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Features in Previous Issues of Catholic Educators News
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Web Sites Worth Exploring | |
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Andie's
Isle contains wonderful Flash animations with vocals by Ronnie
Kimball such as "I Can Only Imagine" and "So Many Roads" as well
as a number of other presention with inspirational words and songs
by various Christian artists. A refreshing site to explore and a
place to spend time to pray.
The website of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen offers the
possibility of asking your questions to an expert in religious education
through an online
form. Also of interest on the Office
of Religious Education pages of the website are a series of
bulletins created by associate director Mary Regina Morrell.
Kairos
Catholic Journal is published by the Catholic Archdiocese of
Melbourne in Australia, and its content therefore sometimes focusses
on issues specific to the Church in Australia, but most of the articles
are universal in appeal. The journal is published 23 times a year
and the web site archives gives access to articles from 2003-2006.
Each issue has 20 or more articles on a broad range of topics in
spirituality, social justice, ethics and morality, the Church in
the world, etc. and also includes reviews of books and movies, reflections
on the sunday gospels and that of feast days.
Invite
your students to pledge some
hours to build peace. This page on the Catholic.org Web site
offers your students some simple concrete suggestions as to how
they can build peace around them and provides an online form to
pledge a certain number of hours towards that goal. This is a simple
activity and requires little time to set up and it provides all
kinds of opportunities to discuss peace and social justice issues
during Lent.
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Artist Deborah A. Reeder has made available
152 sketches based on specific verses in the Bible. 68 of the
sketches illustrate Old Testament passages and the remainder
depict New Testament scenes. These sketches are a feast for
the eyes, drawn by an outstanding artist and one who obviously
has a great love for the word of God. The sketch on the right
is from that collection on the Web site Holy
Bible Sketch Pad. The author makes these sketches available
for non-profit use, but does ask that certain conditions be
met in using them, so please read the copyright notice on the
home page of the web site. |
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Jesus
Decoded is a new web site created by the Catholic Communication
Campaign, an activity of the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops. Its sub title indicates clearly what the intent of the
site is: Catholic Beliefs Versus Modern Fiction and the introduction,
after pointing out some of the mistakes in the novel The
Da Vinci Code concludes: this web site was developed "due
to the concern about many current media portrayals of Jesus Christ
and the origins of Christianity...". A number of articles on the
site concisely and clearly address questions and issues raised by
The Da Vinci Code. The
tone is sober with none of the histeria that have caracterised some
reactions to claims made in the novel.
Every
Day Catholic — "Throughout history, people have puzzled
over fundamental questions: Why was I born? What happens after I
die? Does life have meaning? In 2006, Every Day Catholic will address
these questions and explore the fundamental beliefs of the Catholic
faith." |
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Rick Jacabo, the owner of the Bible
in a Year: The Bible in a Year Podcast blog, has set out to
do just what is blog intends, record on sound files the complete
Bible in a period of one year for his subscribers. He is now at
day 265, his latest recording covering 2 Sm 23:8-24:25, Prv 20:19-21,
Mk 12:1-27. Fortunately, because all of the previous recording are
available in the archives of the blog, you can listen to it from
the beginning and do your own journey through the year whenever
you wish to start.
OnceCatholic.org
- This web site focuses on issues that may have been the cause for
some Catholics drifting away from the Church. The purpose of the
site is stated as follows:
OnceCatholic.org is a ministry of the Franciscan Friars of St.
John the Baptist Province, Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A. The Franciscan
Friars are a Roman Catholic order founded by Saint Francis of Assisi.
The mission of OnceCatholic.org is to put you back in touch with
a face-to-face community of Catholics. Along the way, we want to
walk with you as you sort through your issues with the Church.
St
Anthony Messenger Press offers a free monthly newsletter
with ideas and resources for catechetical leaders. There is a different
theme for each month. The theme for March is Healing
and Reconciliation. I copy below what they have on their
site as an intro to this newsletter ( I am sure they will forgive
me this enfringement of copyright laws!):
Faith Formation Update provides Catholic religious education
activities and resources for children and adults in a free monthly
newsletter. Great for catechetical leaders, catholic catechists
and those looking for new ideas for their RCIA and adult faith
formation programs.
This free monthly e-newsletter
brings you:
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Seasonal and topical ideas for your
planning. |
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Family faith formation tips from Judith
Dunlap, co-author of “God is Calling” family program. |
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Video clips and catechetical tips
from Joan
McKamey, SAMP video producer and catechetical leader. |
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Suggestions for parish-wide formation
and small-group materials. |
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The opportunity to participate in
our on-going Faith Formation Forum. |
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Best of all, Faith Formation Update
comes to you monthly, in your e-mail box, at absolutely
no charge. |
You can take a look at
their archives
and sign
up for the newsletter on their web site by simply providing
your email address.
Pray-as-you-go
— This is a website set up on a trial basis by the British
Jesuits. It offers ten minute daily prayer sessions and can be downloaded
in a variety of formats. The trial period was so successful that
it is now offered as a permanent service. Beautifully made! |
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Scholars
setting record straight on Mary Magdalene — By Jerry Filteau,
Catholic News Service, May 1, 2006
" Modern biblical scholars are trying to set straight centuries
of erroneous Christian tradition regarding Mary Magdalene, and Dan
Brown's The Da Vinci Code is the least of their concerns."
'Lord,
that I may see!', Father James Hughes, The B.C. Catholic
Newspaper, May 1, 2006
" Our faith tradition gives us the map to vocation discernment.
The healing of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar (Mark 10:46-52), has
a lesson for those discerning a vocation; there should be far less
emphasis on the individual deciding and more upon seeking God’s
mercy and love and allowing Him to be your guide."
St.
Mary Magdalene: Redeeming Her Gospel Reputation by Carol Ann
Morrow, Catholic Update, May 2006
"This Catholic Update examines the facts and fiction about
St. Mary Magdalene. Learn about the real Mary through Bible stories
that portray her as a witness, disciple, partner and evangelist."
A
Walk Through the Mass: A Step-by-Step Explanation (Revised)
by Thomas Richstatter, O.F.M., Catholic Update
More Online Articles
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Helping the Disabled Connect with God
Priest's New Book Offers Programs to Encourage Spiritual Experience
in Severely Impaired
ROCHESTER, Pa. - In his new book, Fr. William L. Gillum illustrates
that no one is beyond the reach of the positive benefits of God's
love. McGuire Memorial Awakening
Spiritual Dimensions: Prayer Services with Persons with Severe Disabilities
(now available through AuthorHouse) extends a hand to disabled persons
and shows them and their caregivers that a loving Christian relationship
with God is possible.
Gillum presents techniques for prayer with the disabled, which
explore many alternative ways to reach a religious experience. He
teaches about using a contemplative and sensory-based approach to
prayer by incorporating symbols to arrive at a "sense of the
sacred." Awakening to the love of God can be amplified by gentle
sounds, touch, aroma, visuals, paraphrased Scripture passages, activities
and lessons of simple phrases and sentences.
The first part of the book explains the approach, offers heartwarming
true stories and teaches readers about the goals and strategies
of the program that follows in Part 2. In the second section, Gillum
includes an introduction for leaders embarking on a prayer program
for the disabled. From preparing the space for gatherings to the
order of the various types of prayer to other activities, he helps
them teach their students.
In Part 3, 32 prayer sessions are provided. Detailed, step-by-step
guides to lessons provide organize scripts filled with ideas, encouraging
words and other effective ways to help disabled Christians connect
with God.
A revolutionary guide to awakening the spiritual energy in the
severely physically and mentally disabled, McGuire Memorial Awakening
Spiritual Dimensions: Prayer Services with Persons with Severe Disabilities
teaches them how to pray, build Christian relationships and friendships
and celebrate the presence of God.
Fr. William Gillum OFM Cap., M.Ed. is the director of pastoral
care for at McGuire Memorial in New Brighton, Pa., which provides
a school, residence and training programs to children and adults
who are severely disabled or medically fragile. A Capuchin Franciscan
priest and friar of the Pennsylvania Province of St. Augustine in
Pittsburgh, Pa., he received his Master of Divinity from the Washington
Theological Union and his Master of Education degree in special
education from Loyola College of Maryland. He has spent the past
30 years ministering to those with disabilities and is a member
of the religions and spirituality division of the American Association
of Mental Retardation and the National Apostolate for Inclusion
Ministry. AuthorHouse is the premier publishing house for emerging
authors and new voices in literature. For more information, please
visit
http://www.authorhouse.com.
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| Contrary to a common misconception,
"denial" really IS a river in Egypt – if you came
in last in the National Spelling Bee. |
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Catholic Faith Education Yahoo Group
- The purpose of this group is to post information on resources
available for the faith education of Catholics of all ages. It
is meant as a place to share information with others who are involved
in catechesis, RCIA, CCD program, Catholic school teachers, Sunday
School, youth groups, home schooling, adult faith programs...
or any other form of faith formation.
Only messages with information on resources directly
of interest to those involved in the education of the faith of
Catholics will be accepted. These can be free resources available
on the Internet or products available through publishers.
Please consider sharing with others! To join the
group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/catholicfaitheducation
For those of you who are familiar with RSS feeds, you can also
find keep up by adding the following url to you RSS Reader:
http://catholicfaitheducation.blogspot.com/atom.xml
. This will give you access to postings made on the Catholic
Faith Education Blog.
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plans, reviews, information...
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Comments. Suggestions. Submit resources, or information.
Write to Gilles Côté at
gillescote@rogers.com
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