2021-22 Grade 8 Ascension Religious Education

Greetings everyone! First of all, I want to commend everyone in class for your thoughtful reflections on the canonization prayers that you did as an activity earlier this month.  Please feel free to use any of those prayers for offering up a special intention, which may very well contribute to a miracle for that person's canonization. Recap of Last Class At the start of class, we spent time learning about Christ the King Sunday, the final Sunday of the liturgical year, which is November 21 this year.  We celebrate Christ, Who was once slain for our sins, and now is alive and reigns over all. Christ the King appearing above the altar at St. John Berchman Parish in Chicago The Christ the King Rose Window in Ascension Church, above the organ Upon arriving at class, everyone had the chance to create a hand turkey to offer thanks for your blessings. We also spent some time engaging with new perspectives on the Eucharist. When we are at Mass, the Eucharist is an opportunity for us t...

Greetings everyone! In the spirit of the Feast of All Souls last week Tuesday, November 2, we started class our most recent class spending time remembering those we know who have passed from us, reflecting with words and images.   For this week's activity, please keep the card you used for this reflection in some place where you'll see it constantly.  Nothing needs to be turned in at our next class.  If you haven't yet handed in the previous two activities, on Eucharistic miracles and canonization prayers, please be sure you do so at our next class on November 16. Paul also shared in-depth his story of faith in life. We also spent time focusing on what it means to be church, the people of God driven by the mission He has given us.   To speak about the idea of mission, Paul shared a video of his cousin's apparel company, Belong Designs, whose slogan is "When you follow your passion, you find where you belong." During our closing prayer, everyone drew a "li...

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...

Greetings everyone! The primary focus of our most recent class was on Theology of the Body , the teachings of Pope St. John Paul II's on the body and how we all created for a purpose. The big idea is that the body is sacramental, a visible sign of the invisible reality of God.  We are created to reflect God, Who is love.  God is love means that He gives Himself as total gift, which we experience in the Eucharist, when we recall Christ's sacrifice for us.  We are created to be a gift as we make God's presence known to others. You are all getting an extension for last week's activity. Please visit Carlo Acutis's website on Eucharistic miracles.  Take a couple of minutes to read a story about one of these miracles, and then write a minimum of 1 sentence sharing about what you learned.  Bring that sheet with you to class this Tuesday. Looking ahead, the plan is to watch a documentary in class this coming Tuesday, Champions of Faith: Baseball Edition .  It is a...

Greetings 8th graders! It was great being back in our classroom again this past Tuesday. At the start of class, we heard from my Dad, Ed. Rubio, who shared about a ministry he volunteers for, Kolbe House, an archdiocesan ministry to inmates and those reentering society from prison. Then we literally tossed around ideas about what makes us unique as Roman Catholics.  After we shared our ideas, we watched a video filmed in Philadelphia that discusses the importance of Sacred Tradition in the Roman Catholic Church.  The big idea is that Christ established the Church, and then handed it and its teachings on to the apostles, and it has been handed on throughout the centuries to us.  Indeed, faith was handed on to me, and now I'm handing it on to you. One of the great treasures of our Tradition is the stories of the saints. Carlo Acutis was a devout young person in Italy.  To help people grow in devotion to the Eucharist, he created a website documenting Eucharistic mirac...

Greetings class! Thank you all for joining class virtually this week.  (Thank you to Mariana Perepitchka for assisting with class, and to my friend Roy for his technical support with our Zoom session.) To recap, we spent time exploring different forms of prayer. We started by praying a decade of the Divine Mercy Chaplet . We prayed with Scripture, looking specifically at Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Mark 12:22-34.  Part of what we looked at from Mark will be part of the Gospel reading for a Sunday in the very near future.  We also watched a video from a previously-used curriculum that discussed the importance of Scripture in the life of faith. We also spent a short amount of time with a song from the Taize prayer last week Friday at Ascension. And we prayed the Litany to the Most Holy Trinity . Toward the end of class, we spent time praying in the spirit of the Ignatian Examen, which is a way to reflect on the day.  This link shows a graphic that explains one way to pray ...

Greetings! In our class this week, we started by praying Psalm 148, which describes the wonder of God's Creation.  To set the scene, we gathered at the St. Francis Shrine on the north side of Church, since St. Francis of Assisi is known for how he incorporated nature into his spirituality. Then, we had our field trip, touring the Church.  We looked at some of the stained glass windows, the baptismal font, the cabinet with the sacred oils, the high altar, the St. Joseph altar, the Virgin Mary's altar, the sacristy, and the organ loft.  It was a great time, and I'm so pleased by the many wonderful questions you students asked about what you noticed inside the Church.  (This video  on the Ascension YouTube channel looks at some of the architectural and artistic features of our Church and their significance.) Toward the end of class, I also did a show-and-tell with the incense.  Psalm 141:2 says, "Let my prayer be incense before you."  This Psalm is part o...