Our April meeting we heard a presentation by Joanne Smith (twin sister of Jeanne Higgins, DFF at St. Patrick and St. Thomas, Binghamton) Joanne shared her hope and Healing ministry work. If you were unable to join us and would like to hear some of Joanne's presentation check out this youtube link below. The slide for this meeting can be found through this Link.
Here are some events and offering you may be interested in:June 5th - Celebration of Cathy Cornue’s retirement, All Saints parish Center. Invitation will be published soon. June 19/20 - Technology seminar (the evening of June 19 and the morning and afternoon of June 20). July 15th - Sr. Lois Barton - Celebrates 50 year as a Sr. of St. Joseph - Mass at Our Lady of Good Counsel at 1 pm. August 24 - Dr. Joann Paradise Standing in the In Between. Immaculate Conception Church Fayetteville November 11, 2017 - Large catechist celebration and workshop is being planned.
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Our March meeting was canceled due to the super storm Stella which dropped 3 plus feet of snow on the southern tier. There are a few items that I want to draw your attention to in preparation for our April 20/21 meetings. The parishes in the triple city area should have received in the mail a flyer for the Samaritan House Spring sale. The proceed from this sale go to support the fine work done by Samaritan House as they reach out and tend to the needs of low income households. In memory of Bishop Moynihan's death, you may wish to revisit his pastoral letter written in 2001, click here and download the pdf. Equipping the Saints for the Work of the Ministry.Heart of the Catechist Heart of the Catechist Opportunities This workshop is based on an address from Pope Francis to the International Congress on Catechesis in September of 2013. We will address the importance to catechists and their value to the New Evangelization, for ministering to those on the margins. Three workshops are upcoming. Please encourage your catechists to join us at one of the events... OR...call me to schedule the 2/2.5 hour workshop at your parish/PCA.
Here is an idea from pinterest: Family Prayer Big Idea This idea is a way to encourage families to pray using tangible items that make prayer fun. I have a pdf of ideas to put in the prayer bag. You can use all of or some of them at one event. Or, you can start with 3 or 4 items and have the students return the next week to get another prayer activity. You can be creative with this. You can also make seasonal prayer bags for Lent or Advent. Below you will find the pdf for the prayer activities. I also included the pdf with the template for the "Squares" prayer activity. During our April 20/21 meeting we will be experiencing a presentation on Healing and Hope: This presentation will be shared at several different venues and times during the week following Easter. You will find to flyers associated with presentation share here. I have created a specific flyer for the catechetical ministry see link FLYER as well as a flyer for the general population of your parishes. See FLYER Please invite your catechist and others to joins us. All the events are open to everyone. On February 23rd and 24th we had presentations on Autism and ADHD. At each of the sessions very valuable information was shared and those present reacted positively.
On Thursday evening Sue Bennett was unable to join us but she recommended that we watch a video titled: How Difficult Can This Be. (linked to material by clicking on the title). We watched the video material in 20 minute segments and engaged in a discussion of the material. Important: This video is worth your time but if you only have a couple of moments be sure to watch the video beginning at the 57:38 to 1:01:06. During this section the presenter speaks about the importance of understanding fairness. On Friday morning, Sue Bennett joined us and shared from her wealth of experiences how we can better understand Autism and ADHD. She spoke about the challenges these students face in a classroom setting and shared tips on how to better manage our faith formation sessions so that the Autistic and ADHD student can fully participate. The following links are provided from the materials that Sue shared. Article: 22 Tips for Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders Website that can be helpful: CHADD - Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder The National Institute of Mental Health - ADHD Understood.org Additional Youtube material Autism experts Books recommended for those seek to expand their understanding How to Welcome, Include, and Catechize Children with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities: A Parish-Based Approach author Sutton, L.R. Faith, Family, and Children with Special Needs: How Catholic Parents and Their Kids with Special Needs Can Develop a Richer Spiritual Life author Rizzo, D. Re-framing your thinking about Autism author Briggs,Holly Remember that the Diocese webpage title all are welcome which provides you with a Individual Faith Formation Plan that can be used with parents when discussing how best to help their child learn in our sessions. This webpage also contains samples for bulletin announcements that welcome all to your faith formation programming. tOur January meeting plan was to have a presentation on Autism and ADHD given by
Sue Bennett, a retire special education teacher. Unfortunately Sue became ill and was unable to be with us. We have rescheduled Ms. Bennett's presentation for February 23/24. Click on the flyer for more information. So our plan B was the 2 hour presentation titled The Heart of the Catechist, which is the in-person component for the "new" diocesan Catechist Certification process. The online component of this "new " certification process is called Echoes 3.0. To register for Echoes 3.0 go to faithformationevents.weebly.com . If you wish to schedule a Heart of the Catechist presentation for your catechist's contact Andrea Schaffer. Be sure to check out all the changes to this website particularly under the Enriching your faith tab. During our December meeting time we experienced an Advent reflection on the Birthing of Christ in our lives given by Sr. Lois Barton, csj. It was a wonderful time of sharing and pondering the meaning of the incarnation. ADVANCE NOTICE At our January 19/20, 2017 meeting we will be welcoming Sue Bennett, a retire special education teacher who will be presenting information and practical ideas to help our students with Autism and ADHD. PLEASE be sure to attend and invite your catechists to attend one of these session. In the December folder click here you will find a flyer for the January meeting and an additional offering from Sr. Lois Barton. Lastly I have posted this mini Advent/Christmas retreat that I have produced. I hope it bring you peace during this holy season. Merry Christmas! Our meeting begin with a prayer devoted to the act of listening not just hearing. The prayer carried us through to Scott Rutan, sales representative from RCL/Benziger, presentation on "Involving vs Engaging" parents. Much lively discussion was shared during both our evening and morning meetings. In the document folder at the end of this post you will find an article that Scott shared with the group that extends the conversation on this subject. Additionally in the folder is the meeting agenda, prayer, vocation promo packet from Fr. Joseph O'Connor, Catechetical Leaders retreat flyer and sale promotion, Star of Bethlehem movie promo and Youth minister event flyers. Please be sure to check out the advent materials I have posted on the home page of the this website.
Click here for the November google folder. Included in our October meeting prayer is this quote from St. Ignatius of Loyola “There are very few people who realize what God would make of them if they abandoned themselves into his hands, and let themselves be formed by his grace.” May we each gain the freedom experienced by the falling leaves of Autumn, abandoning ourselves to the loving hands of Christ. This is my prayer as I begin this newest adventure into blog posting our meetings flyers and information. Click here for google folder |