Coloring Pages - thatresourcesite.com

thatresourcesite.com offers a selection coloring pages on the following themes:  

• The Holy Mass
• Mother Mary
• Sacred Heart of Jesus
• The Rosary
• Stations of the Cross

Catholic Faith Education Newsletter - September-October 2011

The September-October 2011 edition of the Catholic Faith Education Newsletter is now published online at http://4catholiceducators.com/ezine1.htm.

Resources for Upcoming Sundays

Articles, Commentaries, Homilies, Clipart, Coloring pages, Puzzles, Children's Stories for the September 4 through October 9 Sunday Gospel readings:

• September 4, 2011: 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) - Matt 18:15-20
• September 11, 2011: 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) - Matt 18:21-35 or 18:23-35
• September 18, 2011: 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) - Matt 20:1-16a
• September 25, 2011: 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) - Matt 21:28-32
• October 2, 2011: 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) - Matt 21:33-43
• October 9, 2011: 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) - Matt 22:1-14 or 22:1-10

Saint Mary's Press: Touching Hearts

Touching Hearts: The Web site of Saint Mary's Press offers a selection of prayers for Adults and for Youth on this page, Also included are several Prayer services for various occasions. On the same Web site, see also the Prayer and Spirituality page that contains a large number of poems, prayers, prayer services and the Youth Prayer page that also offers a good selection of resources..

Monthly Calendar September 2011 to August 2012

Monthly Calendar September 2011 to August 2012

I have created monthly calendars for the months of September 2011 to August 2012. The images used on the calendars are from a beautifully illustrated old book depicting the story of Joseph and his brothers.

The complete set of 25 images (larger version than those used on the calendars) in this book are available on one of my other Web sites: The Clipart Wizard.

Below are tumbnails of the September and October monthly calendars. Click on them to download a full sized PDF version that you can then print for your own use.



Illustrations above are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
These are details of illustrations provided on the Web site Old Book Art Image Gallery.

Prayer of the Month Archive

The Web site of St Thomas More Catholic School in Decatur Georgia contains a listing of prayers for each month spanning several years. Some of these are in text format while others are in video format.

Who is my Neighbour? - Meditations

Who is my Neighbour? - 42 daily meditations and 6 group sessions on the themes of welcome and culture, produced by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster.
 

Open publication - Free publishing - More westminster

A Bit of Humor - Confession

The new priest is nervous about hearing confessions, so he asks an older priest to sit in on his sessions. The new priest hears several confessions, then the old priest asks him to step out of the confessional for a few suggestions.

The old priest suggests, "Cross your arms over your chest and rub your chin with one hand."

The new priest tries this. The old priest suggests, "Try saying things like, 'I see, yes, go on, and I understand, how did you feel about that?"

The new priest says those things, trying them out. The old priest says, "Now, don't you think that's a little better than slapping your knee and saying, 'No way! What happened next?'"

Prayer Before Class

Blogger Jared Dee (The Religion Teacher) has an interesting article in which he shares excellent ideas on ways to do prayers before class.

Under each of 7 headings he describes various forms one can use for this time of prayer:

1. Use a Prayer Book
2. Student Prayer Before Class: Prayer Partners
3. Create a Prayer Service
4. Incorporate Silent Prayer
5. Praying Novenas and the Rosary
6. Use the Lesson as a Guide for the Prayer
7. Spontaneous Prayer Before Class

Virtual Visit of an Orthodox Church

Saint Nicholas Virtual Church is a beautifully done virtual presentation of the elements of an Orthodox church with descriptions of components and and the spiritual meaning attached to these.

Click on the British flag on the home page to access the English version of the site.

Our Sunday Visitor Lifelong Catechesis

The Web site of Our Sunday Visitor Curriculum Division features a Lifelong Catechesis section that aims at involving the whole community in catechesis. This section provides background information, questions, and activities focusing on the Sunday readings appropriate for each age groups (childen, adolescents, adults) as well as for families and parish assemblies.

RCL Benziger launches website

Just received the following to share with you:

RCL Benziger launches website to foster a

Catholic community of disciples

  

CINCINNATI, Ohio — RCL Benziger, a leader in religious education programs and products for the Catholic community for nearly 200 years, has launched a new website, www.BeMyDisciples.com. The date selected for the launch was August 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, the Blessed Mother of Jesus, and the first of her son's disciples. She was a true disciple who accepted her faith, lived and grew in it.

RCL Benziger is using the new site to imagine the "what ifs?" of a world full of Christ's disciples.

The website allows visitors to share their own stories of discipleship by uploading blog entries or short videos in an easy format. Inspirational videos from a catechist, a DRE, a pastor, a parent and a student offer food for reflection for others to share thoughts, ideas and inspiration.

Peter M. Esposito, President of RCL Benziger, noted that the inspiration for this project came about by listening to a radio program where people had the opportunity to record and share reflections about their mothers. This had a tremendous impact upon him. The goal of www.BeMyDisciples.com is to encourage Catholics to share stories of discipleship that they have encountered or actions by others that were inspired by Jesus Christ's example. 

“We as Catholics don’t always openly display our emotions about our faith; however, now we have a web community where people can contribute stories, reflect upon them, and come together to share their experiences as disciples, re-evangelizing their faith,” he said.

In the coming months, resources and materials for catechists, teachers, parents and students will be added to the site to offer a theological foundation that complements the personal witness stories.

For additional information about www.BeMyDisciples.com, contact Mike Raffio, vice president for sales and marketing, at 513-728-6799.

Living as One - Meditations on the Church

Living as One: Daily Meditations and Group Reflections on the Nature of the Church - 42 daily meditations and 6 group sessions on the theme of the Church - one, holy, catholic and apostolic - produced by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster for Lent 2010.

Open publication - Free publishing - More westminster

Documents on Life and Family Issues

The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF), a Canadian organization co-founded by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) and the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus. The electronic publications section of their Web site offers a large number of documents in PDF format on life and family issues.
 
Below is a sampling of the titles of documents available:

• Come Let Us Pray! Inviting Families to Pray at Home 
• Families, where are the saints of the third millennium? 
• Families: Messengers of the Compassionate Love of Christ 
• Marriage in the Catholic Church - Frequently Asked Questions
• Living, Suffering and Dying...what for?
• Stem Cells: Astonishing promises ... but at what cost?
• The Church Speaks Out: Excerpts on Euthanasia, Suicide, and the Christian Meaning of Suffering 
• A Child Gives Life to Love and Love to Life!
• Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide - Urgent Questions 
• HIGH-TECH BABIES… Exploring New Challenges To Human Dignity 

Images, Drawings and Games for Catechesis

Images, dessins et jeux pour la catéchèse (Images, Drawings and Games for Catechesis) is on a French Web site. I suggest it here because it is full of useful resources for catechists and even those who cannot read French will surely find material or ideas that can be useful to them. For a rough translation of the site in English you can use the following link which will send you to a BableFish English translation: Bablefish translation.

A Bit of Humor

The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray: "Take only ONE. God is watching."

Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples.

Back to School Prayers

If you are looking for a prayer for the start of school, you may find something that suits your needs on one of the following pages: 

• A Back to School Prayer – A prayer from a blogging mom for students, teachers and parents.
• Back to School Prayer for Educators by Jane Deren on the Education for Justice Web site
• Back to School: Prayer for the Start of the School Year on the Saint Mary's Press Web site (“Permission is granted for this article to be freely used for classroom or campus ministry purposes”). Also on the same Web site: Back to School: Intentions for the Start of the School Year.
• Back to school prayers on the Life Teen.org Blog:

1. Back to School Prayers: Seniors
2. Back to School Prayers: Sophomores
3. Back to School Prayers: Juniors
4. Back to School Prayers: Freshmen

• A Back to School Prayer Service from the Pflaum Publishing Group including Directions for the Prayer Service and a Prayer Service Handout
• Back to School Prayer from the blog A Catholic Mom in Hawaii
• Prayers for the First Day of School by Nick Senger on the Catholic School Chronicle
• Back to School Prayer by HomeFaitheditor Mary Lynn Hendrickson

Previous articles on the Catholic Faith Education Blog:

1. Back to School Prayers
2. Back to School Resources
3. Back to School Prayer Service
4. Catholic Liturgies Throughout the School Year

Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation (VLCFF) course

Old Testament (September 25 through October 29, 2011) - "This course paves the way for students to develop deeper personal understanding and appreciation for the biblical context, structure (Canon), authoring, meaning and historical impact of the Old Testament. Students are introduced to methods of reading biblical texts, understanding the story lines and process of interpretation with cultural contexts, and current trends in biblical research. Students are encouraged to respect the wholeness of the biblical texts. This approach assists students as they acquire new skills and tools to navigate through the Old Testament and apply its wisdom to their spiritual lives and ministry."

Registration information is available at the VLCFF web site.

Vatican from the Air

Beautiful photography in this 32 pages online booklet!

Open publication - Free publishing - More vatican

The Christ we Proclaim

The Christ we proclaim (CCIC)

This 60 page book published by the Diocese of Wesminster contains materials to help prepare older children of catechetical age for the sacraments of initiation.

See also: the CICCA Children's Book 

Open publication - Free publishing - More baptism

The Holy Land in pictures

The Web site of the Holy Land Association in support of the Custody of the Holy Land offers hundreds of photos and a handful of videos on the Holy Land. The photos "can be reproduced free of charge citing ATS pro Terra Sancta or the website www.proterrasancta.org in the captions or as it’s original source." The video below is from the collection of videos.

Today's Liturgy with Children

TLC is an online archive offering insightful articles, anthem suggestions for children’s choirs, previews of new music and more. It is especially helpful for those involved in ministry with children, including teachers, religious educators, pastors and leaders of Children’s Liturgy of the Word.

A Bit of Humor

A little boy was listening to a long and excessively boring sermon in church. Suddenly his eye the red sanctuary lamp caught his eye. Tugging his father's sleeve, he said, "Daddy, when the light turns green can we go?" 

-----

 Lost on a rainy Friday night, a priest stumbles into a monastery and requests shelter there. Fortunately, he's just in time for dinner and was treated to the best fish and chips he's ever had.

After dinner, he goes into the kitchen to thank the chefs. He is met by two brothers, "Hello, I'm Brother Michael, and this is Brother Francis."

"I'm very pleased to meet you. I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful dinner. The fish and chips were the best I've ever tasted. Out of curiosity, who cooked what?"

Brother Michael replied, "Well, I'm the fish friar."

Father turns to the other brother and says, "Then you must be...."

"Yes, I'm afraid I'm the chip monk..."

Lectors Proclaim

Lectors Proclaim is "is dedicated to helping men and women become more effective proclaimers of the Scriptures in liturgical ceremonies". The site provides extensive information on how to train lectors and on how to  prepare to proclaim the Word.

For more resources for lectors, see our previous article: Lector's Notes.

Hail Mary Full of Grace

Hail Mary Full of Grace: Six sessions for faith sharing groups on Mary, Mother of God is a beautifully illustrated and colorful 68 page booklets published by the Diocese of Westminster. The booklet can be printed.

Open publication - Free publishing - More westminster

Praying with Iphone

Praying with My iPhone: The best Catholic apps by Jack McLain, S.J., a former Army chaplain, is rector of St. Ignatius College in Adelaide, Australia.

Fr. McLain describes several applications for Iphone that can be used for your prayer time.

Divine Office

 DivineOffice.org - http://divineoffice.org/

Daily readings, hymns, prayers of the divine office are presented in both text and audio podcast on this wonderful Website.

How a Pope is Selected

The Web site "Vatican Insider" offers an informative animated presentation on the process of electing a pope during a conclave: How a Pope is Elected.

Church Bulletin Bloopers

Thursday night—Potluck Supper.  Prayer and medication to follow.  

For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.  

This afternoon there will be a meeting in the south and north ends of the church.  Children will be baptized at both ends.  

Tuesday at 4:00 PM there will be an ice cream social.  All ladies giving milk will please come early.  

Next Sunday, a special collection will be taken to defray the cost of the new carpet.  All those wishing to do something 
on the new carpet will come forward and get a piece of paper.  

At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be “What is Hell?” Come early and listen to our choir practice.  

The 1991 Spring Council Retreat will be hell May 10 and 11.  

Pastor is on vacation.  Massages can be given to church secretary.  

8 new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older 
ones. 

The Senior Choir invites any member of the congregation who enjoys sinning to join the choir.  

Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled.  Proceeds will be used to cripple children.