National Vocations Awareness Week

Posted January 9, 2012 by Sue Klejeski
Categories: Parent's Perspective

This week, the Catholic Church in America is celebrating National Vocation Awareness Week.  It began in 1976 and culminates each year with the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord.

Of course, we’re delighted that this happens to line up so nicely with our monthly topic and we hope the resources we post this week encourage your family in their study of vocations, and especially will help your children as they begin to discern where the Lord is calling them to serve.

To begin that process, you might want to check out your diocesan web site.  Here in Minnesota, it’s www.10000vocations.org, but you can just do a search for [name of your diocese] Vocations Office and you’ll be able to find information that is relevant to your area.

You’ll always find the basics:

At this point, I need to add our typical warning about children using the internet*, but I strongly suggest you check out some of the resources on your diocesan vocation’s site and share the appropriate ones with your family.

*(There are many helpful and even holy places on the ‘net, but it’s a dangerous place for children who may lack the technical and discernment skills to navigate it safely.)

Hey Parents!

Posted January 7, 2012 by Sue Klejeski
Categories: Parent's Perspective

One of this month’s suggested classroom activities was to have the students write or draw something to send to their adopted seminarian to help get the relationship started.  Not all classrooms chose to do this, but if yours did be sure to mail the letter!  You’ll find the address right under your seminarian’s photo, and you might even want to add a little note from yourself.

Fully Operational

Posted January 6, 2012 by Sue Klejeski
Categories: Uncategorized

We’re all set up and ready for you to collect your official 2011-12 Mass Challenge t-shirts!

Remember, to earn a shirt your kids need to:

  1. Learn the new Mass responses (in the gray, shaded boxes in the challenge booklets you received in October).
  2. Recite them to you.  (You read the prompts from the non-shaded areas and they give their memorized responses.)
  3. Fill out the certificate.
  4. Turn it in at their next Family Formation time.

THAT’S IT!

We have a free shirt for every Family Formation student who completes the challenge, but your whole family is invited to participate and those who meet the challenge can buy shirts for only $5.

The Source and Summit!

Posted January 5, 2012 by Sue Klejeski
Categories: Uncategorized

Preparation for receiving first Holy Communion begins in the classrooms this month, so if you think of it, say a prayer for all those who are preparing to receive and for those who are teaching their classes (and, of course, pray also for the parents who are preparing their children with the First Sacraments Home Lessons).

During this month’s classroom time, they baked bread together, got a tour of the sacristy, and were officially invited to participate in the greatest banquet of all!

Double duty on this month’s memory verse

Posted January 3, 2012 by Sue Klejeski
Categories: Parent's Perspective

Tags: ,

January’s memory prayer for grades 4-6 is a family vocations prayer from Archbishop Harry Flynn.  As you may have noticed, it’s a little longer than the average memory verse so you’ll want to start learning it right away, but even beyond that, I’d like to suggest a little different strategy for this month.

Almost all month we’ll be examining the topic of God’s call to each of us from different perspectives and a great way to tie it all together would be to have everyone in your family (toddlers to teens to grown-ups) recite this prayer together each day at a specific time like after a meal or before bed.

Not only will you pretty much guarantee your 4-6th graders will ace their memorization, but you will be modeling the value of prayer in your family, you’ll be helping the increase of vocations in your diocese, and you’ll be encouraging vocations in your family.  Win/win/win/win.

Feel free to copy the memory verse page from your home lesson so each of your pray-ers have their own copy to read, or you can paste the text in from the link above and print your own holy card sized prayers to keep at your most convenient location.

The Holy Father’s Prayer Intentions for January, 2012

Posted January 2, 2012 by Sue Klejeski
Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: ,

General Intention: Victims of Natural Disasters.
That the victims of natural disasters may receive the spiritual and material comfort they need to rebuild their lives.

Missionary Intention: Dedication to Peace.
That the dedication of Christians to peace may bear witness to the name of Christ before all men and women of good will.

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You all my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of all our associates, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father for this month.  Amen.

January Prayer Tables for Classrooms

Posted January 2, 2012 by Sue Klejeski
Categories: Catechist's Corner

Tags:

Remind your students that it’s still the Christmas season by using pieces of your nativity set on this month’s prayer table.  While the traditional (12 days after Christmas) date of Epiphany is January 6, most countries, including the United States will celebrate it on Sunday, January 8.

One more fun fact about the O Antiphons

Posted December 24, 2011 by Sue Klejeski
Categories: Uncategorized

Of course they each individually point the way to the coming of the Messiah, but if you look at them all together, you’ll see a not-so-secret message.  Take the first letter of each of the titles in Latin and arrange them in order from last to first and you’ll get the words Ero Cras.  Translate it and you’ll learn that “Tomorrow I Come.”  (Isn’t that cool?!)

O Emmanuel

Posted December 23, 2011 by Sue Klejeski
Categories: Uncategorized

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.

O King of the Nations

Posted December 22, 2011 by Sue Klejeski
Categories: Uncategorized

“For a child has been born for us, a son given us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
“He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Isaiah 2:4

O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.