Resources
56 results
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Ignatian Discernment of Spirits
An article that breaks down the differences between good and evil spirits.
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What Do Sisters Do?
An article that discusses the roles and responsibilities of religious sisters.
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“To Brother”: A Personal Story
An article written by Br. Armand Alcazar FSC, who discusses his view of his vocation as a verb, “to brother”, or “brothering” in teaching and community life.
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Roman Missal Overview
This resource is intended to assist you in preparing young people for the implementation of the new missal.
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Christian Unity and Ecumenical Dialogue
This article is from the Living in Christ Series. It is about the relationship between the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations, and uses Church documents and scripture to discuss this relationship.
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The Holy Spirit
This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It offers a brief introduction to the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.
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The Essential Goodness of God's Creation and of Humanity
This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the problem of evil, original sin, human freedom and the goodness of God's creation.
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Called to Holiness: Holiness in Modern Church Teaching
This article from the Living in Christ Series discusses holiness: what it is, who is called, and how to live it out. Both the Church and the people in it are holy.
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Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience
This article is from the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience that all religious take as part of their vocation.
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The Paschal Mystery
This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It offers an introduction to the Paschal Mystery including the root of the words, its effects, and theories of how the salvation of mankind precisely transpires through Jesus' suffering, death …
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Faith: Three Definitions
This article is from the Living in Christ Series. It discusses various definitions of faith, the relationships between faith and reason, and faith and religion.
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Free Will
This article is from the Living in Christ Series. It discusses the relationship between free will and grace, the conscience, character, and human choices.
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The Rosary: A Prayer for All Time
This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It offers a great introduction to several aspects of the Rosary.
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Salvation: Different Theories
This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It offers an overview of some of the main theories of salvation, including the Prophetic, Sacrificial, Ransom, Divinization, Vicarious, Moral Exemplar, and Penal Substitution models.
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God Is Love
This article is from the Living in Christ Series. Using Scripture, the Catechism, and various Church Documents, it discusses the Catholic understanding of God as Love.
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Finding God and Being Found by God
This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It discusses how God is revealed in humanity, creation, nature, the natural order, and the human conscience, and humanity is likewise revealed in God. It uses the Catechism of the …
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Meeting Jesus at the Movies: Cinema Divina for Teachers
One of the most spiritually powerful essays I have ever read is "To Fall in Love with the World: Individualism and Self-Transcendence in American Life" by John M. Staudenmeier, S.J. (Institute of Jesuit Studies, May 1994). The author asks: "How …
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Program aims to get youth excited about Bible
Young people in the diocese are getting excited about Scripture and it's all part of a national effort called "Yes! Youth Engaging Scripture." YES is a Catholic teen-to-teen Bible sharing concept and to date, some 1,800 young people have been …
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A Friend for Life
Editor's note: The names of the minors in this story have been changed to preserve confidentiality, in accordance with the wishes of Holy Cross Children's Services. DETROIT--When Tonya entered a youth detention home of the Holy Cross Children's Services …
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Resources for Parents Who Want to View The Passion of the Christ with Their Teenage Children
Things to Remember Film is an art form, and many genres and subgenres exist within film. Comedy is a genre. Within that genre one could name romantic comedies, slapstick comedies, and dark comedies as subgenres. Before reading a piece of …
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Artist Appreciation Month: Graphic Images of Christ's Passion in Art
Mel Gibson is not the first person to shock the public with a graphically violent portrayal of the Passion and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In 1515, Matthias Grunewald revealed an artwork called The Isenheim Altarpiece to the monks and churchgoers …
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Survival in Youth Ministry
In 1994 Saint Mary's Press published a book called Survival in Youth Ministry, by Robert J. McCarty, executive director of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry. As youth ministry continues to mature in the United States, we would like …
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The Twelve Virtues of a Good Teacher
THE TWELVE VIRTUES OF A GOOD TEACHER In 1706, John Baptist de La Salle, patron saint of teachers, listed twelve virtues of a good teacher in his Conduct of the Christian Schools. In 1785, Brother Agathon, the fifth superior general …
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Contemporary Music, Ageless Wisdom: Using the Language of Teens to Speak the Gospel
It is no secret that teens are absolutely immersed in music. The question for those ministering to youth is, "Should we make a stance against the kinds of music kids are listening to or should we use their music to …
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Youth Prayer Habits
Through a grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc., the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill has established the National Study of Youth & Religion at the Odum Institute for Research and the Social Sciences. In there preliminary findings of existing …
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A Letter to Young People from the President of Saint Mary’s Press
Dear young friends, The recent, tragic events continue to leave us all shocked, confused, scared, and sorrowful. At this time, nothing is more important than to turn our hearts to Jesus. Perhaps, we can find comfort in the words of …
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Wrestling with Diversity
How do we welcome non-Christians into our schools and our religion classrooms, and at the same time give witness to our own Christ-centered faith? How do we invite students to learn from and respect other faith traditions without sending the …
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Maturing in Faith
Have you ever heard a parent say something like,"People should decide for themselves how to express their faith and what church to belong to. So we don't make our kids go to Mass on Sunday. When they get old enough, …
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Listening to the Voices of Girls
God is with her. God works for her. God fills her. God chooses her. God accepts her. God praises her. God listens to her. God cries with her. God knows her. God loves her. We are her. In eleven short …
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Let the Church Say Amen
Amen is a cry of complete reliance, of heartfelt abandonment to something or someone that is true and trustworthy. THE TWO-SYLLABLE WORD COULD BE HEARD by all in the front quarter of the sizeable church. It was said by a …
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Young People's Beginning Experience
By now, divorce has touched the lives of many people in the United States--either directly or through a friend or relative. For a child or teenager, divorce can rip apart a comfortable home, leaving behind guilt, anger and depression. Today, …
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Thinking Catholic
Thinking Catholic is a mind-set, an attitude of the heart, a bundle of insights and presumptions and priorities that are derived from faith. In our American society people used to agree that abortion was criminal, that divorce was bad, that …
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Finding God in Silence
If you are feeling unfulfilled in your prayer life, take heart. This author says sometimes all it takes to is to be silent and listen. IS YOUR PRAYER LIFE IN A RUT? Are there days when you feel like quitting …
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Five prayers Catholics can take to heart
The issue of prayer is not prayer; the issue of prayer is God. One cannot pray unless he has faith in his own ability to accost the infinite, merciful, eternal God. --Jewish Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Man's Quest for God …
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A Note on Kneeling
IT WASN'T UNTIL I COULD NO LONGER kneel that I began to savor the lovely simplicity of this ancient act, and guess at its provenance, and savor its humility, and notice it not only in Mass but in many other …
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Letting Go and Letting God
*last name has been changed for this article Bernie Fenton* never minded that his office overlooked a cemetery. In fact, he kind of liked it. He'd glance up from his desk now and then catching glimpses of friends and family …
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Meeting the Rhinoceros
Thomas Merton makes a valuable role model for the spiritual journey of the adolescent rhinoceros. At times even the most optimistic teacher may despair of the possibility of ever communicating meaningfully with adolescents. The significant number of developmental tasks facing …
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The Spirituality of Work
Teachers who structure justice into their workday lives model a moral vision for their students. I requested a review copy of all religion textbooks used in Catholic high schools some years ago and scoured over 30 books looking for references …
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Thomas Merton: Something of a Rebel
One of the world’s leading Merton experts takes another look at the monk who changed the course of American spirituality from his monastery cell. ON A RECENT VISIT to a secondhand bookstore in a Midwestern city, I found an exceptionally …
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Give Penance a Chance
Think back to the last time you did something that hurt someone, even if it wasn't intentional. How did you make amends? Did you apologize? Did you offer to make it up to them in some way? If so, then …
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Dance: An Awakening
Ms. Sawaya Lamb teaches dance at Judge Memorial Catholic High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. Mr. Wagoner, a former technical director at Judge Memorial Catholic High School, is now assistant principal at Saint Vincent School in Salt Lake City. …
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Ideas for Teaching Feminine Spirituality
In 1994, I started teaching a course on women's spirituality for seniors at Holy Names High School, an all-girls school in Oakland, California. Finding materials for such a class was a challenge. No textbooks or other resources existed that were …
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Using Literature in Theology Classes
Editor's note: The author of our feature article, Kathleen Hodapp, was one of the participants in last summer's workshop "The Catholic High School As Faith Community," held here in Winona, Minnesota, as well as on the East Coast and the …
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The Harvest Is Abundant: Reflections on a Spirituality of Service
Service is a golden word these days. Everybody's doing it: governmental bodies, schools, churches, even neighborhoods and families. Court sentencing frequently includes community service, the federal government holds service up as a value in programs such as Americorps, and state …
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Leading Students to Hermitage:
Editor's note: A few months ago I met (by mail and phone) Sr. Mary Farrell, SC, who has taught at Saint Peter's High School in New Brunswick, New Jersey, for thirty-six years. Much of that time, she taught French and …
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Helping Students Get the Most Out of Stories
For the past six years I have been researching the power of stories for communicating Catholic religious and moral values. At the same time, I have been experimenting with stories in my high school classroom (tenth- and twelfth-grade classes in …
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Growing as a Faith Community
Over the past nine years as a campus minister and theology teacher at Saint John's Jesuit High School in Toledo, Ohio, I have witnessed and been part of the growth of our school toward the ideal of being a Christian …
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Schoolwide Prayer in the Words of "Me"
What distinguishes a Catholic school from a public school? The obvious answer is that, at least potentially, a Catholic school is a faith community. Whether it is truly a faith community depends on more than the offering of religion courses, …
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Stations of the Cross by Students: New Light on an Old Tradition
A pilgrimage is a journey to a sacred place, undertaken for a spiritual purpose. A pilgrimage in our modern age could take many forms. For the season of Lent last year, I invited my junior ethics classes to make a …
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Expect Much, Praise Much, Be Present to Them
Course materials, such as the high school religion textbooks and teacher's manuals published by Saint Mary's Press, are a significant ingredient in the education of our young people. But we all know that the most important factor in a student's …
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A New Look at the Sower and the Seeds
This is the text of a reflection given at the opening prayer service of the school year. The concept is interesting and could work well in a classroom or retreat setting. Scattered them wildly about (see Matt. 13:1-53; Mark 4:1-34; …
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