Formed In Faith

Christ’s Body and Blood

Lent Day 44 – Christ’s Body and Blood

by Fr. Robert Barron

The central and still startling claim of the Catholic Church is that Jesus is really, truly, and substantially present under the forms of bread and wine. His presence is not simply evocative and symbolic, not simply the result of our thinking so or wishing so, but rather real, true, and substantial.

If you want to find this verified scripturally, look of course at the accounts of the Last Supper in Matthew, Mark, and Luke—and also in Paul. But look especially at the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel. Jesus identifies himself as the “living bread come down from heaven,” and then he specifies, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”

Now this was extremely objectionable language for a Jew of Jesus’ time. To eat someone’s flesh was a term of contempt. More to it, the drinking of an animal’s blood was expressly forbidden throughout the Old Testament—much less the drinking of a man’s blood. But when Jesus’ listeners object, Jesus does not soften his language—he intensifies it: “My flesh is real food and my blood real drink.”

Click here to read the entire article.

“So, what is your excuse?”

Nobody told me!

03/31/2015 

There was a commotion in the communion line. I couldn’t hear what the deacon was saying, but the woman who approached him was responding to him in a loud, conversational tone that rose above the reverent murmur in the church. “What are you talking about?” she called out. “Is this what you mean? This?”

Horror: she was waving around a consecrated Host like it was a business card or a cookie. I started to put the baby down, preparing to rush over and tackle this woman before she did something unthinkable.

Then I realized she was smiling, embarrassed. She gave the Host back to the deacon and said, just as loudly, “I didn’t know! Nobody told me!” And she walked away. As far as I can tell, she was just a newcomer who was at the church for social reasons, or out of curiosity. She had gotten in line because everyone else got in line, and she went up to get her cracker because everyone likes a freebie.  Nobody told her that she shouldn’t. God bless our deacon for realizing that something was amiss, and for protecting Our Lord.

Summer Calendar in Faith Formation

summer classes

Our summer calendar is packed with great learning and formation opportunities!
What classes or professional development courses will you be taking this summer?

Below is the complete catalog, including courses from the School Office:
SUMMER 2015 CALENDAR

Here is a condensed version of the catalog with just the Faith Formation Agency’s course schedule:
SUMMER 2015 CALENDAR (FF Only)

Remember you can always find a copy of the calendar on the Archdiocesan Webpage, or on our Blog under the Catechist Certification tab.

Catholic Men’s Conference: Wrap-Up

The fourth, annual Catholic Men’s Conference – in the Archdiocese of Louisville – took place on Saturday, March 21, at St. Michael Parish (8 AM to 1 PM).

http://www.cmclouisville.net

The 2015 CMC theme was “Become the Light: Growing in Discipleship.”  The keynote speaker was Dr. Jonathan Reyes, Director of the Department of Justice, Peace, and Human Development, of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), in Washington D.C.   A brief, rousing welcoming address to all attendees was delivered by Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville.  He also presided at the conference’s closing liturgy.
Rounds of 5 breakout workshop sessions followed the keynote, as did opportunities for the participants to experience the sacrament of Reconciliation and spend time with a wide variety of exhibitors from local Catholic organizations and Archdiocesan programs.

The Archdiocesan division of Faith-Formation helped plan the CMC overall again this year, provided an exhibit, and assisted on-site with the prayer dimensions of the March 21 event.  Faith-Formation staff was represented by Mr. Art Turner, director, and  Mr. Butch Ekstrom, associate director, who worked the office’s resource exhibit at the CMC and helped with other activities.

Here are some photos from the conference’s entertaining breakfast — featuring ‘flying pancakes,’ by the company Chris Cakes — and the Faith-Formation resource tables at the 2015 conference.

PCL Gathering March 12, 2015

flyer- Sr. Sharon Gray, Day of Reflection

NACYML presents a Free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)

NACYML presents a Free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)
April 12-May 16, 2015
A free online learning experience for all those interested in helping young people encounter Christ and the Church including parents, youth ministers, pastors, DREs, Campus Ministers, Catholic School Teachers, adult volunteers,and catechists. This is a five week Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) with a variety of national speakers including Archbishop Kurtz, Dr. Ansel Augustine, Fr. Joe Espalliat, Dr. Carolyn Woo, and many more! Sign up now and reserve your spot.

http://www.nacyml.org/encounterDescription.htm

 

Events in March

Images of God
Date: Thursday, March 5, 2015
Time: 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Location: Our Lady of Lourdes Parish
Presenter: Dawn Della Bella, Director of Lifelong Formation and Education, St. Albert the Great Parish
Cost: $10.00 (check payable to ALMI)
Registration: Register prior to class to insure class availability. Contact Linda McLemore  or (502) 448-8581 ext. 1324
Catechist Credit: 2.5 hours applies toward the Associate Level or Theology in the area of Spirituality

This class is an exploration into both the personal and communal images of God and how they impact our sense of community and ministry.


Spring Retreat Day: “Living in the Paschal Mystery”
Date: Saturday, March 7, 2015
Time: 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Location: Flaget Center
Presenter: Fr. Bob Ray, Priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville
Cost: $25.00 (includes lunch) (check payable to ALMI)
Registration: Register prior to class to insure class availability. Contact Linda McLemore or (502) 448-8581 ext. 1324
Catechist Credit: 6 hours applies toward Spiritual Formation

While looking at the mission of Jesus this Lenten retreat will offer an opportunity to reflect on the ways in which we have experienced God’s action in our lives through the process of “letting go”.

spring retreat  Flyer 3.7.15b


PCL Gathering- Day of Reflection
Date: Thursday, March 12, 2015
Time: 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
Location: Flaget Center
Presenter: Sr. Sharon Gray, SCN
RSVP by contacting Lynn McDaniel or 502-448-8581 Ext. 1314.


Faith Development
Date: Thursday, March 19, 2015
Time: 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Location: Our Lady of Lourdes Parish
Presenter: Maureen Larison, Consultant for Adult Formation and Initiation, Archdiocese of Louisville
Cost: $10.00 (check payable to ALMI)
Registration: Register prior to class to insure class availability. Contact Linda McLemore or (502) 448-8581 ext. 1324
Catechist Credit: 2.5 hours applies toward the Associate Level or Catechetics

This is a study of the development nature of faith and the diverse expressions of faith formed by tradition, culture, and life experience.


ALI- Evangelization and the Social Mission of the Church
Date: Thursday, March 20, 2015
Time: 9:30 am – 3:30 pm
Location: Flaget Center
Presenter: Dr. Jonathan Reyes
Cost: $40.00 includes lunch (check payable to ALMI)
Registration: Register prior to class to insure class availability. Contact Linda Linda McLemore or (502) 448-8581 ext. 1324

Flyer Registration


Catholic Men’s Conference
“Become the Light”: Growing in Discipleship to Christ
Date:March 21, 2015
Time: 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. (registration begins at 6 a.m.)
Location: St Michael Catholic Church
Keynote: Dr. Jonathan Reyes, Executive Director of the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Cost: $30 Adult/$15 Student
Registration: Online: www.cmclouisville.net or mail registration form with payment to:
Linda McLemore
Flaget Center
1935 Lewiston Dr.
Louisville, KY 40216

To bear witness to Christ, to be alight, requires that we are transformed more and more into his image. As Paul says, “it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” Thus being a light requires that we mature as disciples of Christ. What accounts for this maturation? How do we grow in our commitment to Christ so that we can be lights to the world? Considering the lives of Peter and Paul and the teaching of various Saints we will look at the process of maturation in Christian discipleship and consider very practical ways to grow in our commitment to Christ. We will also look at the ways we can share the love of Christ with others.


 

 

 

 

 


Technology in the Classroom

education-technology

An Article by Lisa Mladinich from RTJ’s Creative Catehcist

Catechists are pretty savvy when it comes to online resources. For instance, most of us search the Internet at lightning speed to access free materials like Catholic coloring pages, lesson plans, or craft instructions. Many of us create our own worksheets, word searches, crossword puzzles, and mazes by using free sites like ArmoredPenguin.com, DiscoveryEducation.com, and Zoomerang.com.

Last year, I made the acquaintance of Carmen LaGalante, a Catholic teacher who continually experiments with new ways to help students encounter Christ through real-world experiences of their faith in action. Her blog, jesusteachertech.com, describes how she harnesses the power of technology to do just that. These are some of her recommendations:

To read more of this article by Lisa Mladinich click here.

Lisa Mladinich is a wife and mother and the author of the “Be an Amazing Catechist” series from Our Sunday Visitor. She is the owner of AmazingCatechists.com and blogs at “Water into Wine” at Patheos.com

 

 

Rite of Election 2015

As Lent began, we celebrated special rituals for the 521 new members who are preparing to celebrate the Sacraments of Initiation during the Easter Vigil. The weekend weather was cold and icy, but that did not stop the two celebrations of the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion held on Saturday morning at the Cathedral and on Sunday afternoon at St. Gabriel. We rejoiced greatly with the 225 catechumens and 296 candidates from across the Archdiocese of Louisville who will enter the Church at the coming Easter Vigil.

Those present heard the words of 1 Peter 2: “…like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house….” and the words of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of John: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” The catechumens and candidates were reminded of the journey of faith which had brought them to this moment and the important work that God had done (and continues to do) in their lives. As followers of Christ, we must remain close to Him and to the Church in order to strengthen our faith and grow in love.

Archbishop Kurtz questioned their readiness for the sacraments and then received the testimony of godparents, sponsors, and the entire community before declaring the catechumens to be members of the elect and inviting the candidates to be faithful to their baptismal promises. We rejoiced with our brothers and sisters who will be fully initiated and enter the Church in a few short weeks. What a great way to begin Lent! May the elect and candidates remain in our prayers as we move toward Easter.

(These are some scenes of Archbishop Kurtz greeting the elect and candidates after the ceremony.)

 

 

 

 

 

GPS Findings

photo_-_Janet_Schaeffler_op_507x783presentation pic   Group shotSr. Schaeffler during event

Thank you to Sr. Janet Schaeffler, OP.
Sr. Schaeffler led an informative session Feb. 12th offering practical and inspirational ideas on how to work with Adults in Faith Formation.
Nearly 40 Adult Faith Formation leaders attended the event from 20 different parishes.

Sr. Janet Schaeffler, OP, is the author of several books, including 40 tips: Getting Started in Adult Formation, and Nuts & Bolts- Planning & Best Practices for Adult Formation.  She is a nationally known expert in the field of Adult Faith Formation and popular speaker.  Her website is http://www.janetschaeffler.com.