Resources for Teaching the Faith Using the Liturgical Year

Welcome readers! As I kick off my season of speaking engagements around the country, I find it useful to back myself up here online, by posting helpful follow-ups and resources that our readers might appreciate.

This past week it was a joy to return to St. Lawrence O’Toole Parish in Brewster, New York, to present on using the Liturgical Year to teach the Catholic faith. I’m grateful for the warmth and hospitality of Father Richard Gill, Theresa Scorca, and Pam Crozier! Hat tip to sister-parish, Sacred Heart and DRE, Meg! Thanks for coming with your catechists!I hope we’ll get a chance to chat, next week.

I promised I’d post the live links to everything on the handout, plus a few more items from the slide show, including some quotes with attributions and the feasts we celebrate during the 12 days of Christmas. So, here they are (see below)! Please let me know if there are any other types of resources that would be helpful to DREs, catechists, and parents.

Please copy and share these resources and spread the wealth! And leave your own favorite ideas and resources in the comments box! Your mother did teach you to share, didn’t she?

Please also read Robyn Lee’s column about talking to teens about judgment, mercy, and forgiveness. Robyn is the new editor of RTJ’s Creative Catechist Magazine and she’s a dynamite Confirmation catechist, as well! I bragged about her a lot at the workshop.

Next week, I’m back in Brewster to talk about The Six Tasks of Catechesis!  We’re going to have a lot of fun learning the tasks and brainstorming some ideas for our classes. I can’t wait!

Blessings in Christ,

Lisa

Handout: Teaching the Faith Using the Liturgical Year

Lisa Mladinich

Contact: lisa@mladinich.com

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Book of Micah, chapter 6: verse 8.

“He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justice, and to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God?”

 

Pope Paul VI:

“Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.” (Evangelii Nuntiandi)

 

National Directory for Catechesis:

p. 146 “Because of God’s presence in time in the person of Jesus Christ, time is sacred. Christians mark time itself in relation to Christ.”

Also: “The…history of salvation unfolds throughout the liturgical year.  Each day of the liturgical year is sanctified primarily by Christ’s presence in it, but also by the prayer and the liturgical celebrations of the People of God, especially by the Mass and the Divine Office. The liturgical year exerts “a special sacramental power and influence which strengthens Christian life.”” (Sacred Congregation of Rites)

 

“Where purity increases, so does the capacity to love.” (Possibly from St. Josemaria Escriva)

 

Recommended Websites

Colors of the Liturgical Year: https://www.catholic.org/clife/lcolors.php

Fisheasters.com daily, weekly, monthly dedications: https://www.fisheaters.com/week.html

Daily Dedications: https://www.mycatholicsource.com/mcs/pc/prayers_and_devotions/daily_dedications.htm

Samples of Vestment Colors: https://www.togetheratonealtar.catholic.edu.au/craft/dsp-content.cfm?loadref=35

The Real Presence and Eucharistic Miracles https://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/a3.html

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio and the Eucharistic Miracle https://www.catholiccompany.com/blog/pope-francis-eucharistic-miracle-in-argentina

Video: Eucharistic Miracle

CatholicIcing.com – great crafts for the Liturgical Year https://www.catholicicing.com/

O Night Divine, by Mary Ellen Barrett (Advent and Christmas resources) https://maryellenb.typepad.com/o_night_divine/

Cottage Blessings, by Alice Gunther (Homeschooling, Crafts, Devotions, Food) https://alice.typepad.com/

CatholicMom.com https://catholicmom.com/

All About the Angels: Catholic.org: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=1157

Nine Choirs of Angels: Who They Are and What They DO https://www.rosaryworkshop.com/HISTORY-9-Choirs-Angels.html

Leticia Velasquez for National Catholic Register: Activities for Advent https://www.ncregister.com/site/article/16463/

Montessori Activities for the Catholic Home https://www.montessorimessy.com/2013_02_01_archive.html

Books:

Walk Humbly With Your God: Simple Steps to a Virtuous Life, Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R.

National Directory for Catechesis

Sarah Reinhard’s Books:

Catholic Family Fun – A Guide for the Adventurous, Overwhelmed, Creative or Clueless

Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent and Christmas Reflections for Families

Welcome Risen Jesus: Lent and Easter Reflections for Families

Do I Really Have to Give Something Up for Lent?

Saint Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe, by Josephine Nobisso

Also recommended by Josephine Nobisso: The Weight of a Mass, Take it to the Queen, Francis Woke Up Early

The Catholic Baby Name Book, by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur

Eucharistic Miracles, by Joan Carrol Cruz

Miracles Do Happen: God Can do the Impossible, by Sr. Briege McKenna,  O.S.C.

Ablaze: Stories of Daring Teen Saints, by Colleen Swaim

Radiate: More Stories of Daring Teen Saints, by Colleen Swaim

Thirty-Day Devotions for the Holy Souls, by Susan Tassone

The Amazing Secret of the Souls in Purgatory: An Interview with Maria Simma, by Sister Emmanuel of Medjugorge

The Bible Tells Me So: A Year of Catechizing Directly from Scripture, by Christian LeBlanc

The Year and Our Children: Catholic Family Celebrations for Every Season, by Mary Reed Newland

Catholic Mosaic: Living the Liturgical Year with Literature – an Illustrated Book Study for Catholic Children, by Cay Gibson

The Everyday Catholic’s Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours, by Daria Sockey. Also: Coffee and Canticles (Daria’s blog)

Catholic Unit Studies by Catholic Family Living:

Eucharistic Thanksgiving,  Baptism, First Holy Communion, Advent, The Assumption, All Souls, St. Patrick, by Patricia Bissex and Lynn Mary Wilson. Contact: lynnmaryw@aol.com

Recommended apps for growing closer to God as you prepare to teach the Faith:

DivineOffice

IBreviary

Laudate

Missio

The 12 Days of Christmas: (from: https://catholic-resources.org/Lectionary/Overview-Christmas.htm)

25 – Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, a.k.a. Christmas Day (Gospel Reading from John 1:1-18, or shorter form 1:1-5, 9-14; but only for “Mass during the Day”, not for Vigil Mass, Mass at Midnight, or Mass at Dawn)

26 – Feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr (proper readings)

27 – Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist (first reading 1 John 1:1-4; Gospel reading John 20:2-8)

28 – Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (first reading 1 John 1:5–2:2)

HF – Feast of the Holy Family (Sunday within the Octave of Christmas; or Dec. 30 if Christmas and New Year are on Sunday; optional second reading 1 John 3:1-2, 21-24 in Year C only)

MM – Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God (always New Year’s Day, the Octave Day of Christmas; takes precedence over the Feast of the Holy Family)

Ep – Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (traditionally Jan. 6; but in many dioceses, it is now transferred to the first Sunday after New Year’s Day)

Bap – Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Sunday after January 6; or the following Monday, if Epiphany is on Sunday Jan. 7 or 8; optional second reading 1 John 5:1-9 in Year B only)

 

I hope these are helpful to you as you seek to follow the Treasure Map of the Liturgical Year!

Don’t forget to share your ideas and resources, too!

Thanks!

Lisa