September 29, 2014, Volume VIII, Number 39
Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Monday, September 29, 2014
St. Jerome, Tuesday, September 30, 2014
St. Theresa of the Child Jesus, Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Feast of the Guardian Angels, Thursday, October 2, 2014
St. Theodora Guérin, Friday, October, 3, 2014
St. Francis of Assisi, Saturday, October 4, 2014
Question of the Week
For the Feast of Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 5, 2014
“…in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” When you pray, are you quiet enough in mind and body to let God bring you peace? What will you do to incorporate a sense of quiet prayer in your daily life?
Saint of the Day: St. Theodora Guérin
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1157&calendar=1
Trust in God’s Providence enabled Mother Theodore to leave her homeland, sail halfway around the world, and found a new religious congregation. Born in Etables, France, Anne-Thérèse Guerin’s life was shattered by her father’s murder when she was 15. For several years she cared for her mother and younger sister. She entered the Sisters of Providence in 1823, taking the name Sister St. Theodore. An illness during novitiate left her with lifelong fragile health; that did not keep her from becoming an accomplished teacher.
In 1840 at the invitation of the bishop of Vincennes, she and five sisters went to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, to teach and to care for the sick poor. She was to establish a motherhouse and novitiate. Only later did she learn that her French superiors had already decided the sisters in the United States should form a new religious congregation under her leadership.
She and her community persevered despite fires, crop failures, prejudice against Catholic women religious, misunderstandings and separation from their original religious congregation. She once told her sisters, “Have confidence in the Providence that so far has never failed us. The way is not yet clear. Grope along slowly. Do not press matters; be patient, be trustful.” Another time, she asked, “With Jesus, what shall we have to fear?”
She is buried in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. She was beatified in 1998 and canonized just eight years later.
Quote: During his homily at the beatification Mass, Pope John Paul II said that Mother Theodore “continues to teach Christians to abandon themselves to the providence of our heavenly Father and to be totally committed to doing what pleases him. The life of Blessed Theodora Guérin is a testimony that everything is possible with God and for God.”
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NCCL News
Request for Assistance from Diocesan Directors of Catechesis/Religious Education/Faith Formation
A Message from NCCL President, Bill Miller:
A few weeks ago, I sent you a request to help out with Phase II of our current Membership Initiative. At that time, I listed several options that you could use in order to encourage Parish Catechetical Leaders to join NCCL by signing up for either a trial membership or a one-year paid membership. I am writing to request that you email me at this link: to let me if you accepted my invitation to be part of this important campaign. If you have been able to do anything to promote membership in NCCL for PCLs in your diocese, we (the Board of NCCL) would love to know about it. Please take a few minutes to tell us your story…the story of how you are promoting NCCL in your diocesan setting. Your story might just be featured in a future issue of CL Weekly (if you give us permission to print it). Only by working together and all “doing our part” can we grow this great organization that supports catechesis and evangelization across the country and assure its future for years to come. Thanks!....Sincerely, Bill Miller
Close-out Sale of Catechetical Sunday materials continues
NCCL’s 2014 journal, the last one which will bear the mark of Lee’s approval, is now on sale. Each page has meditations for Sundays, Holy Days, and liturgical seasons with space to write reflections and suggested ideas to live your faith more consciously. This simple, yet insightful book will foster weekly discipleship for all ages. Dedicated to Master Catechist Lee Nagel.
Our 2014 NCCL catechetical pin reminds us of God’s Forgiveness. Order now at sale prices for your Lenten retreats, days of reflection, or as gifts to those receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time.
Posters, certificates, and Prayer Cards also on sale. Many have sold out, so, please check the updated list at: https://nccl.wildapricot.org/
2015 Annual Conference & Exposition, May 18-21, Buffalo
Encounter the Joy of the Gospel!
¡Descubre la Alegria del Evangelio!
The planning committee is pleased to announce that David Haas will be participating in our Annual Conference in the following ways:
Leading Taizé prayer on Monday evening
Leading Morning prayer on Wednesday morning
Performing in concert on Wednesday evening
Presenting two Learning Sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday
“Save Me A Place” $289 through 10/13 for NCCL Members
Watch this video for more information on the Annual Conference.
FREE Professional Development Webinar–Tuesday, September 30
NCCL is continuing its partnership with Ave Maria Press in presenting a series of free, online, professional development workshops for parish ministers.
Four presenters will discuss Best Practices in Catholic Youth Ministry
There are a number of opportunities and challenges facing youth ministers in the Church today. One of the best ways to improve the way we reach out to and build relationships with Catholic teenagers is to share ideas with others in the field. Come, listen in on a panel of nationally known parish youth ministers as they share their success stories and growth moments. Come join the discussion!
The topics for discussion will include:
· Defining your youth ministry mission, vision, and goals
· Getting teens to come to events
· How to use technology to communicate with teens today
· Building relationships with parents
· Recruiting volunteers
· Effective time management
Date: September 30, 2014 Time: 3 p.m. EDT
New Evangelization and Catholic Social Teaching webinar: October 2
Members of MyUSCCB are invited to join Dr. Carolyn Woo, Ph.D., president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services in a discussion about how Catholic Social Teaching is an integral component of the New Evangelization. Dr. Woo will connect the three pillars of the New Evangelization—worship, faith and witness—to Catholic Social Teaching. She will describe how service to the poor is integral to each of the three pillars and incarnates this social dimension of evangelization, providing action ideas for your ministry. Consider gathering all your parish leaders – pastors, deacons, PCLs, parish council members, Evangelization leaders – to participate together in this webinar. Diocesan faith formation and evangelization leaders will also find the ideas beneficial.
Date: 10/02/2014 3:00-3:45 PM ET: The New Evangelization and Catholic Social Teaching
Dr. Carolyn Y. Woo was a recipient of honorary doctorates from Providence College, University of St. Francis, Lewis University, as well as the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Woo was educated by the Maryknoll Sisters in Hong Kong.
If you are not a member of MyUSCCB, you will be able to view the webinar after it is posted to the Leadership Institute site for free access.
Building Intercultural Competence for Ministers: Oct. 20-24, 2014
The California Conference of Diocesan Directors of Catechetical Ministry is hosting this training workshop in Las Vegas that was developed by the USCCB Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church. Though some dioceses are offering an abbreviated form of the training, this is the full 20+ hours training process, divided into 5 modules. All those in leadership positions in the Church – clergy and laity – are being encouraged to participate in the BICM training.
For more information and the registration form go to: http://usccb.org/issues-and-action/cultural-diversity/intercultural-competencies/upload/LasVegas-BICM-Registration-Information.pdf
Catholic Parent Revival
Parents, grandparents and guardians from across the country are invited to join together either onsite or online December 6, 11:00 am-5:00 pm CST, at the Lila Cockrell Theatre in San Antonio for the Catholic Parent Revival (CPR) – a day designed to revive their faith and celebrate their vocation as they help their families grow in faith. With national presenters and performers like Steve and Jenni Angrisano, Mark Hart, Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, Roy Petitfils, Noelle Garcia and John Angotti, attendees will be treated to a day of inspiring stories, moving music, and meaningful prayer that is guaranteed to breathe new life into the role that faith takes within their home, the domestic church. For more information and registration links, go to: www.catholicparentrevival.org. The Catholic Parent Revival is part of the Strong Catholic Families initiative presented in partnership with NFCYM, NCCL, NACFLM, and NCEA.
Pope Benedict: Like Having a Wise Grandfather at Home
http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/benedict-xvi-joins-francis-in-papal-tribute-to-grandparents-1.2028219
Pope Francis on Sunday hailed the value of the elderly, including his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who joined him at a ceremony in St. Peter's Square honoring the contribution of grandparents to society. The crowd applauded loudly when Pope Francis said that Benedict's living in papal retirement at the Vatican is “like having the wise grandfather at home.” Benedict clasped his hands together and extended them toward Francis in a sign of gratitude.
The Pope warmly embraced the frail, 87-year-old Pope Emeritus, who walked with a cane and wore a long white coat despite the warmth of a summerlike morning. Francis, 77, said group homes for elderly with no families were OK as long as they are “not prisons.” He lamented that the elderly are often “forgotten, hidden, neglected,” calling that treatment tantamount to a kind of euthanasia.
Referring also to himself, Francis described old age as a “time of grace.” “Grandparents who have received the blessing of seeing the children of their children are entrusted with a great task: transmitting the experience of life, the history of a family, of a community, of a people, sharing, with simplicity, wisdom, and faith itself – the most precious inheritance,” the Pope added. He greeted an Iraqi refugee couple who are married for 51 years and recently fled violence against Kurds.
Fifty-six year old opera-and-pop star Andrea Bocelli was among those singing at the ceremony.
Catholic Grandparents Association: Sharing Faith with Grandchildren
http://www.catholicgrandparentsassociation.org/how-the-older-generation-helps-teach-grandchildren-the-faith/
A disclaimer: I know nothing about this association except what I’ve seen online. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XeTTQM5wgY
What I’ve seen, though, is worth sharing.
The purpose of the association is simple: To help grandparents to share their faith with their children and grandchildren. Various ideas and resources are listed on their site.
Another good source of conversation starters for a gathering with grandparents is: http://www.catholicdigest.com/articles/family/grandparents/
Top 100 “Proudly Catholic” Movies
http://www.thegregorian.org/images/article_images/TheTop100ProudlyCatholicMovies2014.pdf
The Gregorian Institute at Benedictine College, Kansas, polled 6,500 online readers to ask: What is your favorite “Proudly Catholic” Movie? The results are found at the link above.
Note: Not all of these movies are suitable for children, so please preview them before making recommendations to parents or grandparents. Viewing together and discussing an interesting movie that promotes good values is one way to engage in a conversation with children on faith and values.
Don't Be “Soap Bubble” Christians, Pope Exhorts in Morning Homily
http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/don-t-be-soap-bubble-christians-pope-exhorts-in-morning-homily?utm_campaign=dailyhtml&utm_medium=email&utm_source=dispatch
Drawing from the September 25th first reading’s exclamation, “Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!” Pope Francis spoke today in his morning homily about Christians’ temptation to “make themselves seen” when doing good. Vanity, the Pope Francis said, takes us away from the truth and makes us seem like “soap bubbles” without “something substantial.” Vanity, the Pope warned, is “living for appearances, living to be seen.”
“How many Christians live for appearances?" he said. “Their life seems like a soap bubble. The soap bubble is beautiful, with all its colors! But it lasts only a second, and then what? Even when we look at some funeral monuments, we feel it’s vanity, because the truth is returning to the bare earth, as the Servant of God Paul VI said. The bare earth awaits us, this is our final truth. In the meantime, do I boast or do I do something? Do I do good? Do I seek God? Do I pray? Substantial things.”
“The Egyptian Fathers of the desert said that vanity is a temptation against which we must battle our whole life, because it always comes back to take the truth away from us. And in order to understand this they said: It’s like an onion. You take it, and begin to peel it – the onion – and you peel away vanity today, a little bit tomorrow, and your whole life you're peeling away vanity in order to overcome it. And at the end you are pleased: I removed the vanity, I peeled the onion, but the odor remains with you on your hand.
October Respect Life Month Theme:
“Each of us is a masterpiece of God’s creation”
Respect Life Month is an excellent time to particularly reflect on life issues and to pray for and promote greater respect for all human life. New resources, produced by the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, are available to assist parishes in the presentations of life issues. Program packets include a folder with this year’s theme on the cover; a set of three horizontally-oriented, letter-size “mini posters”, a catalog of Respect Life resources; a bilingual flyer exploring the theme; and six new articles on varying topics, such as adoption, miscarriage, and healing within marriage from an abortion. Printable versions of these materials, the 2014 statement for Respect Life Month, liturgical resources, and ordering information are available at www.usccb.org/respectlife. A brief video is also available online. Most resources are also available in Spanish. Check back throughout the year for additional materials that will be added to that webpage, such as updated 9 Days for Life resources for 2015. (See the 2014 materials at www.9daysforlife.com.) I hope you find these resources helpful to you as we share the Good News of God’s Love for us and the knowledge that “Each of us is a masterpiece of God’s creation.”