For many people, young and old alike, February is often associated with love and romance because of Valentine's Day. Advertisements make it seem like our celebrating is primarily focused on giving cards, sending chocolate, and eating a special dinner. While Valentine's Day is not part of our liturgical calendar (in fact, we celebrate the feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius on the 14th), it is a good opportunity to get to the heart of the meaning of the day—love.
Love is the center of all that we do, say, and believe as Catholics. Pope Benedict XVI focused his first encyclical on God Is Love. He notes that the sum total of the Christian life is centered on this—that "we have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us" (pg. 1). The Holy Father writes about both the love that God has lavished on us and the love we are expected give freely to others.
At the start of February when we can hardly escape secular messages about love, we can also dig through those messages and rediscover what it means to love and be loved by God, and the implications that has for us. These first few weeks of Ordinary Time leading up to the start of Lent include a variety of feasts and memorials that can help focus our reflection on love.
St. Agatha (Feb. 5) who died for her faith during the persecutions embraced Jesus' words to his apostles, "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13). Sts. Cyril and Methodius (Feb. 14), missionaries to the Slavs, brought their love for God and the Church to others, even seeking and receiving permission from the Pope to translate the Mass into Slavonic. Ash Wednesday (Feb. 21) marks the time at which we turn our reflection toward the love that Jesus revealed to us in his passion, death, and Resurrection.
Through the suggestions in this issue of To Teach, we follow the lead of the saints we celebrate and the season we begin to get to the heart of our faith.
Promote Valentine's Day celebrations that focus on the theological virtue of love—love of God and love of neighbor—in your school. (See questions 385-388 in the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for more information on the theological virtues.) Encourage students to collect gifts for the community in addition to or rather than giving each other cards and treats.
Use resources from chapter 18 on the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation of the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults as part of prayer during your staff, PTA/PTO, or school board meeting.
Celebrate World Day of Sick on February 11 in your school by creating a memorial in the main office area, chapel, or an appropriate hallway where students and teachers can write petitions for the sick either in a book of intercessions or on small sheets of paper. Remember all of the sick on that day during morning announcements.
Focus attention on the work of missionaries like Sts. Cyril and Methodius during the month. Invite representatives from various missionary orders to talk to your students about the life and ministry of a missionary.
With your staff, explore ways that the school can promote the Church's penitential practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as a whole community. Look for interdisciplinary ways to introduce, discuss, and implement these practices. See Penitential Practices for Today's Catholics for background information.
Encourage staff, parents, and school board members to model our Lenten penitential practices by providing them with a list of opportunities for prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that are in or related to the school or parish community.
Lead a prayerful reexamination of your school's priorities as part of an opening prayer at the next staff or school board meeting. Begin with the Gospel from the first Sunday of Lent (Luke 4:1-13), then invite staff or school board members to name the "temptations" that distract them from pursuing these priorities. During the meeting or at another time, strategize on how to resist those temptations and stay focused on your priorities.
Have your students create "thank you" cards to send to the members of the Catholic Press (your diocesan newspaper, local radio or TV reporters) during Catholic Press Month.
Have your students create a poster of the work of any of the Catholic missionary orders. Invite them to present their posters to the class, then display them in your classroom or throughout the school, if possible.
Invite a representative from a missionary order in your area to share his or her story about becoming and working as a missionary. Prepare your students by telling them the story of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, missionaries to the Slavonic people. Ask your guest to compare the work of a missionary in today's world wih the work of missionaries in the past. Teach your students a prayer for vocations to recite as part of prayer before or after the speaker.
At the start of Lent, share the stories of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Sr. Thea Bowman, and Dorothy Day in the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (chapters 1, 8, and 29, respectively), all converts to the Catholic Church. Highlight what attracted each of these women to the Catholic Church, any struggles that they had, and how their conversion changed their lives.
Create a set of "Works of Mercy" flash cards (14 total cards) with your students. (A complete list of the corporate and spiritual works of mercy can be found in "Appendix B. Formulas of Catholic Doctrine" of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.) On one side, have them write one work of mercy and decorate it. Help them come up with ideas on how they can perform that work of mercy, and write those on the reverse side. Encourage them to perform one work of mercy each day or each week using the suggestions on their cards.
Review the three penitential practices of Lent, praying, fasting, and giving alms. (Penitential Practices for Today's Catholics is a good, brief reference on these practices.) Encourage your children to adopt one action for each of the practices, e.g., praying each morning, "fasting" from video games, and donating part of each week's allowance to the parish poor box.
Act out ontemporary versions of how Jesus wants us to behave as told in the Gospel for Ash Wednesday, Matthew 9:1-6, 16-18. Divide the class into small groups (3-5 people). Assign each group one of the three behaviors that Jesus critiques: doing good deeds, giving alms, and praying. Instruct them to create a modern version of the wrong way to act and the right way to act. Present the skits to class and talk about how they can practice the right way to act during Lent.
Engage your students in a conversation about temptations in their lives. Start by reeviewing what temptation is—turning away from God (see questions 74 and 75 of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church), then read the Gospel from the first Sunday of Lent (Luke 4:1-13). Help them name what the three temptations of Jesus were. Then ask them to write down a list of things that tempt them. In pairs, have them choose a temptation and do a role play where one of them is the temptor and one is the "temptee" who is trying to resist.
Devote some time to reading Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical God Is Love during the month. Share your insights with your children, especially as you prepare for Lent, and note ways in which you as a family can love God and others better.
Go to Church as a family on Ash Wednesday. Remind your children that ashes are a symbol of penance. Make a list as a family of the words and actions that you will try to avoid saying and doing during Lent. Post it in a "public" place in your home, e.g., on the refrigerator as a reminder.
Choose a saint or spiritual Catholic person as a "mentor" for you and your family during Lent. Read a part of their story each week during Lent during dinner or before bedtime. Discuss what you and your children can learn from this person during Lent. The stories of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Sr. Thea Bowman, and Dorothy Day can be found in the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (chapters 1, 8, and 29, respectively).
Review the corporal and spiritual works of mercy with your children during the week of Ash Wednesday. (A complete list of the corporate and spiritual works of mercy can be found in "Appendix B. Formulas of Catholic Doctrine" of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.) Choose one corporal and one spiritual work of mercy that everyone in the family will practice during Lent. Set aside time during dinner one night of the week to talk about your experiences of doing these works of mercy.
Identify the ways in which you and your family can keep all three penitential practices during Lent. (For more on penitential practices, see (Penitential Practices for Today's Catholics.) Make a commitment to performing each practice as a family, e.g., praying the rosary one night each week or helping an elderly neighbor.
During the first week of Lent, reread the Gospel from the first Sunday of Lent (Luke 4:1-13) before dinner or in the evening about Jesus's temptations in the desert . Ask each person in the family to name two or three temptations that they want to resist during Lent. Make a chart of out of posterboard, construction paper, or butcher block paper with a space for each family member. List their temptations in their space. During Lent, each time someone in the family prays or helps them resist that temptation, make a mark, place a sticker, or somehow note how each person is supporting each other.
"Forming Adult Faith" is a new feature of To Teach. It includes suggestions from the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (USCCA) on how to promote ongoing faith formation among the adults in your school community.
Chapter 8. The Saving Death and Resurrection of Christ
Chapter 9. Receive the Holy Spirit
Chapter 29. The Fifth Commandment: Promote the Culture of Life
Both individuals and groups—a full staff or a grade level gathering—can use the following suggestions. Most suggestions can be completed in 10-15 minutes.
Spend the week of February 12 focusing on faith and the response to faith using Chapter 4.
Before reading the chapter, write down your reflection on the discussion questions. Each day after your reading, revisit your responses, adding to them as the week progresses. Use the meditation and prayers to begin and end your reflection.
Read the story of Isaac Hecker, missionary to the American people, and the next sections on faith as the response to God's revelation and belief in Jesus.
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Read the section, "The Faith Pilgrimage," and the story of John Henry Cardinal Newman. Think about your own faith journey. What have been the highs and lows in your faith pilgrimage? How do people like Cardinal Newman inspire you?
Reflect on the section called, "Challenges to Faith." Which of these are challenges to your faith? Review the Doctrinal Statements (pp. 44-45). Which of these statements are difficult for you? Which come easily?
Start your preparations for Lent with the stories of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (Chapter 1), Sr. Thea Bowman (Chapter 8), Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (Chapter 9), or Dorothy Day (Chapter 29) and the information and reflections contained in those chapters.
"Compendium Corner" is also a new feature of To Teach. It provides a list of questions and answers in the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church that are related to this month’s topic. (The number before the question is the question number in the Compendium.)
Review the questions and answers in preparation for your class.
Consider how to use appropriate questions and answers as part of your lesson plan.
Develop learning activities that help youths and young adults learn this information by heart (memorization).
74. What was the fall of the angels?
75. What was the first human sin?
299. Do the baptized have need of conversion?
388. What is charity?
442. What is implied in the affirmation of God: "I am the Lord your God" (Exodus 20:2)?
