A Constructive Spirit of Discontent – Catechetical Leader Podcast Episode – 015
The latest episode of the Catechetical Leader podcast has gone live! I sat down last week with John Rinaldo, founder of REAL Ministry, to discuss leadership in the Church and how we who wpork for the church can strengthen and develop our leadership skills. You can find the CL Podcast on iTunes or listen to whole episodes at www.CatecheticalLeader.org. Photo by Frederick della...
read more3 Minute Retreat: Personal Satisfaction
My last reflection was posted today for Loyola Press’s 3-Minute Retreat! You can view the retreat on the 3-Minute Retreat web site or Facebook page. (It really does only take three minutes!) Reflection The Church extols the virtue of humility – and with good reason! Humility is the starting point for a deep relationship with God, for without humility we risk placing our own accomplishments above those of God. Yet we can also fall into the trap of false humility, in which we downplay the talents and gifts given to us through the Holy...
read more“So much else is possible…”
Saint Augustine reminds us that the City of Man and the City of God intermingle. We have obligations to each. But out final home and our real citizenship are not in this world. Politics is important, but it’s never the main focus or purpose of a Christian life. If we do not know and love Jesus Christ, and commit our lives to him, and act on what we claim to believe, everything else is empty. But if we do, so much else is possible — including the conversion of the world around us. The only question that finally matters to any of us...
read moreDiocese of Green Bay Adult Faith Formation & Catechetical Leadership Day
Attention cheeseheads! Tim Welch of the Diocese of St. Cloud and I will be co-presenters at this year’s Adult Faith Formation & Catechetical Leadership Day at the Rock Garden Conference Center on April 26: As catechists, we have been called to tell the Story of God’s Reign, and to tell it well. As ministers we have been called to empower our learners to tell their stories as growing disciples. Join us as we explore why and how to use technology in faith formation. Together with Tim Welch, we will explore 28,217 years of media...
read more3 Minute Retreat: In Remembrance of Me
My latest reflection was posted today for Loyola Press’s 3-Minute Retreat! You can view the retreat on the 3-Minute Retreat web site or Facebook page. (It really does only take three minutes!) Reflection There are some memories that never fail to make me smile: playing board games in a lake cabin with my friends, my mom’s surprise 60th birthday party, the birth of my children. Memory has a powerful effect on our emotions and can make friends and family long gone seem as if they are in the room with us. Jesus must have known about this...
read moreThe Health of the Mystical Body
If we think again of the health of the human body in order to find illustrations of what can happen in the Mystical Body, we shall be struck with another point. It is possible for a body to be free from disease, and yet to lack strength. Suppose a man has had an operation because of some disease: let us suppose further that the operation is perfectly successful so that, after it, he is free from the disease. Nevertheless he will need convalescence before his health is again perfect. For his disease has left an effect of weakness which natural...
read moreThe Grumpy Old Catechist on Social Media Advice Articles
Here’s a little secret: I don’t read a whole lot of “tech advice” pieces on the internet, especially those about social media with titles like “Using Facebook in the Classroom” or “Five Tips for Maximizing Twitter Engagement” “But wait a minute.” I hear you saying. “You write about tech and catechesis; surely you find these things interesting?” First of all, don’t call me Shirley. Secondly, while many of these articles have good intentions, I don’t find many...
read more3 Minute Retreat: Gifts at the Altar
My latest reflection was posted today for Loyola Press’s 3-Minute Retreat! You can view the retreat on the 3-Minute Retreat web site or Facebook page. (It really does only take three minutes!) Reflection When the gifts are brought to the altar at Mass, there is more going on than meets the eye. While the bread and wine which will become the Body and Blood of Christ are carried forward, we also bring our own hearts to be cleansed and purified. In the third Eucharistic Prayer the priest asks on our behalf that Christ “make of us an...
read more2012 NCCL Conference
I am very excited to announce that I will be attending and speaking at the 2012 NCCL Conference in San Diego! I’ll be speaking at two sessions of the conference: Embrace New Methods (Tuesday, May 8 at 9:10a): This TED-style keynote address will focus on adapting our catechetical methods in an information-based society. Resistance is Futile: The Catechetical Benefits of Being Assimilated by the Digital Culture (Tuesday, May 8 at 3:30p): In this learning session I will expand on the theme of my keynote by asking the question “How is...
read moreBook Review: Wish You Were Here
Amy Welborn‘s new memoir, Wish You Were Here: Travels Through Loss and Hope, details the aftermath of her husband Michael‘s sudden death in February of 2009 — specifically, the trip she took with her daughter and two young sons to Sicily a few months after. Part travel diary, part spiritual memoir, part reflection on grief, Wish You Were Here resonated deeply with me and my own experiences following the death of my father shortly before my senior year of college. Welborn writes with honesty about her grief. She details her...
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