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September 2006

This Issue

• Who Do You Say That I Am?
• For Principals and School Boards
• For Educators
• For Parents
• Forming Adult Faith
• Compendium Corner

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Who Do You Say That I Am?

Theme for the 2006-07 Catechetical Year

Helping others to encounter the living Christ is a fundamental goal of all catechetical efforts. When Jesus asked Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" (Mark 8:29), he reminds us that before teaching others about Christ, we must know him ourselves.

—Most Rev. Donald W. Wuerl

This is a question for all of us today. From the moment that Jesus uttered it until today, nearly two thousand years later, Christians have come up with numerous answers to that question. The question is one that every Christian has to answer. How we answer it affects what we teach, how we pray, how we interact with others, and how we live.

"You are the Messiah." Simon Peter answered quickly. But Peter did not truly understand the kind of Messiah Jesus was. Only after Jesus’ Death, Resurrection, Ascension, and sending of the Spirit at Pentecost would Peter understand, and take up his cross as a disciple.

When confronted with Jesus' question, most Catholics could respond as quickly as Peter, saying: "Jesus is the Son of God," "Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity," or "Jesus is the Savior of the World."

While these answers are all true, do we really understand what we are saying? How well do we know the Savior in whom we profess our faith? Are we ready to live the challenging life of a disciple?

This issue of To Teach focuses on the opportunities that the upcoming celebration of Catechetical Sunday put before us to further explore who we say that Christ is and how we put that into action in our schools, families, and personal lives.

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For Principals and School Boards

• Open staff and school board meetings with a reading from the Gospel. Invite the staff or members to reflect on how they can put Jesus’ teaching into action in the school.
• Encourage teachers and parents to pray for students throughout the school year. Give them a copy of Prayer for Students. Ask teachers to use the prayer in their classrooms at the start of each week, month, quarter, or semester. Ask parents to pray with their child before school each day or week.
• Ask parents and children to pray each day or week for their teachers using the Prayer for Teachers.
• At a staff meeting, examine the ways in which you create and maintain a Christ-like environment, especially in non-academic areas of school life.
• Invite the pastor to commission parents as primary catechists (National Directory for Catechesis, p. 234) at your first PTA/PTO meeting using the optional blessing in manual Celebrating the Catechetical Year 2006-2007.
• Throughout the school year, highlight a different response to the question, “Who do you say that I am?” during daily announcements or prayer and in public display areas.
• Schedule a retreat or day of reflection using one of the retreats for the opening of the school year, Advent, or Lent that is found on the Celebrating the Catechetical Year 2006-2007 CD.
• Include the theological reflection on the theme, “Who Do You Say That I Am?” as part of the first staff, school board, or PTA/PTO meeting. A reproducible version is available on the Celebrating the Catechetical Year 2006-2007 CD.

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For Educators

• Display the Catechetical Sunday poster at the front of the classroom. Highlight one of the “tongues of fire” in the image of the bush and explain what the symbol is and what it means. Ask the children to name places where they have seen the symbol before, e.g., wheat growing in a field, fish at an aquarium, or a loaf of bread at home, and make a list that can be displayed in the classroom. Invite them to do two things whenever they see any of these images: (1) Say a short prayer to Jesus, and (2) put a check mark on the classroom list next to the appropriate word.
• On a large piece of paper or on the board, write the words, “Who Do You Say That I Am?” Throughout the year, proclaim each Sunday’s Gospel to your students. Invite a few students to come forward and write or draw what they learned about Jesus on the paper or board.
• Keep a copy of Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers handy in your classroom. Lead your students in prayer using the blessings in the book, especially the daily blessings during the liturgical seasons and those for special days and seasons.
• Send a copy of the Family Commitment Prayer Card with each student. Instruct them to lead the prayer before or after dinner or before bedtime, ask everyone in their family to sign the card, and then display the signed card near their family Bible or cross.

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For Parents

• Display a Catechetical Sunday poster in your home. With your children, find the places in your home where you see the symbols in the burning bush, e.g., the cross in a bedroom or a loaf of bread in the kitchen. Put up a picture, plaque, or some representation of one of the images that is not represented in your home. Talk with your children about the image and what it means. Research the image with your children online.
• Join or start a parents’ Bible study group. As you learn more about Jesus through reading the Scriptures, especially the Gospels, spend time before or after meals or before bedtime talking with your children about who Jesus is and what the Gospels tell us about him.
• Go to Mass as a family each week. Review what the Catholic Church teaches about the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. For background information, read The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
• Keep a copy of Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers near your family Bible or where you gather for family prayer. Use the blessings for special occasions like during Advent or when important family events (e.g., pregnancy) occur.
• Set aside time each month for a charity or outreach program—like collecting food, books, or clothes—for your family, especially those in which the children can actively participate.
• Watch an age-appropriate movie about Jesus as a family and talk about how Jesus expects us to act in school, at home, and with our friends. Research possible movie by reading the movie reviews from the USCCB.
• Read the Sunday headlines with your children and discuss issues of social concern. Consider how your household might respond to a local, national, or international event. For background on the Church’s social teaching, review Sharing Catholic Social Teaching in print or online.

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Forming Adult Faith

"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 7, "The Good News: God Has Sent His Son," in the USCCA provides some starting points to further explore the question, “Who do you say that I am?” Both individuals and groups—a full staff or a grade level gathering—can use the following suggestions. Each suggestion can be completed in 10-15 minutes.

• Read the first two sections of chapter 7, the story of Pierre Toussaint and the “Gospel Portraits of Jesus” (pp. 77-80). In what ways does Pierre Toussaint’s story challenge you? Which Gospel passages—parables, miracles, sermons, or wisdom sayings—have given you an important insight into who Jesus is? Why?
• Read the sections entitled, “True God and True Man” and “Jesus is the Savior of All” as well as the side bars (pp. 81-85). Discuss or journal on the three questions on page 85.
• Add the words “in our school” to the end of question 3 in “For Discussion” (pg. 85) and discuss how the diversity (or lack of diversity) in your school is a challenge to making Ch