Today we celebrate the feast of St. Patrick. In our secular culture, St.

Patrick (and his feast day) is remembered simply for his connection shamrocks, leprechauns and green beer. In fact, St. Patrick was a native of Britain. While still a teen Patrick was captured and taken to Ireland; he spent six years there as a slave. After escaping and returning home, Patrick had a vision. As he later wrote:

I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: “The Voice of the Irish.” As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea—and they cried out, as with one voice: “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.

Patrick, now a bishop, returned to Ireland where he baptized thousands, ordained native priests, and converted the sons of kings. He won over the people who had once enslaved him and is now the patron saint of the Emerald Isle.

Like the Irish of the 4th century, our diocese is waiting for a bishop who will “come and walk among us.” It has been extraordinarily heartening to see and hear of the many people around the dio-cese who are praying for our new bishop through intercessions, litanies and the Eucharist. Whoever he is, our new bishop has been cloaked in the prayers of the faithful and entrusted to the care of our Blessed Mother. And we pray that, like St. Patrick, he will teach us to walk in the joyful company of the Triune God.

Lord God, you are our eternal shepherd and guide. In your mercy grant your Church of Springfield in Illinois a shepherd who will walk in your ways and whose watchful care will bring us your blessing.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

M i s s i o nWe believe that through our ministry we continue the mission of Jesus Christ by enabling the people of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois to develop the gifts given them by the Spirit. In carrying out this mission, we strive to provide resources, service and leadership to all who are part of the educational mission of the Church: religious education, early childhood, elementary and secondary schools, and adult education.

We do this in the spirit of Jesus Christ.

this issueHait i

Theology Ki tchen

10 Top Ski l ls

Digi ta l Nat ives

St. Patr ick Prayer

COREnotesQ U A R T E R LY

J O U R N A L O F T H E O F F I C E F O R

C AT E C H E S I S

F E A S T O F S T. PAT R I C K2 0 1 0

I S S U E 2

S t a f f Jonathan SullivanDirector for Catechetical Ministriesjsullivan@dio.org

Chris MalmevikAssociate Director of Catechesiscmalmevik@dio.org

Cynthia ClemensExecutive Secretarycclemens@dio.org

Jean JohnsonSuperintendent of Catholic Schoolsjjohnson@dio.org

Marilyn MisselAssociate Superintendent of Catholic Schoolsmmissel@dio.org

Barbara BurrisAssociate Director of School Planningbburris@dio.org

Kyle HoltgraveAssociate Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministrieskholtgrave@dio.org

Beth SchmidtSecretary for School Personnel, Youth and Young Adult Ministriesbschmidt@dio.org

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Is there a meaning to Haiti? 200,000 dead; 1.5 million homeless; the chaos of looting and raping, hunger, thirst, disease. The randomness of the deaths -- children, an archbishop, a head of United Nations operations, slum dwell-ers, police. The Haitians were already liv-ing in one of the poorest, worst governed nations in the world. Now they have to struggle with the worst humanitarian disaster ever faced by the UN. Why?

The view taken by most of the media seems to be that you have to be either loopy or stu-pid to venture an answer. Admittedly, there was some justification for that after the aged evangelist Pat Robertson told his Christian Broadcasting Network that Haitians are a

people accursed because they had made a pact with the devil to win their freedom from the French in the 1790s. Idiotic, callous and stupid were some of the kinder responses. A very different interpretation was given by Hollywood actor Danny Glover. His view was that the disaster happened because the world failed to reach a pact on global warm-ing. Nutty and obscene, said bloggers.

Surprisingly, some Christian spokesmen were unprepared for the question. The Anglican Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, told the BBC he had “nothing to say to make sense of this horror”. Well, to tell the truth, he had plenty to say but none of it made a scrap of sense.

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Searching for the meaning in disasterBy Michael Cook

Photo by Lucas the Experience / flickrcc

excerpt

Not surprisingly at all, Christopher Hitchens, press officer for global atheism, said that it had no meaning whatsoever:

“It’s idiotic to ask whose fault it is. The Earth’s thin shell was quaking and cracking millions of years before human sinners evolved, and it will still be wrenched and con-vulsed long after we are gone. These geological dislocations have no human-behav-ioral cause.”

The proper response, he believes, is neither prayer nor blasphemy, but nuts and bolts stuff like donating to a worthy charity (he suggests Non-Believers Giving Aid), liberating Haitians from witchcraft, and reducing their numbers by setting up more family planning programs.

A similar reaction comes from Andrew Brown, a British science writer for The Guardian:

“the only proper responses to an earthquake are manners, or style; and kindness: immediately helping the wounded in the ruins, and neither philosophising nor planning an auto da fé.”

Refusing to philosophise about disaster is the stock-standard response of theological sceptics. The master of this is the 18th century French writer Voltaire whose “Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne” and novel Candide ridiculed Divine Providence as an explanation for the cataclysmic Lisbon earthquake of 1755. This had flattened the city in a minute and a tsunami a few minutes later killed thousands in Portugal, Spain and Morocco. As in Haiti, death came for believers and unbelievers alike. It was the feast of All Saints and congregations were buried under the rubble of their churches. There is no meaning to tragedy, writes Voltaire. “Il faut cultiver notre jardin”, “we must cultivate our garden” and not ask pointless questions like “why?”

But isn’t refusing to ask questions deeply anti-intellectual? Humans are the only beings in the universe that seek meaning in their lives; inquiry, be it scientific or theological, is what sets us apart from animals. The very earliest works of Western literature -- Gilagamesh, the Book of Job, the Iliad -- are attempts to discover what why the gift of

Of the 1.2 billion people living in absolute poverty around the globe, 70 percent are women and girls.Women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours, yet earn only 10 percent of the income.Women produce half the world’s food, yet own only 1 percent of its land.Women make up two-thirds of the estimated 876 million adults worldwide who cannot read or write; girls make up two-thirds of 77 million children not attending school. 80% of Haiti’s people live in abject poverty and one out of twelve children dies before reaching his/her fifth birthday.Per capita income in Haiti $360 compared with $37,000 in the US89% of people in Haiti live below the poverty line vs. 12% in the USInfant mortality rate in Haiti 118 per 1000 vs. US 6 per 1000Life expectancy in Haiti is 57 years vs. 78 in USLiteracy rate in Haiti is 53% vs. 99% in US

FACTS about HAITI

Photo by IFRC / flickrcc

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life is so often accompanied by pain and ends in death. Furthermore, if you deny that there is meaning in natural disasters, there can hardly be meaning in the disasters we wreak upon each other. Were the deaths of a million Cambodians bereft of meaning? of four mil-lion Congolese? of six million Jews? of 40 million Russians? -- to cite only a few calamities in recent times. If they were utterly senseless, must we not concede, too, that there can be no hope whatsoever of justice? And, if so, what point, really, is there of striving to right wrongs, heal wounds and console survivors?

If people truly believe that there is no meaning, most of them will end up reacting as cal-lously as US shock-jock Rush Limbaugh, who advised listeners not to contribute to Haiti appeals: “we’ve already donated to Haiti. It’s called the US income tax,” he said.

The problem for atheists is that the search for meaning always leads to God -- to God who weighs our all-too-brief lives in the scales of eternity, but hidden behind an impenetrable veil of mystery. That’s why they cut question time short, like a politician at an uncomfort-able press conference. To use the language of philosophy, they arbitrarily limit their spirit of inquiry to efficient causes and ignore final causes.

The problem for Christians is that definitive answers to our suffering come in the afterlife. It would be more convenient if we could publish them gloatingly on tomorrow’s New York Times op-ed page, to the discomfiture of scoffers, but that is not the way God works. Even

Photo by United Nations Development Proramme / flickrcc

Christ on his cross posed the anguished question, “Eli Eli lama sabachthani?”, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Dogmas do not give cookie-cut-ter answers and Christians of every generation have wrestled with suffering and death. Sometimes their answers ring of blasphemy, as in King Lear -- “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; They kill us for their sport”. Sometimes they are optimistic, as in T.S. Eliot’s “Little Gidding” -- “And all shall be well and / All manner of thing shall be well”. But their questions are all the bolder because they are sus-tained by the hope that eventually they will know the answer. Without that hope, no wonder Mr Hitchens thinks it is idiotic to use the brains God gave him.

So what is the meaning of Haiti, then? I am not game to venture an answer as to why the wretched of the earth have been swept away and we, the chardonney and latté set, live on to download our iPhone apps. But it has always struck me that the Christian God does not deal with souls by the gross, but one by one, tenderly, all 200,000 of them. Divine Providence does not mean that we shall never suffer, but that having suffered, we shall be loved. One of the best expressions of that comes in Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer prize-winning novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey. A monk in 18th century Peru sees five people plunge to their deaths when their rope bridge snaps and hurls them into a canyon. Why them? Why then? He spends six years in research and concludes that “each of the five lost lives was a perfect whole” and that each had been ended by “a sheer Act of God.” The novel’s celebrated conclusion is:

“But soon we shall die and all memory of those five will have left the earth, and we ourselves shall be loved for a while and forgotten. But the love will have been enough; all those impulses of love return to the love that made them. Even memory is not necessary for love. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.”

In any case, amazing as it seems to the American and British journalists trudging through Port-au-Prince, Haitians are sure that there is a meaning to their suffering. As Rosena Roche, whose husband died in the quake, told the Washington Post, “I still have faith in God,” Roche says. “I want to give glory to God.”

This article by Michael Cook was originally published on MercatorNet.com under a Creative Commons License. If you enjoyed this article, visit MercatorNet.com for more. http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/searching_for_meaning_in_haiti/

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Jesus summoned his

disciples and said, “My

heart is moved with pity

for the crowd, for they

have been with me now

for three days and have

nothing to eat. I do not

want to send them away

hungry, for fear they

may collapse on the

way.”

The disciples said to

him, “Where could we

ever get enough bread

in this deserted place to

satisfy such a crowd?”

Jesus said to them,

“How many loaves do

you have?” “Seven,”

they replied, “and a few

fish.”

He ordered the crowd to

sit down on the ground.

Then he took the seven

loaves and the fish, gave

thanks, 14 broke the

loaves, and gave them

to the disciples, who in

turn gave them to the

crowds. They all ate and

were satisfied.

Matthew 15: 32-37

One issue that most all catechists struggle with is the likelihood that our teens will jettison out of our local assembly

during the high school years. In fact, the February 2010 publication Religion Among the Millennials from the Pew Research Center noted that the Millennial generation (those born after 1980) are much less likely to affiliate with a particular religion than previous genera-tions in the United States. Although Catholics are not necessarily mentioned as a particularly affected group, the trends indicate that a growing percentage of our young people simply don’t demon-strate the same need to identify themselves as Catholic Christians as those in older generation groups. Given the fact that we at the Church of St. Jude intentionally began to lower the age for confir-mation candidates from the 10th grade down to the 7th grade, the big question in my mind was: What can we possibly do to help keep these kids at the table?

Three years ago, we invited some confirmation candidates to an informal listening session to discuss life after confirmation. Of all that was said, one thing was certain: they did not want to sit in a class and simply pour over textbooks as they did during their earlier PSR years. They wanted to start experiencing their faith in a tan-gible way. Developmentally, junior and senior high school students do respond well to learning that takes place in some active setting. Even Saint Francis of Assisi believed that if possible, it was impor-tant for his young brothers to live out their vocation by working with their hands. With such a challenge before us, I began to apply much of what I was learning as a graduate student at Aquinas In-stitute of Theology. It seemed to me that if we could just combine a particular activity that was appealing enough to the students with some theological content, we might be able to find a learning for-

mat to attract the students to keep developing their faith knowledge.

I knew that one of my great passions in life was cooking, so I combined that with some theologi-cal content and Chef Dan’s Theology Kitchen was born. Since that first offering in the fall of 2007, I

have created three versions (or upgrades) in order to present theological reflection, moral theology,

chef dan’s theology kitchen by Dan Frachey

“

and ecclesiology in a six-week format that would not over-tax these already busy students. Another class, called “Restoration: God’s Favorite Hobby,” allowed sev-eral students to learn about covenant theology in the Old Testament from Deacon Tom Walker while giving them a chance to actually help restore an old car. Each application, whether in a kitchen or an auto garage, provided a metaphorical con-nection for the students to better grasp the underlying message in each class.

For example, during week two of Chef Dan’s Theology Kitchen 3.0 this past Janu-ary, we identified two core aspects of our Catholic theology: we are a communal and relational people. To best illustrate this, I started the class in the kitchen and taught my group how to make French bread. Each ingredient (yeast, salt, flour and water) provided ample inspiration for making this connection to how we as Catholics experience church as communion. Most teens will not want to sit and do a study of the great work Lumen gentium that came to us during the Second Vatican Council, but this group was willing to relate the idea of communion by measuring out flour, kneading the dough and eventually breaking off and sharing a crusty piece of a French baguette with the others!

The very act of making bread, Marinara sauce, chicken Florentine or cheesecake is so utterly incarnational and sacramental. If Jesus redeemed the world, the stuff of this world exudes the holy. Just as Jesus is the true sacrament of the Father, we the Church become the sacrament of Christ and sanctify the world we live in, the combination of fresh ingredients merge to become something greater than their individual parts.

In the end, unless we can take the ordinary activities in our lived experience and somehow find new and creative ways to conform them to the person of Je-sus Christ and the lived tradition taught by the Church, there will be a continu-ing disconnect that is reflected in our lost-teens who no longer see or value the relevance of our Catholic faith. After three years of these high school elec-tive courses, I am convinced that we have found a hands-on and visceral way of experiencing theology which Saint Ambrose aptly defined as “faith seeking understanding.” To the extent then that I can find men and women who have a particular charism or communal gift to share, I’ll keep creating new high school electives that combine their gifts with an aspect of our faith that needs to find more understanding among our youth.

Dan Frachey is the director of Christian formation at the Church of St. Jude (Rochester) and a graduate of Aquinas Institute of Theology.

TOP 10

1 Planning Good Lessons – Taking the time to plan your lesson is one of the

best gauges of weather your lesson will be successful or not.

2 Leading Prayer Experiences – Helping lead children in pray is a sure way of

getting them not only to hear and know “about” God but also to encounter Him.

3 Communicating Effectively – It is impor-tant to find ways to communicate to stu-

dents effectively. Often in our educational environment in the U.S. kids seem to allow very little to go from what they are hearing to what they are actually processing and actually comprehending. Catechists need to communicate in a way that engages stu-dents.

4Involving Children – The more you involve your students the more

engaged they will be and the more they will enjoy their Religious Education experience. Lecturing or reading from the text alone will not draw the students into the truths and message that you as a catechist are trying to communicate. At the heart of our mes-sage is a person – Christ.

5Establishing Discipline – Either you dis-cipline the kids or they discipline you.

In today’s class environment students that distract draw their classmates attention away from the lesson and onto the them-selves. Classroom time is very valuable and there is no time for students who seek to distract you (the catechist) or the other students from the precious little time you have with your students each week.

6Using A Variety of Teaching Methods – One week break your students into

small groups, another week have them work individually, and another week ask for volunteers, etc… Also, use different ways or means to communicate your message (art, video, music, illustrations to name a few).

7Asking Questions Properly- If you ask questions that require yes or

no answers that is all you will get. Ask questions that will draw more out of your students and that will draw the students deeper into the subject at had. Sometimes the very questions that are asked actu-ally distract from the main points you want to make because students begin to share various experiences that don’t help focus on the lesson.

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SKILLS TO DEVELOP AS A CATECHISTBy William O’Leary

Every catechist desires to grow in his/her ability to be a good communicator and witness of the Faith. Here are 10 skills that will contribute to anyone seeking to pass on the faith and engage the students you are ministering to.

8 Leading Good Discussions – Depending on the age, discussion has the potential

to really help students not only think and absorb what they are learning about but also to draw more out of them because they desire to share. It is not that they don’t have something to share. It could be that they are not receiving the right questions that will draw them out and allow them to share.

9 Offering Children Positive Feedback – St. Paul said “Encourage one another

while it is still today” (Heb. 3:13). Students desire to be encouraged in their lives. It is no different when it comes to their faith. The only requirement is that you are authentic in your encouragement.

10 Working Well with the Text – The textbook is only a tool. It is not the

crux of your lesson. You as the catechist are the primary communicator, not the text-book. You are the primary witness and mes-senger of the Good News, not the textbook or the video you show, or the activity you have your students participate in. You are the one who brings it together so that the students are able to grow in their knowledge of the faith and their relationship with God. Yes, the textbook can be a good guide for what you are going to cover, but it should never be the sole thing you depend on to teach your students (I only recommend very small doses of reading out of the textbook).

William O’Leary is the Director of Religious Formation at Church of the Ascension in Overland Park, Kansas. This article originally appeared on his blog, Catechesis in the Third Millennium (catechesisinthethirdmillennium.wordpress.com).

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Catechist’s Journey - catechistsjourney.loyolapress.comJoe Paprocki is a popular speaker at catechetical gatherings (including the DAEC). In his blog he discusses his activities and philosophy as an eighth-grade catechist at a parish outside Chicago. His blog includes details of the activities he uses with his students.

The Catholic Toolbox - catholicblogger1.blogspot.comThis blog, from a 12-year CCD veteran and former special education teacher, offers lots of activities, lesson plans, and crafts for catechists, homeschooling parents and Catholic school teachers.

Engaging Faith - engagingfaith.blogspot.comA group blog sponsored by Ave Maria Press, Engaging Faith posts “practical lesson ideas and activi-ties for Catholic educators.”

Growing in Christ - stareligiouseducation.blogspot.comSt. Thomas Aquinas Parish in East Lansing, Michigan, posts updates about their catechetical programs, includ-ing weekly objectives and homework assignments. A wonderful glimpse into one parish’s program.

Weblogs: Four blogs for teachers and catechists

Office for Catechesis PO Box 3187 Springfield, IL 62708-3187 217-698-8500 www.dio.org/catechesis

Funded by the Annual Catholic Services Appeal.

CCaatteecchhIIzziinngg DDiiGGiittaall NNAAttiivveeSS

How the internet generation learns, works, plays, and prays

Today’s generation gap seems larger than ever. The students in our parishes and schools are comfortable with technologies that seemed like science fiction when many of us were growing up. Given the radically different way that “digital natives” use technology to take in and process knowledge, what are the implications for the catechetical ministry of the Church? How can we reach out to them without compromising the Gospel? And what do teachers and catechists need to know about this “brave new world?” This free webinar will seek to address these questions and help catechists, Catholic teachers, and youth ministers find ways to “bridge the gap.” About the presenter Jonathan F. Sullivan is the director of catechetical ministries for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois and co-chairs the technology committee of the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership.

Tuesday, April 6 – 3:30-4:30p http://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/585999794 Tuesday, April 6 – 7:30-8:30p http://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/338192987

Wednesday, April 7 – 3:30-4:30p http://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/252662386

Thursday, April 8 – 7:30-8:30p http://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/284633514

How has the explosion of new technologies shaped the lives of the next generation? And what will that mean for the future of education and catechesis?

DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD IN ILLINOIS

Dates & Times To register for this free webinar, choose one of the four sessions and follow the URL.

photos by demi-brooke and Jeroen Thoolen / stock.xchng P.10

•Tuesday, April 6 – 3:30-4:30phttp://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/585999794

• Tuesday, April 6 – 7:30-8:30phttp://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/338192987

• Wednesday, April 7 – 3:30-4:30phttp://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/252662386

• Thursday, April 8 – 7:30-8:30phttp://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/284633514

photos by demi-brooke and Jeroen Thoolen / stock.xchng

COREnotes Issue 02 The Feast of St. Patrick - 2010

Office for Catechesis1615 W. Washington • P.O. Box 3187• Springfield, IL 62708-3187

217.698.8500 ph • 217.698.8620 fax • dio.org/catechesis

This work is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

I bind to myself todayThe strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:I believe the Trinity in the UnityThe Creator of the Universe.

I bind to myself todayThe virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.

I bind to myself todayThe virtue of the love of seraphim,In the obedience of angels,In the hope of resurrection unto reward,In prayers of Patriarchs,In predictions of Prophets,In preaching of Apostles,In faith of Confessors,In purity of holy Virgins,In deeds of righteous men.

I bind to myself todayThe power of Heaven,The light of the sun,The brightness of the moon,The splendour of fire,The flashing of lightning,The swiftness of wind,The depth of sea,The stability of earth,The compactness of rocks.

I bind to myself todayGod’s Power to guide me,God’s Might to uphold me,God’s Wisdom to teach me,God’s Eye to watch over me,God’s Ear to hear me,God’s Word to give me speech,God’s Hand to guide me,

God’s Way to lie before me,God’s Shield to shelter me,God’s Host to secure me,Against the snares of demons,Against the seductions of vices,Against the lusts of nature,Against everyone who meditates injury to me,Whether far or near,Whether few or with many.

I invoke today all these virtuesAgainst every hostile merciless powerWhich may assail my body and my soul,Against the incantations of false prophets,Against the black laws of heathenism,Against the false laws of heresy,Against the deceits of idolatry,Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.

Christ, protect me todayAgainst every poison, against burning,Against drowning, against death-wound,That I may receive abundant reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me,Christ behind me, Christ within me,Christ beneath me, Christ above me,Christ at my right, Christ at my left,Christ in the fort,Christ in the chariot seat,Christ in the deck,Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,Christ in every eye that sees me,Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself todayThe strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,I believe the Trinity in the UnityThe Creator of the Universe.

Prayer of St. Patrick