our next class, on November 9.  

You are also welcome to use one of these prayers for other canonization causes: Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk (scroll to the bottom of the webpage), Father Augustus Tolton, Dorothy Day, or Archbishop Fulton Sheen (found on the right side of the webpage).

You may also look up another prayer not in the sheet or on that list.  If you do, please note the website or resource where you found it.

These prayers are a great way to get into the spirit of celebrating All Saints' Day on November 1.

Some extra credit opportunities are listed below my signature.

We are off from class this Tuesday evening, November 2.

We look forward to seeing you back in class on November 9, a special feast day for the Dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica, which you'll learn more about in class.  Also in class in the upcoming weeks, the anticipated plan is to spend time looking more closely at the Mass and the Eucharist.

Please feel free to contact me with questions, etc.

We remain connected as One Church: All my relations.

God's blessings,
Paul

Hat from the First Night Game at Wrigley Field, on 8-8-88


P.S. Our opening prayer was from 1 Corinthians 9:24-25.  The closing prayer was written by Pedro Arrupe, a Jesuit. Scroll down on this webpage to Personal Prayer of Pedro Arrupe.

Here are some clips from the movie we watched:




As an optional extra credit opportunity, read a biography of a person on the path to canonization and write a short paragraph of 3 sentences sharing what you learned.  You can usually find a biography on the website for the canonization cause.

This coming week, there will be several special liturgies for All Saints' Day on November 1, All Souls' Day on November 2, and the monthly Taize Prayer.  If you attend, in-person or virtually, write 2 sentences about what stood out to you.

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