Day 30.2

Answered prayers people.  Today was a great day with my students!  They actually acted like they like me today!  Phew- I think their 'tudes had something to do with the weather...sheesh!  We had another late start due to the fog, so that meant classes were short again today.  

Here was our reflection/prayer/random act of kindness from today:

Reflection:

This is my command, that you love one another.  John 15:17

 

This invitation from God is not extended to us individually as individuals.  We are called into the People of God, into a faith community.  we are invited to become a part of God's family.  By the very nature of the invitation we can come to God only together or we cannot come at all.  This is the radical meaning of "Thy Kingdom Come!"  The bottom line is this:  I cannot say my "yes" of responding love to God's invitation without saying a "yes" of love to you.  Ot is impossible for me to love God and not to love you.  Likewise it is impossible for me to love God and not to love you. 

 

Jesus says that if we come to place the gift of our love upon his altar, and we remember a grudge, an estrangement from another, we should resolve that first.  Only then are we invited to come and lay our gift of love upon God's altar.  Jesus is very clear about this.  We cannot love God without loving each other...God does not want my gift of love unless it is also offered to you.  God does not want your gift of love unless you have shared that gift with me. 

 

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart.  Help me to be a peacemaker this Advent and to give special love to those who disagree with me.  Give me the strength and courage to forgive those who have hurt me just as you forgive me when I sin against you.  Amen.

 

RAK:

Forgive someone who has hurt you.  Forgiveness and letting go are crucial.  They will lead you down the path of healing and peace.  So try to forgive someone today I order to prepare your heart for Jesus.

For their journal prompt, I asked them to answer the following question: "Who do I need to forgive?"  

After that, I told them a personal story of a time where I held on to the emotional pain and anger a particular person caused me for a number of years (about 7).  I will spare the details because the goal is not to reveal this person's identity.  The goal is to show that forgiveness is not what heals the person who has hurt us-but in actuality, it is what heals YOU.  Me.  I held on to anger, pain, and a very poor opinion of this person for far too long. The only person hurting in the situation was ME.  As the reflection said- "Jesus is very clear about this.  We cannot love God without loving each other...God does not want my gift of love unless it is also offered to you.  God does not want your gift of love unless you have shared that gift with me."  Withholding forgiveness is the opposite of love.  Jesus very explicitly teaches about forgiveness.  I mean, hello!  While this person has never come forward to ask for forgiveness, I have forgiven this person in the depths of my heart.  How?  Through the guidance of my mom and Margie-one of the most wise people that I have ever met.  Oh, and Jesus.  It took a long time to let go and forgive this person in my heart, but I can honestly say that I have.

Some of my students were very upset about this story-"Why would anyone be so mean?  Especially to you!" 

"Well- that's between them and the Lord.  I have asked for forgiveness a number of times from Jesus and He has never withheld that from me.  So, it took a long time, but I have forgiven them."  

Forgiveness is what allows us to love more freely!  And no, not every person deserves forgiveness.  I fall into that category at times too!  Probably more than I've ever personally admitted, too.  

We all need to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus.  Let's all give forgiveness a try.

Better late than never! Day 29.2

I guess you can say I'm a little behind on blogging...and I'm not going to attempt making separate entries on all of the classes I missed blogging on.  Imagine the best and that should do. :)

We are a couple of days into Week 8 of Term 2.  WOW.  Now, I'm going to remind you that I am teaching primarily juniors (16 year olds) and a couple of seniors...and they can be really rude.  Surprised?  I'm not.  However, it's been discouraging, especially right before Thanksgiving.  No, I didn't feel like a complete failure or like giving up, but I felt hopeless in a way.  I know all of us, whether you're a teacher or not, can feel that way at times.  Nothing that I was saying or doing was making them interested.  I shouldn't say that for each and every student, but for the majority, that's how it appeared, and still appears.  It appears that I am a fool for even trying to get the message of the gospel across to these teenagers.  They're rude to me, rude to the bus driver, and rude to the few that want (at least they appear like so) to be over at St. Paul's.  I am trying to focus on the positives, but it's really difficult when they act uninterested, test every ounce of my patience, and then stand up to leave when we still have 5 minutes left of class time left.  Today not a single student said good-bye to me after I reprimanded them on their behavior. Yup, teenagers...

Since Advent has begun, I have changed the format of our prayer. Rather than having them stay seated, I have a new space for prayer where I placed the Advent wreath where we gather around and remain standing for a reflection and prayer that I have the students lead.  To help them prepare, I have a Jesus stocking, and I have encouraged them to do random acts of kindness as a way of thanking Jesus for all of the gifts He has given us and to prepare our hearts for Christmas.  I made up little slips of paper for them to write down their "gifts" to Jesus.  After Christmas, we will read all of the things they did out of preparation for Jesus coming into their hearts on Christmas!   A dear friend of mine from back home shared prayers and challenges that she wrote with her friend for her fellow peers and teachers for morning prayer at her high school.  They are beautiful!  Starting tomorrow I will post them on my blogs so you can say the same prayers and be challenged to do the same random acts of kindness.  Thanks Nicole!

I know that I am a champion (thanks to Katy Perry-kidding)! I am running after Jesus and doing my job as best as I can with His unfailing help.  There is no sense in being discouraged because we never truly know what seeds are being planted on the hearts of the people we encounter...hopefully good seeds!  I can't help but want all of my students to know the joy of having a relationship with Jesus and to experience that for themselves.  All in all, I want this world to be a better place.  I want all people to be good to one another out of their love for God.  It's less about about doing and more about being, and I'm striving to portray that.  Our good works should be done not to earn his love and mercy, but rather as natural responses of our love for God, in thanksgiving for what He provides us and the grace we receive through prayer and the sacraments.  I want to start a fire!  Not literally, but spiritually!  As St. Catherine of Siena said, "If you are what you should be, you will set the world ablaze."  Again, maybe I'm not going to see that "fire" right here and now in 2nd and 3rd hour class.  I can't honestly say that I was the best student at all times in every single religion class that I ever took.  So, I need to be patient, and wait for the Lord to work on them, but especially me.  Shoot, this must be how God feels when He listens to some of my prayers...

So, if anyone has any great techniques for presenting how awesome living a moral life is since I am finishing the term with Morality, let me know.

Happy Advent!

Come, Lord Jesus!

Day 17.2

Short day.  Short post.

Today the volleyball headed to state to hopefully win the title!  If they win today they will play again on Thursday...with that, 4 of my 6 students in my first class went.  So, you're dying to know what we did, right?  I had those 2 wonderful students take/finish up their assessments.  One was absent yesterday and the other was their but still needed time to finish it up.  After that, the only natural thing we could possibly do was play UNO!  It was filled with much laughter and conversation on just about every teen topic but mainly on music and sports.  I received a lovely compliment too!  Apparently I remind them of the youth minister over at the Methodist church in town.  I must meet this other young, Christian, and energetic woman!

Wasn't sure if anybody would show up in my other class, and not being surprised at all, none of them did.  I had the secretary call over to the other school just to double check.  With that, I left pretty early, and I have been doing little things around the apartment because it is just TOO chilly outside!

Happy Tuesday and go West Delaware Hawks!

Day 16.2

Happy Veteran's Day to all past, present, and future members of the armed forces.  Today, to tie in with the idea of recognizing soldiers, I thought for prayer we would read from Ephesians 6 on what it means to "put on the armor of God" in other words, how to be a soldier for Christ.  I had each class draw and label the things St. Paul mentions- the shield, helmet, breastplate, and sword.  He uses imagery  to help his audience to understand how we are all called to serve God and eradicate evil in the world.  

2nd hour

3rd hour
Super creepy and hilarious.  I volunteered the student
who was volunteering others to draw...it made for a great laugh for all of us,
including the student drawing.

Then I had them journal.  I wrote "Pro Deo et Patria" received a ton of confused looks.  "Huh, Ms. Sexton???"  Then I explained to them what it means- For God and Country.  This is the motto of Loras College 

13.2

Hump Daaaaaaay!  And an early dismissal!  Every other Wednesday is a teacher in-service day over at the high school, so that's why I'm done teaching by 11:45 on those days.

So, I just ate lunch and now I'm about to tell you about my day.

The first class got farther than last class, so we reflected on the gospel from this past Sunday (we didn't have time in this class to get to it on Monday)- Luke 19, story about Zacchaeus.  Since we've been focusing on the Eucharist, I decided to tell them one of my favorite stories on recognizing the Jesus in the Eucharist-

John Paul II visited the US in 1995.  He had a very busy day planned of visiting people, celebrating mass, parading down streets-you know, the things a pope typically does when he visits a foreign country.  JPII was scheduled to make a quick stop at the seminary in Baltimore.  Well, his plan was to make a visit to the chapel to pray to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.  Can't really say no to the pope, so security was told to make sure everything was secure.  They had highly trained dogs and sent them to the chapel to ensure that nobody was present.  These dogs were trained to sniff out people after natural disasters-so, pretty well-trained.   Besides, there had already been a couple of assassination attempts on him, so they wanted to make sure everything was secure.  The dogs were sent into the chapel and they went up and down the aisles and headed straight towards the tabernacle.  They sniffed around and refused to leave that spot until their handlers called them.  Well Catholics, we know who they recognized....a living person in the tabernacle...JESUS! 

They teens got a kick out of that story! 

Then we played the game "Psychiatrist!"  All of the players have to sit in a circle.  One person is chosen to be the "Psychiatrist."  They have to leave the room as the rest of the group prepares the game.  The plays decide on the psychological illness they will all have-Everybody thinks they're the person to their right, Everybody thinks they're the actual psychiatrist, or you can even pick a famous person and answer as them.  It's pretty fun to watch the "Psychiatrist" get confused but then finally able to finally guess what their "disease" is.

The second class did all of this in addition to me giving a lesson on the Body of Christ and the importance of the mass (since majority of them weren't here yesterday.)

The evening class will also be finishing up the sacrament on the Eucharist.  Here's what we're doing:

6:30	Cookies and Hot Chocolate
6:45	Parent/catechist prayer, introductions and instructions
7:00	Meet in small groups, take attendance
7:05	Opening Prayer-
7:10	Introduce tonight’s topic- Eucharist-Erin
7:15	Small group #1 (graphic organizer- Symbols of the Eucharist)
7:25	“Grace in the Real Presence” video and small group discussion
7:45	Explanation on adoration
7:50	Announcements and clear the space (tables, chairs, small group materials)
8/8:10	Adoration/Closing Prayer in the Church

I am SO SO SO excited to pray with them in adoration.  As many of you know, I have a huge devotion to praying to Jesus in adoration, and unlike being at Loras where adoration is offered Mon-Fri from 8-5 or 24/7 at the Power of Prayer Chapel just minutes away from campus, we do not have adoration out here, except from 9-noon on the first Fridays of the month when most people are at school/work.  Needless to say, this makes me very happy that we will be having 30 min. of prayer together in front of Jesus in the monstrance.

Please pray with us, wherever you are, from 8-8:30pm tonight!

See you in the Eucharist!
 

12.2

Saint stories, NDE story of a priest, and lesson on the importance of the Eucharist/Mass-

So,  I can honestly say my class this morning was absolutely perfect.  I had no idea the readings at mass were going to be on the body of Christ and the parable of the feast which directly alludes to the importance of accepting Jesus' invitation to take part in the heavenly feast-communion at  mass.  It's an amazing gift.  

Then, expecting to do the same lesson, only 2 boys showed up...so, we chatted and then watched a homily of Fr. Mike Schmitz.  He's awesome!  Check this out if you have 20 minutes!   Then we discussed it and I gave them the rest of the period free.  I wanted to save my lesson for tomorrow when most of them will be back.

I'm not really in the blogging mood.  Prayers for my students and their teacher : )  Thank you!

Day 11.2

Happy Monday and Feast of St. Charles Borromeo!

I didn't have time to blog about Friday's class over the weekend.  Basically we finished up Baptism and to celebrate All Saints Day, I put together a game of "Saint Jeopardy!"  Knowing my students have a very basic understanding of the saints, I made the questions very basic...at least I thought they would be...I only went with questions that I thought they could answer and on popular saints- Patrick, Michael the Archangel, Mary the Mother of God, St. Jude, St. Anthony, St. Valentine, etc.  It was brutal.  I had to give a lot of clues just to get a score on the board. 

So, that gave me an idea.  Every day I will take a few minutes to tell a story of a saint- "Saint of the Day!"  They will be confirmed in May and for all I know, this could be their last formal time of receiving any kind of teaching on the Catholic faith.  So, they will be learning about a lot of saints over the next 6 weeks!  It's so important that they know who these heroes are and how much they want us to strive for sainthood too!

Today's focus was on the Eucharist aka the source and summit of our faith!!!  We focused on what the sacrament is, the symbols, and the importance of it.  Tomorrow we will focus on the mass and continue why the Eucharist is SO important! 

Then we reflected on yesterday's Gospel reading- how Zacchaeus wanted to see Christ but not seen by Christ, how He had a change of heart when He experienced Christ's love and mercy, how we too can have an experience like that when we received the Eucharist, any of the sacraments! 

Last, saint story on St. Charles Borromeo.

We never really know what's going on in the minds and hearts of the people we are surrounded by or in my case, the students I am teaching.  Please continue to pray for my past, present, and future students, and one for me! 

St. Paul, pray for us!

Holy Spirit, inspire us!

Day 9.2

Happy Halloween!

Today was another good day at St. Paul's!

Today was continued learning about the Sacrament of Baptism and primarily focused on the symbols of the sacrament.  I emphasized how we need God's grace to live out the theological virtues- faith, hope, and love. How true it is in my life.  It's no wonder why our lives become a mess when we leave out prayer.  It's no wonder why our relationships/outlooks on situations become complicated and confusing.  Jesus provides us grace in the sacraments and through prayer, so we need to start going to the source-go to Him!  I'm my own teacher sometimes- meaning, I give myself advice as I'm teaching...funny how the Holy Spirit works.

There was also candy involved in class...we discussed tricks we've pulled or have been pulled on us and then times where we ever got scared.  It was fun to share stories with one another.  I got many of them to laugh, and laughter is GREAT! 

Since it's Halloween/All Souls Day, I pulled in a few other topics:

Graveyards--> Deceased loved ones whose souls are with God
Zombies--> Well, they are real, but taught what the resurrection of the dead is! 
Skeleton decorations--> Relics.  What they are, what they do, where they can be found

Have a great afternoon and evening.  I can't wait to pass out candy later!  Hopefully some sweet trick-or-treaters will show up!

Day 8.2

Hump Daaaaaaaaay!

And I had the night off! (Aka no night class due to the Football Playoffs...ok!)  

Today was good.  Classes went well, nothing out of the ordinary took place.  Everyone was calm.  It was super gloomy outside, but comfortable and positive inside.

Finally started teaching about the sacraments and how grace is actually conferred in the sacrament! (ex opere operate...but I didn't go into that word because then some of them would have shut down- but yea, I sneaked that concept in!)  They were still overwhelmed by the word concupiscence...so I gave them a break.  

Then I met with my boss and the other night class catechist to plan next Wednesday's class...and guess what we're going to have- ADORATION!!!!  For 30 min!  Praise the Lord!  I so so so miss praying to Jesus during adoration.  I'm very excited about that class next week.

BIG NEWS- we are now on Twitter!  So, "follow" us:  @StPaul_JMJ
I got this approved by my boss today so I went ahead and created the account.  My students will be told tomorrow and I think they'll like the idea!  

The purpose will be to tweets anything and everything Catholic- quotes from class, quotes on the topics we'll be learning about, etc.  

If we get 20 "followers" by Friday morning, I'll be bringing in treats!  So, if you have Twitter, do it for the teens, and follow us!

St. Paul, Pray for Us!
Holy Spirit, Inspire Us!
+JMJ

Day 7.2

Happy Tuesday!

What did we do today?

1. Prayer
2. Journal
3. Clock Partners- Since the classes are bigger this term, I decided we should do more partner work, so rather than me trying to mix them up with their classmates, I have them create "appointments" so when I say "Meet with your 9 o'clock partner," they will know who their partner is and get busy.  It's a tool I was introduced to at Loras and it really helped in student teaching, so we're giving it a go here.
4. Handout on experience with the sacraments
5. Handout/Scripture- Signs that Jesus uses and what they tell us about God's love for us.

I used both handouts from last term because both proved to be effective. 

Both class periods were super productive.  I cannot wait to start teaching about the sacrament of Baptism tomorrow! 

Side note, if you have any ideas for teaching about/celebrating All Saints Day (it's this Friday), help a girl out and share them with me.  Please and thank you!  Don't forget that it's a holy day of obligation!  See you in the Eucharist!

I have a couple exciting topics planned for Halloween/All Souls Day and maybe some candy will be thrown in : )

Any teachers out there know how to avoid getting sick or what to do when feeling a cold coming on?  I mean, other than naps and getting plenty of rest.  I'm starting to experience the "can breathe out of one nostril can't breathe out of the other" syndrome. 

I hope you're having a marvelous day!

God love ya!

Day 6.2

Here we are at the start of Week 2 of Term 2!

I have to say I was quite happy when I checked my work email to find a student from Term 1 emailing me just to say hi.  Best part had to be when the student said "I miss seeing you everyday."  Heart melted.  

Here's what Term 2 has been up to:

Friday we learned about Salvation History (God's love story for us!) and everybody had a story to read with a partner.  Then, they had a series of questions they had to answer and then they had to make a poster which required a title, an image, and a sentence explaining what their particular passage tells us about our relationship with God/Jesus.  Here's our Salvation History wall:

This weekend was very refreshing and rejuvenated my spirit for teaching our faith.  I went on a young adult Catholic Youth Expedition (CYE) in Door County, WI.  What a beautiful mission they have!  Check them out here.  God Bless Fr. Quinn, Sr. Margaret, Sr. Sarah, Sr. Anja, and Sr. Erin.  Pray for them and all of the beautiful people I met this weekend.  I really missed praying in a community aka with other people.  So daily mass, daily rosary, and adoration was REALLY good.  I mean, Jesus is everything, and it was good to be around people who also recognize this.  It's funny because I always sign up for things like this, get nervous the moment I arrive, and after a couple hours I warm up and end up having a wonderful time.  Greatest reminder of the weekend: our identity is to be found in Christ.  All the time.  Everyday.  In all ways.  

I'll never forget the physical beauty of the weekend, too.  Look!

Hike at Peninsula State Park

The Holy Spirit really was present. 

It was a great Monday.  I came to school on fire, ready to convince my students about how much He loves us and how beautiful our faith is.  Here's how I broke it down:

1. Prayer

2. Journal- Played "Lord, I Need You" by Matt Maher for their journal today, I had them write a note to Jesus.  

3. Pop Quiz.  I had 4 questions based on last week.  (1. List attributes of God-I was looking for eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, 2. What makes us (humans) unique compared to the rest of God's creation? 3. How are we like God? 4. What is Salvation History?  
I let them use their notes.  Basically I told them that I want them to be taking notes and listening, and if they did that well last week, they would have no problem answering these questions.  Well, some did well and others not so well.  They have to decide whether they are going to put the effort in or not.  I can't help a student when they choose not to pay attention and destroy the pens and pen caps over the course of my class.  Legit, I have found 3 broken pens.  I have had these students for now 6 days.  Short rant.

4. Review of last week.  Who is God?  Who am I?  Who is Jesus?  

5. Gospel from yesterday: Luke 18: 9-14.  What is a parable? Who was Jesus' audience?  Who is the "good" guy?  Who is the "bad" guy?  Who is justified?  Why?  What is Jesus asking of us?  How does this apply to us today?

6. Explanation on why we need the Church!!!

7. Passed out Pogs and talked about how awesome CYE is.

After school I got a ton of things together organized (handouts, my own notes, etc.)  Check out the graphic organizers we'll be using this term! 

Can't claim them as my own, however, I did shade them in. :)  Check out this awesome blog if you're a catechist or Religion teacher!  

http://looktohimandberadiant.blogspot.com  

This lady has brilliant ideas!  Thanks for letting me borrow your graphic organizers.  Why reinvent the wheel when you don't have to?

Well, it's almost 10pm, which for me, after a full weekend and full day of school, means I'm pooped.  

Please know that I prayed for all of you a great deal this weekend in adoration.  

Thanks for your love, prayers, and support.

St. Paul, pray for us!

Holy Spirit, inspire us!

Day 3.2

Well, today was an early out, so I found it necessary for Term 2 to claim a wall just like Term 1 did for their rosary.  But, instead of picking a wall, they decided to fill the ceiling with inspirational/positive quotations....it looks way better in person, but here's a peek:

It's so important that students take ownership of their classroom.  They loved spending the time crafting and chatting, and so did I.  It's important that they look forward to being here, and this could be one of the reasons-because they have a voice here.  Oh, and we get to learn more about our faith.  We are so blessed to have this opportunity.  Not many places have this option for Religious Ed!

Now I have the night class to look forward to.  Stay warm all you Midwest-eners!  I know how chilly it is in Iowa!  

St. Paul, pray for us!

Holy Spirit, inspire us!

Day 2.2

I hope all of you are celebrating the life of one of the greatest Catholic heroes of all time.  JP2, I love you!  

Today agenda

1. Prayer
2. Journal- "Why are you here?"
3. Pre-assessment (same as Term 1, very similar experience...similar responses-I'm so excited to watch them grow in their knowledge of our faith and more importantly their love for Jesus!)
4. "Who is God" presentation/discussion

I rearranged the seating in my classroom so the tables are shaped like a "U."  I think this helps with discussion but is also set up so they can see the board where I'll sometimes write notes or project information from the laptop.  

My second class is really chatty.  Let me rephrase that, the boys are very chatty!  Any teachers out there know how to manage 16/17 year old chatty boys???  Please send me your suggestions!  I can't really use the clothes pin/stop light classroom management tool on teenagers.  

Overall, both classes went well, and I can tell that they are really interested in what I have planned to learn/discuss in class.

My favorite question of today based on Genesis 1:26

"Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness."

To preface her question, we were talking about the nature of God- his divine nature- intellect, will, 3 distinct persons (Trinity).  

"Wait, so Jesus already existed before he came to Earth?" So I HAD to teach them about the hypostatic union (Jesus is 100% human and 100% divine).

Then she asked, "So if Christians and Jews all understand the Old Testament, how can they deny that it prefigures Jesus, and that Jesus is God?"  BAM!  This girl was thinking this morning!  

Have a lovely evening!

+JMJ

Day 1.2 The Start

(.2 stands for Term 2)

Happy Monday, everybody!  Today was the start of a great term.

I found out last Wednesday that I am teaching 2 classes again this term.  I was told that this will make the class sizes bigger rather than splitting them into 3 class periods.  (True story!)

My first class has 2 ladies and 4 gentlemen (it was funny how they polarized to opposite sides of the room).
My second class has 4 ladies and 4 gentlemen (all of the ladies sat in the front row with the guys in the back...that will not last very long since the guys are VERY chatty.)  I have 2 seniors in that class. The other students are all juniors, and what a great age group (16 and 17 year olds!)  

It was a good first day but there seemed to be a bit of a disconnect.  I had to remind myself that it took time to establish relationships with my students last term, and in time I will know my new students just as well as my students from last term.  It makes teaching so much more enjoyable when you actually know your students!  Lots of new personalities already, and I love it.  

I started off class with prayer and told them that we will all switch off leading prayer.  After prayer, my boss and I went over expectations and then I went over logistics- what books we use (Bible, YouCat, and CCC), what materials they need to bring to class starting tomorrow (notebook, folder, and a writing utensil), where to put assignments (baskets by the door), where to look at the beginning of class to see what I have planned (I call it our Daily Itinerary which basically lists the topics we will be covering.)  
Then I had them answer a questionnaire so that I could learn all about them- I have a lot of BUSY students!  A lot of great discussion came out of that.  My favorite questions of the day- "So, how are you liking Manchester?" and "Why did you move here?"  I very quickly told them how much I love teaching and that you really don't have much of a choice when you're looking for your first full-time job out of college.  When I asked them what there is to do in Manchester, they all unanimously responded "NOTHING!" and whined for a bit.  It was quite comical however, it made me realize that I am not out of the loop on anything going on : )  They had a lot of questions about my background and I shared a little bit about my life and really enjoyed hearing from them.  To wrap up class, we talked about saints.  I had them tell me what they know about saints, I had the seniors in my one class tell me about their Confirmation saints, then I shared the story of mine (Edith Stein) and told the stories of Bl. Chiara Luce and Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati and passed around prayer cards of them to show them how young they were and relatable.  Then I ended class urging them to strive for sainthood and holiness and telling them we're all in this together!  "The world needs us, Manchester needs us, our peers need us, our families and friends need us.  Don't be afraid!"

Please pray that the Holy Spirit continues to open their ears, minds, and hearts.

St. Paul, pray for us!

+JMJ

Term 2 Eve

Twas the night before Term 2 and all through the house...

Hello!  Sorry for being MIA.  Term 1 has been completed!  Yes, I have finished an entire term of teaching. Thanks for all of your support and for caring about what I'm up to.  I know your prayers also made a huge impact on my classes.  

For those of you who are also friends with me on Facebook, you're probably wondering what I did with your responses on "Why being Catholic matters."  WELL.  First off, thank you for all of you who did respond.  What I did was compile all of your responses and created a handout.  On Thursday, we went to the couch room and read the responses which turned into a lovely converation.  Then, I gave them time to also write on that topic:

Here is what they said:

Student 1

It matters because God has called us all to do something different being Catholic.  I believe it is the best way to find out what I am called to do.  He also sent Jesus to die for us and I think that’s pretty amazing and knowing that just makes me want to learn more about what I’m called to do for my religion and also what I should do to help others.  Without being Catholic we wouldn’t have God who will always be there for us even when we are going through bad times.  When our friends and family aren’t there to talk to we will always have God to be there.  He will also always forgive us for our sins.

Student 2

-You always have someone there supporting you

-You know you will be greeted with open arms when you go to heaven

-No matter what God will always love you

-God knows what’s good for you

-Having someone love us so much that He died for us

-Feeling welcomed in the church

Student 3

1.To grow in my relationship with God

2.Gives me something to live for

3.The least we could do for someone that died for us

4.To have eternal life

5.God helps us through life

6.God takes away our sins for us

7.God forgives no matter what we’ve done

8. We trust God

9.We need God in our lives

Student 4

*To me being Catholic means having faith in God and trusting/believing with your whole heart that Jesus died on the cross FOR US!  To SAVE US!  From OUR SINS!  So we can have EVERLASTING LIFE with God in heaven.

*It means we can talk to God through prayer and know He is listening.

*It means we get to encounter God in the sacraments.

Student 5

       It is the sole purpose for living

      Without it, what would be the point?

      It’s everything I believe in

     Being Catholic is where my morals come from.  It makes up who I am.

     Jesus died on the cross for a reason.

     It matters for everlasting life

     Being Catholic connects me to people all over the world- who I’ve never met- but we’re all in the same family because all of us are the children of God.

     It matters because God is the reason I am here

Student 6

1.Jesus gave his life for us to believe

2.Gives people hope

3.You would never become bored with Jesus in your life.

4.Always have a friend to talk (pray) to.

Student 7

Because God is love.  He loved us so much he gave his only son to us!  And then that son DIED for us!  I dunno, it’s just pretty cool that now we can live out our lives sharing and showing God’s love to everyone.

Student 8

It matters because you have something to live for otherwise we wouldn’t need life we would just start in heaven.

Student 9

       The reason for everyone to exist on this earth is because of God.

      Jesus gives up his life for us, we should love and serve him

    If we didn’t have it, life would not be life and we wouldn’t live in eternal happiness after death

    God=love. Without love, our life is full of hate and bad.  God puts the good in our lives and helps guide us to do good.

Student 10

    Our sins can always be forgiven no matter how bad the sin  

    Being holy can keep you in better spirits throughout every day

      If no one else around you accepts you, Jesus will always accept you.

    All in all, I can proudly say that all of my students, in some way or another, have been able to communicate their love and need for Jesus.  The last 8 weeks have been such a beautiful journey.  I already miss my Term 1 students but I'm looking forward to meeting 14 new students tomorrow and improve on what already went very well this past term.

     While it hasn't been the easiest few months of my life, I can honestly say that I know that God wants me to be here, and He is bringing me so much joy through my students and in the work I am doing.  I am supported by so many people-my family and friends, my boss and the pastor, along with my students and their parents and all of you reading this!    

    

    I would love to reflect on how much I've learned over the last 8 weeks, however, I can feel my eyes shutting...this teacher is tired from a wonderful weekend home.  Can't wait to blog about the second first day of school tomorrow! :)

    

     Thanks again for all of your kind words of support and prayers.  Keep the prayers coming!

     St. Paul, pray for us!