Therie Velasco-Gonzales will receive a copy of Great People of the Bible student book and the accompanying 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 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

Can it be August already? The days of summer are, as Simon and Garfunkel used to sing, "slip slidin’ away." In my youth, August used to be longer. It was the last month before school opened, and there seemed to be plenty of time to meander in the neighborhood branch library, walk to the city pool and back (which meant you ended up just as hot as you were before you made the trip), spend the afternoon on a screened-in porch, or ride bikes to a friend’s house.

Then arrived that telltale Sunday after the Feast of the Assumption when the sisters were again seen at Sunday Mass. "They’re ba-a-a-ck. . . ." And with them, the cusp of a new scholastic year had arrived. We are once again at the cusp. It may be a good time to look back at your own journey and ask yourself:

How did I get here? Why am I here? Why do I keep at this?

I have always been intrigued by vocation stories, because each one is so different. Did you plan for a life in religious education, or did you somehow fall into it and find that it suited you? Did you have a hunch that this would be your path, or did God surprise you along the way? If you have a faculty or catechist day of recollection before beginning the school year, sharing stories of how and why you each find yourself in your current ministry might be faith-strengthening for everyone. Why? Because sometimes we can see the hand of Providence in others’ lives more easily than we can in our own. However you got here, you are not here by accident. You were led. You are sent.

But why? The reasons you began may not be the reasons you continue. We grow in self-understanding, and we grow in our appreciation for our own roles in furthering the Kingdom.

Shortly after his election in March, Pope Francis received a visit from students in Jesuit-run schools in Italy and Albania. He was prepared with a long speech, but, in meeting the students, he laid the speech aside and decided to open the visit to questions and dialogue. Much of his address centered around the meaning of a Catholic education, which the Pope identified as freedom and service. For their teachers, Pope Francis had these words:

"Do not be disheartened in the face of the difficulties that the educational challenge presents! Educating is not a profession but an attitude, a way of being; in order to educate it is necessary to step out of ourselves and be among young people, to accompany them in the stages of their growth and to set ourselves beside them."

(To read the complete address, see http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/speeches/2013/june/index_en.htm. Scroll down to "To Students of Jesuit Schools of Italy and Albania.")

As partners in this "educational challenge," Saint Mary’s Press recently hosted nearly 50 high school teachers at the Fifth Annual Educator’s Summit in Winona, Minnesota. We at Saint Mary’s Press were privileged to meet so many dedicated teachers from all over the country, and from all accounts the teachers who came found it both worthwhile and fun. The Educator’s Summit is our way of saying "thank you" for doing what you do, and, especially this year, it helped all of us to grasp the growing role of technology in the classroom. After a week or so of rest, the Summit Committee will begin planning next year! We hope to see many of you in 2014!

Happy beginnings! (See some ideas in "Make It Happen" in this newsletter.)

Blessings on your ministry!

Peace and joy,

Joanna

A note on the Year of Faith: Some of us may still be basking in the glow of World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro. If you missed this one, the next one will be in Poland in 2015! In the online Saint Mary’s Press Resource Center, searching under "Year of Faith" yields a video, "26 Years of World Youth Days." As a summary of these unique international experiences, this video might encourage interest in making plans now to travel to Poland. It can be found at: http://www.smp.org/resourcecenter/resource/3408/.

Father Barron also has a video on faith which might be helpful in the beginning of the year, in partial answer to the question: "What is faith and why is it important?" See "What Faith Is and What It Is Not," at http://www.smp.org/resourcecenter/resource/5669/.

Disappearing Nametags

Overview: If the members of your group are new to one another, you may want to use nametags in the first few meetings. Try this nametag exercise, using disposable stick-on nametags.

Materials needed: stick-on nametags, markers

1. In the first meeting, ask the young people to write their first and last names on their nametags and wear them during the meeting.
2. At the second meeting, ask the young people to write only their first names on their nametags.
3. At the third meeting, ask the young people to find someone in the group who knows their name. Before they stick on the nametag, they are to ask that person, "Would you write my name on my nametag?"
4. At the fourth meeting, ask the young people to write only their first initial on their nametags. Form a circle. Challenge a volunteer to name each person in the circle, or to name the first five people to his or her left in the circle. Then ask another volunteer to name the next five, etc.
5. At the fifth meeting, use no nametags at all. Play the circle challenge as above. Even those who do not volunteer will, in this way, be reviewing the names.

Me and My Favorites

Overview: This name game helps to identify each young person with a favorite sport, subject, TV show, ice cream flavor, etc., as a help to remembering each person’s name and something identifiable about each person.

Materials needed: index cards, one for each student; markers; safety pins or straight pins.

1. Give each young person a blank index card.
2. Ask the students to write their first names on one side, and, on the other side, write a favorite sport, subject, TV show, flavor of ice cream, etc. (Only one favorite, please!)
3. Form a circle. Each person is to say his or her name, and name the favorite as well. Encourage the group to pay strict attention to the names and the information.
4. Collect the cards. Instruct the group to remain in the circle.
5. Jumble the cards and redistribute them. Ask the participants, while still in the circle, to find the owner of the card in order to give it back. (They must wait until someone comes to them and offers to give them back their own cards. They may not go looking for their own cards to take back.) Note: This can be made a little more difficult by asking the group to change places within the circle before finding the owners of the cards.
6. If someone has no clue as to the owner of the card, he or she may ask a peer or come to you for help.
7. Distribute safety pins or straight pins so that the group can wear the cards as nametags for the remainder of the session.

August 25, 2013
Luke 13:22-30

Opening Prayer

Jesus, we know you are the way, the truth, and the life. As we continue on life's path, help us always seek the truth. May our relationship with you, which is enriched by the truth, grow strong. Help us mature and come to know the Father as the Father knows us. And, when our earthly life is complete, may God the Father welcome us into the heavenly Kingdom. Amen.

Context Connection

In the opening sentence of Sunday's Gospel, Luke again focuses on Jesus' goal to take his message to Jerusalem. To accomplish his goal, Jesus preaches and teaches in towns and villages along his route: "Jesus went through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem" (13:22). Luke does not let his readers forget that Jesus intended to teach in Jerusalem.

Someone in one of the crowds along the way raises this question: "Lord, will only a few be saved?" (13:23). This important question is about who will enjoy eternal salvation. Jesus responds, "Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able" (13:24). There is a sense of urgency in his message; not all are going to make it through the narrow passage, even though they try. Jesus stresses that now is the time and that those who delay may be left out. Jesus also makes the point that some who will be left out are people who ate and drank with the Lord and people he taught in the streets. They will not be recognized because they were not committed to the vision of Jesus, but were superficial and casual about their relationship with him. Therefore, they will not be welcomed. Jesus will tell them, "I do not know where you come from" (13:27). Those left out will be deeply disappointed: "There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out" (13:28). Salvation demands a commitment beyond convenience or casual observance. It demands a decisive and full-hearted movement toward a relationship with God that begins now and continues forever--with an urgency to do it now before the opportunity passes. Jesus also says that "people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God" (13:29). Salvation is not closed to anyone. In fact, even Gentiles could enter the Kingdom and experience salvation before some Jews. This was particularly good news for Luke's audience of Gentiles.

Why does the person in the crowd raise the question about who will be saved? During Jesus' time people held various beliefs about who would gain salvation. Some people believed that all Israelites, and only Israelites, would share in the afterlife. The Pharisees, however, believed that only a few Israelites--a remnant--would be saved.

Earlier in chapter 13, Jesus makes it clear that salvation comes not only from sharing a meal with him, or from casually listening to him preach, but through a sincere and repentant heart: "Unless you repent, you will all perish" (13:3, 13:5). Jesus demands a radical life change that will be recognized in the world to come. No one receives the Kingdom because of ancestry. One must hear the word of God and live it to partake of the feast in the Kingdom of God. To do this is to enter through the narrow door.

Tradition Connection

The question "Lord, will only a few be saved?" (13:23) reflects our desire for a guaranteed place with God in heaven. This desire tempts us to make heaven exclusive and to risk missing God's intention for all to be saved. Jesus became human, suffered, and died on a cross for this reason: "Everyone is called to enter the kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of all nations.1 To enter it, one must first accept Jesus' word" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 543).

In his life Jesus modeled the eternal banquet he foresaw. Jesus invited Pharisees, sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes to dine with him:

Jesus invites sinners to the table of the kingdom: "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."2 He invites them to that conversion without which one cannot enter the kingdom, but shows them in word and deed his Father's boundless mercy for them and the vast "joy in heaven over one sinner who repents"3 (Catechism, paragraph 545).

In First Timothy we have this reflection about God's universal salvific hope:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (2:1-4).

A recent Vatican document states, "Salvation is found in the truth. Those who obey the promptings of the Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation" (Dominus Iesus, 22). The grace of Jesus Christ is already active in the lives of those who believe in the truth. As Catholics we know that Jesus is the truth. Jesus said this about himself: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). In knowing Jesus, we know the Father. God the Father recognizes us, who are known by Jesus, and welcomes us into the heavenly banquet. "Jesus said to him . . . whoever has seen me has seen the Father. . . . Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? . . . Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (John 14:9-11). As committed followers of Jesus Christ, we who hear and live according to his word are growing in our relationship with God now and in the life to come.

Wisdom Connection

In Sunday's Gospel Luke challenges two dominant beliefs about who will be saved. He first challenges the belief that only Israelites will experience salvation because they are the chosen race. Luke points out that salvation is not a result of one's ancestry. He next challenges the belief that salvation is available only to a few select Israelites. Luke wants his readers to understand that salvation is open to all people. This message was important for Luke's audience because most of them were not Jews. According to Luke we gain salvation by entering through the narrow gate, which means that we must hear the Word of God and live according to that Word. This is the way of salvation, the way into the Kingdom of God.

Closing Prayer

Invite the members to share a short, spontaneous prayer out loud or in the silence of their hearts. Close with the Lord's Prayer (also called the Our Father):

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

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.

The quotation from Dominus Iesus is from http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/ rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000806_dominus-iesus_en.html, accessed May 16, 2007.

Endnotes Cited in Quotations are from the Catechism of the Catholic Church

1. Cf. Matthew 8:11; 10:5-7; 28:19.
2. Mark 2:17; cf. 1 Timothy 1:15.
3. Luke 15:7; cf. 7:11-32.

Jeanne Jugan, born in France in 1792, was the foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor. Her community began in 1839 when she took a homeless elderly woman into her own home as a permanent guest. By 1853, the community numbered 500, all staffing houses for those who were poor and elderly.

Jeanne Jugan died on August 29, 1879. She was beatified in 1982 and canonized in 2009. Today, the Little Sisters of the Poor continue her work by serving in homes for the elderly all around the world. Saint Jeanne Jugan’s work and the work of her community testify to the love of Jesus for those whom society often marginalizes. Saint Jeanne’s feast day is on August 30.

For further information and articles about Saint Jeanne Jugan, visit American Catholic magazine online at http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1935.