For many, June begins the “long wait” until the end of the school year and the start of summer vacation. The liturgical calendar is juxtaposed to this attitude, offering up two Sundays to that celebrate two great mysteries of our faith—the Trinity and the Real Presence of Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
Mysteries can never be fully explained. Perhaps that is the lesson that June poses—to bolster the rational and intellectual explanations for these mysteries with actions that help us dive into the mysteries in embrace them as lived realities.
This issue to To Teach includes suggestions on how to “live into” the mysteries of this month as well as prepare for the end of the school year and start of summer.
Host a blessing of the spring and summer plants around the school and parish campus using the “Rogation Days: Blessing of the Fields and Gardens” from Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers. Invite parents, volunteers, and maintenance staff who work on the landscaping to participate. If the school community has experienced a death or loss during the year, consider planting a memorial tree or shrub in the name of the person or event.
Use the June PTA/PTO meeting as an opportunity to build ownership with parents on summer reading/learning plans for their children. If possible, distribute a parents’ “summer reading/learning plan” that identifies books or resources that will help parents discuss topics covered in their children’s summer plan. Identify chapters in the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults that might help parents.
Plan a Corpus Christi procession with your parish director of liturgy, director of religious education, and pastor that winds through the school and into the parish church. Encourage each grade to learn one Eucharistic song (see your parish hymnal or music supplement) that they can lead during the procession. End the procession with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the church led by your pastor, deacon, or a lay staff person.
Create “Blessed Trinity” mobiles to celebrate Trinity Sunday on June 3. Use construction paper, cardboard, bendable wire, or any other material that can be easily shaped into various sizes of triangles. Have your students cut out symbols for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (for suggestions, see your religious education text book, questions like number 139 on symbols of the Holy Spirit in the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or Scripture texts like the Exodus story of the burning bush) and decorate the triangles with these symbols. Using string, tie various sized triangles together.
Teach your students the American Sign Language signals for the key phrases in the Apostles’ or Nicene Creed, especially those that refer to the three persons of the Trinity.
Create and distribute a summer viewing list of movies, videos, and DVDs that teach something about God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Use the movie reviews from the U.S. Catholic bishops to identify suggestions and provide rating information. Include a note to parents with possible discussion topics or questions that they can use as they watch with their children.
Invite your pastor to give a special presentation to your students in anticipation of and preparation for the Feast of Corpus Christi (June 10) on Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Solemn Exposition, and other traditional Eucharistic celebrations like Corpus Christi processions. Encourage him to bring the monstrance and liturgical vestments that are used for Adoration, Solemn Exposition, and Corpus Christi. If time allows, schedule a short time for your students to participate in Adoration or Solemn Exposition in your parish church.
Create a border for your classroom door that features images of the various names for Jesus that are in the Litany to the Sacred Heart (the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is celebrated on June 15) in Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers. Assign one of the lines from the litany to each student. Have them creatively illustrate the image from the litany on a square sheet of paper using crayons, paints, markers, or cut-outs. Using masking tape and starting at the bottom of the doorway on one side, tape each of the images next to each other so that they form an outline of the doorway and they surround the door. Pray the Litany to the Sacred Heart to dedicate this arch.
In anticipation of Flag Day, invite your students to create a flag for themselves that illustrates something about who they are and what they believe in. As a class, create one large flag that symbolizes what it means to be a Catholic Christian in your parish and school community. Display that flag in your classroom.
Establish a movie night during the summer with your children. Select movies that highlight foundational Catholic beliefs, practices, and morals. Set aside discussion time to help your children articulate what they saw and learned and answer any questions they might have. Go to the USCCB movie reviews for suggestions and ratings information.
On a Saturday or Sunday early in June, plan to host a blessing of the fields and gardens (or a blessing for Rogation Days) based on the prayers on p. 166-169 in Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers. Include a ceremonial planting of flowers or a small bush that everyone in the family can help with.
Use Chapter 17 of the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults as the focus of your prayer and reflection during the first or second week of June. Consider what challenges you face as a parent as you nurture your children, especially in his or her faith, and make a commitment to practice one new or needed way to be bread for your children during this month.
"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.
Chapter 17: The Eucharist: Source and Summit of the Christian Life
Chapter 31: The Seventh Commandment: Do Not Steal—Act Justly
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.
Read the faith story of Orestes Brown at the start of chapter 5. Jot down what comes to mind when you think about God as Holy Mystery and God as the Trinity. Read the sections entitled, “God is Holy Mystery” and “God is the Trinity.” How do the reflections in chapter 5 help clarify what you wrote down? How do they deepen your understanding? Finish reading the chapter and write down your responses to the three discussion questions.
Dedicate one week to focus on the Eucharist. On Sunday, read the faith story of Carlos Manuel Rodriguez and the section entitled, “The Revelation of the Eucharist.” On each successive day, read the next section in chapter 17 (“The Mass for the Roman Rite,” pp. 217-220, would be Wednesday’s reading, for example), reading the last section, “The Eucharist Transforms the Recipient” on the following Sunday. In addition to reflection on the discussion questions, each day write down one way in which the reading challenges you to live your faith differently or more completely.
As you read chapter 31, keep in mind the insight that Mother Joseph’s story raises—that the seventh commandment also deals with issues of social justice and human dignity. Finish reading the chapter and spend some time with the discussion questions and the meditation. As you look at your plans for the summer, how might you better practice the seventh commandment and the Church’s social teachings? Identify one action that you can take during each month of the summer and focus your energy and attention on it.
"Compendium Corner" 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).
36. Why does the Profession of Faith begin with the words, “I believe in God”?
37. Why does one profess belief that there is only one God?
43. What does it mean to believe in only one God?
44. What is the central mystery of Christian faith and life?
46. What did Jesus Christ reveal to us about the mystery of the Father?
47. Who is the Holy Spirit revealed to us by Jesus Christ?
48. How does the Church express her trinitarian faith?
49. How do the three divine Persons work?
271. What is the Eucharist?
272. When did Jesus Christ institute the Eucharist?
274. What does the Eucharist represent in the life of the Church?
282. How is Christ present in the Eucharist?
283. What is the meaning of transubstantiation?
506. What does the seventh commandment require?
