Resources on Confirmation, Confession and Prayer

The Website of Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic parish in Blackfen (near Sidcup) in the UK offers a number of useful resources:

Confirmation Worksheets:

• Worksheet 1 What is Confirmation
• Worksheet 2  The Sacrament of Penance
• Worksheet 3 The Holy Eucharist
• Worksheet 4 Baptised into the Church
• Worksheet 5 The Holy Spirit
• Worksheet 6 The Mass of Confirmation

Confession Leaflets:

• Confession leaflet for children - A5 leaflet suitable for children aged 7-10. 
• Confession leaflet for teenagers - A4 tri-fold leaflet suitable for young people 11-16. 
• Confession leaflet for adults - A4 tri-fold leaflet for adults.

School Mass Leaflets:

• In honour of the children of Fatima, Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta
• Votive of the Holy Cross
• In honour of Our Lady of the Rosary
• In honour of St Joseph the Worker
• Votive of Christ the King
• In honour of the Guardian Angels (Family House Mass)

Various other leaflets:

• Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction Service of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction with some popular prayers. A5 leaflet.
• Prayer for engaged couples A4 sheet with 4 copies of a prayer for engaged couples.
• Service at a Crematorium A5 leaflet. Suitable for priests or deacons conducting a Liturgy of the Word at the Crematorium. Uses texts from the Order of Christian Funerals and traditional sources. For private use only.
• The Angelus A4 sheet with the Angelus arranged so that it can be cut into 4 A6 copies to give out.
• Miraculous Medal Novena Novena in honour of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. Arranged on A4 so that each sheet can be cut to give two small leaflets.

Other 6 - Prayer and Sharing

Other 6 - Loyola Press has created a Twitter-like site that encourages people to share where they have found God in their lives today or where they need to find him. You can answer one of two questions: Where did you find God today? Where do you need to find God today? You can also comment on the answers given by others, providing encouragement and offering prayers for their needs.

Vocation Music Video

Seminarians interpreting the song "The Way" from the Website whynotpriest.org.Other vocation related videos are also available on this site.

Resources on Vocation

The Web site of the Diocese of Manchester (UK) has a series of resources on vocation - lesson plans, worksheets, saints biographies, games, a glossary of vocation on vocation for students from kindergarten to senior high and youth ministry.

Engaging Faith - Ave Maria Press

Ave Maria Press has a blog called Engaging Faith with "practical lessons ideas and activities for Catholic educators. The blog offers hundreds of postings on a wide range of topics.

Prepared Catholic

Prepared Catholic: Catholic youth minister Eric Gallagher built this Website with the following goals in mind:

"I have a few goals for this site.  To get tons of Catholic Youth Ministry Resources, put them in one place, offer them for free, and bring tons of Catholic Youth Ministers together to discuss these resources finding the best ones."

Among the resources available on his site are the following:

• Current Topics – Ministry Discussions
• Ministry Resource Reviews
• Youth Ministry Acronyms
• Youth Ministry Bible Verses
• Youth Ministry Fundraisers
• Youth Ministry Games
• Youth Ministry Handouts
• Youth Ministry Icebreakers
• Youth Ministry Media
• Youth Ministry Prayers
• Youth Ministry Quick Discussions
• Youth Ministry Skits
• Youth Ministry Small Group Ideas

Resources for Earth Day

Catholic Climate Covenant, a Catholic Coalition on Climate Change whose mission is to invite Catholics to take responsibility for their contribution to climate change and advocates for those who will be left out of the public policy debate on climate change. The Web site offers several useful resources for Earth Day which is coming up on April 22.

Daily Bible Poster - Psalm 42.11

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God. --Psalm 42.11

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Bible Archive Poster

Catholic Beliefs and Practices

The Religious Education section of the The Diocese of Scranton website contains a useful document called Appendix of Catholic Beliefs and Practices which provides the following information:

Ten Commandments
Beatitudes
Precepts of the Church
Spiritual Works of Mercy
Corporal Works of Mercy
Theological Virtues
Cardinal Virtues
Liturgical Seasons
Liturgical Colors
Confirmation Questions, Diocese of Scranton

In Celebration of Earth Day - Prayer service

The magazine Today's Catholic Teacher has a prayer service to celebrate Earth Day.

Student Participation in Discussions

How to Get Students to Participate in Class Discussions is an interesting blog posting on The Religion Teacher. Blog owner Jared Dee provides "5 Tips for Effectively Leading Class Discussions" and "10 Teaching Strategies for Class Discussions"

Bible Tutor

Bible Tutor offers an overview the Old and New Testament, with a brief introduction to each book in the Bible (since this is a Lutheran Website, some of the books in the Old Testament that would be in a Catholic edition of the Bible are not covered), a brief paragraph on main characters in Bible stories, a time-line, maps of the Holy land and of regions mentioned in the Bible, a general knowledge section and a self test.

Daily Bible Poster - Luke 15.21

...this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found! -- Luke 15.21

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Bible Archive Poster

Bible Story Mini Books

Lambsongs Bible Story Books offers tiny books on Bible stories. These books can be printed and assembled to make books that are beautifully illustrated and short enough for a child to read. Topics include the following:

• 21 books on the Old Testament 
• 36 books on the New Testament 
• 11 books on the Christmas Story  
• 4 small books on Easter

Other Bible related minibooks can be found on the following Websites:

• 7 small books on the Bible at DLTK 
• 21 Free Bible Story Minibooks at Christian Preschool Printables 
• 4 small books at biblestoryprintables.com 
• 20 Bible Story Mini Books at Preschool Sunday School Central  

Catholic Faith Education Newsletter - April 12, 2010

The April 12, 2010 edition of the Catholic Faith Education Newsletter is now online at http://4catholiceducators.com/ezine1.htm

War and Peace

Handbook of Catholic Social Teaching: War and Peace is a document in 19 points providing an overview of Catholic teachings on War and Peace. For each of these pints there are reflection questions suggested.

Sunday Readings Resources - April 17-May 2, 2010

Resources on the upcoming Sunday Readings.

April 18, 2010

Mass Readings
Lectionary Resource for Catholics: word-sunday.com
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church Bible Study
Reflexions on This Week's Liturgy - Sadlier
Gospel of John 20.19-31 - Articles, Commentaries, Homilies, Clipart, Coloring pages, Puzzles, Children's Stories
Lector Works: Palm Sunday  - C
Lector's Notes: Palm Sunday - C
CNP Liturgical Planning - Easter Season - Music Suggestions

April 25, 2010

Mass Readings
Lectionary Resource for Catholics: word-sunday.com
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church Bible Study
Reflexions on This Week's Liturgy - Sadlier
Gospel of John 10.27-30 - Articles, Commentaries, Homilies, Clipart, Coloring pages, Puzzles, Children's Stories
Lector Works: Palm Sunday  - C
Lector's Notes: Palm Sunday - C
CNP Liturgical Planning - Easter Season - Music Suggestions

May 2, 2010

Mass Readings
Lectionary Resource for Catholics: word-sunday.com
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church Bible Study
Reflexions on This Week's Liturgy - Sadlier
Gospel of John 13.31-35 - Articles, Commentaries, Homilies, Clipart, Coloring pages, Puzzles, Children's Stories
Lector Works: Palm Sunday  - C
Lector's Notes: Palm Sunday - C
CNP Liturgical Planning - Easter Season - Music Suggestions

Signs of the Christ: Sacraments of the Catholic Church

Signs of the Christ: Sacraments of the Catholic Church is an overview of the seven sacrament from Catholics United for the Faith.

Resources on the Holy Spirit

The following PDF documents can be helpful in Confirmation preparation:

• The Role of The Holy Spirit In Our Lives - Presentation by Fr. Jim Northrop 
• Application of “The Gifts” - Applying the Gifts of the Holy Spirit to your job/career: Worksheet on how each gift of the Holy Spirit can be used in a job or career. 
• Come Holy Spirit - Prayers for the period between the Ascension and Pentecost from the Liturgy Office of England and Wales 
• Gifts of the Holy Spirit - Here are some descriptions to help you understand the meaning of these gifts (the names for these gifts come from the prayers used during confirmation). 
• Gifts of the Holy Spirit Activity - Document on the Website of the Archdiocese of Winnipeg. The objective of this activity is for youth to develop knowledge of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Through an interactive activity, youth will more readily process the information and begin to understand the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Also useful:

• Confirmation in the Catholic Faith
• Creed: I Believe in the Holy Spirit
• Holy Spirit - Resources for Catholic Educators

The Beatitudes: Resources

This PDF document on the Website of the Catholic Diocese of Bathurst in Australia provides a short prayer/reflection on the Beatitudes: A Reflection on the Beatitudes.
See also, again in PDF format, this coloring page with the text of the beatitudes.

For other resources on the Beatitudes:
Catholic Faith Education: Beatitudes Coloring Pages
Beatitudes: Resources for Catholic Educators
Beatitudes Posters

Panoramic 360° view of the Sistine Chapel

The Web site of the Vatican has a superb panoramic 360° view of the Sistine Chapel. Take a digital tour and zoom in on the works of Renaissance artists Michelangelo, Botticelli, Raphael, Bernini...  Wonderful! You can also visit other art treasures by browsing through the Vatican Museum's online collection.

"The Wonders of His Love"©

"The Wonders of His Love"© is a Catholic musical written by David Burke. It relates the story of seven Catholic high school choir members who are shocked and mystified when the Virgin Mary appears and says that God has sent her to bring them to heaven for a brief visit to receive a special message from Him.

All of the music for the musical is available for download and listening on this site as well as the script of the story.

Daily Bible Poster - Psalm 34.18

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. -- Psalm 34.18

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Bible Archive Poster

Passion of Christ - Art

Passion of Christ - Art : This is a section of the Wikimedia Web site that offers hundreds of reproductions of artwork and photos related to the passion. Many of these are in the public domain.

Bible Coloring Pages

This Italian Web site makes accessible hundreds of coloring pages listed by books of the Bible.
For additional Bible coloring pages: http://4catholiceducators.com/lessonplans4.htm