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Encountering Signs of Faith – The Miraculous Medal

Sacramentals Defined

First, let’s clarify what a sacramental is:

Sacramentals are instituted for the sanctification of certain ministries of the Church, certain states of life, a great variety of circumstances in Christian life, and the use of many things helpful to man. In accordance with bishops’ pastoral decisions, they can also respond to the needs, culture, and special history of the Christian people of a particular region or time (Catechism Catholic Church, 1668).

Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church’s prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it. (CCC, 1670).

The Draw of the Miraculous Medal

During a particularly difficult time in my life, a friend introduced me to the Miraculous Medal, originally called the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, especially the promise that comes with wearing it, which really helped restore peace to my heart. During Mary’s apparition with St. Catherine Laboure, she explained, “Those who wear [this medal] will receive great graces, especially if they wear it around the neck. Those who repeat this prayer, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee,” with devotion will be, in a special manner, under the protection of the Mother of God. Graces will be abundantly bestowed upon those who have confidence.”

Miraculous Medal Activities

Each element of this medal came directly from the Blessed Mother—the image on both the front and the back, the words; even how it should be worn. That is remarkable in itself, but then coupled with the countless blessings and, yes, even miracles attributed to it, makes this sacramental worth investigating further. Click here to learn more about the medal.
A fun Miraculous Medal craft for families. This craft is made from aluminum foil with no drawing skills needed—a traceable template of the Miraculous Medal is available as a free download. Learn more on CatholicIcing.com.
Seeking creative ways to build a child’s devotion to the Blessed Mother? The Miraculous Medal Shrine offers a plethora of resources, including ten very creative ways to help your family deepen your devotion to Mary while having fun. Click here to get started!

Growing in Grace

Do you own a Miraculous Medal? Do you wear it daily around your neck? Do you have experiences or examples from your own life with the promised outpouring of graces Mary promised? If you don’t wear one, what holds you back? Have your learned anything from your Miraculous Medal investigation that might inspire you to adopt this devotion?

Learn more about the traditions and devotions of the Catholic Church (including sacramentals) as well as my incredible God-driven adoption story in my new book, Encountering Signs of Faith: My Unexpected Journey with Sacramentals, the Saints, and the Abundant Grace of God (Ave Maria Press, 2022).

Feature Image Credit: Allison Gingras/CanvaPro

Puppet Script: Jesus, the Greatest Gift of All!

By Lisa Mladinich

This week, I offer you another Advent-themed script about a grumpy kid frustrated with all the busyness and distraction of the adults during Advent.

Jesus the Greatest Gift of All-Advent

Feel free to change the names, add or subtract from the content, and share my free script in any way that helps you catechize and enjoy the season with your family, your students, or your parish. I recommend it be used as a puppet show for little ones or a skit to be performed by your confident readers!

NOTE: The only thing I ask is that you not sell the scripts. I own the copyrights and I’d like to keep them free for everyone. If you charge for performances, that’s fine. I know your ministries can use all the help they can get!

p.s.

Some of my scripts, you will notice, were inspired (many years ago) by a Christian script writer by the name of Louise Ferry. I believe this is where you can currently find her wonderful work: https://puppetscripts.tripod.com/puppet.htm

Advent Puppet Script

By Lisa Mladinich

My Friends!

Today, to mark the beginning of this holy Advent season, I’m sharing a sweet Advent puppet script, which I wrote years ago. It can be performed easily by any adult or teen. In fact, any child who reads well can perform them!

I have dozens of such scripts, some connected with the liturgical year, others with articles of our faith, others with virtues (which I created for our local YMCA nursery school), some created for VBS programs (for free, by request), and so on. I’ll be sharing them here at AmazingCatechists.com, in the coming weeks and months, and may eventually create an ebook, so you can acquire the whole “collection.”

How to perform the show

Simply sit with the script pages laid out on a desk or story rug and gather the children around you, or hand out copies and use it as a skit for older students to act out together in front of the class.

Use a different “voice” for each of the two characters, moving the one that is speaking, to make it clear for the children.

Some of them are wacky and silly, while others are more reverent. Be sensitive to mood, and have fun!

Please read my “Note on Reverence” before using any of my scripts. It’s important, truly.

A note from the author about reverence

And, without further ado, here is The Empty Manger, to start off your Advent season with the children:

The Empty Manger

A little history, if you have a minute more…

Between 2003 and 2008, I wrote dozens of puppet scripts for use in a YMCA nursery-school (virtue) program, then for Catholic and Christian children’s events, library programs, parties, scout troops, and finally my own religious education classroom. I was a volunteer mom teaching elementary-aged kids, but I was also a writer and a former actress, so–along with the Holy Rosary and our parish curriculum–I incorporated singing and creative dramatics, every week.

I almost always capped my lessons with a puppet show (hastily created beforehand), and the children adored them. It was a reward for good behavior, I told the children, but it was also a way to emphasize a point from that day’s lesson, break open a difficult concept, or make a dry subject fun and intriguing. If we had time and the children were clamoring to see it again, I would do an encore performance. Each lasts only a few minutes, and I figured, “Hey, they’re asking for another lesson in their faith. How can I say no?” They wanted to touch and talk with the puppets, so I often held a brief, extremely silly, improvised Q&A with the characters, after the show.

My religious education credo

To ignite their imaginations is extremely important to me, and I sincerely believe that it is a crying shame, if not actually sinful because it’s so dishonest, to make our amazing, transformative Catholic faith a dull and ordinary business. So I gave it my all, each week, begging the Holy Spirit to “light me up” and make the lessons impactful. He never let me down.

A little more about how to use them…

At the end of the day’s teaching, using whatever hand puppets I had at the time, I sat on the story rug, placed the scripts on the floor in front of me, and gathered the eager children around me. I started out using some old, neglected puppets they had at the YMCA, when I volunteered for a summer program with nursery-school-aged children. I also incorporated sock puppets, which were a scream and easy to make (and I am the least crafty person I know). But eventually, I bought an adorable, racially-diverse collection of “kid” puppets that Oriental Trading used to sell cheap. I added some animal puppets my daughter had been given (and never used), and a few oddball ones I borrowed from some enthusiastic neighbor kids (who were not using their’s, either).

A couple of important insights

As I branched out into children’s parties and library programs, I noticed a couple of amazing things:

all kids enjoyed the shows–even kids as old as 14 wanted to try them on after the show and make up their own stories,
and special needs children who normally could not attend long to a regular lesson were spell-bound by the puppets.

The puppets excited them like nothing else–like animated characters sprung into 3-D before their eyes!

CatholicMom.com…

Then, in 2007 (or thereabouts), I was on a Catholic writers’ email group, and offered to share my scripts for free to anyone who wanted them. Another member, the lovely Lisa Hendey, invited me to share them with the world at her popular site, CatholicMom.com. They had a home there, as a “puppet ministry” until 2019, when the site went through an overhaul and all PDF content was lost. (I just found out about it because someone tracked me down, asking for the scripts, and I made inquiries.)

The upshot is that I’m now sharing them here, so stay tuned!

Next up will be a Christmas show about a disgruntled kid feeling lost in the busyness of the season, who learns a lesson about service and sacrifice. Coming soon!

I pray these little lessons bless you and the children you care about, pray for, and teach. I would love to hear from you about how you use them, and I pray they will inspire you to create and share scripts of your own! I’d be happy to post them, here.

Feel free to write to me: lisa@wonderfullymade139.com

A very sweet and holy Advent to you and yours!

Lisa

EWTN to Broadcast Superb 8-Part Queen of Heaven Study

By Lisa Mladinich

SET YOUR DVRs!!!

I led this program in my parish, and it was STELLAR.

Do not miss this chance to see it free on EWTN, and consider bringing it to your parish! We prayed the Rosary before each episode, and hearts were changed, love for Our Lady increased, and many committed to praying the daily Rosary for the first time.

Here are the particulars:

Queen of Heaven series airs on EWTN

Beginning Friday, Oct. 6through Friday, Oct. 13 at 6:30 PM Eastern, QUEEN OF HEAVEN will air on EWTN (check your local listings for the channel) or via Live Streaming on the EWTN website.

Queen of Heaven is an approximately 4 hour documentary-style program on Mary hosted by acclaimed Catholic actor Leonardo Defilippis and filmed in multiple locations and Marian shrines including the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the World Apostolate of Fatima Shrine, and the Saint John Paul II National Shrine.

It includes contributions from 15 theological experts including Tim Staples, Fr. Dominic Legge, Dr. Carrie Gress, Dr. Paul Thigpen, Fr. Chris Alar, Fr. Jeffrey Kirby and more.

In Queen of Heaven, viewers will accompany Mary from her Immaculate Conception through her Assumption and beyond. They’ll join her as she defends Christendom at Lepanto, frees a captive people at Guadalupe and heals a broken nation at Lourdes. Listen to her at Fatima as she predicts the rise of Communism—and watch as she defeats it through her beloved Pope.

Above all, viewers will discover why, though the battle continues, victory is assured to all who turn to the Queen of Heaven.

SCHEDULE:

The Battle Begins: The Woman and the Serpent

Airs on EWTN: Oct. 6 at 6:30 PM

The Annunciation: The Day Creation Held Its Breath

Airs on EWTN: Oct. 7 at 6:30 PM

Mother of the Church: All Generations Will Call Me Blessed

Airs on EWTN: Oct. 9 at 6:30 PM Eastern

Guadalupe: Mother of the Americas

Airs on EWTN: Oct. 10 at 6:30 PM Eastern

Lourdes: I Am the Immaculate Conception

Airs on EWTN: Oct. 11 at 6:30 PM Eastern

10/12 – Fatima: The Lady of the Rosary

Airs on EWTN: Oct. 12 at 6:30 PM Eastern

The Consecration: My Immaculate Heart Will Triumph

Airs on EWTN: Oct. 13 at 6:30 PM Eastern

Living God’s Will 2016 Mega Giveaway: Jan. 12-18 Only!

By Karee Santos

My husband and I have teamed up with Catholic personalities like parenting expert Dr. Ray Guarendi and chastity speaker Jason Evert in a mega giveaway for this week only. I just ordered my free copies of Dr. Ray’s book When Faith Causes Family Friction and Jason Evert’s St. John Paul the Great: His Five Loves. I would have paid good money for these books! What catechist can resist the appeal of high-quality free Catholic materials?

The giveaway’s organizer, Christina Weber of Catholic Women’s Guide, has collected invaluable resources in the areas of spirituality, life vision, health, wealth and abundance, business and relationships. Each expert was hand selected by Christina. According to her, “the common denominator of all those invited is that there is something special in how they are attempting to live their lives in alignment with God’s will. Their lives reflect a sincere attempt to build Christ’s kingdom in both ordinary and extraordinary ways and I hope that their witness will be an inspiration and encouragement to you.”

Christina asked us to share “the good stuff” in this giveaway – “meaty” training content, strategies, tips, templates and tools that you can put into place immediately to begin seeing results. She asked us to condense and share our secrets to creating God’s richness in our lives as a result of understanding, obeying, and living God’s will in our areas of emphasis. And we couldn’t be more excited to share…

Already know you want in?

Get access to your free gifts here:

www.livinggodswill.com

Trying to make all the puzzle pieces fit together in your life can be quite overwhelming. We can totally relate to the longing to please God, but not always being 100% confident we are on track in every area. Frustrated with seeming to excel in doing God’s will in one area, but recognizing you’re falling down in another…Worried you might not be covering all of the bases in the unique life mission God has for you…Tired of spending more time in discouragement, confusion, and being TOO busy (Satan’s acronym for B-ound, U-under, S-atan’s, Y-oke), than in living in the present moment with those you love and all God has created, basking in gratitude over the God’s great abundance in your life.

We are all in the same boat — but with help and support of mentors willing to share their genius there’s no need to recreate the wheel on how to flourish. The more good people out there who are empowered to share their unique gifts and talents with the world, in service to others to build Christ’s kingdom…the better off the entire world will be! So accept these great resources. They’re helpful and free!

Here’s a sneak peek of just a few of the gifts being offered in the Living God’s Will 2016 Resources Extravaganza:

LIFE VISION – Learn a Powerful, Right & Left Brain Tool for Tapping into God’s Word for Better Clarity in Achieving Your Unique Mission for 2016
SPIRITUALITY – Gain Insights to Help You Know and Respond to Your Specific Heavenly Call
HEALTH – Learn Better Ways to Get Out Of Your Own Way and Let the Powerful Body God Gave You Activate Its Own Healing Process
WEALTH / ABUNDANCE – Integrate These Simple Tips to Keep the Domestic Demands of Daily Life from Crushing Your Spirit
BUSINESS – Cut through Satan’s Confusion with This Simple One Page Strategic Plan Template Designed to Help You Serve More Clients, Have a Greater Impact, and Live Out God’s Will in Your Business
RELATIONSHIPS – Incorporate These Inspirations on How to Tap into God’s Everlasting Love to Make Your Marriage Better Today

The giveaway starts Tuesday, January 12, and it will last until Monday, January 18. To claim your gifts, just visit www.livinggodswill.com. Get the help and support you need for yourself and others to effectively live Christ-centered lives!

Getting Noticed, Looking Good

By Deanna Bartalini

No, this is not a post on fashion for Mass or dressing for faith formation classes. I want to introduce you to a great way to make an impact in your marketing materials for the programs, classes, and events you promote. In this day of almost constant visual and auditory input, the same old thing won’t be noticed.

About a year ago I discovered Canva.com. Canva is an easy to use tool to create beautiful designs and documents. You sign up and have access to layouts and design elements for posters, Facebook posts, Twitter, blogs, postcards, and more. There are both free and for fee elements you can use, all clearly labeled. Since I have been using Canva I have never purchased anything I have used.

Let me show you some of the work I have created.

This is a postcard we handed out after Mass to generate interest in our first event. It also went in the bulletin. FYI, we had a great turnout!

This is an 11×14 poster I created for a bulletin board.

I used a photo from Morguefile.com and then added the text.

These are just a few examples. The possibilities are endless and the price is definitely right for ministry which often have to watch the bottom line. The finished product can be downloaded as a standard or for print PDF or as a JPEG or PNG image. Once you create your work, it is yours without copyright restrictions.

There are tutorials to learn how to use Canva, but I found it easy to use without instruction. You can also see other people’s work in the Design Stream or follow friends by putting in their email address or pulling gmail contacts. A blog gives you tips on everything from color to fonts. And of course, you can follow them on Pinterest.

Canva has recently come out with a new product, Canva for Work, which has various pricing plans. I plan to try it during the trial period and then decide if I’ll make the switch.

I cannot encourage you enough to try out this tool for yourself. If you are posting “out there” on the internet for your parish, keep in mind that more and more, posts everywhere benefit from a graphic to catch people’s attention. By creating visually appealing graphics we let those we are trying to reach that not only do we have an awesome message, we know how to present it.

Go try it, play around and create something lovely. Leave a link to where it is in the comment section; I’d love to see what you made! I hope you enjoy Canva as much as I do.

FYI: I may sound like a paid advertisement, but it’s not.

FREE Comedy-Drama #Catholic Bible Video Series for Everyone

By Lisa Mladinich

I’m not kidding. Anyone with ears and a sense of humor will be amused and enriched by Christian LeBlanc’s tour-de-force video series of 12 hour-long classes about the Catholicism of the Bible. It would be a great resource for anything from pre-Confirmation to Youth Ministry to RCIA/Adult Ed programs.

Using speed-drawing (stick figures), linguistics, solid scholarship, and a rapid-fire delivery that makes this catechetical series (which LeBlanc admits is by no means comprehensive) as enjoyable as it is educational, the southern-born LeBlanc knocks his catechesis out of the park and earns the label, “Amazing Catechist.” And he offers his first video production to the world free of charge.

LeBlanc’s parish-made videos are technically primitive, but they still manage to set the bar higher than the usual slickly-produced and scripted academic ones or their sibling rivals: those that rely heavily on hipster spin and the projection of a carefully-crafted, false intimacy meant to disarm teens. LeBlanc simply cannot take himself so seriously, because his wit and wisdom are completely at the service of the best book on earth about the truest religion on earth. It’s all just so much fun!

It’s also tons of fun watching such a charming speaker experience his own learning curve as he progresses from the very first video to the last with increasing ease and aplomb. In the first episode, he is so nervous about the camera running in his classroom that he looks like he just parachuted onto the parish grounds: he is flushed, his hair a little wild, his delivery breathless. But soon this master catechist hits his stride and shows us what all the fuss is really about: the Bible is a startlingly compelling roadmap to the Catholic faith.

Let the man himself show-and-tell you all about it.

Summapalooza!

About Christian LeBlanc

Christian LeBlanc is a revert whose pre-Vatican II childhood was spent in South Louisiana, where he marinated in a Catholic universe and acquired a Catholic imagination. During his middle school years in South Carolina, Christian was catechized under the benevolent dictatorship of Sister Mary Alphonsus, who frequently admonished him using the nickname “Little Pagan.” After four years of teaching Adult Ed and RCIA, he returned to Sr. Alphonsus’ old classroom to teach Catechism himself. This is his tenth year of teaching sixth grade. Married to Janet, the LeBlancs have five children and two grandsons. Christian and Janet belong to St. Mary’s Parish in Greenville, South Carolina.

Check out Christian’s book on Bible-based catechesis at:

https://www.createspace.com/3835986

And my REVIEW of his terrific book.

(This post was originally published at Lisa Mladinich’s Water Into Wine, at Patheos.com)

Introduction to Natural Theology: FREE and still OPEN for enrollment!

By Lisa Mladinich

Learn how to defend your faith, FREE online, in a popular live course still accepting enrollment and taught by the wonderful Joseph Wetterling! See Joe’s invitation, below:

By natural reason man can know God with certainty, on the basis of his works. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 50)

More and more, young Catholics are being challenged to defend their faith. They hear from TV and movies, music, and peers that truth is subjective and no one can prove that God exists. Are you ready to equip your students (and yourself) to defend their faith from a secular culture?

What is a “proof”?
What is “objective truth”?
What is “relativism”?
Why should we believe in a God at all?
Can you defend belief to people who don’t accept the Bible?

We’ll answer these questions and more in a FREE four-week class, hosted by Holy Apostles College & Seminary. Introduction to Natural Theology started on June 21 but is STILL OPEN for enrollment! Attendees can learn at their own pace, at the time that’s convenient for them. No experience necessary!

View the syllabus at: https://www.holyapostles.edu/wp-content/uploads/NT_MOOC_Syllabus_Summer_2015.pdf

See: https://www.youtube.com/embed/C8rVXYg2_k8

Joe Wetterling is a professional educator, writer, and speaker. He’s appeared at national and international conferences, both secular and religious, holds a Catechetical Diploma (an ecclesiastical teaching certificate) and is a member of the Militia Immaculata. Joe is a contributor at New Evangelizers and the Catholic Writers Guild. Learn more about him at JoeWetterling.com.

Review Terms with Penance Bingo!

By Lisa Mladinich

The attached Penance Bingo Cards and definitions sheet were created by a wonderful catechist, Mary Elise Eckman, who teaches in The Narnia Clubs in New York City. I share them with permission.

Instructions: Read out the definitions as students cross off the term described (or mark them with checkers, dried beans, or buttons). You might also laminate the cards and re-use with wipe-off markers.

Make sure to keep track of the definitions you call out to your students, so you can verify the winner’s card.

Have fun!

Attachments include six different cards and a definitions key:

Examination of Conscience for Kids

By Lisa Mladinich

Like us adults, in order for children to experience the freedom only found in Jesus Christ, they need the sacrament of Reconciliation. But they need our help to prepare for this precious, soul-cleansing meeting with their loving Lord.

I received this superb Examination of Conscience for kids from a colleague–educator and popular speaker, Barbara Falk– who teaches in a wonderful religious ed program in Manhattan called The Narnia Clubs.

There are many excellent children’s resources available online, but I thought this one was particularly good for use with young children. Barbara holds the copyright–so please do not sell it–but she gave me permission to share it widely for everyone’s use.

Here it is!

EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE FOR CHILDREN

1.    I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD. YOU SHALL NOT HAVE OTHER GODS BESIDE ME.
–    Do I speak ( PRAY ) to God every day? : when I wake up, before meals, before going to sleep.
–    As soon as I wake up, do I give ( OFFER ) Him my school work and all my day?
–    Do I remember to THANK God for the good things I have done or received?
–    Do I put my trust in good luck charms, palm reading and superstitions, rather than God alone?

2.    YOU SHALL NOT USE GOD’S NAME IN VAIN.
–    Have I used the words “God” or “Jesus” in anger or with lack of respect?
–    Have I used ugly words or language?
–    Have I wished evil on another?

3.    REMEMBER TO KEEP GOD’S DAY HOLY.
–    Do I go to Mass on Sunday unless I had a good reason ? (lack of transportation, sickness)
–    Do I do all I can to make Sunday a day of rest and joy for my family?
–    Do I pay attention to Mass, or do I tease or distract others by talking or playing?
–    Do I arrive late at Mass or leave early?

4.    HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.
–    Do I respect and obey my parents?
–    Have I treated them badly by word or deed?
–    Am I willing to help round the house or must I be nagged a hundred times?
–    Do I try to get along with my brothers and sisters? Am I a tattletale or bully?
–    Do I try to give good example, especially to younger siblings?
–    Do I respect others in authority: baby-sitters, old people, teachers, priests, nuns?

5.    YOU SHALL NOT KILL.
–    Do I beat up others or hurt their bodies?
–    Do I say mean things, or make fun of others to hurt their feelings?
–    Am I willing to play with everyone? Have I stopped speaking to anyone?
–    Do I encourage others to do bad things?
–    Do I take care of my health such as eating the right food and taking care of the body God has given me?
–    Are there kids I will not play with or be mean to because they look different?

6.    YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY.
–    Do I treat my body and other people’s bodies with respect and purity?
–    Do I look at television shows, movies, or pictures that are bad and hurt my soul and mind?
–    Am I modest in the clothes I wear and in my speech, remembering that I truly am a daughter/son of God?

7.    YOU SHALL NOT STEAL.
–    Have I taken things that were not mine from a store or another person?
–    Have I broken or misused another person’s property on purpose?
–    Do I return things that I borrow? In good condition?

8.    YOU SHALL NOT LIE (YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT FALSE WITNESS AGAINST YOUR NEIGHBOR).
–    Do I tell the truth? Do I say things about other people that are not true?
–    Did I cheat in class or in a game?
–    Do I tell lies to make myself look good?
–    Do I tell lies to protect myself from being punished?
–    Do I tell lies to make another person look bad or get them in trouble?
–    Am I a tattletale?

9.    YOU SHALL NOT COVET YOUR NEIGHBOR’S WIFE.
–    Do I get mad when I have to share my friends?
–    Am I jealous of my siblings and do I want my parent’s attention for myself constantly?
–    Am I willing to share my things and my time with others?

10.    YOU SHALL NOT COVET YOUR NEIGHBOR’S GOODS.
–    Am I thankful to God and my parents for what they have given me?
–    Do I share the things I have with my family, friends and poor people?
–    Am I jealous or envious of the things others have?
–    Am I jealous or envious of the abilities others have?

THE ACT OF CONTRITION
Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you. I detest all my sins
because of Your just punishments, but most of all because they offend you, my God,
who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of your grace,
to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.