Announcing:
Saint Mary's Press winner for the week of February 27, 2009!
Congratulations to Ana Gomez!

Ana Gomez will receive a copy of Saint Mary's Press® Essential Quick Charts: Bible People, a $5.95 value.

Saint Mary's Press® Essential Quick Chart: Bible People provides an overview of thirty-three key people in the Bible. From Adam and Eve in the Old Testament to Priscilla and Aquila of the New Testament, this quick chart on Bible People shows how their lives point to or radiate from Jesus, the epicenter of salvation history.

Look Inside: You can view an online sampler of the Saint Mary's Press® Essential Bible Quick Chart: Interpreting the Bible on the SMP Web catalog. Search for "Quick Charts," or use this link to go to the product description, http://www.smp.org/ItemDetail.cfm?ItemNum=4343.

Saint Mary's Press® Essential Bible Quick Chart: Bible People
by Lee Danesco, ISBN 978-0-88489-854-2,
4 insertable laminated pages, $5.95,
http://www.smp.org/ItemDetail.cfm?ItemNum=4343

One of the Thirty-Three Bible People
by Dennis Kurtz

The Saint Mary's Press Essential Quick Chart: Bible People highlights thirty-three key and unique individuals from salvation history from Adam and Eve to Priscilla and Aquila. The diversity of the individuals is amazing but their humanness shows through: they sin and repent, seek vengeance and forgive, build and destroy.

Besides providing concise information about each Bible person the chart also has two other features: the "Jesus Connection," connecting each Bible person or event to Jesus, and "Quick Facts," connecting each Bible person or event to our understanding of the Catholic faith. This chart can be used easily in any scripture course as well as a course in foundations of Catholic doctrine.

Through the Saint Mary's Press Essential Quick Chart: Bible People your students will be introduced to thirty-three Bible people and discover their connection with Jesus or the Catholic faith, which will enrich their understanding of God's plan for all humankind and their understanding of salvation history.

Here is an example of one Bible person from the Saint Mary's Press Essential Quick Chart: Bible People. The description of the prophet Isaiah is only five sentences but captures the essence of his life and prophesies. The addition of the "Jesus Connection" draws the parallel of Isaiah's prophesy to Christians' belief that Jesus is the one who fulfills this prophesy.

Isaiah was a renowned prophet who lived in Jerusalem during the time that the northern kingdom of Israel was being overtaken by Assyria. When called by God to serve as his prophet, Isaiah declared himself unworthy. After an angel purified his lips with a burning coal, Isaiah accepted God's call. He became a speaker of truth, willing to take God's word to kings and call for their loyalty and obedience to God. The Book of Isaiah contains Isaiah's prophecies and the later work of his followers.

JESUS CONNECTION: Among his prophecies, Isaiah proclaimed that a child who would protect and guide the Jewish people would be born and called Emmanuel, or "God with us." Christianity embraced Jesus as fulfilling this prophesy (see Is 7:14, Mt 1:21?23).

Youth Leadership Development
by Maura Thompson Hagarty

If you are involved with parish youth ministry, upcoming spring and summer breaks may offer you a great opportunity to help youth work on leadership skills. Take advantage of the break time by planning longer blocks of time for leadership development than are possible during the school year.

Saint Mary's Press has a great resource for you to consider using: Ministry Resources for Youth Leadership Development. The manual includes sessions on numerous skills including the following:

• communication skills
• leading group discussions
• negotiating skills
• planning skills
• large-group communication
• attentive listening skills
• reflective listening skills
• group decision-making skills
• effective meeting skills
• giving a witness talk
  
  For a sample activity from this resource--an activity about communication called "Play Ball"--visit http://www.smp.org/resourcepage.cfm?article=555.
  
  You can also see an electronic sampler of Ministry Resources for Youth Leadership Development that includes the table of contents, the introduction, and chapter 3, "Creating Parish Leadership Positions for Youth," at http://www.smp.org/ItemDetail.cfm?ItemNum=2465 by clicking on "look inside" next to the cover image.
  
  Ministry Resources for Youth Leadership Development
  by Ann Marie Eckert and Maria Sánchez-Keane,
  ISBN 978-0-88489-769-9, paper with CD-ROM, 208 pages, $30.95,
  http://www.smp.org/ItemDetail.cfm?ItemNum=2465
  
  Also Available
  Ministry Resources for Youth Leadership Development is one of the six books in the Total Youth Ministry series. The other five books in this series cover the topics of Evangelization, Justice and Service, Pastoral Care, Prayer and Worship, and Community Life.

Names and Images of God
by John Vitek

Helping students reflect on their image of God is a good way to nurture their spirituality and prayer life. The activity "Names and Images of God" by John Vitek asks students to list names, images, and feelings about God they had at different times in their lives. Then it lists many names and images of God found in the Scriptures. The activity at http://www.smp.org/resourcepage.cfm?article=87 can be used in a variety of ways, including as a Scripture search, discussion, or reflection activity.