PBS - Heritage

PBS - Heritage Civilization of the Jews presents a succinct but informative history of the Jewish people from Old Testament times to the present. It contains an excellent time line, numerous printable resources, an interactive atlas, historical documents, and a wealth of information that can be useful as a backgrounder to the Old Testament, to the world in which Jesus lived, and to the history of the Jewish people as a whole.

Christian Clipart

1st Stop For Christian Clipart: Christian images here are free for your use on web sites, newsletters, church bulletins or anywhere else you can find them useful. This collection contains several thousands of graphics.

Prayer Forms

The Web site of St Patrick Parish Office of Religious Education (unfortunately, this web site is no longer online, but see below for other sources on types of prayer*) in Wadsworth Il. has a page from which you can download background sheets (with general information and age appropriate adaptation suggestions), practical step by step guides, and in-depth essays on various forms of prayer: Lectio Divina; Praying the Psalms; Contemplation; Meditation; the Rosary; the Stations of the Cross; Devotional Prayers. Click on the heading "For Catechists" in the menu on the left-hand side and then on "Prayer Forms".

Different people find different paths to God useful at different times in their lives. But unless we try out some of the different kinds, we may never find the type of prayer that best leads us into God’s loving presence!

* Prayer Methods
   Four Basic Forms of Prayer

For additional resources on prayer see:

• Prayer - Resources for Catholic Educators
• The Lord's Prayer
• Listening to the Lord's Prayer - Meditation
• Prayer - Site Reviews
• Lectio Divina
• Bible Posters: Psalm

Teachers Enterprise in Religious Education

Teachers Enterprise in Religious Education is a Web site from Birmingham in the UK. The aim of this site is to try to provide material for teachers themselves as well as for their pupils in religious education.

For teachers: there is a ‘Thought for the Day’, some ‘Theological Reflections’ and material for personal growth in ‘Spiritual Development’. There are also a number of documents that were provided as support material for programs being used in schools in Birmingham but can be used in a variety of other contexts:

• support material for high school
• support material for primary grades

• Inspirational People: Essays Written by Pupils
  Short Stories Written by Adults

Biblical Art on the WWW

In his Web site, Biblical Art on the WWW, Webmaster Rolf E. Stærk has created an extensive database portal of art work in a variety of styles and periods inspired by biblical themes. There are various navigation options depending on your needs: you can search by subject, by specific scripture passage, by artist, or using keywords. This is an exceptional reference tool.

Resources on the Gospels

The Resources for Catholic Educators Web site has a section of Articles, Commentaries, Homilies, Clip Art, Coloring Pages, Puzzles, Children's Stories on the Gospels. This is an ongoing project that aims at providing resources for teachers, catechists and pastors for homilies and religion classes on all four of the Gospels. The goal is to eventually create lists of resources for all chapters of the four Gospels and on individual passages within these chapters. Thus far, the following chapters have been completed:


Mark: Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10

John: Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 12

Luke: Luke 1

Taste and See: Catechesis as Food for the Journey

Taste and See: Catechesis as Food for the Journey is the catechetical guidelines for the Diocese of Greensburg, PA. There is a wealth of excellent information and resources in this document that can be used by all pastors, DREs and catechists. Among theses, I find the following sections particularly well done or useful :

Faith Development - This section discusses how catechesis relates to the learning styles, the concerns, the developmental characteristics, the social and cultural environments of a person. It also describes faith development at various stages of a person's life and draws implications as to what methods, activities, forms of assessment are appropriate to each stage.

Catechetical Models - descriptions of catechetical models providing a basis for selecting and adapting approaches to catechesis in a parish or regional cluster.

Topics and Texts:

• Principle Elements of the Christian Message of Catechesis
• Catechetical Topics Suggested by the Liturgical Year
• Select Bibliography of Catechesis
• Recommended Publishers
• Process for Selecting Catechetical Resources

For more resources on catechesis:

Catechetics - Resources for Catholic Educators
http://www.silk.net/RelEd/catechetics.htm

Catechesis for Persons with Developmental Disabilities
http://www.silk.net/RelEd/disabilities.htm

Resources for Catholic Educators Store - Catechesis
http://astore.amazon.com/resouforcatho0b-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=2

Games for Catechesis

Three new Yahoo groups for catechists were launched this month. All were created by group owner Elaine, and all of them focus on file folder games. There are already a number of games that have been made available by subscribers to these groups and the groups are very active even though there are few subscribers at this time. The addresses of the tree groups are listed below. You need to subscribe to the groups to have access to the files, but subscription is free.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEW_Creative_Kingdom/

This group focuses on games related to passages in the New Testament. There are two board games at the present time in the "Files" section: one on the feeding of the 5000 and one on the Good Samaritan.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OLD_Creative_Kingdom/

This one focuses on games related to the Old Testament. There are already quite a few of them available in the "Files" section under David, Joshua, Moses, Noah, Ruth and Naomi, and Samson.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OTHER_Creative_Kingdom/

This group focuses on themes not related to the Bible such as objects in a church, clothes bishops and priests wear, people one meets at church.

These group promise to become great resources for catechists. They are worth a visit and I hope more subscribers will actively contribute to the wonderful effort of those who are already participating in them.

For more resources on catechesis:

Catechetics - Resources for Catholic Educators
http://www.silk.net/RelEd/catechetics.htm

Catechesis for Persons with Developmental Disabilities
http://www.silk.net/RelEd/disabilities.htm

Resources for Catholic Educators Store - Catechesis
http://astore.amazon.com/resouforcatho0b-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=2

Clipart and Images for Catechesis

The Web site Aciperensa contains a bank of over 1000 clip art and images. The site is in Spanish, but the language of images is universal! The collection is divided under the following headings:

Advent		Bible	Catechesis
Creation		Cross	Lent
Holy Spirit		Church	Jesus
Mary		Christmas	Prayer
Biblical Passages		Biblical Characters	Sacraments
Holy Week		Christian Symbols	Values

Christian Initiation as a Process for Becoming a Christian Faithful

The Website of the European Bishops' Conference makes available a series of papers presented at the 2006 CCEE meetings on "Of Catechesis". Even if the focus is on catechesis in a European context, there is much in these presentations that applies universally or can stimulate reflection in other parts of the world. I list some of these presentations below and provide excerpts from each of them to highlight their content.

• Essential Elements in the Process of Christian Initiation by Sr. Judit Fogassy
  

  Catechesis occurs in stages that deal with initial and on-going conversion. Since its aim is to bring one into the fullness of relationship with Jesus, - as stated above - it is closely linked to the Catechumenate, which is a process of initiation into this life with the Lord and His community. This process contains certain definitive steps and elements which derive their meaning from the goal of initiation.

• The Practice of Adult Catechumenate in a Cultural and Religious Pluralism by Béatrice Blazy
  

  The fact of becoming Christians cannot be perceived as something external to human beings. The catechumenate is defined as a space and time in which the Word of God re-echoes, in which human ambition is fulfilled. Actually, no catechumenal process can take place without considering the cultural factors which influence each catechumen.
  

• The Experimentation of a Catechumenal Itinerary for Children-Youth in the Parish of Mattarello (Trent) by Don Antonio Brugnara
  

  This area is increasingly growing in the number of people who have weak connections to the church, who often do not attend mass or only occasionally receive the Eucharist. Above all, there is a lack of consistent Catholic formation within the family milieu, despite a widespread demand to receive the sacraments...All of this has shown the urgent need to review the Christian Initiation process in the parish and has spurred the decision to begin an experiment in the catechumenal process for youth...
  

• The Need for Christian Communities in the Process of Christian Initiation by Christophe Dufour, Bishop of Limoges
  

  The cultural context in which we live nowadays in France – and more generally in Europe – prompts us to become aware once again of the vital link existing between catechesis and community and of some convictions which have strongly being stated in the General Directory for Catechesis: «Catechetical pedagogy will be effective to the extent that the Christian community becomes a point of concrete reference for the faith journey of individuals. This happens if the community is proposed as a source, locus and means of catechesis» (GDC 158).

The Social Agenda

The Social Agenda is a Web site of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. It is a very useful reference available in six languages.

The introduction to the Web site reads as follows:

Students, teachers, and all those who seek a better knowledge of the social doctrine of the Church will find contained within this collection the central statements of the Roman Pontiffs from a range of texts, including papal encyclicals, apostolic letters, and Conciliar documents, on matters relating to politics, economics, and culture.

The selections are arranged thematically according to the significant subject areas of Catholic social doctrine. Under each subject heading, the quotations appear in pedagogical—as opposed to chronological or magisterial—order, with each subject area opening with a quotation that explains the issue at hand.

For resources on Catholic Social teachings, you can also consult our listings of web sites on the Resources for Catholic Educators Web site: Social Justice and Peace.

Review of religious products

The Latest Scoop, a regularly-updated column with the latest information on textbooks and their revisions gleaned from the publishers is compiled by Deb, the religion product specialist from Communication Center. The September edition of the Latest Scoop is now available on the Resources for Catholic Educators Web site.