2021-22 Grade 8 Ascension Religious Education

Greetings everyone! March 22, 2022, is Laetare Sunday, which means we're more than halfway through Lent 2022. Recap of Last Class Upon arriving, and before we started, everyone read about the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy, and also 4 ways to form conscience. In our most recent class, our guest speaker was Bob Pence, one of my fellow pilgrims to World Youth Day 2019.  He was in a catechism class while serving in the military in Germany many decades ago.  Later in life, he became reinvigorated in faith as he facilitated RCIA for those preparing to enter the Church. One aspect of catechism class that stood out to him was the Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross. We then talked about our pets, childhood stuffed animals, and favorite animals to prime us to hear from Bishop Barron, who explains the meaning of suffering with a story from his childhood when he took his dog to the vet.  We watched a portion of a longer homily , starting around the 8:08 mark until about...

Lenten Greetings Everyone! First of all, God's blessings to the 5 students in our class who were confirmed on March 12.  It was a blessing to be in attendance at the Mass. Recap of Last Class The readings at Mass during Lent describe what it means to be in a relationship with God, as catechesis for those preparing for initiation into the Chruch, and for those of us already baptized, it strengthens our faith. In our most recent class, I started by sharing that on the first Sunday, we hear the story of Jesus's 40 Days in the desert. On the 2nd Sunday of Lent, the Gospel passage is the story of the Transfiguration, which happens on a high mountain, traditionally considered Mount Tabor. Lent calls us to an intense penitential focus, but the practices we do have a goal of helping us encounter God's glory in a powerful way on Resurrections Sunday.  The Transfiguration gives a glimpse of the glory to come. We took a few minutes to recite the Lord's prayer line by line to grow ...

Lenten Greetings Everyone! Recap of Last Class First of all, thanks for your contributions to the Mothers' Day Collection for inmates. We last met on Fat Tuesday, and we spent time looking ahead to Lent, which began the next day on Ash Wednesday. Our opening prayer had a series of Scripture-based passages that speak about ashes, based on the customary palm burning prayer liturgy used in years past. Mr. Smyth visited to discuss this year's Lenten project, which, in collaboration with St. Giles, is raising funds to support Housing Forward House-to-Home kits.  Everyone got paperwork to take home with details.  We encourage you to contribute using money from allowance, chores, or whatever extras you're giving up for Lent. We then did a snowball toss to think about Lent.  The Season of Lent has its origins in a lengthy , intensified preparation period that took place 40 days before the celebration of the Resurrection for those preparing for baptism.  For all of us who are...

Greetings everyone! Recap of our Last Class At the start of class, everyone had the chance to think about their Lenten plans using a planning sheet I gave everyone.  As a reminder, you won't need to turn anything in for your Lenten plans, but please use that sheet as a guide to help you get Lent started on the right note. February 22 is the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, which commemorates when Christ acclaimed Simon Peter for his profession of faith and gave him a special leadership role in the Church as the first Pope, handing him the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, which is the teaching authority of the Popes and the Bishops. We looked at that day's Gospel reading in Matthew 16:13-19. This scene is depicted in a window in our church: As Christ asked His disciples Who He is, so He asks each of us, and we are called to let our profession of faith translate into actions for God's glory as we proclaim the Good News. We also watched two more videos in the series on the Mass,...

Greetings everyone! As we get closer to the dates of Confirmation, our focus in class has shifted toward the Holy Spirit and what it means to be confirmed. Recap of Last Class Our opening prayer was from Joel 3:1-2, a prophecy describing how God will pour out His Spirit upon all people. When we are confirmed, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to be something amazing in the world, working to advance God's Kingdom--even more amazing than skydiving, like we saw Chris Stefanick do in a video at the start of class. We spent time with two different Scripture passages, 1 Samuel 16:1-13, David's anointing as King, and Acts 2:1-12, the first Christian Pentecost. Then we watched two more videos in the series on the Mass. In the final part of class, in keeping with a custom for those preparing for Confirmation, everyone wrote letters to their future selves, which I will mail a year from now, close to your first anniversary of Confirmation. To Do For this Week As a reminder, I asked you...

Greetings all! It was great to be back with you in class again, just as it was wonderful gathering with all of you on Thursday evening for the teaching Mass. Recap We offered our farewell and thanks to Francisco as he switches to help with the Kindergarten-3rd Grade class.  It was great having his assistance with our class. We then welcomed our new class aide for the remainder of the year, Kim Tanner, and we thank her for stepping up to volunteer for this role. We were in church for about half an hour where everyone participated in the sacrament of reconciliation as part of preparing for Confirmation. Back in class, I shared a couple of different stories, one about my visit to the birthplace of Pastor Martin Luther King, Jr. Then we watched the courtroom scene from Cars that I used to speak about the power of reconciliation, because even though sin wrecked humanity's relationship with God, He looks at each one of us and says we are "worth fixing". We also did a quick revi...

Greetings everyone! Thank you again for your adjustment to joining class virtually this week, which was very likely the last time we'll meet virtually during this RE year.  Hopefully, you've had some time to enjoy the snow of the past couple of days. We hearkened back to Christmas with our opening prayer, when I played " Songs of Thankfulness and Praise " on the piano. We spent time in class on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, celebrating when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to present Him in the Temple in Jerusalem 40 days after His birth.  The story is recorded in Luke 2:22-40.  It's a customary day to bless candles, as we celebrate Christ our Savior, Who is a Light to the Gentiles and Glory to Israel, as Simeon proclaims when he sees Jesus in the Temple.  And it's the midpoint of winter, and so speaks to the custom of Groundhog Day. If you haven't yet lit the blessed tea candle you got in class on January 25, I invite you to do so this week.  Si...