This Issue

• Responding to the Call to Holiness
• For Principals and School Boards
• For Educators
• For Parents
• Forming Adult Faith
• Compendium Corner

Responding to the Call to Holiness

In every time of difficulty, new opportunities emerge. Eventually, new ideas will prevail, which will lead to new industries, new jobs, and new hope. Many of us will aspire to embrace new careers with the goal of being "successful." As we consider the possibilities, how many of us will opt to embrace a life devoted to growing in holiness?

Lent starts in February, and in Lent, an opportunity to repent and witness the birth of new Christians in Baptism. In other words, Lent is a time for all of us to respond to God's call to holiness.

This issue of To Teach focuses on holiness as a vocation for all Catholics. The following sections provide ideas and strategies for learning and practicing holiness in the classroom and home during the Lenten and Easter seasons.

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For Principals and School Boards

• Distribute copies of The Saints (Spiritual Thoughts Series) to faculty and staff members. Encourage everyone to adopt a saint of their choice and write down their reflections in the space provided.
• Bless the Lenten season on Ash Wednesday, February 25, with a blessing from Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers.
• Practice lectio divina and encourage faculty and staff to download the daily NAB readings as part of a Lenten rule.
• Promote Operation Rice Bowl from Catholic Relief Services schoolwide.
• 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.
• 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.

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For Educators

• Distribute copies of The Saints (Spiritual Thoughts Series) to students. Have each student pick one saint from the book, and present his or her unique qualities of holiness to the class for discussion.
• Dedicate a class session to the Word of God and its contribution to growing in Christian life. Organize a classroom liturgical celebration by having students lead different portions of a service from Celebrations of the Word of God in the Year of St. Paul.
• Focus on one sacrament for each week of Lent with the free videos on the sacraments presented by Msgr. John Zenz from the archdiocese of Detroit. Use the videos as a starting point to discuss how participating in the sacraments shapes a vocation of holiness.
• Integrate works of mercy into your curriculum with lesson plans on issues of justice and poverty from Operation Rice Bowl.
• Learn how faith can be practically expressed in the video titled "Garage Grandma."
• 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.
• Witness people responding to God's call to holiness as they prepare to receive the sacrament of Baptism in the documentary, "Come to the Water."

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For Parents

• Every night, as a family, pray one of the penitential psalms for the Lenten season found in Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers (Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143). After prayer, discuss how each psalm expresses the themes of repentance and renewal.
• Focus on Mary as a model of obedience by hearing the thoughts of Pope Benedict XVI in his book, Mary (Spiritual Thoughts Series).
• Brainstorm, then choose an activity where you and your children can promote family life, one of the areas of special concern. Designate this activity as your family's new Lenten habit and practice it throughout the 40-day season.
• Receive the nourishment of the Word of God and as a family after meals, read the daily NAB readings together, listen to these daily reflections, and take a few minutes to discuss how God calls Christians to holiness.
• Use one session per week of Lent in A Call to Family, Community, and Participation as a personal reflection or reflection with your spouse on how you live out this area of Catholic social teaching.
• 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 from a different land, and discuss how holiness is both universal and yet has diverse expressions.
• 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.
• Read the chapter titled “The Call to Holiness” in Called and Gifted for the Third Millenium. Use the discussion questions at the end of the chapter as a way to identify how changing attitudes and behavior can lead to growth towards holiness and improving conditions for the disadvantaged.

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Forming Adult Faith

"Forming Adult Faith" is an ongoing 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.

Each chapter from the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults addresses an element of Catholic faith. The following chapters touch on different aspects of the theme, "Responding to the Call to Holiness ."

• Chapter 9: Receive the Holy Spirit
• Chapter 12: Mary—The Church's First and Most Perfect Member
• Chapter 15: Becoming a Christian
• Chapter 23: Life in Chirst—Part One
• Chapter 24: Life in Christ—Part Two

Ideas and suggestions on how to use these chapters for your individual and group reflection can be found online and in the Reader's Journal for the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults.

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Compendium Corner

"Compendium Corner" is 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 youth and young adults learn this information by heart (memorization).
  

263. What are the effects of Baptism?
268. What is the effect of Confirmation?
359. How do we attain beatitude?
420. What is the New Law or the Law of the Gospel?
428. Are all called to Christian holiness?

To obtain a copy of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, visit www.usccbpublishing.org or call 800-235-8722.

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