Amazing Catechists

Teaching and learning the faith together

On Being Ordinary

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I love Ordinary Time. It is Mac-n-Cheese on a Friday night, comforting, predictable and filled with love. Unlike Advent or Lent, Ordinary time is neither a time of preparation nor a particularly penitential period. It is not a time of celebration like Christmas or Easter; it is, well, ordinary.

When you work in ministry, the other seasons of the liturgical year are often accompanied by a frenzied pace. As an RCIA Coordinator, I find Lent especially challenging. There are Rites to celebrate, paperwork to do and catechesis to finish before the Easter Vigil. Ordinary Time provides an opportunity to slow down and appreciate the everyday beauty of the Mass and the Gospel. I find it a time for reflection and a time to breathe in my faith…deeply.

As a wife and mother, I recognize that many of the moments I treasure most are not those that happen on vacations or holidays but those nestled into the most normal of days. When my adult son sends me a text in the morning to say he loves me or the older kids unexpectedly help the younger ones, those are the things that take my breath away. In the same way, I see and hear the Mass differently during Ordinary Time. Small nuggets of wisdom pop out of the readings and into my consciousness when it is not cluttered by the busyness of other seasons. I see the Consecration as if in slow motion, savoring each second. I do not feel rushed.

As the days of this period will pass by quickly, I will enjoy the blessings that are anything but ordinary.

(C) 2017

The Dark Night of this Catechist

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Freeimages.com/ PawelTomkiewicz. Used with Permission

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PawelTomkiewicz. Used with Permission


It should have been predictable, but it had never happened to me before. I had just finished catechizing a summer RCIA group and was about to start a new one for fall. I was two weeks away from beginning a new confirmation class, just finished teaching at a PreCana weekend, and Oh yeah, was leading a group in the Thirty-Three Days to Morning Glory Consecration to Our Lady after a re-consecration of my own. I had put a spiritual bullseye on my back and took a direct hit.

I fell into a dark night of spirituality. I have always been blessed to ‘feel’ God’s presence, especially after receiving the Eucharist. Suddenly, I didn’t and worse than that, my heart was filled with doubts. They weren’t so much about believing in God, that is who I am and it cannot be separated out from me, but about the future of the Faith and the Church. I know, I know, “the gates of hell will not prevail,” however, in my head it sounded like the teacher from Charlie Brown’s Peanuts, “blah, blah, blah, blah.”

I feared how my children and those I taught would stay strong in the truths of Faith when the world appeared to be winning the battle for souls.

So how do you impart wisdom and the joy of the truths of the Catholic Faith on others when you cannot feel it in your own heart? This was my constant question. To find the answers I went to Mass.

I watched and participated; I felt empty and alone. I listened and prayed; I didn’t hear God’s voice. Still, I trusted. Eventually, I discovered an analogy that seemed to fit. I felt as if I wanted a face-to-face confession, but had been placed behind the screen instead. I wanted, no… needed, to see the priest’s body language and even his affection for me as a person and yet, I wasn’t able to. I couldn’t seem to peek around the screen to get a glimpse. In this thought, I realized that the priest was still there. My confession would still be valid. I would still be forgiven. Spiritual darkness does not take away the validity of my faith. It may make it harder to pick up on the little clues I have become accustomed to receiving from God, nonetheless the grace is still there. Luckily for me, for all of us, my joy in the Lord is not rooted in emotion, but in the hope of eternal life with Him. I can catechize with love, understanding and wisdom even if I am not receiving the gift of feeling God’s presence.

I turned to the examples of the Saints, especially calling on Saint Mother Teresa, who suffered through years of her own darkness, to fulfill her promise “If I ever become a saint—I will surely be one of ‘darkness,’” Mother Teresa wrote in September of 1959. “I will continually be absent from heaven—to light the light of those in darkness on earth.” I pray that she will help me now and that the darkness will not inhibit my ability to propagate the Faith.

(C) 2016

Printable Worksheets on the Sacrament of Matrimony #freebie #4KEYS

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turning-good-marriages-into-glory-canva-graphic

This is number two in a series of downloadable worksheets to use at home, in small groups, or during break-out sessions with our Catholic marriage advice book, The Four Keys to Everlasting Love. This week, we’re focusing on the sacraments and the saints.  You can follow along with us in the 4 Keys Online Book Club on Facebook. TO DOWNLOAD AND PRINT, CLICK HERE.

Chapter 2 Worksheet

Turning Good Marriages into Pathways to Glory:
It’s a Sacrament; It’s a Vocation; It’s a Road Map to Heaven!

Marriage can be good. With effort, it can be very good. But it takes God to make the union glorious. The graces of the Sacrament of Matrimony are a powerful aid to couples in their everyday struggles and in times of great crisis.

Nowadays, fewer Catholics are choosing to get married in the Church than at any other time in recent history. Many people don’t realize what a wonderful treasure Catholic marriage is! As Manny and Karee explain in Chapter Two of The Four Keys, “couples united in the Sacrament of Matrimony have been blessed with the grace to take natural love to a supernatural level.  … [T]hey are called and empowered to love to the highest degree, the degree that Christ loved us – to forgive seventy times seven times, to do the humblest chore out of love, and to die to self in order to live and love for others.”

In Chapter Two, Manny and Karee describe marriage’s role as one of the seven sacraments, the difference between a valid and invalid marriage, and the importance of the vocation of marriage. They also reveal how the saints, our cheering section in the next life, are willing and eager to help husbands and wives get each other to heaven. From this chapter, you will learn how to:

  • Seek help from the sacraments
  • Seek help from the saints
  • Discern God’s voice
  • Be faithful in little things and let God turn them into glory

Conversation Starters

You can use the following conversation starters to get a discussion going among yourselves or in a small group. If it helps, think it over on your own time, take it to prayer, and jot down your answers before talking about them.

1. Why did you choose each other? How did you know you had found the “one”?

 

2. Why did you decide in favor of (or against) getting married in the Catholic Church?

 

3. How have you seen the graces of the sacrament at work in your lives and in your relationship?

 

4. Who do you think has an exceptionally good marriage and why? Do you have a favorite married saint who would be a good role model?

 

Free Marriage Memes for Social Media Sharing

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A picture is worth a thousand words, they say, and that’s especially true on Facebook. Social media is extremely image-driven. To evangelize through that medium, you need a short pithy statement and a dynamite image. So, to spread the message of the good news about Catholic marriage, I’ve prepared a series of memes to go with each chapter of my book The Four Keys to Everlasting Love.

Chapter One focuses on overcoming the differences that divide spouses so that two may become one. Each of these memes is based on content from Chapter One. Feel free to download them and share them widely.

Meme #1: Catechism

4-keys-catechism-ch-1-meme

 

Meme #2: Scripture

4-keys-scripture-new-ch-1-meme

 

Meme #3: Quote from Four Keys

4-keys-quote-ch-1-meme

 

Meme #4: Action Plan

4-keys-action-plan-ch-1-meme

Lenten Lessons Learned

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(C) 2016 Vlad Rosien All Rights Reserved

(C) 2016
Vlad Rosien
All Rights Reserved

Vlad Rosien All Rights Reserved

Vlad Rosien
All Rights Reserved

What a long, strange Lent it’s been. It started so dry and ended with quite a bit of suffering and growing. The Lord taught me a lot through my small sacrifices and works of mercy.

1/ Just because you give up chocolate doesn’t mean you’ll lose weight. The trick for me this Lent, was in not replacing the thing I gave up with something else. A true sacrifice should be a little uncomfortable. If you skip meat on Fridays, then go out for lobster, the sacrifice has actually become a treat.

2/ When you spend time in quiet prayer and reflection new insights are revealed. I’m often busy (my hubby would say too busy for my own good). Frequently on the move, caring for others and working several jobs doesn’t give me much time for reflection. This Lent, I made a conscious effort to spend more time in adoration. It may sound a little pretentious, but I found myself in those moments. I recognized that God works in my life in little ways I hadn’t noticed before. For example, I don’t write beautiful novels or long works of literary knowledge and…that’s okay. I write concise, short books and articles for busy people to read on the run. I’m not particularly prolific, however, I am practical and spiritual and God can use that too. It took me a long time to be okay with being the writer I am, not the one I thought I should be.

3/ Giving up some social media taught me that I like people more when I don’t know who they are voting for, what vacations they have been on and what wonderful successes they are currently enjoying. I don’t think I was even aware how much social media was coloring how I viewed others or how judgmental/envious I become while scrolling! Once I recognized this shortcoming in myself, I also realized that to, “Avoid the near occasion of sin,” I must decrease my use of social media permanently. I now check, post, scroll and comment much less frequently than I used to and life is better for it.

I am so grateful for the seasons of the Church Liturgical Year. Each one gives us a different focus and a chance to reflect and learn new things. God bless.

(C) 2016

Helping Parents BE Their Children’s First Catechists

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Do you find yourself, as a catechist, pulling your hair out trying to get parents involved? Are you facing a group of students who seem to be getting nothing beyond the classroom?

Let me just say: I feel ya.

Helping Parents Be Their Child's First Catechist - Amazing Catechists

I am once again in front of a group of 5th graders every week, as a catechist of a parish religious education class.

And once again, I’m lauded as “knowing more” than others. I’m heralded as “being better” at this. Someone recently called me (much to my chagrin!), “brilliant.”

I can’t help but feel that some of the people who say these things so quickly and so admiringly are hiding a bit.

Because, in the years I’ve been a catechist, I’ve noticed something that I’m still trying to process:

Most parents DO NOT realize **THEY** are their children’s first catechist.

Where’s the first place children learn about anything?

It’s in their own home, and while there will be plenty of other places that they learn things, the primary source is home.

Given that, what can WE, as catechists, do to help these parents? Here are a few ideas from the trenches of catechist-hood:

1. Communicate with them. Again and again and AGAIN.

I send at least one and sometimes two emails to parents of my students. I let them know the topics we’re covering, the “trivia” (it’s not homework, it’s a hunt for the answers…and THEY are the kids are the ones doing the hunting), and other items of note.

Sometimes I mention the liturgical season, tie into the Mass readings, tap into popular events that have happened.

I also don’t hesitate to call or reach out directly to a parent when I feel like something might be up with a student. There was a student not so long ago who just had a distant look in my class; I caught Mom afterward and found out some critical facts about their home life that really transformed how I dealt with him.

Parents are busy. I get that. But…they’re bringing their kids for a reason, and I can’t help but think that, if I help them along, they’ll get excited and have more resources to do their own catechisting too!

2. Invite them in.

In the decade plus that I’ve been doing parish work and volunteering, I’ve noticed something: you can have Bible studies and committee meetings all day long, with or without food, and you may or may not have people show up.

Offer religious education for kids and suddenly people are crawling out of the woodwork.

There’s room to be cynical about this. But I’d like to see this as a sign of hope.

Parents KNOW that this is important. They KNOW that this is critical. They KNOW that it’s something they should do.

They just. don’t. know. how.

So…why not invite them in?

As a 5th grade catechist, I think I’m probably teaching at about the level most adults want. It’s low-impact, mentally, and yet when the kids get going with questions, it can really get them stimulated and thinking.

3. Engage them in their faith.

This is a buzzword in marketing, but don’t let that make you cynical. People want to be welcomed, and they want to connect.

What better connection point than their children? And what better topic than their faith?

A lot of the parents I’ve worked with over the years are insecure about their faith knowledge. They need encouraged. They need to know what tools they already have.

Maybe their own catechesis was nonexistent. Maybe they’ve forgotten what they learned in school. Maybe they didn’t care until recently.

You may think you’re there to teach kids, and you are. But really, you’re there just as much for the parents.

Help them realize their role, and help equip them in whatever small way you can.

And above all, don’t forget to pray for them!

How do you engage with parents?

Helping Parents Be Their Child's First Catechist - Amazing Catechists

Micro-Managing God

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When I was fourteen, I liked a boy named David. I really wanted him to like me back, so I prayed very hard that he would fall in ‘like’ with me. I told God his full name, address and all the details of how this desired relationship should go. I didn’t want God (yeah, the almighty, all-knowing God who created me) to make a mistake and let the wrong David like me. I thought I could micro-manage God.

Fast-forward and it was a job I desired, in a specific field, in a specific location… I seem to have developed a pattern of asking for exactly what I wanted. It took me years to figure out that the one who created me could create the perfect plan for me.

My good friend and co-RCIA teacher, Kelly Guest, puts it this way:

At the Wedding at Cana, Mary only presents the problem to Jesus, her son. “They have no wine,” she states. (John 2:1-12) She doesn’t tell Jesus what He should do, or how He should do it. She trusts that He will do what is necessary, in the way that it is necessary. Although Christ tells His mother that it is, “not my time,” He still works a miracle to fix the embarrassing situation for the bride and groom, and to bring about the best result.

Kelly reminds me that we only need to present our concern to the Lord and trust Him to work out the best plan for us. When we try to tell God how things ‘should’ be instead of believing He will work out things for our best, we demonstrate a lack of trust in the Lord.
In Jeremiah 29:11 we are further told that the Lord has plans for us that are for our, “good and not for our destruction.”

Scripture often reminds us to yield our will completely to the Lord”s plans for us.

“But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” Psalm 31:14

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” John 14:1

Mary, the Mother of God, shows conviction in following God’s plan from the Annunciation, to the Wedding at Cana, at the foot of the cross and again at Jesus’ Ascension into heaven. Following Mary’s example will draw us into a deeper, more trusting relationship with Christ.

The Other Mary at the Foot of the Cross

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I had been struggling with my husband’s illness. He is in horrific pain, several times a day, every day. My darling husband is a strong Catholic man. He is a wonderful husband and father. He is a devout Christian and he has suffered for many years. I went to the sacrament of reconciliation and confessed my frustration with God’s plan in all this. “Why doesn’t God will his healing?” I complained, “Show me how I can be patient, knowing that God is using this to work out my husband’s salvation?”

My wise confessor asked me to meditate on Mary Magdalene at the foot of the cross. I have a special affinity for this particular saint. Our lives have seemed parallel at times to me. It has been difficult for me to recognize Jesus sometimes, just as Mary struggled outside the tomb. As a catechist, I run to tell others about the risen Lord!! I took the advice seriously, went to Adoration and focused on the foot of the cross.

Mary Magdalene’s brother (Lazarus) had died and Jesus had raised him days later. The crucifixion must have seemed confusing to her. She, better than most, truly understood the power the Lord possessed! She knew He could come down off the cross anytime He wanted. She too must have wondered how this plan was going to work out, however, Mary had something that I was lacking…trust.

I can’t imagine how much she loved him. I can only try to picture what it was like to stand at the foot of the cross and see your Savior, your friend, being crucified. She must have wanted to scream. I presume that her heart was breaking as she wondered how long this would continue, but still, she trusted.

I love my husband. I hate to see him suffer. I must trust, as Mary Magdalene did, that God has a plan that is too wonderful for me to comprehend. Perhaps, one day in heaven, I will be shown the souls my husband’s suffering had a part in saving? Until heaven, I will cry, hope and trust, just like Saint Mary Magdalene.

*read more about St. Mary Magdalene (Feast day July 22nd) at http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=83

freeimages.com/Derek Boggs

freeimages.com/Derek Boggs

An Inconvenient Catholic Truth

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All rights reserved 2015

All rights reserved 2015

Many are outraged by the Pope’s Encyclical on Climate, Laudato Si’. They feel that it is an inappropriate focus on the environment with so many other threats to our modern world. They ruminate on concerns that the science on this matter isn’t settled. They are missing the point.

Others applaud the idea that the Pope is giving this issue so much attention, thinking he is going to flip Church teaching on other secular hot button subjects. They are also missing the point.

The Church has an obligation to discuss topics related to the times. There have been encyclicals on everything thing from the threat of Nazi Germany to Birth Control. We either believe that the Church and the Pope are led by the Holy Spirit to guide us, or we don’t. It’s not tidy. It’s not easy. It is an inconvenient Catholic Truth.

While discussing climate and environmental problems may not seem pressing, consider the fact that many people in the world do not have clean drinking water. In the Encyclical it states, “Access to safe, clean drinking water is a basic and universal human right.” It is so easy to get caught up in bills, 401Ks, and employment concerns, that we forget some of the ‘least of our brothers’ can’t even get clean water to drink. As Catholics, this is a conversation we need to participate in.

I have looked over the encyclical, and what struck me most was balance. We like to put everything in a little political box. There is my side and your side…and YOU are wrong. Pope Francis challenges this thinking by being decidedly Catholic. We do not need to agree with all the Pope’s scientific assertions, but we do need to understand and obey the moral or ethical teachings within the information he presents. Both sides will struggle to comply with the ideas he puts forth.

Pope Francis points out the pitfalls of relativism, while still showing us that all things work together as a whole. Matters of human dignity and the environment we steward are intrinsically connected and cannot be disconnected or unwound based on politics. For example, we cannot pursue organic foods while supporting hormonal birth control. It is inconsistent both logically and from a Catholic perspective.

Some might squirm when asked to truly evaluate their impact on the planet. They will have to face demons of consumerism and perhaps greed. Those who often feel they have the moral highroad (due in part to their correct pro-life stance) may be confronted with the lack of resources in the world for others. They may have to be humbled to accept the fact that this pope was led (by the Spirit) to discuss an issue they don’t really see as a problem.

While others, who feel they are showing exceptional love by accepting others exactly as they are, may ‘blip’ over the document’s reminder that we are not in control. God is in control and we can, “lose humility and become enthralled with the possible mastery over everything.” They may not easily accept the teaching that,“The acceptance of our bodies as God’s gift is vital for welcoming the entire world as a gift from the Father and our common home…whereas thinking we enjoy absolute power over our own bodies turns, often subtly, into thinking that we enjoy absolute power over creation.”

These words threaten notions of choosing one’s sex, the need for population control (contraception) and embryonic stem cell research (thereby abortion).

We are challenged to accept ourselves as created and to see the world as precious; we are the stewards of that creation. While God gave us dominion over the world, He did not give us the world. It belongs to the Creator. There is humility in recognizing that He who designed the world and it’s inhabitants knows best how they should function. We may feel there is servility in accepting a teaching that we didn’t recognize a need for.

We can disagree about some aspects of how to accomplish what is the most prudent strategy for protecting our world and its people, but we must pursue the inconvenient Catholic truth in all things. God bless.

Broken Gods: REVIEW

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brokengodspopcakREVIEW: Broken Gods: Hope, Healing, and the 7 Longings of the Human Heart, by Gregory K. Popcak, Ph.D. (Image Books)

Did you know that God is slowly transforming you into a god and that a holy code exists that unlocks the secrets of this process?

From the earliest days of the Church, this process, called “divinization,” has been recognized and believed by all of Christianity. Since God shares his nature with us through adoption, and since his grace transforms and heals us as we journey toward heaven, we gradually become more authentic reflections of his divine image: glorious, perfect, and completely fulfilled.

But of what use is this insight to us as we struggle to comprehend our everyday joys and sorrows?

Dr. Gregory K. Popcak, an eminent and faithful Catholic psychologist and radio host has authored many superb books, some of which I own and love. His newest title, which I received from his publisher for review, Broken Gods: Hope, Healing, and the 7 Longings of the Human Heart, continues to raise the bar on his greatest strength: synthesizing faith, science, and psychology in ways that empower relationships and nourish souls.

Since the fall of human kind, human beings created in the image and likeness of God, willed into existence in order to share in the divine nature, have been broken and confused about our own worth and destiny. Our deepest longings, Popcak explains, can lead us deeper into confusion or, when properly understood, can mark a powerful and beautiful path of sanctity, joy, and ultimate fulfillment.

Popcak’s thrilling work explores the seven principle desires of the human heart for abundance, dignity, justice, peace, trust, well-being, and communion, and reveals the holy code hidden within our sufferings. By weaving psychology, science, spirituality, engaging case studies, and a simple, but powerful, step-by-step system for increasing understanding and self-awareness, he unpacks those buried longings so that we can pursue them more authentically through the prism of God’s call to our hearts.

I underlined so much and turned down so many pages that struck and inspired me that I’d have to quote most of the book in order to provide a complete understanding of why I so highly recommend this unique work; so I’ll have to pick just a few excerpts and ideas and let you discover the rest on your own!

Popcak really got my attention early in the book with this:

Though we are often tempted to feel that our lives and hopes and dreams are burning down around us, deification is the blueprint that allows us to rebuild our lives from the ashes and become everything God intended us to be from the beginning… Understanding deification enables us to finally stop running from our sins and instead begin running toward divinity. (p. 7)

On page 11, Popcak references an image taken from the prodigal son’s return, saying that God meets us as we humbly approach him in fear and trembling:

And yet, even that understandable fear is cast out by the perfect love (see 1 Jn 4:18) that flows from the heart of God, who calls to us, runs to meet us on the road, and wraps his finest cloak–his divinity–around us (see Lk 15:22).

I’ll give you a sense of how much just the foundational chapters effected me. In a section called, “The Inner Ache” (p. 14), I had an epiphany and wrote this in the margin:

Do I believe that God, in his desire to share his nature with me, has truly AMAZING plans for my life? If I do, then my dreams are SACRED and should have my TOTAL COMMITMENT.

In Chapter Two, the author asks,

What if there was a way to stop being afraid of your desires?

and goes on to explain that

…even your most neurotic and destructive desires can be transformed into an engine of divine actualization that can propel you down the path toward both a more joyful life in the present and the fulfillment of your ultimate destiny… (p. 17)

Later he says,

These seven divine longings have such tremendous potential to propel us toward divinization that Satan works hard to keep them hidden where we are least likely to look, behind the parts of ourselves we hate the most. (p. 25)

Did you catch that? The greatest treasures of our souls are often hidden in our self-hatred.

Lest you suspect that the book merely proposes these life-altering, hope-filled ideas, the rest of his work is specific, practical, and sites fascinating examples of actual individuals and couples whose lives and relationships were profoundly healed through the methods Popcak employs, based on these concepts.

Both our bodies and our brains are hardwired for holiness. Using neuroscience, genetic studies, and the theology of the body, Dr. Popcak reveals the innate wisdom of our bodies: when we live according to God’s plan, we are healthier and happier, and it is easier to think and learn!  Within the path of sanctity lie all the secrets to our ultimate destiny: union with God and the most perfect expression of our holy individuality.

Presenting a basic recipe for happiness–through meaningfulness, intimacy, and virtue–and by defining and illuminating each concept spiritually, practically, and–sometimes–poetically, the author helps us to appreciate the fundamentals of a life lived to the very full–that answers all the deepest desires of the human heart.

The book includes one of the most fascinating bibliographies I have ever seen (my “buy” list is substantial), and closes with a strong chapter called, “Approaching Divinity.” One of my favorite comments utilizes the image of the wedding feast, with Christ as the groom:

Through these longings, God gets down on one knee and holds out–not a ring–but his Sacred Heart. He is proposing to make you whole, and to show you how you can live in his love for all eternity. He is asking you if you would do him the honor of letting him fulfill your deepest desires so that you will never want for anything again, and so that you can discover how to love yourself the way he loves you. (p. 182)

This extraordinary resource is newly released today!

I highly recommend Broken Gods: Hope, Healing, and the Seven Longings of the Human Heart, by Gregory K. Popcak, Ph.D. (Image Books)

For more help, support and information, contact Dr. Popcak’s organization, Pastoral Solutions Institute. To make an appointment to speak with a counselor, call 740-266-6461, or check out his website, www.CatholicCounselors.com.