Announcing:
Saint Mary's Press winner for the week of January 30, 2012!

Congratulations to Norma DeLaRosa!

Norma will receive a copy of Catholic Connections Handbook for Middle Schoolers, a $18.95 value.

The Catholic Connections Handbook for Middle Schoolers
by Janet Claussen, Pat Finan, Diana Macalintal, Jerry Shepherd, Susan Stark, Chris Wardwell

Whether middle schoolers encounter this book as part of the Catholic Connections program in faith formation or pick it up out of curiosity, The Catholic Connections Handbook for Middle Schoolers offers great guidance and aims to help young teens learn about all the central aspects of the Catholic faith, including God, revelation, faith, Jesus the Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Church, liturgy and sacraments, Christian morality and justice, and prayer.

Catholic Connections Handbook for Middle Schoolers
ISBN: 978-0-88489-994-5, paper, 552 pages

Super Bowl Halftime Bible Study

On February 5 Super Bowl XLVI will be played in Indianapolis between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Even if you are not a sports fan, the Super Bowl presents you with an opportunity to build fellowship among your young people and provide an opportunity for a little faith formation. At one parish where I worked, we held an annual youth-group Super Bowl party. There were a few things we did differently than your run-of-the-mill party. First, we invited the young people to bring food or money to donate to a local food shelf. Second, the television was not the focus of the gathering. We did have the game on for those wanting to watch, but we also had numerous games for those attending to play. Board games, card games, and party games such as Pictionary were available.

The biggest difference though was that we held a "Halftime Bible Study" on Christianity and competition. If you would like to lead a "Halftime Bible Study" on Christianity and competition, here are a few key Scripture verses and reflection questions.

Scripture:
Luke 22:24–27
Romans 12:17–21
1 Corinthians 9:24–27

Questions for discussion:
What is competition?
What does healthy competition look like?
What does unhealthy competition look like?
What benefits can come from healthy competition?
What harm can come from unhealthy competition?

For more Super Bowl activity ideas, check out http://www.souperbowl.org. This site provides resources that use Super Bowl Sunday as a means to mobilize youth toward social justice issues. I pray that you have a wonderful week, and as always, I pray that God will continue to bless you and your ministry.

Peace,
Steven McGlaun

Saint Blase (February 3)
From Exploring Saints and Feast Days with Young Adolescents

Overview
Reliable historical sources are slim on the life of Saint Blase. He is believed to have been a doctor who became a priest and then was ordained a bishop. The most famous legend surrounding Blase is that he healed a boy choking on a fishbone. Blase is honored as a martyr, and his feast day is February 3. The Church celebrates the feast of Saint Blase with the blessing of throats.

This session introduces the story of Saint Blase and explores the power of communal prayer for healing. The participants use improvisational acting to retell Blase’s story. Then they identify the need for healing in their own lives and in the world. The young people become acquainted with the importance of communal prayer in the healing process. Also included is an optional Study It! Longer activity on the Anointing of the Sick, which holds up the rite as one way the Church continues Jesus’s ministry of healing. The session ends with the youth offering prayers for those in need of healing and engaging in a prayer of blessing.

At a Glance
Icebreaker It’s Your Choice (10 minutes)
STUDY IT! The Story of Saint Blase and the Blessing of Throats (15 minutes)
STUDY IT! Longer (Optional) Anointing of the Sick (15 minutes)
LIVE IT! The Need for Healing and the Power of Prayer (25 minutes)
PRAY IT! Prayer for Healing (10 minutes)
Community Connections Parish, Families, Other Generations

Icebreaker
It’s Your Choice (10 minutes)
Materials and Preparation
- Gather the following items:
1. brown paper bags, one for each small group of four or five
2. one large marker, any color
3. a shoe box wrapped in colorful paper
4. appealing prizes (such as candy, beef jerky, stickers, canned drinks, pens, and quarters), approximately one for each participant
5. unappealing prizes (such as toilet paper, stones, scrap paper, old floppy disks), approximately one for each participant
- Create a set of prizes for each small group. Each set should contain enough prizes so that each group member gets one appealing prize and one unappealing prize. Place one set of prizes in the wrapped shoe box. Place the other sets in the brown paper bags. Write a number on each paper bag, large enough to be read across the room. Fold the tops of the bags over so they cannot be opened easily, and then line the bags up in numeric order on a table.

1. Divide the class into small groups of four or five and explain that each group gets a chance to choose a prize. Groups have 30 seconds to choose the wrapped box or select one of the numbered sacks and then open it to see their prize. If they select the box, ask them not to show the contents to the other groups. If a group chooses a numbered paper bag, no other group can take it away. Point out, however, that even if a group has already chosen the box, the next group can choose to take the box. The group that lost the box then waits until all other groups have chosen a prize and then selects again. That group can either choose the last bag or can take the box away from the group that has it.

2. Decide the order in which the groups select their prizes. Then let the selections begin. Observe whether any group chooses the box, knowing it may be taken away.

3. Lead a short discussion on how it feels to make a choice that may be risky or to make a decision not knowing the outcome. Ask the groups whether they considered choosing the box and why selecting a bag seemed like a safer decision. Reflect on the fact that living as a follower of Jesus is a choice we face daily.

4. Conclude this activity by noting that the saints chose to live as followers of Jesus, even when others challenged their decision or rejected them. Share that this session explores the story of Saint Blase, a martyr who gave up his life rather than deny his faith.

Study It!
The Story of Saint Blase and the Blessing of Throats (15 minutes)
Materials and Preparation
- Gather the following items:
two taper candles

1. Explain that the story of Saint Blase will be shared using improvisational theater. As the narrator tells the story, volunteers enact it without any props or practice. The actors’ goal is to work together to visibly and audibly emphasize the details of the story. For example, the story line notes that Saint Blase was a doctor. The improv troupe could do a quick scene where one person plays Saint Blase the doctor, who is operating on a patient with nurses standing by. The doctor could say something similar to: "I’m the doctor. Let’s begin the operation."

2. Ask for four volunteers to come forward. Facilitate a decision about who will act out the main character, Saint Blase, and who will be the supporting characters. Explain that you will be reading the story slowly and pausing at spots to give the actors time to put the story into action. Remind the actors that they do not have to enact every line. Ask them to listen and wait for the pauses before performing their improvisational scenes. If the volunteers have a hard time coming up with actions for the scenes, invite the large group to offer suggestions. This enables further involvement of the rest of the participants and encourages them to listen attentively.

3. Tell the story in these or similar words. Be prepared to repeat the lines to be acted out.

- Legend holds that Saint Blase was a doctor in the early 300s [pause] before becoming a priest [pause]. Blase then became the bishop of Sebaste in Armenia.
Although the Roman government allowed freedom of worship at that time,
Christians were still being persecuted [pause]. Blase fled to a cave [pause] and lived as a hermit. Eventually, he was found [pause] and taken to the governor [pause], who put him in prison [pause]. As the legend goes, while Blase was in prison, a mother brought her small child to him [pause] because the child was choking on a fishbone [pause]. Blase prayed over the child, and the child was healed [pause]. The end.

4. Thank the improv actors for their willingness to enter into the unknown to bring life to the story of Saint Blase. Thank the rest of the participants for their involvement as well. Follow the story with comments on Saint Blase and his feast day:

- Saint Blase was killed because of his unwavering belief in Jesus Christ. The Church celebrates him as a martyr, a term used to describe people who give up their lives rather than deny their beliefs.

- Saint Blase remained faithful to God, even though others persecuted him for his faith. We remember him for offering healing to someone in need.

- The feast day of Saint Blase is February 3. On this day, many Catholic parishes carry out the blessing of throats.

5. Ask the participants what they know about the blessing of throats and why the
Church offers it. Process their comments and then conclude with the following points:

- The blessing of throats is connected to the story of Saint Blase. The priest holds two candles together against the throat and offers this prayer: "Through the intercession of St. Blase, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness" (Book of Blessings, no. 1654).

Invite a volunteer to come forward and use the taper candles to simulate a blessing of the throat. Conclude with the following comments:

- The throat blessing is a custom of the Church developed through tradition. It is a ritual offered in the parish community as a way to ward off ill health, using the power of prayer.

If your parish will be celebrating the blessing of the throats, let the participants know when, and encourage their participation.

Study It! Longer (optional)
Anointing of the Sick (15 minutes)
Materials and Preparation

Gather the following items:
- copies of Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics or another Bible, one for every two participants
- note cards, three for each small group of four to six

Make sets of flash cards by writing the three aspects of the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick on separate cards: prayer of faith, laying on of hands, anointing with oil. Make one set for each small group of four to six.

Create a slip of paper for each small group of four to six with one of the following Scripture passages listed:
- Matthew 8:1–4
- Mark 1:40–45
- Mark 6:7–13
- Mark 8:22–26
- Luke 5:12–16
- Luke 7:1–10
- Luke 13:10–13

1. Divide the class into small groups of four to six. Assign a young adult or adult leader to each. Distribute the bibles and give each group one of the slips of paper listing a Scripture passage. Ask them to read the passage and identify what Jesus did to heal the sick. Allow about five minutes for the groups to complete the task.

2. Ask the groups to report their findings. They should notice that Jesus laid hands on the sick or touched them as he healed them. Ask the groups if they know which sacrament mirrors these actions of Jesus. If the young people do not identify the Anointing of the Sick as that which relates most closely to Jesus’s ministry of healing, then share this information with them.

3. Distribute one set of the flash cards on the aspects of the sacrament to each group. Tell the groups that the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick consists of the three ritual elements that are listed on the note cards. Challenge the groups to put the three cards in order according to the flow of the ritual. Inform them that they have two minutes to complete the task. Direct them to begin.

4. Inform the large group that the correct order is prayer of faith, laying on of hands, and anointing with oil. Ask if any groups had this order and, if so, invite some of the members to explain how they determined it. (Note: The order of the three ritual elements follows the same pattern as in the sacrament of Confirmation.) Ask the young people what they know about the sacrament and whether any of them has experienced it for themselves or for their loved ones.

5. Provide the following information about the Anointing of the Sick, using these or similar words:

- The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is rooted in the healing ministry of Jesus. As we read in the Scriptures, Jesus used his divine power to cure people who were ill and afflicted.

- The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is for the baptized who are seriously ill or who are impaired due to old age. It can be celebrated in church, in the home, or in a hospital or other care facility.

- The Church’s practice of anointing people who are sick provides them with support as they struggle and continues the healing work of Jesus Christ.

6. Conclude by commenting that whether the story of Blase’s saving the life of the boy with the fishbone is legend or history, it reminds us of the healing power of God. Our sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is a celebration of God’s healing power, and it provides the community with a way to continue Jesus’s healing ministry. Encourage the young people to request the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick if they are ill and to encourage others they know who may be struggling with illness to request the sacrament.

Live It!
The Need for Healing and the Power of Prayer (25 minutes)
Materials and Preparation

Gather the following items:
- six pieces of newsprint
- a marker
- masking tape
- sticky notes, several for each participant
- recent newspapers, one for each small group of four or five
- pens or pencils, one for each participant

Write the following words on separate pieces of newsprint: self, family, friends, local community, nation, and world. Post the pieces around the room.

1. Divide the class into small groups of four or five and assign a young adult or adult leader to each.

2. Begin a discussion on the need for healing, using these or similar words:

- There is a great need for healing in the world today. People desire healing of mind, body, and spirit. Who can name an illness or a hurt for which someone needs healing?

Solicit about five examples of ills and hurts, such as cancer, broken bones, loss of loved ones, broken relationships, and the like. Then share the following:

- This activity provides an opportunity to identify people who need healing so that prayer support can be offered. Consider what is going on in your own life, in the lives of those you know, and in the lives of those around the world.

- [Distribute the sticky notes, the newspapers, and the pens or pencils.] Six categories are listed on the sheets of newsprint: self, family, friends, local community, nation, and world. Each person will have a few minutes to record on sticky notes the names of people or situations that need healing in each of the six categories. Use the newspaper to find local, national, and international needs if necessary. When everyone has completed the task, share your findings with those in your small groups.

Note: Some of the hurts and ills might be very personal. Acknowledge this with the participants and clearly convey that they have the option to write cryptically on the sticky notes and to pass when the small groups discuss the findings. They should write and share only to the extent they are comfortable.

3. Direct the small groups to send some volunteers to post the sticky notes on the appropriate pieces of newsprint. Review with the large group some of the needs identified in each category by scanning the posted notes. Name aloud the needs that appear most frequently.

4. Discuss the needs and the power of prayer, using these or similar words:

- Thank you for your willingness to identify the ills and hurts in your lives and in our world. Some of the needs may seem bigger or more challenging than others, but whenever there is pain of one sort or another, our spirits are affected. Sometimes professional help is required, but prayer is helpful all the time.

- Praying with others allows us to hold one another up, to be a support system.
God’s presence is felt in a unique way when people are gathered together. Jesus said, "For where two or three come together in my name, I am there with them"
(Matthew 18:20). Praying with a community helps us feel God’s presence through the people around us who share the same beliefs and join in our prayers. It is an important element of healing.

5. Explain that we can begin supporting one another in prayer right now. Invite the small groups to write petitions based on the needs listed, which will be used in the closing prayer service. Assign each group a portion of the posted sticky notes and ask them to draft one or two general petitions that touch on one or two of the central ideas recorded. Alert the participants when five minutes remain and instruct the small groups to each select a speaker who will read the group’s petitions during the closing prayer.

Pray It!
Prayer for Healing (10 minutes)
Materials and Preparation
Gather the following items:
- a small table
- a cloth
- a candle
- matches or a candle lighter
- a copy of Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics or another Bible, marked at
James 5:13–16
- a CD of reflective music
- a CD player

Create a prayer area by covering a small table with a cloth and placing the candle, matches, and Bible on the table.

Recruit a volunteer to read James 5:13–16 when you cue him or her. Allow him or her some time to practice the reading

1. Gather the participants in or around the prayer area. Play reflective music in the background and have a volunteer light the candle.

2. Make the sign of the cross, and lead the opening prayer with these or similar words:

- Healing God, we gather together with a spirit of hope because we trust in your compassionate mercy. You empower your people to participate in healing and supporting others, like Saint Blase’s healing the boy with the fishbone caught in his throat. Use us today to be bearers of healing through our prayer and actions. We ask this through your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

3. Invite the reader to proclaim James 5:13–16. Unpack the passage with these or similar words:

- The writer of the Letter of James wants the early Christians to know the power of prayer, whether it is a prayer for healing or a prayer of praise. The passage notes the importance of believers’ praying together and praying with one another. God’s spirit soars when the community is gathered together in prayer and worship. Connecting to the greater community on Sundays, in times of despair and in times of joy, fosters a deeper understanding of God’s active presence in the community.

- Let us put this belief into practice by praying for the needs that surfaced today.

4. Call forward the petition readers who were chosen during the previous activity. Invite the group to respond, "Lord, hear our prayer." After all have offered their group’s petition, have the readers return to their seats.

5. Share that the next movement of the prayer calls each of us to hold one another in prayer. Ask the participants to form a circle and to each place his or her right hand on the left shoulder of the person on the right. Explain that each person will silently pray for the person on his or her right, asking God to help heal whatever is held in the heart of his or her neighbor. Invite the participants to bow their heads and silently pray for their neighbors.

6. Close the prayer service with these or similar words:

- Healing Lord, we lift up our prayers to you, trusting in your mercy to answer them as you see fit. We end our time together with the prayer you taught us.
Invite everyone to join together in saying the Lord’s Prayer.

Community Connections
Parish
Invite someone involved in hospital or pastoral care ministry to share information about what they do and how it helps people in the healing process. If possible, partner a young person with someone going on a pastoral care visit. Secure any necessary permission and forms to enable the interaction.

Families
Encourage families to create a prayer wall, where names and situations can be posted for the family to remember in prayer. Suggest that families designate a regular time each week to pray together for these and any other intentions. Invite families to develop together a prayer for healing and post where it can be readily seen.

Other Generations
On the feast of Saint Blase, organize a prayer service, led by a deacon and young people, to be celebrated at an assisted-living center or care facility.

The Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
February 5, 2012
Mark 1:29-39

Opening Prayer
Jesus, you are a person of compassion and love, bringing healing to others. We pray that we too will receive the gifts of compassion and love from the Holy Spirit. We desire to be devoted healers, to imitate you and minister to the suffering of our world. Amen.

Context Connection
This Sunday's Gospel is a continuation of the message we heard last week. After Jesus teaches and heals in the synagogue, he and his disciples go to Simon's house in Capernaum. There Jesus encounters Simon's mother-in-law, who is very sick; he takes her hand in his and helps her to stand up. "Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told [Jesus] about her at once. [Jesus] came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them" (1:30-31). In last Sunday's Gospel Jesus's words brought healing; his words drove out an unclean spirit. In the Good News proclaimed this Sunday, Jesus's touch brings healing. Taking Simon's mother-in-law by the hand, he causes a life-threatening fever to disappear. Later on he saves others through both his word and his touch.

For unknown reasons Mark does not give us the name of Simon's mother-in-law, but she emerges as a warm and generous person. Once healed, she provides hospitality to her guests by preparing and serving them food. Mark wants his readers to know that she was cured immediately and completely, and for this reason he describes her actions in detail. The work of healing others continued on into the night. "And the whole city was gathered around the door. And [Jesus] cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons" (1:33-34).

Mark adds this note after telling us about those who had demons cast out of them: "And [Jesus] would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him" (1:34). Mark reminds us that Jesus's messianic identity has not been revealed but will be disclosed at a later date. According to Mark, the first day of Jesus's public ministry was filled with teaching and healing. The source of his extraordinary power to heal is his relationship with his Father, to whom he turns in prayer. "In the morning, while it was still very dark, [Jesus] got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed" (1:35). Throughout his public life, Jesus centered himself in prayer to minister more effectively to those who sought him out. Jesus's momentary solitude is interrupted by Simon and others who inform him that people are looking for him. Jesus assures his disciples that he will once again make himself available, going to surrounding towns to preach and heal. "And [Jesus] went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons" (1:39). Mark emphasizes that proclaiming the Good News and healing were two aspects of Jesus's mission.

Tradition Connection
Coping with illness and suffering has always been a major challenge, through which we come to know our limitations as well as our greatest potential. Accepting the reality of a painful situation and taking the steps to cope with it can transform a person. Dependence on God as well as hope in God brings maturity. "In illness, man experiences his powerlessness, his limitations, and his finitude. Every illness can make us glimpse death" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1500).

Illness can lead to anguish, self-absorption, sometimes even despair and revolt against God. It can also make a person more mature, helping him discern in his life what is not essential so that he can turn toward that which is. Very often illness provokes a search for God and a return to him. (Catechism, paragraph 1501)
Jesus sought to heal the whole person--body, mind, and soul. He eradicated ailments afflicting one's body and mind, and forgave sins tormenting one's soul. Jesus's compassion for the sick can be described as intense. As his disciples and baptized members of the community, we must cultivate the same concern for those who are ill or suffering. As a Church the success of our healing ministry depends on it.

Christ's compassion toward the sick and his many healings of every kind of infirmity are a resplendent sign that "God has visited his people"1 and that the Kingdom of God is close at hand. Jesus has the power not only to heal, but also to forgive sins;2 he has come to heal the whole man, soul and body; he is the physician the sick have need of.3 His compassion toward all who suffer goes so far that he identifies himself with them: "I was sick and you visited me."4 His preferential love for the sick has not ceased through the centuries to draw the very special attention of Christians toward all those who suffer in body and soul. It is the source of tireless efforts to comfort them. (Catechism, paragraph 1503)
death, and Resurrection), In the Gospel we hear often of Jesus being touched in a profound way by people's suffering and pain. We hear the Gospel writers say that Jesus made their miseries his own. Through the Paschal mystery (Jesus's Passion, which shows us how to bring hope out of pain, making their miseries his own:

,, Christ continues to be touched by the suffering of the sick6 of which illness is only a consequence. By his passion and death on the cross Christ has given a new meaning to suffering: it can henceforth configure us to him and unite us with his redemptive Passion. (Catechism, paragraph 1505)
,

"He took our infirmities and bore our diseases."5 But he did not heal all the sick. His healings were signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. They announced a more radical healing: the victory over sin and death through his Passover. On the cross Christ took upon himself the whole weight of evil and took away the "sin of the world"
Wisdom Connection
Mark focuses on Jesus's great compassion for the sick, the poor, Throughout the Gospel that bears his name,
serving the poor, and comforting the brokenhearted are integral to the ministry of Jesus and therefore integral to the ministry of his followers. Our ready compassion and service, Mark reminds us that healing the sick, may be a good indication of our willingness to take on the mind of Jesus. Talk is cheap. We must act, now more than ever. Too many of our elected representatives have turned their backs on the sick, the poor, and the brokenhearted while religious leaders, Christian religious leaders, have remained silent. Cutting social programs, which makes it possible to spend more on unnecessary weapons programs, can never be described as an example of compassion and service, something that our bishops have pointed out. Our service to others is a key step in our own faith growth. Can we see the face of God in those in need of compassion, mercy, and love? If not, we are advised to do something for one who is sick, poor, or brokenhearted.

Acknowledgments
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 scriptural quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Inc.--Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.
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., Washington, The Lord's Prayer is taken from Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers. Copyright © 1988 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Endnotes Cited in Quotations from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
, 1. Luke 7:16; cf. Matthew 4:24.
2. Cf. Mark 2:5-12.
3. Cf. Mark 2:17.
4. Matthew 25:36.
5. Matthew 8:17; cf. Isaiah 53:4.
6. John 1:29; cf. Isaiah 53:4-6.

Saint Blase

A physician and Bishop of Sebaste, Armenia, Saint Blase was imprisoned during a time of Christian persecution in Armenia. While imprisoned he cared for his fellow prisoners and saved a child who was choking. For this reason he was named patron of healthy throats and against throat disease. Many churches provide a blessing of throats on his feast day.

For more information about Saint Blase go to http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-blaise