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The Emmaus JournalA Professional Journal for Campus Ministers, Religion Teachers and Service Directors in Catholic High Schools Sponsored by the Secondary Schools Department of the National Catholic Educational Association |
A NOTE FROM THE EDITORWelcome to the October edition of the Emmaus Journal. We hope you find our new format reader- and user-friendly as well as informative, encouraging and thought provoking. First and foremost this journal is a service to our members; your insights, critiques and input are valued and important. The collective wisdom of our readers across the country is tremendous, so please let us know what topics you would like to see covered or what is of interest to you. In the interest of sharing that wisdom, this Journal introduces a new feature, the "Educators Exchange." Read about what your colleagues in different parts of the country are doing and please contribute your own submissions for future issues. You are also most welcome to submit a full article for consideration as well. This past summer, NCEA, with the Institute for Church Life, hosted Tradition and Transitions at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. This conference brought together almost 180 religion teachers, campus ministers and service directors from 33 states, the District of Columbia and Guam. It showed us how important it is for this group to connect with one another. This journal will do that electronically, but NCEA is offering further opportunities to gather for professional development. The 2006 NCEA National Convention in Atlanta (April 18-21, 2006) will have extensive programming dedicated to the religion faculty and campus ministry. And for those who like to plan (way!) ahead, we will host another, as-yet-unnamed Conference at Notre Dame, June 28-July 1, 2007. (Be sure to check out the excerpt from Bishop Bennett's talk at Tradition and Transitions below.) As ministers and religion teachers, you have a very important role to play in the Catholic High School. We appreciate your good work and dedicate this Journal to you! Chris Scalise Editor, Emmaus Journal TABLE OF CONTENTSTHE TOP TEN THINGS COLLEGE CAMPUS MINISTERS WOULD LIKE HIGH SCHOOL RELIGION TEACHERS TO KNOW, PART I By Christine M. Eberle INCORPORATING CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM By Toby Larson and Melissa Link BEING CATHOLIC FROM THE HEART By Bishop Gordon Bennett, SJ ANGELS ARE IN By Kathleen Glavich, SND YES, I SAW THE CHURCH OF TODAY IN GERMANY By Eileen Emerson Top Ten Things College Campus Ministers Would Like High School Religion Teachers to Know, Part IBy Christine M. Eberle, Director of Campus Ministry, Gwynedd-Mercy College, Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania Let's start with some alarming statistics. There are 237 Catholic colleges and universities in the United States. There are approximately 5 million Catholic students attending college this year. But only 770,000 of them-15 percent-are attending one of those Catholic colleges. So the first item on my top ten list is what I'll call Bad News: 1. 85 Percent of Catholic College Students are Attending Non-Catholic Institutions I find this to be a scary number for the future of our church. You know what your students know right now. Is it enough? Do they have the faith tools for a lifetime? Although you might be their last experience of religious education, you also could be a bridge to the next stage in their faith development-if you know where to point them. So item number two is Good News: 2. The Church is Alive and Well on non-Catholic Campuses as well as on Catholic Ones There are approximately 1,800 Catholic campus ministers in this country, serving on more than 700 campuses. Most of us are members of the Catholic Campus Ministry Association, which is recognized by the USCCB as the official organization for the advancement of campus ministry, providing visionary leadership, formation and resources for campus ministers. Any Catholic college or university will have a campus ministry office serving familiar functions: liturgies, retreats, community service, etc. This should come as no surprise. What might be surprising, however, is the extent to which the church is present on non-Catholic campuses as well, where the most common model for outreach is the Newman apostolate. Originally designed as a club to support Catholic students, the Newman movement began in 1893 at the University of Pennsylvania and expanded over the next half-century to every major secular campus in the United States. Penn Newman founder Tim Harrington named his club for Cardinal John Henry Newman, a 19th-century British convert and skilled apologist who believed firmly in the compatibility of faith and reason: that one did not have to be either a smart atheist or a pious fool! This conviction, as valid today as it was more than a century ago, is at the core of campus ministry's mission in higher education. 3. Our Mission: Educating and Activating an Adult Catholic Faith Catholic campus ministry today draws its mission from the U.S. bishops' pastoral letter "Empowered by the Spirit: Campus Ministry Faces the Future" (USCCB, 1985). Recognizing the existing diversity of effective models, the bishops defined campus ministry in terms that were both broad and ambitious. Campus ministry exists "where commitment to Christ and care for the academic world meet in purposeful activity to serve and realize the Kingdom of God" (#21). They identified six specific tasks necessary to educate and activate in students an adult Catholic faith. These include: forming a faith community, appropriating the faith, forming the Christian conscience, educating for justice, facilitating personal development and developing leaders for the future. These are not brand new tasks, but developments of what you are doing in high school. What makes them unique to campus ministry, however, is the environment in which they are carried out, an environment chiefly characterized by freedom. 4. Freedom Is Our Friend, Even When It Looks Like Our Enemy The shift from high school to college is marked by a tremendous newfound freedom-which is often used badly. After spending 35 hours per week in high school, students find themselves in the college classroom a mere 15 hours each week. Resident students dwell in tremendously unsupervised living situations, especially at secular institutions. Drinking and sex are rampant and casual; accountability is sporadic. And religiously, of course, the youth are on their own: no one is "making" them go to Mass. Naturally, many students seize the opportunity to skip Mass as often as they cut class, and in all these problematic activities they receive abundant support from their peers. The negative effects of this newfound freedom are obvious. But there are positive effects as well. Freedom is the campus ministers' friend because it allows us to work with those who truly are interested in developing their spiritual lives. We are able to focus our catechetical and pastoral attention on those who have torn themselves away from dorm peer pressure and marched themselves off to church. Freedom is also the students' friend, because it gives them the chance to embrace their beliefs intentionally instead of automatically. They may choose to distance themselves from the faith for a while-to hold their Catholicism at arm's length and examine it critically-but when they return it is really theirs. Our job is to create an environment in which this can happen. One factor that makes that job harder, however, is the presence of "non-denominational" Christian organizations at many secular schools. 5. "Non-Denominational" is not a Synonym for "Ecumenical" When we hear about these organizations we might imagine people from a variety of Christian denominations coming together to do good things: Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists and Baptists joining to pray, study the Bible, clean up vacant lots and volunteer at soup kitchens. The gatherings I just described, however, would be ecumenical--people secure in their disparate traditions finding common ground and working together while dialoguing in a spirit of respect. But many non-denominational groups on campus have nothing to do with dialogue or respect. They are detached from the moorings of mainstream traditions and attached to a specific fundamentalist agenda. They can be aggressively hostile toward the Catholic Church and often train their leaders to assault Catholic students with rapid-fire challenges to the biblical foundations of our beliefs and practices. TO BE CONTINUED... This article will be concluded in the January, 2006 Emmaus Journal. It originally appeared, and can be read in its entirety, in the September/October 2005 issue of Momentum, the official Journal of the National Catholic Educational Association. |
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Looking ahead to Lent... Does your school participate in Operation Rice Bowl? Catholic Relief Services has expanded its Web-site dedicated to this popular Lenten program, including adding an extensive educator's guide. |
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Incorporating Catholic Social Teaching Across the CurriculumBy Toby Larson, Math Teacher, Notre Dame High School, Belmont, CA, and Melissa Link, Coordinator of Campus Ministry, Queen of Peace High School, Burbank, IL One of the most obvious ways that Catholic schools stand out in the educational arena is in their commitment to Catholic social justice teachings. As a campus minister in the Archdiocese of Chicago, Melissa Link is able to provide a framework of spiritual direction and development for her community. However, the responsibility of upholding Catholic tradition in our schools can never be solely the job of the campus minister or the teaching faculty of the religion department. Toby Larson, a math teacher in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, has taken up the challenge to incorporate social justice themes into his math classes. Below they relate their experiences as participants in the 2005 Frontiers of Justice program, sponsored by NCEA and Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Although their professional roles are different, they show how all members of the school can serve the students as "campus ministers." ******************************************** We were part of a group of six Catholic high school teachers from all over the United States who had the opportunity to travel to Eastern Europe in July. We met teachers, principals, and students from a variety of schools and cities in Kosovo, an area hurting from strong ethnic divisions and the recent NATO-led war that left the region under the administration of the United Nations. The purpose of the trip was to create partnerships and build solidarity with Kosovar colleagues. Additionally, we toured CRS projects and met with UN officials, Kosovo Ministry of Education officials, youth group leaders and religious and social leaders. The high point of the trip was when the American teachers came together with Kosovar colleagues in a two-day workshop to build cross-cultural lesson plans that would teach solidarity and connect students across continents. Campus ministry is a natural place to teach such concepts in a Catholic high school. CRS helped in this endeavor by sponsoring an immersion experience for guests from Kosovo in the United States. Chicago's Queen of Peace High School hosted Kosovar students as part of a peace and justice Harmony Day experience in September. The guests from Kosovo come from the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica. The youth represent a group called the Mitrovica City Wide Youth Council (CWYC). They are organized as leaders in their community to help other young people overcome ethnic divisions, past grudges and violence. The school-wide Harmony Day focused on building a multiethnic community and promoting peace within our local and global societies. The Queen of Peace students had the opportunity to interact with the Kosovars through formal panel discussions in a
Melissa Link (standing, center) and Toby Larson (standing, second from right) pose with Kosovar teachers and fellow participants in the 2005 Frontiers of Justice program from the United States during a workshop in Brezovica, Kosovo. |
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large group setting. In addition, American and Kosovar students were able to share stories and ask questions about pertinent youth issues in a classroom setting with the leadership of CRS staff and Queen of Peace teachers. The day concluded with a diverse gathering of youth from a variety of Chicago Catholic schools for dinner and discussion as part of the Archdiocese of Chicago's annual Catholics Opposing Racism (COR) dinner hosted by Queen of Peace. Participants from the Chicago Catholic Theological Union Peacebuilders Initiative program were present to share an American perspective of community peace building. (The mission of Chicago's Peacebuilders Initiative and COR is very similar to that of the Mitrovica CWYC - to use leadership and social action to promote peace and justice where there are community divisions.) Such school-wide activities are more effective when reinforced in the classroom, particularly by teachers in disciplines not typically associated with religious themes. For example, Notre Dame High School, near San Francisco, partnered with a school in Pristina, Kosovo to create a joint survey among statistics classes. The students will use email to come up with a 20-question survey that will then be administered to approximately 200 individuals in their respective schools. The data will then be shared between the American and Kosovar students, and they will independently run data analysis and create both a written and oral report that will highlight the similarities and differences between the two student groups. The outcomes for the math students include them gaining a first hand experience with conducting a survey and applying their data analysis skills to the results of the surveys. This project will also increase their critical thinking skills and technical writing skills. In terms of social justice, this project will allow students to begin to learn about Kosovo and the citizens of Kosovo. This project will allow American students to build personal connections with their Kosovar partners that will increase their experience of global solidarity. In general, when addressing Catholic social teaching in a non-religion course, the teacher should commit to spending part of the lesson planning time consciously relating the topic to Catholic social teaching. Showing the students empirical data that gives them a picture of the world helps the students to understand where the dignity of the human person may not be met. For example, when Notre Dame's Algebra II class discusses modeling linear relationships, students examine a study that demonstrates how neighborhood disadvantage is linearly related to homicide. After viewing this, the students will spend a little time discussing the potential social causes of crime. While the students are not told how to view a situation, they do learn to consider cause and effect and how to apply mathematical knowledge to help then determine how to address injustices. The model of cross-curricular ministry that informed our work in Kosovo serves as an inspiration for building concrete interdisciplinary connections with ministry in our American Catholic schools. After all, the promotion of Catholic values is the responsibility of all, and it helps students connect to the academic material they study in meaningful ways. As campus ministers - officially and unofficially - we are called to proclaim the Gospel in our schools so that the presence of God may be recognized everywhere! |
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An Advent Resource from Catholic Relief Services and the US Bishops The USCCB is working with CRS and Bread for the World to develop parish resources on global poverty for the Advent season. They will include general parish resources as well as a special resource for use in high schools and youth ministry programs. The theme will be "For Unto Us a Child is Born," which will encourage us to remember all the children born to us every day who suffer from hunger and poverty. Resources are also being developed by a number of other faith communities (Methodists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Baptists) so there will also be opportunities for ecumenical activities. The new resources will be on the Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty Web site by the beginning of November. If you have any questions, please call Joan Rosenhauer at the USCCB at 202-541-3381 or Kathy Brown at CRS at 410-951-7232. |
Being Catholic: From the HeartBy Most Rev. Gordon Bennett, S.J., Bishop of Mandeville A new publication from NCEA reflects on mission and identity in a Catholic school The Secondary Schools Department of the NCEA and the Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame co-hosted a conference titled Tradition and Transitions at the university June 16-19, 2005. Almost 180 religion teachers, campus ministers and service directors from Catholic high schools in 33 states, Guam and the District of Columbia joined noted speakers and presenters for inspirational and thought-provoking discussion, practical continuing education, prayer and fellowship. |
Bishop Gordon Bennet, SJ |
Bishop Gordon Bennet, SJ, of Mandeville, Jamaica, was one of the featured speakers on the program. The bishop has a valuable perspective on Catholic schools that is rooted in his experiences as a former high school teacher, principal and president. Conference participants responded enthusiastically to his talk, "Being Catholic: From the Heart," delivered June 18, 2005. The NCEA Secondary Schools Department recently published the talk for the benefit of those who were not able to be at Notre Dame. This short and readable book contains Bishop Bennett's reflections on the mission and identity of a Catholic school. |
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Below is an excerpt from the talk. The bishop is relating an encounter as a principal with "Kevin," a student in his school who was selling drugs. Like Nathaniel Hawthorne's character, Ethan Brand, Kevin had neglected his spiritual growth to the point he had no moral compass. ************************************************ "...Kevin told me he sold drugs because he was fascinated by the effect they had on other people and that he enjoyed the power he had gained over them. "Trying to keep myself from doing something irrational, I began informing him, with as much genuine passion as I could muster, how his insensitivity to others had already ruined lives and could possibly even cause death. I tried to explain to him how what he was doing was beyond the pale of acceptable behavior toward friends or even enemies. "As I was talking, I saw something happening in him. His eyes locked into mine. His face reddened, his jaws shut tight, his eyes filled with tears. But I made the mistake of reading remorse when what he spat out at me was pure rage. He said: 'I'm sorry I ever came to this damned school.' Being totally confused, I asked him to repeat what he had said, and he did, with even more energy than before: 'I'm sorry I ever came to this damned school.' When I asked why, he stunned me with his answer: 'Because,' he said, 'if I had gone to just a private school, like I wanted to, I wouldn't have had to worry about saving my soul.' "'If I had gone to just a private school, I wouldn’t have had to worry about saving my soul.' "Even though through a kind of via negativa, Kevin had gotten it exactly right: when one attends a Catholic school, one should come out with a concern for saving one's soul. A graduate from a Catholic school should not be content with knowing only that they are composed of mind and body, but that they have a heart and a soul as well, and that the true imperative of life's journey means not neglecting the heart and soul, not allowing them, as happened to Ethan Brand, to wither, contract, harden or perish. "The Catholic school is, then, where the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. The Catholic school is where we learn to put the flesh on the bones of the Great Commandment: to love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves..." ************************************************ If you are interested in reading more, Being Catholic: From the Heart is available from NCEA. Visit our online store at http://www.ncea.org/onlinestore. (20 pages, $7/members, $9/non-members) or call our Member Services Department at 202-337-6232. |
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Angels are a far cry from the cute cherubs in art. They are magnificent beings who are pure spirit. Created before us by God, they are superior to us. (No, we don't become angels when we die.) The word "angel" in Hebrew means messenger. Although angels serve as God's agents on earth, their primary work is glorifying God in heaven, which is also our destiny. In the Middle Ages belief in a guardian angel for each person and nation arose. Tradition also holds that angels lead us into paradise. |
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Jesus believed in angels. About "little ones," he said, "Their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father." (Matthew 18:10) He claimed that his Father could send more than twelve legions of angels to defend him. (Matthew 26:53) Saints believed in guardian angels. Before a talk, St. Francis de Sales would pray to the guardian angels of his listeners, asking that the audience be receptive. As St. Frances of Rome ventured out at night to tend the sick, it is said that her guardian angel, in the form of a boy, led the way with a lantern. St. Pio (Padre Pio) could see guardian angels. People sent their angels to him when they needed his prayers. Pope John Paul II exhorted, "Experience the presence of the angels next to you and allow yourselves to be guided by them." Guardian angels are a powerful expression of God's tender, loving care for us. How consoling for adolescents as they journey through the perilous teen years to know that an invisible, God-appointed friend is at their side to guide, protect, and intercede for them. Once a renowned scripture scholar declared that there is no biblical proof that angels exist. However, he admitted, "I pray to my guardian angel every day." How can you acknowledge the angels? - Speak of them as a very real fact of life, denizens of the unseen world around us. - Pray to your students' guardian angels and yours. - In class pray the traditional prayer to the guardian angels or this version from the International Commission on English in the Liturgy: Angel sent by God to guide me, Be my light and walk beside me; Be my guardian and protect me; On the paths of life direct me. - Remind the students that at Mass we join the angels in their heavenly liturgy and sing “Holy, holy” with them. - Encourage your students to imitate their guardian angel and "be an angel" by looking out for others. The graphic is from Gustav Dore's series of engravings for Dante's Divine Comedy. |
YES, I EXPERIENCED THE CHURCH OF TODAY IN GERMANYBy Eileen Emerson, teacher at Most Blessed Sacrament School in Ocean Pines, MarylandIf you want to get the back up of any youth minister, simply say that young people are the future of the church. It drives them crazy. Having worked on the fringes of youth ministry for several years, I’ve come to understand that those involved in youth ministry want the church to recognize that young people are the church of today, not just of the future. Until recently, I probably could have articulated their argument with some whiffs at passion. Never did this understanding envelope me until I experienced World Youth Day. If we believe that the church is ONE, then the church experienced at World Youth Day is the church of today. On a particularly chaotic yet exhilarating journey through the central train station in Cologne, I found myself sandwiched between pilgrims from Australia, India, Argentina and France. We all sang “Waltzing Matilda” and then a group of Aussies proceeded to try to explain the significance of the song. An anxious young Indian kept circling with his camera inquiring “What country?” to anyone who would offer a response and a smile. When my attempts to communicate with a young Argentinian student on my left were drowned out in the cacophony of national anthems, I turned to the girl on my right who was sporting the straw bowler hat of the French delegation and suggested we break into “La Marseillaise”. In this venue, we could all appreciate and uphold our own and our neighbors’ national identities, despite the allegiances of our national governments. Our faith transcended our nationalities without dismissing them. If we believe that the church is HOLY, then the church experienced at World Youth Day is the church of today. Two moments in particular strike me in regard to holiness. The first came at the stadium of the renowned “football” team, Bayer Leverkusen where our delegation took our daily catechetical sessions. During the break, spontaneous centers were set up around the perimeter of the field, offering pilgrims the opportunity to receive the sacrament of reconciliation. My confessor was a young priest from Toronto and without getting into the details, I can say that he and I settled into a conversation on the call to holiness. When he found out I was a teacher, he offered some wonderful images for me to use with my students. The other moment came in an encounter with some young French pilgrims. I was impressed with the genuine sanctity I saw surrounding many of the French groups, especially considering what we know of church attendance in France. They offered a great witness to me as they could often be found singing sweet hymns during long and tiring walks (I was not singing sweetly at these moments). I approached a trio of boys who explained to me the lyrics of one of their songs, which concerned the loneliness of a soldier who had left his family to go into battle. I was reminded of the call of the apostles who were asked to leave their families to follow Christ. |
World Youth Day participants in Cologne. Photo courtesy of St. Louis Church, Alexandria, VA. |
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If we believe that the church is CATHOLIC, then the church experienced at World Youth Day is the church of today. I easily met fellow Catholics from close to one hundred countries at World Youth Day, perhaps more. To emerge from the Cologne central train station on the first day of the week to a sea of flags from every nation was overwhelming. The energy in the square that morning was palpable and it extended through the week to the pilgrimage walk to Marienfeld. I had this reminiscence of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales as we marched through the streets towards our final destination. Each pilgrim carried a bundle and a life story. Many carried items for trading with acquaintances from around the globe. I remarked to a friend that I wasn't sure if it was solidarity or confusion that reigned on Sunday as the pilgrims departed because the flags and t-shirts, buttons and stories had been exchanged to the extent that it was impossible to tell who was associated with what country. That final morning, as I walked past a delegation from Tahiti, I felt an excitement and kinship that defied words. I will probably never travel to Tahiti in my life, but I know that there are people there who've experienced something of my life, if only those twenty-four hours in the field. If we believe that the church is APOSTOLIC, then the church experienced at World Youth Day is the church of today. As the Apostles were commanded to go out and make disciples of all nations, I believe the young pilgrims offered this witness to the people of Germany. Our German hosts seemed uplifted by their encounters. I met a thoughtful German opera singer on the train one day. I kidded him about playing host to the world's youth and he countered that he felt it was very beneficial for his country to absorb the enthusiasm of the young pilgrims. A taxi driver told me how much he preferred the influx of a million young pilgrims with their songs and prayers to the antics of 20,000 soccer fans. I especially admired the reaction of the World War II generation of Germans who showed such joy at their interactions with the world's youth. As the throngs departed Marienfeld on Sunday afternoon, one couple sat in lawn chairs waving to the crowd. Next to them adorning their front lawn was a map of the world and a sign which read "Goodbye" in English. Farther down the road, an older woman walked deliberately up to my friend and me, anxious to converse in German. When we could not respond appropriately, she simply repeated, "Have good time". The feeling was mutual. This was the church Incarnate at World Youth Day. Alive and well today-not in some future prospect, but bearing witness to all that the church is and should be in and around the world. In our church, it is rare to experience the life and universality in this manner, unless one is studying in Rome and even then, not to this degree. I came away from World Youth Day with a feeling of enormous privilege that I had had this experience and that it is necessary for everyone in the Church-not just those of a certain age, but everyone. It should become for Catholics what the hajj is for our Muslim brothers and sisters. This experience offers what Christ came to give us, "life to its fullest." This column first appeared in the September 1, 2005 issue of The Dialog, the newspaper of the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware. It is reprinted with permission. The Emmaus Journal Educator's ExchangeTeachers "in the field" submitted the following descriptions of programming in their schools or classrooms. They are for your consideration for incorporation into your own teaching. If you are doing something that you think others would be interested to know, please email Chris Scalise, editor of The Emmaus Journal, for inclusion in the next issue. Please limit your submission to 100-200 words and include your position, school and an email address where readers can contact you for more information about your great ideas. If you can share a link that will take readers to more information, please do. |
Learning to Tell Our Own StorySubmitted by Cherie Roshau from Trinity High School, Dickinson, North Dakota This is a lesson plan that simply begins with the reading of the story, Tuesdays With Morrie. I read to the students for approximately ten to fifteen minutes at the beginning of each class until the book is finished. I want the students to savor the simplicity and yet complex beauty of the story that Mitch Albom opens to us as we read the real words from very real lives. My junior students thoroughly enjoy my reading to them. They seem to return to a place of their youth and are able to allow a told story to enrich their minds and nourish their hearts. Before the reading begins we talk about what has happened previously in the book. Sometimes wonderful conversations and thinking is shared throughout the class. The lessons learned and shared from this book are incredible. The students are then given handouts about respect, the "golden rule" and "the commandment to love". |
Salesianum Seeds of Service DaySubmitted by Tom Vresics from Salesianum School, Wilmington, Delaware We have been seeking ways to help our students better understand the Catholic Social teaching of "the preferential option for the poor" as part of revamping of our Christian Service program. Our Seeds of Service Day was designed to plant seeds in the minds of our freshmen concerning the value of helping the less fortunate. Over Columbus Day weekend, we sent 260 freshmen, 18 of their fathers, and 18 teachers to 16 different service agencies. Our students either worked directly with the less fortunate or performed support services. The students began the day in the auditorium where they received a tee shirt and a journaling booklet. We began with a brief prayer service before the students boarded buses to complete their service. Photographers took pictures of the students working to be used in a power point/music montage for a post communion meditation at a Mass back at school. You can view the power point minus the music on our school Web-site (look for Seeds of Service Day). Photo courtesty of |
Pray While You WaitSubmitted by Michael St. Pierre from Archbishop Curley High School, Baltimore, Maryland Parents often will wait in their cars for 10-20 minutes before school lets out in the afternoon. We thought we would capitalize on that time and have provided a brief prayer service each week for those parents who are waiting for their sons to finish school. With printed signs for the parking lot and special reminders, parents have a chance to have fellowship and hear a brief and dynamic message from one of our school leaders. |
Living the Sponsoring Congregation’s CharismSubmitted by Katrina Stoeckel from St. Elizabeth Academy, St. Louis, Missouri Three years ago, our school began a process of reanimating the school with the charism of our sponsoring congregation. Our first step was to incorporate the founding sisters’ mission into our prayer. We also developed prayer services reflecting on this mission. Within one year, students began incorporating the ideas from the sisters' mission statement in their classes and club meetings. Campus Ministry then identified a core group of girls who possessed the skills and desire to share their faith. This group attended retreats and workshops as they prepared for their active role in Campus Ministry. Concretely, their roles have included planning and leading retreats, giving witness talks, offering peer mediation, and creating prayer services. We have discovered the incomparable impact the girls have helping each other to connecting with the charism. This process is ongoing. Our next goal is to focus on our existing service learning program to deliberately link it with the charism and to promote it on our website. (Click to monitor our progress!) |
FUSE Sports InitiativeSubmitted by Michael St. Pierre from Archbishop Curley High School, Baltimore, Maryland Our athletic program and spiritual life come together by way of our FUSE (Franciscan Understanding of Sports Excellence) initiative. Students meet each month with other athletes from different teams to share victories and struggles on the field and in their faith. Coaches are given resources for prayer before or after practices and students are trained in how to lead prayer for their teams. |
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