This Issue

• "And You Welcomed Me"
• For Principals and School Boards
• For Educators
• For Parents
• Forming Adult Faith
• Compendium Corner

"And You Welcomed Me"

As the new year begins, our attention turns to strangers and children as we prepare to celebrate National Migration Week, January 3-9, 2010, focusing on the theme, "Renewing Hope, Seeking Justice," Catholic Schools Week, January 31-February 6, 2010, with the theme, "Dividends for Life," and Poverty in America Awareness Month.

"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me."(Mt 25:35)

The observance of National Migration Week began over 25 years ago by the bishops to be a moment for Catholics to take stock of the wide diversity of the Church and the ministries serving them. As the face of the local churches continue to change, this observance becomes more and more important in reminding us that “immigrant communities give ample witness to what it is to be Church – in their desire to worship as a people, in their faith, in their solidarity with one another and with the weakest among them, in their devotion and their faithfulness to the Church of their ancestors.  For the Church in the United States to walk in solidarity with newcomers to our country is to live out our catholicity as a Church.  The Church of the twenty-first century will be, as it has always been, a Church of many cultures, languages and traditions, yet simultaneously one, as God is one – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – unity in diversity.” (Welcoming the Stranger Among Us:  Unity in Diversity).

Catholic Schools Week is the annual celebration that focuses attention on the good work done by the nation’s Catholic schools and reminds us that there is no better investment than the education of a child.  Catholic Schools Week is a joint project of the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) and the USCCB.

This issue of To Teach offers suggestions for preparing for and celebrating these events in January.

Back to Top

For Principals and School Boards

• Provide a copy of Renewing Our Commitment to Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools in the Third Millennium to your staff and assess how your schools and community have carried out the suggested goals in the document.  Based on the results of your discussion, determine steps that can be taken during the coming year.
• Invite school board members to send personal notes to Catholic school teachers, thanking them for their dedication and commitment to young people.
• Send your pastor a letter of thanks for his commitment and dedication to Catholic education in your community and make a public acknowledgement of his commitment at Eucharistic celebrations during Catholic Schools Week.  Consider publishing the letter in the local community newspaper.
• Celebrate the history and accomplishments of Catholic schools in local community newspapers by sharing stories of former students that include personal reflections of what it means to them to have a Catholic education.
• Visit Justice ror Immigrants:  The Catholic Campaign For Immigration Reform and become more informed about the issues of immigration and migration.  Use this information to develop a local plan for your school that identifies recent arrivals in your community with suggestions on how to reach out to them in order to begin to meet their educational needs.
• Become more familiar with the services provided by USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services, especially those for children.
• In the continuing celebration of the Year For Priests, provide your schools with pictures and biographies of all seminarians within your diocese. Encourage teachers to invite their students to send birthday and holiday cards as a sign of support and affirmation.
• Create links at the school website to the Poverty Quiz and other classroom resources on poverty for parents and teachers to use to create greater awareness of what they can do to alleviate poverty in America.

Back to Top

For Educators

• During Catholic Schools Week:
• Invite former students of your school to speak to young classes about their Catholic education and why it has been important in their life.
• For older classes, invite several former students to sit on a panel that includes discussions of timely issues and how their Catholic education and faith helped them address these issues.
• Have younger classes draw personal thank you cards for parents and other relatives who are instrumental in providing their Catholic education.
• Have older classes provide a meal or picnic for parents and other relatives who are instrumental in providing their Catholic education.
• Post pictures in the classroom of local seminarians and have classes send birthday and holiday cards to them on a regular basis. Or have your class "adopt a seminarian" and send care packages and notes throughout the year.
• Display a picture or poster honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday, January 18. If possible, invite someone from your community or surrounding area who participated in the Civil Rights March during the 1960s to share with the class what the experience meant to them and how it impacted their life.
• During National Migration Week, plan some of the following activities with younger children:
• Read the story Swimmy, by Leo Lionni, to the children. . . .
• Create handouts with a picture of a backpack. Ask the students to imagine . . .
• Ask the children to share life experiences regarding newcomers the children personally know. Initiate a discussion . . .
• During National Migration Week, plan some of the following activities with youth:
• Read the following Scripture verses: Ex 23:9, Lv 19:33-34, Dt 10:17-19, Is 58:7, Lk 10:29-37, Mt 2:13-15, and Mt 25:34-40. What does God say through Scripture . . .
• Have the class write a bill of rights by which they would want to live. Compare these rights . . .
• Have the class compare the United States Bill of Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Church's teaching (the Beatitudes or other texts as noted) on the rights of all people (strangers, aliens). Which is more encompassing?
• Invite young immigrants or foreign exchange students to present their personal stories. Ask children to note similarities and/or differences between their lives and those of the newcomers.
• Pray the Unity in Diversity Scriptural Rosary.
• Use one of the lesson plans in the Poverty Education Center during the month. As part of the learning session, identify an action step that the class can do as a whole to build awareness in the school, at the parish, or in their homes.

Back to Top

Parents

• Meet with your Catholic school principal and identify appropriate ways to celebrate Catholic Schools Week in your community.
• Write a personal thank you note to your child’s teachers during Catholic Schools Week and share with them how their dedication and commitment is helping change the life of your children.
• Send a thank you note to one of your former teachers, telling how their dedication and commitment helped shape and form you
• Visit your diocesan library and read the following documents/media for a deeper understanding of immigration in the United States today:
• Welcoming the Stranger Among Us
• Strangers No Longer DVD
• Who Are My Sisters and Brothers?
• Read the brochure Ways to Support Your Parish Priest, a resources to support the celebration of the Year For Priests, and decide as a family how you can honor the commitment and dedication of the priest in your parish.
• During dinner on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday, January 18, discuss Mr. King’s life and legacy and what we can learn from him about equal rights, nonviolence and the Catholic Christian principle that all people are created equal.  Together as a family, pray the Prayer for Christian Unity in Catholic Household Blessings & Prayers.
• Take a tour of poverty in America with this video. Select one of the ways to act on reducing poverty in the U.S. or come up with your own family idea.

Forming Adult Faith

"Forming Adult Faith" 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.

The following chapters touch on different aspects of social ministry:

• Chapter 24.  Life In Christ – Part Two.  The Principles of the Christian Moral Life.
• Chapter 31.  Seventh Commandment:  Do Not Steal – Act Justly.  Practice the Church’s Social Teachings

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.

Back to Top

Compendium Corner

"Compendium Corner" usually 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 following questions relate to this month's topic.

• 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).

Chapter Two:  The Human Community

401.  In what does the social dimension of man consist?
402.  What is the relationship between the person and society?
403.  What is the principle of subsidiarity?
404.  What else is required for an authentic human society?
405.  What is the foundation of the authority of society?
406.  When is authority exercised in a legitimate way?
407.  What is the common good?
408.  What is involved in the common good?
409.  Where can one find the most complete realization of the common good?
410.  How does one participate in bringing about the common good?

Social Justice

411.  How does society ensure social justice?
412.  On what is human equality based?
413.  How are we to view social inequalities?
414.  How is human solidarity manifested?

The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes the foundations of Catholic faith. So, select one question a week (8-12 questions for the whole summer) to learn and memorize. Choose questions on topics that are of great interest, that you struggle with and want to understand better, or that you find arise in your classroom repeatedly.

• Review the questions and answers.
• Consider how to use them in the coming year as part of your lesson plan.
• Develop learning activities that will encourage you and your students to learn the teaching by heart (memorization)

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

Back to Top

Past Issues