"How Do I Use..."

Organized by Ministry

By Age
By Topic

• Campus Ministry
• Catechesis
• Evangelization
• Family Ministry
• Liturgy
• Men's Ministry
• Outreach Ministry
• RCIA
• Religious Education
• Schools-Teachers
• Schools-Administration
• Small Faith Communities
• Social Justice/Social Action
• Youth Ministry

• Pray one prayer each week from the Book of Mary during morning announcements.
• Use the prayer on page 19 of the Book of Mary as a way to pray for the welfare of the children or young people in your school.
• Teach students prayers and devotions to Mary during the month of May and Advent using the Book of Mary.
• Hand out A Prayer for Life prayer cards as a part of a spring "Gift of Life" Mass or prayer service for the school.
• Recite A Prayer for Life each morning at the end of announcements.
• Invite the entire school to pray the Prayer for Peace on the first class day after January 1, the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God.
• Start or end the school day with the Prayer for Peace whenever there is an outbreak of violence in the local community.
• Recite Prayer for Peace each morning at the end of announcements.
• Give copies of Prayer for Peace to every child or young person.

• Distribute copies of Penitential Practices for Today's Catholics to parents of the children in religious education classes.
• Give copies of Night Prayer to your confirmation candidates.
• Use the fifteen questions in The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist as a starting point to learn more about the Catholic understanding of the Eucharist during the weeks immediately following Easter.
• Lead a discussion using the brochure Rejoicing in the Asian and Pacific Presence to identify how to better welcome Asian and Pacific Catholics in your community.

• Lead a discussion using the brochure Rejoicing in the Asian and Pacific Presence to identify how to better welcome Asian and Pacific Catholics in your community.
• Revitalize your outreach ministry to inactive Catholics using the resources in A Time to Listen . . . A Time to Heal.

• Select a scripture passage from Scripture Guide and a reflection from A Justice Prayer Book as part of prayer before dinner or bedtime.

• Plan how to implement the rites using Built of Living Stones all year round including during the seasons of Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter and especially regarding the use of art in the worship space.
• Distribute copies of A Good Friday Appeal to End the Death Penalty in the parish bulletin or outside the worship space on Good Friday.
• Distribute A Litany of the Way prayer cards after Sunday liturgies during Lent.
• Schedule Night Prayer throughout Lent in your church or chapel.
• Use On the Most Holy Rosary as a source of reflection for a women's or men's prayer group or a day of reflection.
• Include copies of Penitential Practices for Today's Catholics in the parish bulletin for the first Sunday of Lent.
• Create a link on your parish or school Internet site to the text of Penitential Practices for Today's Catholics to educate others on the Catholic practice of fasting.

• Start a men's ministry group using the format suggested in the final chapter of Hearing Christ's Call.
• Use the essays, "Men in Family Life," "Catholic Men as Disciples in the Workplace," and "Fathers, Sons, and Brothers: Catholic Men Transforming the World," from Hearing Christ's Call as sources of ongoing reflection on Christian discipleship during mystagogy.

• Give copies of the Book of Mary to the homebound.
• Lead a discussion using the brochure Rejoicing in the Asian and Pacific Presence to identify how to better welcome Asian and Pacific Catholics in your community.
• Revitalize your outreach ministry to inactive Catholics using the resources in A Time to Listen . . . A Time to Heal.

• Gather with the neophytes during the weeks of Easter and reflect on discipleship and the four calls of the laity using the text and questions in Called and Gifted for the Third Millennium.
• Recommend any of the faith-sharing booklets as a resource for continuing prayer and action in the post-mystagogical period.
• Assess your current RCIA program using the recommendation from Journey to the Fullness of Life.
• Use the Christ-centered prayer A Litany of the Way as a closing prayer to your catechumenate sessions.
• Teach the catechumens and candidates how to pray the Church's Liturgy of the Hours using Night Prayer.
• Distribute copies of Penitential Practices for Today's Catholics to the catechumens and candidates as a basic resource on Catholic teaching.
• Distribute copies of The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist to the catechumens and candidates as a basic resource on Catholic teaching.
• Use the fifteen questions in The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist as a starting point to learn more about the Catholic understanding of the Eucharist during the weeks immediately following Easter.

Religious Education

• Hang a copy of the poster Themes from Catholic Social Teaching in your school or classrooms during Lent and highlight one of the seven themes of Catholic social teaching during each of Lent.
• Distribute the cards Themes from Catholic Social Teaching to students as reminders of the seven themes of Catholic social teaching.
• Send copies of the Themes from Catholic Social Teaching cards home with students and parents, and encourage them to read one principle each day of the week.
• Create a quilt of pictures based on the themes of The Harvest of Justice Is Sown with Peace.
• Develop a song or skit that presents the main themes of The Harvest of Justice Is Sown with Peace and present it to your youth group or younger children in your school.
• Give copies of A Prayer for Life to every child

For more ideas for Teachers

Schools-Administration

• Start or end the May, October, or December faculty or school board meetings with one of the "Prayers in Honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary" or one of the litanies in the Book of Mary.
• Distribute the cards Themes from Catholic Social Teaching to faculty as reminders of the seven themes of Catholic social teaching.
• Use one of the sessions from The Call to Family, Community, and Participation as the prayer starter for the Lenten faculty or school board meeting.
• Use Week 3 from Preferential Option for and With the Poor as a vehicle for assessing how your school is carrying out the biblical models of a community of justice.
• Discuss the reflections on the meaning of fasting and other spiritual disciplines in Penitential Practices for Today's Catholics with at a faculty or school board meeting at the beginning of Lent.
• Use Prayers of the Lenten and Easter Season for personal prayer as well as a resource for faculty meetings.
• Read "The Special Needs of Youth" (pages 47-49) from Welcoming the Stranger Among Us. How is your school an "instrument of evangelization for others"?

For more ideas for Administrators
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Small Faith Communities

• Review the bishops' statement In All Things Charity and identify one social concern that will become the focus of your group's attention and efforts.

• Use the questions in Challenge of Faithful Citizenship to identify the top ten behaviors that a faithful citizen must have in order to bear witness to the Gospel in your community.
• Host a discussion on what it means to act justly in our everyday lives in our families, at work, as consumers, and as citizens, based on the reflections of the bishops in Everyday Christianity.
• Identify the ways in which you are called to build a culture of life as articulated in Living the Gospel of Life, especially in your local community.
• Go to the websites of the various organizations listed in the brochure A People of Life which highlights the bishops' teaching on the value of human life.
• Lead a discussion using the brochure Rejoicing in the Asian and Pacific Presence to identify how to better welcome Asian and Pacific Catholics in your community.

• Put a copy of the poster Themes from Catholic Social Teaching in the youth room of your parish.
• Select one theme from the poster Themes from Catholic Social Teaching which highlights the seven themes of Catholic social teaching and do a simple service project during the season of Advent or Lent.
• Discuss the Church's teaching on war and peace using The Harvest of Justice Is Sown with Peace as the starting point for the conversation.
• Develop a song or skit that presents the main themes of The Harvest of Justice Is Sown with Peace and present it to your youth group or younger children in your parish.
• Use the Prayer for Peace as a starting point for discussion about ways to work for peace in your school, parish, and community.
• Pray the Prayer for Peace at the beginning of a youth group meeting.
• Review the principles on peacemaking in The Harvest of Justice Is Sown with Peace. Identify ways in which your school, parish, youth group, and local community can be a peacemaking community.
• Invite middle or high school students to lead the Way of the Cross on one of the Fridays in Lent.