Michael will receive a copy of Great People of the Bible Student Book and Catechist Guide, a $28.90 value.

Bring Salvation History to Life! Parish leaders have been requesting a Catholic Bible study curriculum for middle school students, created specifically to fit their parish schedules. Saint Mary’s Press is pleased to respond to this need with the Great People of the Bible parish curriculum.

The Great People of the Bible curriculum offers:

• A student book that is found in conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a supplemental curriculum resource, and the only Bible curriculum for middle school students with this approval

• Twenty-five, one hour sessions designed to fit a typical parish calendar

• A catechist guide that offers easy-to-follow session outlines for the volunteer catechist

• Flexible options for the Catechist to complete student activities in class or use as family learning assignments in the home

• One student book that covers both the Old and New Testament and that supports the ABC’s of biblical literacy

• Engaging student activities, now with expanded background content, based on the ever popular Student Activity Workbooks for Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics

Great People of the Bible
ISBN: 978-0-88489-690-6, paper, 56 pages

Christ is risen! Indeed he is risen! And we are celebrating Easter in this Servant Leader by including news about a special app! (Yes, the title of this column is an Easter pun.) Our founding editor, Steven McGlaun, sent this column as a special gift for us this Eastertide. As you read it, consider ways you might incorporate religious art into your work with teens. So, Steven, take it away!

When I was a freshman in college I experienced what I still consider today to be one of the most meaningful learning experiences I ever had. It was not part of a lecture, it was not the result of a research project, and it was not the result of reading an assigned text. The learning experience occurred when my professor deviated from the topic on the syllabus. He took our entire class to the lobby of the building where the class met to look at a temporary art display that had just been put up. We did not wander aimlessly, scanning the art. Instead, he had the class gather in front of one painting and look at it for 10 minutes. It was an abstract painting, with many shapes and colors, somewhat like the work of Salvador Dali. We then engaged in a discussion about that one piece of art. What did we see? Why did we think certain elements were included? What did we believe was the artist’s intent ? What other pieces of art or things in the world did it remind us of? The discussion continued well past the time class was supposed to end. Over the next several weeks I found myself returning to that particular painting—looking, contemplating, and discovering more and more layers of meaning. It was an experience that changed my approach to art and, in many ways, changed my approach to learning. I found myself undertaking this exercise of reflection, contemplation, and discovery with texts and projects in other courses. It is an experience I tried to create for students when I taught and for participants on retreats. Religious art offers an amazing depth for reflection and insight into our faith.

I share this experience with you because now, as the catchphrase goes, "there’s an app for that." Dr. Eileen Daily, Program Director of the Master of Arts in Religious Education at the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago, has developed an app to help people reflect on and experience religious art. Eileen has experience as a religious educator and high school theology teacher. She gave up a law career when, in 1987, an encounter with Christian art planted a seed that finally grew so large that she had to find a way to share the power of Christian art with others. In 2001, she earned a doctorate in religion and education at Boston College with a focus on the relationship between art and religion. Eileen is also the author of the Saint Mary’s Press resource Beyond the Written Word, a resource for helping students explore the Christian faith through art. She has now developed Art/y/fact.xn (pronounced "Artifact, Christian") to help people connect on a new level with religious artwork.

This is how it works: While viewing an artwork, the user may choose to listen to one of six guided meditations or may choose an interpretive approach based on the theme of the artwork. Navigation through the app is guided by the user’s curiosity, proximity to a piece of art, and sense of adventure. Tapping an article title brings the user to an article. Users interested in learning more will tap the "Dig Deeper" button and follow their own interests into learning more about art, history, or theology as it might relate to the artwork they are encountering.

More than 100 themes common in Christian art are presented, along with some basic information, including a list of what to look for in the artwork, and some questions to help focus the interpretation. The questions are directed not only at the Christian user’s own faith life but also provide avenues to general or historical interpretations that will help users from any background to understand the meaning of the artwork.

As we move ever deeper into the digital age, it is refreshing to find a resource that can help us connect with the art that is such a rich part of our Christian heritage. The Art/y/fact.xn app is available at the iTunes Store and at this link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/art-y-fact.xn/id480642369?mt=8.

I encourage you to take a look at this wonderful resource as another tool you can use to engage young people in the exploration and deepening of their faith.

Easter blessings!

Steven McGlaun

Back to Joanna and a note on the Year of Faith: Perhaps you have experienced, as I have, the enthusiasm and hope "at the grass roots" that have surrounded the recent election of Pope Francis. A current article from the Catholic News Service recounts the previous efforts of Pope Francis, as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, working with other South American bishops, toward greater involvement with the needs of the people. The article is titled, "With Pope Francis, the ‘great continental mission’ goes global," and notes the pastoral gifts of the new Pope. Surely an encouragement to faith as Pope Francis begins his ministry to "Take care of my sheep" (John 21:16, GNT).

This easy-to-do art project can involve teens in a creative celebration of Christ’s Resurrection. First review the meaning of the Easter egg (a plain-looking exterior teeming with life inside, a symbol of the tomb and the risen life of Christ) and then let the teens go to town with this project! Remind them also that the Sun itself is a symbol of the Risen Christ.

Note: You might like to make a few suncatchers ahead of time as a motivator and to show the end result.

Supplies needed:

• Clear contact paper
• Pastel ribbon (for hanging the "eggs" in a window)
• Varied colors of tissue paper in sheets
• Various colorful art supplies: sequins, buttons, Easter grass, glitter, etc.

Directions:

Give each teen a square of contact paper, about 10 x 10 inches. Have them tape down the four corners with clear tape so that the contact paper will not shift or crumple. Ask the teens to tear the tissue paper into pieces (shaped into flower petals, etc., or torn at random) and to place them on the contact paper. Some overlapping will give texture; too much overlapping will blot out the light. Encourage adding sequins, buttons, glitter, and a bit of Easter grass. Put a piece of ribbon at the top center, with a loop at the top and the two ends stuck to the contact paper. Make sure the ribbons are very well anchored in the contact paper. Then lay a second piece of 10 x 10-inch contact paper over this arrangement. Cut the square into an egg shape. Hang in a window to let the sun shine through—just as we let the Risen Christ shine through our lives!

Fifth Sunday of Easter
April 28, 2013
John 13:31-33a,34-35

Opening Prayer
Jesus, you direct us to love as you love. Your unconditional love is for all people because you recognize their fundamental value as human beings. You treat all people with dignity and respect because they are created in the image and likeness of God the Father. Help us love in this same way. Amen.

Context Connection
The passage for this Sunday is short but packed with significant meaning for Christians. It directly follows the account of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples and sharing bread with Judas at the Last Supper. In verse 30, Judas leaves the company of Jesus and the disciples to carry out his betrayal of Jesus. This context gives verses 31-35 even more significance. Even in the face of betrayal Jesus holds high the importance of honor and selfless love of others.

The words "when he had gone out," in verse 31, put in motion Jesus’ ultimate act of love, the gift of his life raised up on a cross, done in honor of and obedience to the will of the Father. This passage becomes Jesus’ farewell address to his disciples. In Jewish tradition a farewell address usually has a specific nature. Jacob's farewell address (Genesis 47:29-31; 48:1-22; 49:1-33) is an account of Jacob's putting his life in order and passing on his legacy to his descendants, thus preserving his honor. It is also an opportunity for Jacob, as an elder, to give the next generation instructions on how to live enriched by God--urging them to practice virtue and to remain faithful to the Law. The address concludes with a blessing. In this same tradition, Jesus is putting affairs in order and instructing his disciples on how to live enriched by God's grace. This is done, Jesus tells them, by first giving honor to God the Father: "Now the Son of Man has been glorified and God has been glorified in him" (13:31). Jesus the Son glorifies his Father through his Passion and Crucifixion. What society sees as a shameful way to die--being crucified as a criminal--Jesus uses to witness to the true meaning of the gift of himself as a loving act. Out of this selfless act of love, Jesus secures credibility and presents to the disciples, and to us, his final instructions on how to live a virtuous, moral life: "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another" (13:34). The degree to which this love extends is not yet known to the disciples, but they will slowly begin to understand after Jesus is raised up on the cross.

The hallmark of being a Christian, according to Jesus, is the observable way a Christian lives out this love in the community: "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (13:35). Jesus demonstrates his love in a very public way, by dying on a cross. The Christian community must practice this same self-sacrificing love, also in a public way, so that those on the outside looking in will see that all disciples are practicing the love of Christ.

Tradition Connection
Jesus wants his disciples to be recognized by the way they treat one another: "Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples" (13:34-35). The way believers treat one another should be noticeably different from the way nonbelievers treat one another. Selfless love is the difference. For Catholics, charity--another word for love--is one of the three theological virtues. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that "charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God" (paragraph 1822). The other two theological virtues are faith and hope. These theological virtues are the core values that help Catholics mature in their relationship with God and others. As we practice these virtues, we are drawn into a deeper understanding of our relationship with the Triune God.

Saint Paul tells us that the greatest of these three virtues is charity: "And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13). Previously in the same chapter, Paul writes, "Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude" (John 13:4-5). Then Paul stresses that "love never ends" (13:8).

"The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity. . . . Charity upholds and purifies our human ability to love, and raises it to the supernatural perfection of divine love" (Catechism, paragraph 1827). In Sunday's Gospel, Jesus instructs his disciples--shortly before his death--that they are to love one another in the same way he has loved them. Loving one another is the foundation upon which those who follow Jesus construct their whole virtuous lives: "Love one another. Just as I have loved you" (13:34). Jesus’ proclamation could not have been clearer.

"The practice of the moral life animated by charity gives to the Christian the spiritual freedom of the children of God. . . . If we turn away from evil out of fear of punishment, we are in the position of slaves. If we pursue the enticement of wages, . . . we resemble mercenaries. Finally, if we obey for the sake of the good itself and out of love of him who commands . . . we are in the position of children"1 (paragraph 1828). As children of God, we are free to live as individuals who love others because we have experienced the life-giving love of God, which has made us spiritually free. How do we know when true love, the love of God, is present in a follower's life? We can recognize the fruits of this kind of love, which the Catechism describes as "joy, peace and mercy" (paragraph 1829). When we see these characteristics present within an individual, we know that the love of God is present; we may even use the word holiness to describe this presence. The Catechism tells us that authentic love permeates the whole person, who radiates the love of God: "It is impossible to keep the Lord's commandment by imitating the divine model from outside; there has to be a vital participation, coming from the depths of the heart, in the holiness and the mercy and the love of our God" (paragraph 2842).

Jesus is telling his disciples that everyone who follows him has to make a choice, as Jesus has, between loving and not loving. "The Law of the Gospel requires us to make the decisive choice between 'the two ways' and to put into practice the words of the Lord"2 (paragraph 1970).

Wisdom Connection
Jesus’ commandment to the disciples to love one another as he has loved them is the culmination of all Jesus has taught them. The commandment is the centerpiece of his farewell address. What an appropriate context in which to talk about this kind of love! Jesus is embarking on the saving action of God, who loves so completely that Jesus the Son of God is allowed to be raised up on a cross. This act of love is a demonstration, a sign, to all believers of the depth of God's sincere desire to be in an intimate love relationship with humankind--a love that knows no bounds and is freely given without conditions. Therefore, Christian love must have this same radical, countercultural dimension in the world at all times. Such love demands that followers love without counting the cost or seeking personal gain. The love Jesus speaks of is a complete self-emptying kind of love that insists on giving everything. Once this liberating kind of love is made real through action, those affected are changed. Now they have the dilemma of choosing one of two ways to live--either by loving unconditionally or by not loving.

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 Lord's Prayer and 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.

Endnotes cited in quotations from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
1. St. Basil, Reg. Fus. tract., prol.
2. Cf. Matthew 7:13-14, 21-27.
3: J.P. Migne, ed., Patrologia Graeca, 31, 896 B.

Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 5, 2013
John 14:23-29

Opening Prayer
Jesus, we thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit--the Father's and your presence among us. As we gather to share our reflections on your word, help us be conscious, in a deeper way, of the Holy Spirit's presence here today. Amen.

Context Connection
The Gospel for this Sunday prepares us to celebrate the feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost, which we will observe on the next two Sundays, respectively.

In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of his return to the Father and of the gift of the Holy Spirit--the Advocate--wom he and the Father will send to the newly formed community. What does advocate mean? Its meaning has roots in law: an advocate is one who stands by the side of the defendant. What does John imply when he speaks of the Advocate? For John, the Advocate has three aspects:

The Advocate is the continued presence of Jesus on earth after his Ascension.

The Advocate is the truth-telling Spirit who gives legitimacy to Jesus as the beloved Son of God.

The Advocate helps the community remember what Jesus said and come to a deeper understanding of Jesus’ identity and his message.

In essence, for John, the Advocate is the divine presence who gives guidance to the members of the community.

In this Sunday's passage, Jesus prepares his disciples for his return to the Father because he does not want his followers to be anxious about that separation. "I am going away. . . . If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father" (14:28), he tells them. Returning to the Father is a good thing, and Jesus wants his followers to know that there will be positive outgrowth from his Ascension. Jesus promises that he and the Father will send the gift of the Holy Spirit to be their presence in the community. To console the disciples Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you" (14:27). Jesus did this so that the disciples would not be afraid or have troubled hearts after his Ascension. Jesus’ return to the Father is really a time for rejoicing. Jesus must ascend so that he can send the Holy Spirit to dwell among those who love him and keep his word. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son continue to make their home in the believing community today.

Why does Jesus tell his followers these things? His words in the Gospel tell us why: "And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe" (14:29).

Tradition Connection
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you" (14:27). These words of Jesus from John's Gospel are the same words the priest prays at Mass just before he invites the community to share the Sign of Peace. The peace the congregation is invited to share is the peace of Christ. This sharing of the peace of Christ is the same peace that Jesus shared with his disciples--a greeting of peace passed on to us today through the Church. This peace that flows from Jesus’ oneness with the Father has helped the Christian community endure many hardships. To learn more about the Sign of Peace, read the "Catholic Connection" article near John 14:27 in The Catholic Youth Bible.

The Prayer of Saint Francis, which is attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, gives us insight into what sharing the peace of Christ means.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

In this prayer, we ask Jesus to help us bring his peace into the world in which we live. We are to be for the world what Jesus was when he lived upon the earth--a source of love, hope, light, and forgiveness.

Wisdom Connection
The community that John addressed in his Gospel was confident that the Spirit of Jesus, through the presence of the Holy Spirit, was still with its members even as the end of the first century was approaching. The Spirit dwelling in their midst reminded them of and helped them interpret the words of Jesus. This community was awaiting the return of Jesus--a return they believed would happen in their lifetime. As most of the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ presence on earth died, the Christian community grew more concerned about when the Second Coming of Jesus would occur. Christians began to gradually understand that the Second Coming might not be in their lifetime. And so they began to focus on the gifts Jesus had given the community to prepare them for his return. In this Sunday's reading, John focuses on two of those gifts: Christ's peace and the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ return to the Father ensures that, through the sending of the Holy Spirit, the Father and the Son will be present in the community of believers of every generation. These gifts are still present in our Church community--the Holy Spirit is alive in the Church today.

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.

If there had been such an award in the 14^th century, Saint Catherine surely would have won "Church Woman of the Year" not once but several times. As she worked tirelessly to unify the Church—encouraging Pope Gregory XI to move back to Rome from the French city of Avignon—she backed up her words with prayer.

As a Third Order Dominican, she shared the Dominican charism for teaching and preaching, which grew out of her contemplative experience. Let us ask Saint Catherine to guide our new Pope as he endeavors to take up the challenge of both Church issues and world issues in our own day.

Saint Catherine of Siena was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970. Her feast day is April 29. Read more about Saint Catherine of Siena HERE.