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The Emmaus Journal A Professional Journal for Campus Ministers, Religion Teachers and Service Directors in Catholic High Schools |
A Note from the Editor
Welcome to the Fall 2006 issue of The Emmaus Journal, NCEA's electronic journal for religion teachers, campus ministers and service directors. Each issue contains a variety of articles designed to encourage you in your important work, highlight some of the "best practices" in our Catholic high schools and hopefully stimulate the mind and heart.
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. If you are doing something creative or special in your school, contact us, and we will post your submissions in an "Educators Exchange." You are also most welcome to submit a full article for consideration as well.
This edition contains articles from a variety of sources and perspectives -- some Catholic, some secular. Some of the articles were written specifically for The Emmaus Journal; some are reprints from other sources. Maggie A. J. Gilmour describes the generosity of teachers and students in a high school in Louisville in an article from The Courier-Journal, that city's daily newspaper. Jill Rauh describes an online resource available to educators with materials on Catholic social teaching, while Therese Brown describes a new USCCB resource for adults. Michelle Boorstein's article from The Washington Post does not deal with Catholic high schools specifically, but focuses on contemporary trends in youth ministry. Kelley Renz speaks directly to students with encouraging words about their role in the world.
NCEA is hosting two events you will want to mark on your calendar: Next summer, NCEA, with the Institute for Church Life, will host Wisdom and Witness (June 28-July 1, 2007) at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. In 2005 a similar conference brought together almost 180 religion teachers, campus ministers and service directors from 33 states, the District of Columbia and Guam. Confirmed speakers include Fr. Donald Senior, President of the Catholic Theological Union, Dr. Jane Regan from Boston College, Bishop Blase Cupich of Rapid City, South Dakota, and numerous breakout speakers. A webpage with more information will soon be available at www.ncea.org/departments/secondary/index.asp
The 2007 NCEA National Convention in Baltimore (April 10-13, 2007) will have extensive programming dedicated to the religion faculty and campus ministry.
Finally, this spring the Secondary Schools Department at NCEA will launch a major new publication designed to be a resource for busy educators on Catholic social teaching. Thanks to a grant from Catholic Relief Services, this publication will be available free of charge to schools. More information will be forthcoming, but suffice to say, we are extremely excited about this, and we are confident that it will be of great value to you and your school. We will "roll out" the resource in a formal way at Wisdom & Witness in special workshops. If you or a colleague is particularly interested in Catholic social teaching, you will definitely want to join us at Notre Dame!
Cordially yours,
Chris Scalise
Editor, The Emmaus Journal
CONTENTS
Click on the hotlinks below to go directly to each article
No Longer Alone: St. X Students Are 'Family' for Paupers at Funerals
By Maggie A. J. Gilmour
This article, reprinted with permission from The Courier-Journal, reports on a group at Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky, that acts as pallbearers for the homeless and indigent.
Shepherding the Church's Social Tradition Out of the Shadows-and into the Open: The Education for Justice Web Site is working to make CST familiar to all Catholics
By Jill Rauh
Education for Justice is a subscription-based online resource with educational materials related to Catholic Social Teaching available for classroom use.
Ministering With New Maturity: 'Good With Kids' Isn't Enough in Youth Posts
By Michelle Boorstein
The Washington Post recently printed this article about how youth ministry is becoming more professional in the Catholic Church and in other denominations. It is reprinted with permission.
"Living Profoundly" Doesn't Have to Wait Until Graduation
By Kelley Renz
Ms. Renz shares a message of encouragement directly with students, reminding them that they are not just the "future" of the Church or the country or the world, but that they are, in fact, the "present" too.
A Firm Foundation: The New United States Catholic Catechism for Adults
By Therese Brown
The author describes some of the features of this new Catechism.
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Frontiers of Justice 2007 Now Accepting Applications!
Frontiers of Justice, a joint program of Catholic Relief Services and the National Catholic Educational Association for Catholic high school teachers and administrators, is now accepting applications for the 2007 program. Through prayer and reflection on Catholic social teaching, participants will connect with CRS' overseas work in education, counter-trafficking and peacebuilding in the United Nations administered province of Kosovo in southeastern Europe. Participants will also work with a Kosovar teacher on a global solidarity partnership project that will link their students over a school year. The Kosovo trip component of the program will be held over two weeks in summer 2007. Application deadline is January 5, 2007. To learn more about the program, visit www.crs.org/frontiersofjustice
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NO LONGER ALONE: ST. X STUDENTS ARE
'FAMILY' FOR PAUPERS AT FUNERALS
By Maggie A. J. Gilmour
© The Courier-Journal, from the Saturday, June 10, 2006, edition
It's 11 a.m. on a warm spring day as five young men from St. Xavier High School lift the small gray casket carrying the last remains of Stanley League.
None of them know League, a 65-year-old who died June 1 of respiratory failure in a nursing home on Hunting Road.
With no money, and no family to claim him, League had been destined for a lonely burial in a pauper's grave in the tidy River Valley Cemetery just off Cane Run Road [in Louisville].
But this day, the solemn-faced students in neatly pressed pants and dark jackets are League's family, carrying his casket toward a small concrete slab where their theology teacher, Ben Kresse, waits to offer a eulogy.
"We all come into the world being held," Kresse tells them. "We should leave it being held as well."
The students are members of the St. Joseph of Arimathea Society, a group that Kresse organized to act as pallbearers at the funerals of Jefferson County's [ Kentucky] homeless and indigent.
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Caption: By Pam Spaulding, The Courier-Journal |
League's funeral was the sixth that the society's members have attended at River Valley since Kresse started the program in May. The boys say they are giving up precious hours of their summer vacation to show their respect for the dead, no matter how grim their circumstances. "Everybody deserves a proper burial despite what their income or lifestyle is," said 16-year-old Cory Kress, who was one of League's pallbearers and who plans to stay involved in the program this fall during his senior year. Kresse's goal is to make sure that a group of students is present at every pauper's funeral in the county. He thinks it's an achievable task. Jefferson County buries about 100 indigent and homeless people a year, at a cost of $395 each. "What I'd like is to have enough kids that the coroner's office can just go on down a list and always have a group of school kids to call to come to these services," Kresse said. Kresse got the idea after hearing a National Public Radio story on a Cleveland high school's program. He took a few students on a tour of the River Valley Cemetery, videotaped it, then showed it on Saint X's in-school morning news program. About 40 students signed up for the program, and Kresse expects more will join next school year. Now he's trying to spread the program to other Catholic schools. Kresse has met with youth ministers at De Sales School, Sacred Heart, Trinity, Holy Cross and Mercy [Catholic high schools in Louisville], and all have told him they are interested. Trinity High School President Rob Mullen said his school "is looking into being involved" this fall. "It sounds like a great service project and a learning experience for young people." County Coroner Ron Holmes is delighted with the program. Holmes has made it one of his missions to improve the paupers' cemetery, including trying to replace the plastic markers on each grave with headstones paid for by donations and fundraisers. |
Holmes, who attends every pauper's funeral, said one rainy burial that St. X students attended stands out in his memory. With the rain pouring down and the prayers finished, the students had piled back in the car so they wouldn't get wetter.
"'We can't do this,' one of them said," Holmes recalled.
The boys climbed back out of the car and stood in the rain while the casket was lowered into the ground, Holmes said. "They felt they should be there right until the very end for this gentleman."
On Thursday five students did the same for League.
They carried the casket to a small concrete bier, set it down carefully, then stepped back as Kresse began the service.
"Today, we are Stanley's family," their teacher said, as he handed out a two-page printout with prayers and Psalms for the boys to read aloud. "We are here to give him the dignity that Christ would have shown him."
Two girls from Assumption High School [in Louisville] in skirts and flip flops who had come along to watch stood quietly, occasionally looking down at their fuchsia-pink painted toes.
Cory read from Matthew 25:34-46, in which Jesus tells the righteous they have done well by being kind to strangers, clothing the poor and feeding the hungry.
"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of least of these brothers of mine, you did for me," Cory read.
His teacher concluded the ceremony with a simple request:
"We ask that Stanley rest with the Lord. "
After a reading of Psalm 23, the boys carried the casket about 30 feet to a freshly dug hole. A bright yellow backhoe stood with its scoop in mid-air, ready to cover the casket with dirt.
The students laid down the casket next to the hole, then stood, talking quietly, as the casket was covered with dirt.
"He was born with family," said 15-year-old pallbearer Ben Freeman, who will be a sophomore this fall. "Hopefully now he can rest in peace with family."
Reporter Maggie A. J. Gilmour can be reached at (502) 582-4696.
Caption: By Pam Spaulding, The Courier-Journal
St. Xavier teacher Ben Kresse, far left, was joined, from left, by students Cory Kress, Rex Soriano and David George during a recent funeral at River Valley Cemetery. The students are pallbearers during the services and join in prayers.
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Save the Dates! Wisdom and Witness |
SHEPHERDING THE CHURCH'S SOCIAL TRADITION OUT OF THE SHADOWS-AND INTO THE OPEN: The Education for Justice Web Site is working to make CST familiar to all Catholics.
By Jill Rauh
When students come into Kathy Eder's class at Bellarmine College Prep in Los Gatos, California, they have no idea that the there is a biblical basis for human rights--or that respecting the human rights and dignity of all people is an integral part of what is called Catholic social thought. "In my class, we look at issues like Palestine and Israel, violence against women in Guatemala, rape as a weapon of war across the world, Sudan, the Burma situation . . . the students bring in a Daily Dilemma--something in their lives or from the news--and we go deeply into it. What does the Bible, what does Catholic Social Teaching, say about justice? How does it challenge us?"
After a semester, the students see issues of social injustice--and what their faith has to say about it--a little differently than before. "My students are clearly shaken up when they learn about issues of injustice, and then I ask them, how will this affect your choice of jobs, where you will work in the future? They see that justice is biblical and that, as Catholics, we have to respond to social injustices."
Fr. Neil Draves-Apraia, in charge of faith formation at St. Clement's Church in Saratoga Springs, New York, also has some experience "shaking things up." He is constantly trying to educate his parishoners about Catholic Social Teaching and to provide perspectives from Catholic social thought on certain issues that are laid out by the U.S. Catholic bishops and the Vatican. In June, when the U.S. Catholic bishops advocated for a ban on torture, Fr. Neil thought his parishoners should know about it. He published information about their statement in the parish bulletin and received feedback across the spectrum from parishoners.
Both Fr. Neil Draves-Apraia and Kathy Eder rely heavily on materials from Education for Justice, the Catholic Social Teaching website out of the Center of Concern, in their work. "Education for Justice is the source I go to most frequently," Fr. Neil says. "There is a tremendous amount of materials on the website at your fingertips. Bulletin inserts and articles use quotes from Vatican documents and encyclical letters, and there are prayers and factsheets on every topic." This Spring, Fr. Neil offers as an example, he was able to educate his parishoners about the Catholic stance on immigration using a series of bulletin inserts and prayers put out on the website. Kathy expresses a similar sentiment; she has used Education for Justice materials on everything from human rights to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, violence against women in conflict and Sudan. "For me, Education for Justice resources clearly demonstrate the biblical call to justice, and I don't know of any better resource that better demonstrates this call to our students. The prayer passages, CST documents, and activities to use in the classroom help students to understand the Catholic call to do justice in the world," she says.
The Education for Justice project was created in 2001 in response to the 1998 publication of the U.S. Catholic Bishops, Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges and Directions, which declared that in many situations, "Catholic social teaching is not really shared or not sufficiently integral and explicit. As a result, far too many Catholics are not familiar with the basic content of Catholic social teaching. More fundamentally, many Catholics do not adequately understand that the social teaching of the Church is an essential part of Catholic faith."
The Education for Justice Web Site aims to help Catholics embrace the Church's social tradition and to learn the skills to analyze current events and situations of injustice in the light of their faith. Since the website's launch in late 2001, more than 3,300 people have become members of Education for Justice, representing parishes, high schools, universities, religious communities, and organizations in 49 states and 35 countries. Members can download teaching units, articles, discussion guides, activities, prayers and prayer services on over 50 topics from poverty, hunger and debt to terrorism, development and peace.
To celebrate the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Center of Concern and to deepen all Catholics' awareness of the Church's social tradition, Education for Justice is offering free, 30-day trial memberships to all first-time EfJ users. All educators and other interested individuals are invited to email their name, address, and phone to info@coc.org to start learning about Catholic Social Teaching today so that, like Kathy and Fr. Neil, they can help shepherd the message of the Church's social tradition out of the shadows and into the open.
Jill Rauh is Senior Project Associate for Education for Justice, a project of the Center of Concern.
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NCEA PUBLICATIONS
Campus Ministry: Identity, Mission and Praxis, by Carmen Nanko, D.Min. This book guides the reader through a thoughtful description of campus ministry coming of age as schools work to address the many areas and needs of faith and adolescent development. The author builds on this carefully crafted foundation about the praxis of campus ministry, discussing how campus ministry and campus ministers shape and respond to the many pastoral, spiritual, liturgical and social needs of their school communities. It also offers core considerations in each area of praxis. 2001 (2nd printing). 76pp. $10 NCEA members/$13 non-members
Islam: What Catholics Need to Know, by Rev. Elias D. Mallon, Ph.D. Over the centuries Christianity and Islam have been in constant contact. Almost one quarter of the world's population follows the way of Islam. Muslims form one of the fastest growing groups in the U.S., numbering more than Episcopalians and Presbyterians. This book addresses such questions as: Who are Muslims? What do they believe? This brief overview of our mutual history is intended to help put contemporary fears, attitudes and hopes in context. It can also help religious educators better inform Catholics regarding interreligious dialogue, one of the six tasks of catechesis according to the General Directory for Catechesis. 2006. 144pp. $15 NCEA members/$22 non-members Check NCEA's online store for these books and others! Or call our Member Services at 202-337-6232 to place an order. |
MINISTERING WITH NEW MATURITY: 'Good With Kids' Isn't Enough in Youth Posts
By Michelle Boorstein
Reprinted with permission from Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Company and The Washington Post.
This article originally appeared in the August 6, 2006 edition of The Washington Post.
The philosophy of the youth ministry business these days is summed up by a recent cover story in Group magazine, the industry's must-read glossy: "Busting the 'Cool Leader' Myth."
The sarcastic cover photo -- a young, cute guy wearing a goatee and jeans, with a guitar slung across his back and tossing a Frisbee -- conjures up memories many adult Americans carry of the people who were assigned by their church, temple or mosque to be with them when they were young. Youth ministers or youth directors were likely barely out of their teens -- someone who organized softball and maybe led a simple Bible study.
That guy is passe.
Increasingly, a position once relegated to a low rung on the pay and respect scales is getting bumped up. Spurred by a new seriousness about young people's spiritual development, youth ministers and directors today have more education, are staying in their positions longer and are being paid more than they were a decade ago, according to statistics and interviews with researchers and industry groups. University classes and majors in youth ministry are becoming more common as the field becomes more professional and establishes standards. Attendance at conferences for youth ministers is doubling as such sessions as the psychology of faith, managing a volunteer force and sexual behavior are offered.
"Even a decade ago, the model was 'Hey, if you're faithful and good with kids, hop on board.' More and more now, there is a realization that you need to be skilled to do this; it's not just hanging out with youth. It's being able to manage budgets, deal with parents -- someone who can make this a living faith, not just something that's religious trivia," said Bob Rice, who helped create a youth ministry major at the Franciscan University of Steubenville two years ago. Today, it's the second-largest major at the Catholic school in Ohio.
The increased focus on youths plays out differently in various faith communities. For example, religious minorities such as Sikhs and Jews tend to make cultural identity and pride a key aspect of young people's programs. And the increased focus has evolved faster in some places than others. Although Catholic youth ministry experts say much of this is new, evangelical Protestants have been talking about it seriously for about 20 years, said Group's editor, Rick Lawrence.
That's when, he said, "the church recognized a profound truth, which is that 80 percent of people who become Christians do so before the age of 18. The church started to wake up to the reality that a lot of its work needs to be in youth ministry. The church began to take young people more seriously."
This thinking is feeding a fast-growing industry of software, videos, high-tech games, conferences and other programs created by such companies as Group, Youth Specialties, Simply Youth Ministry and Life Teen. For $42, youth ministers can buy "Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks," a CD with "lively and effective" parables and anecdotes for presentations to kids at camp or parents. For $625, they can sign up for a training conference in the fall with Life Teen, the company that created youth-oriented Mass programs that are attended by 120,000 teenagers throughout the country each Sunday. For $60, they can order a six-week teaching package called "The Power of Sex" by acclaimed youth minister Doug Fields.
"There is an avalanche of resources pouring in," Lawrence said.
The philosophy dominating the business today is "relational" ministry, which means not so much using teen lingo or dressing cool but spending quality time with young people and understanding the morally nuanced, complex world in which they live. That can require delving into painful and emotional dialogue, which is part of the daily fare for David Costanzo, a baby-faced 31-year-old who is one of the fast-rising Catholic youth ministers in Northern Virginia. The number of paid youth ministers such as Costanzo in the diocese has jumped from 25 to 47 in the past four years.
Costanzo said his "programming model" focuses on convincing young people of their divine worth and value, in part by relating to painful problems they might have, such as depression, substance abuse or self-mutilation. Having been abused as a child, contemplated suicide and experienced counseling, Costanzo said he can connect deeply with the teenagers he works with at St. Mary of Sorrows Church in Fairfax Station [Virginia].
"Most youth ministers I've gotten to know have been through something in life, and it's been a result of their relationship with Christ that's carried them through," he said.
Some say this thinking has spurred "postmodern" youth ministry, which means exploring God not only by focusing on the precise words of the Bible but through experiences, including poetry and other arts. This shift is controversial. "For some, this is stripping the message itself of its truth," Lawrence said.
The Rev. James Black, head of North American Youth Ministries for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, said the faith community realized in the past few years that old methods such as simple Bible classes weren't even close to working.
"As a society, one day we just woke up and realized we ran into a brick wall. What are we saying to these kids? If we don't keep up, we'll be left behind," he said. Although only 500 of the Adventist Church's 6,000 North American churches have full-time youth directors or youth ministers, he said, that number is rising. And this year, 3,000 to 5,000 people came to the denomination's youth ministry convention, up from 1,500 in previous years.
Part of this is possible because youth ministers are being paid more. The average salary and benefits package for a full-time youth minister has risen from $27,259 in 1990 to $36,696 in 2003 to $39,049 in 2005, according to the annual salary survey done by Group, which polls leaders from various Christian denominations.
"I think for a long time there was a perception that if you work in the nonprofit [faith] youth world, you'll live below subsistence levels. That's not the case anymore," said Sidney Abrams, director of human resources for BBYO, the largest nondenominational Jewish youth movement in North America.
Higher salaries are linked in part to the increased training and education youth ministers are bringing to the bargaining table. This is partly because of more university programs, a phenomenon that began in the 1980s and 1990s, according to the Association of Youth Ministers, which started with 28 people in 1994 and now has hundreds of members at 60 schools.
Although the young, "cool leader" image might be dated and waning, it's not completely dead. The voice-mail messages of people connected to youth ministry are very colloquial. Costanzo's says, "Have an awesome day!" On a recent Thursday, he was driving six teenagers to a pizza buffet in a van where jokes were flying about how he likes to rock to Christian music while driving, to the point of swaying the vehicle. When the conversation turns to "the partying circuit," however, he makes a point that he wasn't a partyer in high school.
"Look, it's complicated," he said of 21st-century "relational" youth ministry. For example, at his last ministry position, he wrestled with how to deal with members of his group putting up profiles on MySpace.com, a Web forum that has law enforcement officials, parents and others concerned that young people might reveal too much about themselves in a public place.
Costanzo certainly wasn't going to get anywhere by discouraging the Web posts, so he put up a MySpace profile as "another way to communicate."
He posted photos of himself with his wife and children and eventually began receiving messages there from young people at his church. "You have to meet kids where they are," he said.
"Scripture says we have to be as cunning as serpents but as gentle as lambs," he said as the group left the restaurant. "Youth ministry is like a game, a constant game of trying to balance."
Then he got back into the van and cranked up the music.
Copyright 2006, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive and The Washington Post. All rights Reserved.
Correction from The Washington Post
This article incorrectly said Franciscan University of Steubenville, in Ohio, has a youth ministry major. Youth ministry is a concentration at the school, within a major in catechetics.
Michelle Boorstein is a staff writer at The Washington Post.
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New Web Site! Global Solidarity Resources from Catholic Relief Services for the Catholic educator. This newly revised Web Site featurs lessons and simulations, created by teachers for teachers, with a special emphasis for use at the high school level. This Site will be updated regularly and in the months ahead, you will be able to search for additional resources by country/region or by global issue. |
"LIVING PROFOUNDLY" DOESN'T HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL GRADUATION
by Kelley Renz
Dear Teachers and Campus Ministers: Use this with your adolescents and young adults.
We may not be called to do great things in the world; but we can do "small things with great love."
So many of us put off finding meaning in life or taking part in something meaningful until some big milestone, whether that be graduation, turning 21, getting married, having a child, or "growing up." Mother Teresa would have something to say about that. She'd say something about our ability to do, to act right now, every day, every moment, and something profound, too.
[Mother Teresa] said: "Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier." One day while I was caring for a man in the Home for the Dying, this man suddenly became peaceful and quiet in my arms, and I realized that he had died while I was holding him. I had never experienced this before and I was so touched by it that I began to cry. Mother Teresa came right to my side and helped me to close his eyes, fold his hands and take care of him. I did not do any great things for this man. I simply held him and did my best to love him. And yet, in spite of the littleness of my deeds, Mother Teresa looked into my eyes and said: "You have received many graces for this." I learned that God looks into our hearts to see the value of our deeds. We are not necessarily called to do great things in the world. Only "small things with great love."
Mother Teresa's Lessons of Love & Secrets of Sanctity, Susan Conroy
We need to nurture within ourselves that ability to "wait on" each person who comes to us -- who God brings to us. And this "waiting on" can very well occur during our planning for the future, our studying, our running errands, our ... everything. It's a nurturing of God-sight. It is living profoundly, in every moment. Mother Teresa was an ace at it, and for that, she got to see God, even while she remained on the earth!
If we heard that the President of the United States was down the hall, wouldn't we run to see, run to meet him? Almighty God is down the hall, in the next room, knocking on your door ... rush to meet Him.
"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier."
Kelley Renz, M.A., is an Acquisitions Editor for Our Sunday Visitor, Catholic publisher of periodicals, books, curricula, software, a national newspaper and offering envelopes. She encourages you to read Susan Conroy's account of meeting, praying and living with Mother Teresa in Mother Teresa's Lessons of Love & Secrets of Sanctity, available from Our Sunday Visitor, 1-800-348-2440; www.osv.com.
A FIRM FOUNDATION: THE NEW UNITED STATES CATHOLIC CATECHISM FOR ADULTS
By Therese Brown
The new United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (USCCA) opens with the story of Archbishop John Carroll, the first bishop of the first diocese-Baltimore-in the United States. For twenty-five years, he set the direction for the Catholic Church in the United States, forging a creative role for the Church in a new type of country.
Archbishop Carroll's story is apropos for Catholic educators today. A true leader, he would gather other leaders together to creatively address the problems and issues that they faced as they preached, taught and lived the Gospel in their newly adopted country. Like him, teachers and administrators of today work together to meet their educational goals while building the Catholic identity of their schools and students.
As with Archbishop Carroll's story, readers will find their experiences of faith, family, home, school, and church in each of the stories at the start of each chapter of the USCCA. These stories open a window into the lives of the men and women who shaped the Catholic Church in the United States. These men and women invite all adults, especially teachers and other school leaders, to reflect more deeply on what it means to be Catholic and how to live out their faith commitment.
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The USCCA really is a unique formation tool. It draws its information--Church teaching--from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, then expands upon it, providing other resources like discussion questions, a meditation, and prayer to help form the reader's faith. The USCCA is an indispensable resource for teachers and school leaders who not only want to develop further their own faith, but also are in a position to support and guide the faith journey of those involved in the school. In the ongoing search for resources to help build Catholic identity in our schools, administrators can use the prayers found in each chapter as the opening prayer for staff meetings or in-service days. Department leaders across all content areas might be encouraged to use other portions of the USCCA during their staff meetings as well. |
In the classroom, teachers can prepare for their lessons by reading and reflecting on a particular chapter in the USCCA. This reflection not only can clarify how the teacher understands her own faith, but can also provide language on the topic, as well as supply other resources like the prayer and meditations to use in the classroom.
Students at the secondary school level can also benefit from using the USCCA. A chapter of the USCCA might be used to introduce a particular topic and complement the assigned textbook. Campus ministers and retreat leaders will find sections useful as they prepare for and seek materials to use in campus ministry programs or school retreats.
The USCCA is a groundbreaking resource that will support and instill a deeper and richer understanding our Catholic faith for many years to come. As schools strive to build and nurture their Catholic identity, the USCCA is an ideal resource to aid them in these efforts.
Therese Brown is works in the Publishing Department at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
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Web Sites for personal enrichment or classroom prayers www.pray-as-you-go.org - Daily prayers for your MP3 player from the Jesuits in England www.sacredspace.ie - Daily prayers produced by the Irish Jesuits |
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