Notes from the Faith Mentor Day, October 8 2014
Thank-you Jan and Brad for a wonderful day today. This is always a day of renewal! Here is a little collection of some of the ideas we covered today.
Faith Mentor Day – Restore one another to a spirit of gentleness
We are going to continue with symbols, even though it is not in the new program.
We will discuss having a deeper commitment to Catholic Social Teaching. What is social justice? We need to make connections to a more explicit definition of Social Justice. How do we differentiate ourselves from what is talked about in public.
Catholic Meditation – what is it? How do we incorporate this into mental health awareness? Do we even know that we have a long tradition of Catholic meditation?
We need to be open to developing the liturgy of the Word if our pastor is not available.
a thought – one of the most significant factors in keeping students in school have someone who cares for them
What kind of ways can you bring the Spiritual Theme alive in your classrooms?
- exploring the use of healing circles in the classroom – to encourage forgiveness and restoration
- literacy
- music
- community projects
- inquiry in the classroom
- wellness (SIP)
- visual arts – our mural!
- environment – our community clean-up!!
- relationships
How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham
In a spare urban fable, Bob Graham brings us one small boy, one loving family, and one miraculous story of hope and healing.
“No one saw the bird fall.”
In a city full of hurried people, only young Will notices the bird lying hurt on the ground. With the help of his sympathetic mother, he gently wraps the injured bird and takes it home. In classic Bob Graham style, the beauty is in the details: the careful ministrations with an eyedropper, the bedroom filled with animal memorabilia, the saving of the single feather as a good-luck charm for the bird’s return to the sky. Wistful and uplifting, here is a tale of possibility — and of the souls who never doubt its power.
Remember – in all we do – connect to a Gospel Theme
Resources and ideas:
- select the music for the year
- look ahead to the Scripture – Living with Christ is now an app
- support those responsible for the liturgies – this is a team approach!
- help students be aware of the seasons, include information about the seasons to our students
- refer to our prayer tables – does the principal have a prayer table?
- http://www.sadlierreligion.com/webelieve – a great resource for us
We also have our own Religious Education and Family Life K-12 Google+ Community
if you can’t access this, please let me know and I will invite you.
For all activities we do – We Day, Terry Fox Challenge, etc – we need to make a link back to Catholic Social Teaching – it points us to a different place:
- the dignity of the human person
- solidarity
- preferential option for the poor
- environmental stewardship
here is a great article on Catholic Social Teaching
When we act, we always need to make the connection between charity and justice, by doing so we are connecting back to the Gospel.
What are some of the readings we can use that make a connection back to Catholic Social Teaching, social awareness and Gospel Values:
The Woman at the Well
The Woman caught in Adultery
The Woman who touched the Cloak of Jesus – what values connect to these readings?
always align with a gospel reference
Following the success of their much beloved picture books, Please, Baby, Please and Please, Puppy, Please; Academy Award nominated director Spike Lee, and his talented wife Tonya Lewis Lee offer up an inspirational picture book about activism and taking the big steps to set things right set to beautiful illustrations by the award-winning Sean Qualls. Using examples of people throughout history who have taken “giant steps”, this book urges kids to follow in their footsteps and not be hindered by fear or a sense that you are not good enough. Despite the challenges, even the smallest step can change the world. So, what’s your next step going to be?
An interesting web site on Christian Meditation for children
Confirmation and Grade 2 packages – teachers will receive these packages. To be inclusive, we want all kids to take part in these programs, even if they will not be receiving the sacrament.
Thank-you Jan and Brad for a wonderful day today! Here is some of the material we worked on and enjoyed today.
Another wonderful book is Praying in Color – we have a copy of this in the library
We also have an important role to play in Adult Faith Development – we need to follow the writings of Pope Francis for example – he is on Pinterest
A great activity would be to spend time just reading and reflecting on what he is writing.
Amen. “Do not be afraid to love. Do not be afraid to be tender.” – Pope Francis