Announcing:
Saint Mary's Press winner for the week of May 16, 2011!

Congratulations to Traci Stutz!

Traci will receive a copy of Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics, a $20.95 value.

As the title suggests, Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics highlights what happens throughout salvation history between God and humanity. God breaks through and connects with human history, thereby establishing a relationship with humanity.
Using the Good News translation, Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics was created for young people leaving childhood and entering adolescence. Its ten special features were created to help make the Bible easier for young people to read and understand.

They will learn about the great people of the Bible, and will see how God has been breaking through in human history and connecting with humanity for thousands of years. Most important, they will discover, in the Bible, how God's messages to key people of faith have meaning for life today.

Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics
ISBN: 978-0-88489-862-7, paper, 1,968 pages

Revised Roman Missal

As I am sure you are aware, the Roman Missal has been revised. The changes will be implemented at the beginning of Advent 2011. Although much of the language of the Mass will be unaffected, there will be noticeable changes. The implementation of these changes will bring new opportunities to invite young people to explore the meaning and significance of the Eucharist for the Church and for their lives.

Saint Mary’s Press has developed two free online resources intended to assist you in preparing young people for the implementation of the new missal. The first is an overview article that provides the following information:

- an overview of key dates and events in the development of the Roman Missal
- a chart with publication dates
- a brief introduction to what’s new in the English-language version
- definitions of key terms
- information about helpful resources

The second resource provides the following activities to help you prepare young people for the implementation of the Roman Missal, third edition:

- Activity 1: Practicing Prayers (all ages)
- Activity 2: Mass Prayers: Fill-in-the-Blank Activity (lower elementary)
- Activity 3: Mass Prayers: Matching Activity (upper elementary and middle school)
- Activity 4: Roman Missal WebQuest (high school)
- Activity 5: Scripture–Roman Missal Matching Game (middle school and high school)
- Activity 6: Exploring Changes to the Text (high school and adults)
- Activity 7: Mystagogical Reflection (high school and adults)

Additionally, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has developed a Web page with extensive information about and resources for understanding the changes in the Roman Missal. The implementation of the revised Roman Missal provides a wonderful opportunity for catechesis and prayerful reflection on the language of the Mass.

As always, I pray that God will continue to bless you and your ministry.

Peace,
Steven McGlaun

Click Here for More Information

Scripture: Psalm 139:1–16,23–24

Overview
Whether for good or bad, television has become the focal point of and gathering place for many families. From cartoons to reality shows, soap operas to classics, the young generation both identifies with and seeks comfort in what is shown on television. This faith-sharing session is intended to help participants find connections between our media culture and our God, and to recognize that God sees everything, including the deepest needs and hungers of our hearts.

Estimated Time: 15–20 minutes
Preparation Steps
Gather the following items:
- pens or pencils, one for each participant
- copies of handout 2–A, "Prime-Time TV Guide," one for each participant
- The Catholic Youth Bible or another Bible

Mark the Scripture reading (Psalm 139:1–16,23–24) in a Bible and select a reader to proclaim it during step 5.

Procedure

Step 1: Creation of Faith-Sharing Groups
If the group size is larger than ten, divide into small faith- sharing groups of five to seven. Select one person in each faith-sharing group to serve as the prayer leader.

Step 2: Focus the Group
Begin the faith-sharing process with these or similar words:

Think about how powerful television is in our culture. Certainly, it determines many people’s schedules, for example, when we wake and sleep, when we entertain company, and when we just want to escape from the world.

Today we will use TV shows to help us look at our lives, our faith, and the journey we are taking.

Step 3: Select and Meditate on the TV Guide
Distribute pens or pencils and handout 2–A, "Prime-Time TV Guide," and provide the following directions:

For each question, select a TV show from the list that best answers that question for you this month.

Please focus on the meaning of the title as it appears and do not dwell on the content of the show itself.

After you have made your selections, spend a moment reflecting silently on why you made these choices and jot down your thoughts on your handout.

Step 4: Sharing Reflections

Invite the participants to begin sharing their reflections with these or similar words:

I now invite the prayer leader for each group to lead the group in a few minutes of sharing. Taking one question at a time, the prayer leader should begin sharing the choice she or he made and the meaning behind the choice and then invite others to share their choices and reasons, if they wish. After all have had a chance to share, move to the next question, until all five have been covered.

Allow several minutes for this sharing.

Step 5: Conclusion and Closing Prayer

Conclude with these or similar words:

Thousands of years ago, BTV (before TV), the psalmist considered how ever-present and powerful God was in a person’s life. As we conclude our faith-sharing session, listen to the psalm proclaimed as you imagine all that fills God’s TV screen.

Invite the designated reader to proclaim Psalm 139:1–16,23–24.

Invite the young people to offer, in prayer, one image or word that describes God. Ask them to use the phrase, "God is ________." For example, "God is everywhere" or "God is love" or "God is Creator."

Conclude with the following brief prayer:

For all that God is, we give thanks. Amen.

Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 22, 2011
John 14:1-12

Opening Prayer
Jesus, as you prepared to return to your Father in heaven you assured us that we would also live with you in communion with the Father. By continuing your mission of good works, we have a road map to the place where you dwell with the Father. Continue to inspire us through the Holy Spirit to be doers of your word. Amen.

Context Connection
In this Sunday's Gospel, Jesus reminds his disciples that even though he is going away--back to the Father--they need to continue his mission. The opening words, "Do not let your hearts be troubled" (14:1), are words of comfort and compassion. Jesus also tells his disciples that believing in God and in himself will give them strong hearts and the conviction to do the works of Jesus.

Jesus says he is going to his Father's house, where "there are many dwelling places" (14:2), to prepare a place for them. Jesus promises his disciples that he will not only prepare a place for them but also come again to take them with him to dwell with God the Father. "I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also" (14:3). We continue to believe that Jesus will come again at the end of the world.

Then Jesus tells his followers that in the in-between time they will know what to do: "And you know the way to the place where I am going" (14:4). Thomas speaks first, expressing the insecurity of all the disciples: "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" (14:5). Jesus's response to Thomas's question is poignant and serves as a teaching for all disciples: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (14:6). The "way" of Jesus is a loving way, a way of total self-giving, even to the point of death. It must also become the way of all his followers.

These words of comfort are added by Jesus: "If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him" (14:7). For three years the disciples have traveled with Jesus and spent time in conversation with him so that they could come to know him. Jesus now wants his disciples to understand that he is in the Father and the Father is in him. This is the start of the comprehension of the mystery of the Holy Trinity: if you know Jesus, you know the Father because they are one. Jesus's response clarifies that Christian hope is not found in a method or in a procedure but in a person--Jesus--the means of encounter with God.

Once again the disciples' insecurities are voiced--this time in the words of Philip: "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied" (14:8). This statement shows the disciples' lack of faith. Jesus becomes exasperated with Philip and the other disciples for not recognizing the Father in him over the past three years. Thus Jesus's words are direct: "Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (14:11). To believe is crucial. One must believe that Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in him--they are one. Jesus continues to say that if it is not possible for the disciples to believe, then they should look back over the many miracles he has worked and understand that they were the manifestation of the Father's work in and through him: "If you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves" (14:11).

The Gospel closes with instruction for all disciples of Jesus, including us: "The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father" (14:12). Jesus links belief with doing good works. The Letter of James says that we are to be not only hearers of the word of Jesus but also doers of his word; we must put those words into action. Jesus tells his disciples that by placing their belief in him, they will do even greater things than he. The increased greatness of the works lies in acting in Jesus's name after he has ascended to the Father. The Acts of the Apostles records many of these great works of the Apostles.

Tradition Connection
Jesus speaks about his returning to the Father from whom he came. Each Christmas we celebrate the mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus: God taking on full humanity to live among his people. In the Nicene Creed, we profess, "He [Jesus] came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and become man" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, page 49). Jesus's descent from heaven made the will and love of God the Father known to the world. As Jesus approached the time when he would ascend to the Father, he wanted to prepare the disciples for his departure. "This final stage stays closely linked to the first, that is, to his descent from heaven in the Incarnation. Only the one who 'came from the Father' can return to the Father: Christ Jesus.1 'No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man2'" (Catechism, paragraph 661).

Jesus shares with the disciples that his whole reason for coming into the world is so that humankind can come to know God the Father in a definitive way:

Christ's whole earthly life--his words and deeds, his silences and sufferings, indeed his manner of being and speaking--is Revelation of the Father. Jesus can say: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father," and the Father can say: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"3 Because our Lord became man in order to do his Father's will, even the least characteristics of his mysteries manifest "God's love . . . among us."4 (Catechism, paragraph 516).

In the Lord's Prayer we pray to God our Father who is in heaven. In doing so we recognize God's love for us, his children, as seen in the Old Testament, especially in the prophets, and in the New Covenant: Jesus the Christ. In this New Covenant we become God's people and hence adopted children of God. "This new relationship is the purely gratuitous gift of belonging to each other: we are to respond to 'grace and truth' given us in Jesus Christ with love and faithfulness"5 (Catechism, paragraph 2787). The Catechism speaks further about the symbol of the heavens as God's dwelling place and our homeland:

The symbol of the heavens refers us back to the mystery of the covenant we are living when we pray to our Father. He is in heaven, his dwelling place; the Father's house is our homeland. Sin has exiled us from the land of the covenant,6 but conversion of heart enables us to return to the Father, to heaven.7 In Christ, then, heaven and earth are reconciled,8 for the Son alone "descended from heaven" and causes us to ascend there with him, by his Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension.9 (Catechism, paragraph 2795)

We, the disciples of Jesus, are invited to step out in faith to trust the mystery of God: the unity of the Father and the Son. It is through Jesus that we come to dwell with God the Father in heaven. In First Corinthians Paul wrote, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Wisdom Connection
Just as the disciples were troubled about Jesus's departure, so was John's community. So John writes to help them gain perspective on Jesus's return. Jesus told the disciples he would come back to take them with him to the Father. The early Christian community hoped this would happen in their lifetime. John's Gospel was written near the end of the first century, and Jesus had not yet come again. Rather than focus on the timing of the Second Coming, John has his community focus on what needs to happen in the in-between time. Jesus did not leave without giving the disciples an understanding of how to get to the Father. The original disciples were told they must continue the good works of Jesus the Christ through faith in Jesus the Christ. Through his life, teachings, and actions, Jesus presented a way of life to his disciples. If an individual, as well as a whole community, would live as Jesus did, then they would definitely encounter God, who is love. For John it was a matter of believing in Jesus as the Christ and modeling one's life after his. "The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these" (14:12).

Jesus's departure should not be a cause of sorrow and despair. Rather it is a cause of hope and comfort because he is preparing a permanent dwelling place for those who are in communion with God the Father. On earth the glory of God, once seen in the works of Jesus, can now be seen in the works of the believing disciples.

Acknowledgments
The scriptural quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition. Copyright © 1993 and 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

The quotations labeled Catechism are from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America. Copyright © 1994 by the United States Catholic Conference, Inc.--Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.

The Lord's Prayer is taken from Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers. Copyright © 1988 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Inc., Washington, DC. All rights reserved.

Endnotes Cited in Quotations from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
1. Cf. John 16:28.
2. John 3:13; cf. Ephesians 4:8-10.
3. John 14:9; Luke 9:35; cf. Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7 ("my beloved Son").
4. 1 John 4:9.
5. John 1:17; cf. Hosea 2:21-22; 6:1-6.
6. Cf. Genesis 3.
7. Jeremiah 3:19--4:1a; Luke 15:18,21.
8. Cf. Isaiah 45:8; Psalm 85:12.
9. John 3:13; 12:32; 14:2-3; 16:28; 20:17; Ephesians 4:9-10; Hebrews 1:3; 2:13.

Saint Bernadine of Siena

May 20 is the memorial for Saint Bernadine of Siena.

Saint Bernadine was a renowned preacher and peacemaker. He was noted for working to navigate the tension between secular life and Christian ethics. Today he is recognized as the patron saint of, among other things, advertising and public relations work.

For more information on Saint Bernadine of Siena, go to http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-bernadine-of-siena/.