COREnotes Issue 12

COREnotes

Q U A R T E R LY J O U R N A L O F T H E O F F I C E F O R C A T E C H E S I S The Feast of Saint Blaise ISSUE 12 - FEBRUARY 2013

Mission We believe that through our ministry we continue the mission of Jesus Christ by enabling the people of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois to develop the gifts given them by the Spirit. In carrying out this mission, we strive to provide resources, service and leadership to all who are part of the educational mission of the Church: religious education, early childhood, elementary and secondary schools, and adult education.

We do this in the spirit of Jesus Christ.

Staff Jonathan F. Sullivan Director of Catechetical Services jsullivan@dio.org Chris Malmevik Associate Director for Catechesis cmalmevik@dio.org Cynthia Callan Executive Secretary ccallan@dio.org Jean Johnson Superintendent of Catholic Schools jjohnson@dio.org Marilyn Missel Associate Superintendent of Catholic Schools mmissel@dio.org Barbara Burris Associate Director of School Planning bburris@dio.org Kyle Holtgrave Associate Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries kholtgrave@dio.org

It’s no secret that I spend a lot of time talking about how to use digital communication tools for catechesis and evangelization. I firmly believe that catechists, catechetical leaders, pastors and parishioners must embrace these tools in order to effective make disciples in the 21st century.

What might surprise you is that the Holy Father thinks so, too. In his message for the 47th World Communication Day Pope Benedict XVI offers this wisdom: “In the digital world there are social networks which offer our contemporaries opportunities for prayer, meditation and sharing the word of God. But these networks can also open the door to other dimensions of faith. Many people are actually discovering, precisely thanks to a contact initially made online, the importance of direct encounters, experiences of community and even pilgrimage, elements which are always important in the journey of faith. In our effort to make the Gospel present in the digital world, we can invite people to come together for prayer or liturgical celebrations in specific places such as churches and chapels.”

New media allows us to reach out as never before to invite people to encounter Jesus Christ in our communities, in our parish activities, and in the Eucharist. This issue of COREnotes offers several suggestions for how to accomplish that – by integrating paper and digital tools, by demonstrating good digital citizenship by respecting copyrights, and how to manage the time spent in our “digital lives.”

If you have a story to share about how the internet and new communication tools have helped you to reach out to people in your community we’d love to share them in a future issue! Send your stories to jsullivan@dio.org – I can’t wait to read them!

In this issue . . .

Celebrating the Beauty of Faith . . . 2 Using Time Well in a Networked World . . . 6 Tech Tips . . . 7 Worst Video Game Ever . . . 8 Host a New Evangelization Retreat or In-service . . . 9 Many Parts, One Body . . . 10 Calendar of Events . . . back cover

Celebrating the Beauty of Faith: The Eucharist and Sacred Art

by Jem Sullivan, PhD Staff to the Secretariat of Evangelization and Catechesis United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Arrested only a few months after his appointment as bishop of Saigon, Archbishop Van Thuan was imprisoned for fifteen years. Nine of those years were spent in solitary confinement. After his release from prison, the archbishop was expelled from his home country, and he went on to share his story of faith and hope in the face of isolation and abandonment.

The archbishop recounted that, on his arrest, he was forced to leave his residence empty handed. Permitted to ask for only a few personal items, his flock understood immediately his request for some wine as “medicine.” They promptly sent him a small bottle of wine and some hosts hidden in a flashlight. Each day, for as long as he could, with three drops of wine and a drop of water in the palm of his hand, and the smallest host fragment, he would celebrate Mass. Years later he would write, “This was my altar, and this was my cathedral . . . those were the most beautiful Masses of my life” (Archbishop Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, Testimony of Hope [Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 2000], 131).

What makes the Mass “beautiful?” What is the place of beauty in the liturgy? Is sacred art, that is, art created solely for the Eucharist, an integral part of every liturgical celebration? Finally, how might pastors, catechists, teachers, and parents draw on the catechetical and evangelizing power of sacred art? These are some of the questions this article invites reflection on.

Sacred Art in the Liturgy: Do We Really Need It? Beauty in the Eucharist flows first from the Incarnation, the central mystery of Christian faith. Christ is, as St. Paul writes, “the image [eikon] of the invisible God” (Col 1:15). Once the invisible God became visible in Jesus Christ, God’s relationship to humanity and humanity’s relationship to creation was radically changed.

Now, matter really matters.

Sacred art makes visible to our senses the invisible beauty of God’s love for the world. Elements from the material world—precious metals, stone, clay, pigment, textile, and wood—are shaped into works of sacred art that extend the mystery of the Incarnation into our human experience of sight, sound, smell, and touch.

Inspired by the Incarnation, sacred art becomes an essential part of the Eucharist, so we can say “that the complete absence of images is incompatible with faith in the Incarnation of God” (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy [San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000]).

Beauty in the Eucharist flows also from the nature of the liturgy itself. So whether in a majestic basilica, a familiar parish church, or a stark prison cell, the beauty of the liturgy radiates from the sacred action itself.

For “the Church celebrates in the liturgy above all the Paschal mystery by which Christ accomplished the work of our salvation” (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], 2nd ed. [Washington, DC: Libreria Editrice Vaticana–United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2000], no. 1067).

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Sacred Art in the Liturgy: Encountering the Beauty of Christ “The word ‘liturgy’ . . . means the participation of the People of God in ‘the work of God.’” But what is the “work of God” that the faithful are invited to participate in every Eucharist? It is nothing less than the saving work of “Christ . . . (who) continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through his Church” (CCC, no. 1069). Sacred art in the liturgy leads us from seeing or hearing to contemplation to worship, as we give thanks for Christ’s saving work made sacramentally present in our lives.

To encounter a work of sacred art then is to encounter the beauty of Christ’s love. For “in the liturgy, Christ himself becomes the gesture of the Church . . . the beauty of the liturgy is therefore first and foremost the beauty of Christ’s own movements in all its simplicity and love, but it is also the beauty of our movements and the beauty proper to the signs and elements of creation which the liturgy puts in harmonious order in time and space. The beauty of the liturgy is the order it creates within us and in our relationship with God” (Archbishop Piero Marini, www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2004/documents/ns_lit_doc_20040202_ liturgia-bellezza_en.html).

Sacred Art: A Particular Vocation in the Liturgy God meets us where we are. And we are created as a unity of mind, body, and spirit. We express and perceive spiritual realities through physical signs and symbols. This is why the sacraments are “woven from signs and symbols . . . [whose] meaning is rooted in the work of creation and human culture, specified by the events of the Old Covenant and fully revealed in the person and work of Christ” (CCC, no. 1145). Signs from human social interaction also become, in the liturgy, the privileged means by which God encounters us: “Washing and anointing, breaking bread and sharing the cup can express the sanctifying presence of God and man’s gratitude toward his Creator” (CCC, no. 1148).

Sacred painting, mosaic, stained glass, sculpture, and sacred music continue this “divine pedagogy,” rooted in concrete signs and symbols that engage the whole human person—mind, heart, will, senses, and religious imagination. Sacred art, therefore, has a particular vocation in the liturgy: “evoking and glorifying, in faith and adoration, the transcendent mystery of God—the surpassing invisible beauty of truth and love visible in Christ. . . . Genuine sacred art draws man to adoration and prayer, and to the love of God” (CCC, no.

2502).

Sacred Art: A “Pre-Sacrament” for Our Times We live in the midst of an imagesaturated culture in which we now speak of “sensory overload” and even of “sensory addictions.” Children in sacramental preparation are immersed in television and video games.

Young adults in youth ministry spend hours on the Internet in social networking. And computer and entertainment technologies shape the daily work of adults in parish RCIA and adult faith formation. The surrounding visual culture is an everyday reality for those we form through evangelization, catechesis, and preaching.

How ironic then that even as the everyday world of those we form in faith is filled with sensory experiences of every kind through multiple images, words, and sounds, their daily or weekly experience of liturgy or catechesis is plain, perhaps appealing only to the intellect or to emotions and often starkly bereft of beauty.

While the surrounding culture appeals more and more to visual and sensory experiences, less and less value is placed on beauty in the liturgy. A diminishing value is given to sacred art in liturgy, catechesis, and evangelization at precisely the moment when popular culture, in content and medium, has become increasingly visual.

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In this cultural context, can pastors, catechists, teachers, and parents afford to overlook sacred art? Does the surrounding visual culture not challenge catechists and evangelists to take seriously the role of sacred art as a “pre-sacrament?” (Art as a “presacrament” is a term used by Pope John Paul II in his poem “Roman Triptych” to describe the art and architecture of the Sistine Chapel.) Might sacred art as a “pre-sacrament” serve to open our minds and hearts and predispose us to full, conscious, and active participation in the Eucharist?

Sacred Art: A “Concrete Mode of Catechesis” and “A Visual Gospel” For centuries, the Church’s faith has taken artistic forms. Much of the Church’s heritage of sacred art was first intended not for museum displays, art critics, or aesthetic delight alone. Rather, sacred art was created for the ordinary person in the pew and often served as a “catechism in stone and stained glass,” as a “homily on canvas and in mosaic,” and as a “Bible of the poor.”

Sacred art has always been a “concrete mode of catechesis” (Pope John Paul II, Letter to Artists, www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/documents/hf_jpii_let_23041999_artists_en.html). And you do not have to be an art expert to begin. Your parish church or diocesan cathedral is an immediate and local source for sacred art. There you will find examples that artistically express the life of Christ and his mother, biblical figures and narratives, and the lives of saints.

Draw your students’ attention to the vast treasury of the Church’s “visual 4 Gospel” in painting, sculpture, stained glass, and sacred music during catechetical sessions. A parish booklet that describes the stained-glass windows, baptismal font, liturgical vessels and vestments, mosaics, and sculpture can serve as one way to introduce children and RCIA candidates to the life and history of the parish community, as well as offer an element for mystagogical catechesis.

Catechesis that includes sacred art shows forth the beauty of the Christian faith through color, light, line, form, and sound. For “the only really effective apologia for Christianity comes down to two arguments: namely the saints the Church has produced and the art which has grown in her womb…If the Church is to continue to transform and humanize the world, how can she dispense with beauty in her liturgies, that beauty which is so closely linked with love and with the radiance of the Resurrection? No. Christians must not be too easily satisfied. They must make their Church into a place where beauty – and hence truth – is at home” (Joseph Ratzinger with Vittorio Messori, The Ratzinger Report: An Exclusive Interview on the State of the Church [San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1985] 129-30).

Jem Sullivan, PhD, writes on faith and art. She is the author of The Beauty of Faith: Christian Art at the Service of the Good News (Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2009).

Copyright © 2011, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to duplicate this work without adaptation for non-commercial use.

Scripture texts used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, copyright © 1991, 1986, and 1970 by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, DC 20017 and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All rights reserved.

Excerpts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, copyright © 2000, Libreria Editrice Vaticana–United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpts from Pope John Paul II, “Letter to Artists,” copyright © 1999, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City. Used

with permission. All rights reserved.

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Using time well in a networked world

By Kevin de Souza I must have opened a Facebook account some time in 2005. Then, I had little idea of what Facebook was. The concept of social networking was still in gestation. Little did I know that we were on the brink of a revolution of technology and communication.

It’s a whole new ball game today. When Steve Jobs of Apple Computers presented the iPhone in 2007 he said: “Today, we’re introducing three revolutionary products. The first is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough Internet communications device. Are you getting it? These are not three separate devices, this is one device, and we are calling it the iPhone.”

It’s true that this Apple gadget was innovative. Not long after, other companies followed suit in producing smartphones. With a proliferation of all kinds of brands offering the open source Android operating system, a high percentage of people have come to own a smartphone. It is no big deal to own a smartphone. It’s affordable. Everyone is getting one.

Driving without a license While everyone may be getting a smartphone, not all are getting smarter. Some people have convinced themselves that they have to listen to music all the time. Others content themselves with downloading a limitless number of applications (that they probably won’t use, but since there’s space, it’s okay to download all sorts of junk). “WhatsApp” offers free texting over the Internet: this gives way to endless text messages bouncing from one person to another. Families sometimes don’t remember what family life is because everyone is too busy on their own phone looking into “urgent” affairs.

And then there’s the camera. For better or for worse we can observe unbridled behaviour of so many people clicking pictures of anything that catches their fancy. It’s a little sickening to see people click pictures with their mobile phones at the scenes of accidents, or upload photos onto Facebook of aborted foetuses. Discretion is steadily depleting.

This tidal wave of cellphone technology has swept us off our feet. People of all ages are finding themselves driving on new technological highways without having a license to drive. If the Internet was already addictive when we were surfing on our desktop at home or on our laptop at work, today we have the addiction in our pockets. We can spend a lot of time looking at our phones.

579 “friends” What is there to look at, that makes virtual life so much more interesting than real life? Well, if you’re on Facebook, you are connected to a network of people (whom you may know very well or not at all) who have been accepted by you as “friends”. You can read what they’re thinking, or doing, or saying. Sometimes they may refer to you or say something about you. Someone’s holiday to some faraway land can be narrated through all the pictures he uploads on Facebook.

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All of us are curious to see pictures. It’s very easy to spend hours just browsing through pictures on Facebook, commenting on them and “liking” them.

From a social angle, this kind of facility makes Facebook very attractive. It’s been extremely easy to keep in touch with some friends from my college years. Likewise, they have many-a-time enjoyed seeing the pictures I post from India. The only hindrance here is that if I give free reign to my curiosity, I will immerse myself in a virtual world of 579 “friends” and escape from the real world and real friendship.

To click or not to click?

For a long time Facebook has been “clean”. Recently I’ve had my doubts about it. Last week a “friend” posted something on my wall that said: “Find out how sexy you are … click the button below”. To click or not to click? That is the question. If you click on one of these applications, there are two outcomes. One, the application tells you your sexiness as a percentage (so what?).

The second consequence is viral, i.e. that application is posted to all your “friends”. Even if one or two of them click on the application, the same will be diffused to all their “friends”. In other words, it’s not only you who waste time; you end up wasting many other people’s time when you click.

Recently Facebook has incorporated a feature that allows you to “subscribe to” people you have never seen before. The right hand column of my profile currently displays small icons of three or four scantily clad women, each in provocative positions. I’ve tried to shut this window. It appears that there is no way of doing it. If I click to close any of these options, another voluptuous woman pops up!

For or against technology There’s a notion that technology is at the root of some of the problems mentioned above. It’s tantamount to people saying that fast food joints are the cause of putting on weight. With this erroneous logic, the solution is to shut down all fast food restaurants. Burgers and fries don’t make us fat unless we lack the self-control that it takes to say, “Enough!”

The Internet, Facebook and mobile phone technology are all very good in themselves. How we use them is what makes the difference. Parents should be concerned about how their children adapt to this fast paced world. They don’t have to know everything about technology but they should try to talk to their kids about their “friends” on Facebook and how they use the Internet in general.

Setting the pace There’s no point in banning children from surfing the net or using Facebook on their phones.

They need guidance on how to be mature and responsible. What we need more than anything today is to establish some form of “phone etiquette”, some kind of understanding about how to use technology.

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And who are the pacesetters? Parents, adults, educators. Here’s some food for thought.

•We need to re-define some “sanctuaries of silence” i.e. moments when we turn off our phone (or put them on silent mode). Meal times with the family. Get-togethers with families and friends.

•We should think before picking up a call while we are conversing with someone in front of us.

Don’t get worried about “missed calls”. They can be returned, if necessary.

•If we really need to pick up the phone, we should excuse ourselves and be brief on the call.

•We need to practise “technological fasting”. We should not be afraid to keep our phone in a drawer for some hours or for the entire day or week. It’s very resting. Many “urgent” matters get solved without us.

•We shouldn’t go to Facebook as if we were looking for a needle in a haystack. We should have a purpose and define the amount of time we want to spend … and leave when time’s up!

Silence, words, images and sounds If we do adopt this kind of phone etiquette, we will come to recall the value of silence. In his message for the 46th World Communications Day, Pope Benedict XVI says: “When messages and information are plentiful, silence becomes essential if we are to distinguish what is important from what is insignificant or secondary. (…) it is necessary to develop an appropriate environment, a kind of ‘eco-system’ that maintains a just equilibrium between silence, words, images and sounds.”

Every person -- young and old -- must know how to be silent in his own company to adequately face up to a new technological culture. We don’t have to lock it out. But we do have to learn how to control technology and master its use.

Kevin de Souza is a freelance writer working in the educational field in Mumbai.

This article by Kevin de Souza was originally published on MercatorNet.com under a Creative Commons License.

If you enjoyed this article, visit MercatorNet.com for more.

Tech Tip: Finding CopyrightFree Images for Catechesis Sometimes you need to find the perfect image for a project or presentation. But just doing an image search on the internet won’t keep you from infringing on someone else’s copyright.

In this short video (www.youtu.be/zruwZIAbdb4) Jonathan shares two tools for finding free images that won’t get you in legal (or ethical) trouble!

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What the Worst Video Game Ever Teach Us about Evangelization

Can

By Jonathan F. Sullivan

If you’ve never heard the story of the Atari 2600 game E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, I’ll let the Wikipedia summary fill you in: “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (also referred to simply as E.T.) is a notorious 1982 adventure video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600video game console. It is based on the film of the same name, and was designed by Howard Scott Warshaw. The objective of the game is to guide the eponymous character through various screens to collect three pieces of an interplanetary telephone that will allow him to contact his home planet.

Warshaw intended the game to be an innovative adaptation of the film, and Atari thought it would achieve high sales figures based on its connection with the film, which was extremely popular throughout the world. Negotiations to secure the rights to make the game ended in late July 1982, giving Warshaw only five weeks to develop the game in time for the 1982 Christmas season. The result is often cited as one of the worst video games released and was one of the biggest commercial failures in video gaming history.

E.T. is frequently cited as a contributing factor to Atari’s massive financial losses during 1983 and 1984. As a result of overproduction and returns, millions of unsold cartridges were buried in an Alamogordo, New Mexico landfill. The game’s commercial failure and resulting effects on Atari are frequently cited as a contributing factor to the video game industry crash of 1983.”

What does this have to do with evangelization?

First, it tells us to take our time and get things right. The fact that Warshaw had only five weeks to create the game probably doomed it from the start. Even in 1982 it took time to develop and program a game.

Similarly, we need to take our time and do evangelization right. There are no short cuts when it comes to evangelization — no canned program or magic wand that will do the work for us. Evangelization means developing relationships, engaging in conversation, and walking with people on their spiritual journey. This doesn’t happen overnight. (Or in five weeks!) There’s a reason the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults says that preparation to receive the Sacraments of Initiation is a lengthy process that can take years. We do ourselves and those we evangelize a disservice when we think that conversion happens at the end of a five week “welcome back” program.

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Second, it should serve as a warning against giving people a poor version of what they want. E.T. was the hottest property in 1982. The movie opened to critical acclaim, broke all sorts of box office records, and E.T. merchandise was flying off the shelves. A video game based on the film should have been a no-brainer. Instead, gamers were given a shoddy product that didn’t meet their expectations.

Unfortunately this often happens when we create programs, products, and other “stuff ” within the Church. Because we can never put the resources and production quality into something that a large corporation can, “religiousy” stuff usually pales in comparison. We can’t assume that just because we have the Gospel that we can skimp on making our books, videos, and other media compelling and winsome. As Christ reminded the apostles, we must be “wise as serpents”; in the modern world this means paying attention to how people will react to the message based on the form it takes. Slapping E.T. on a cheaply produced video game wasn’t enough in 1982; that’s a lesson we should remember.

Host a New Evangelization Retreat or In-service Looking for a retreat or in-service on the New Evangelization? The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops developed these resources for parishes to host their own sessions: Family Retreat: Parents, Grandparents, and Siblings as Evangelizers http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/catechesis/catechetical-sunday/ new-evangelization/upload/parents-grandparents-spesia.pdf “The goal of this retreat is to create a prayerful forum for family members to reflect on their baptismal call to holiness and their mission to evangelize. It will take ninety minutes to two hours.”

Catechists and Teachers as Agents of the New Evangelization http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/catechesis/catechetical-sunday/ new-evangelization/upload/Catechists-and-Teachers-as-Agents-of-the-New-Evangelization8-10-12.pdf The purpose of this session is “to offer ministers of faith formation the opportunity to (1) reflect together on the vision of Jesus’ mission as he proclaims it and the Church’s commitment to that mission by being sign and instrument of communion with God and unity among all peoples, and (2) consider the catechetical implications of such commitment through the “New Evangelization” promoted by Pope John Paul II.”

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Many Parts, One Body: 5 Ways To Make Bulletin And Web Work Together

By Brad West

The all-to-often mistake is to think of the print bulletin and the web things (i.e. website, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) as totally separate in your parish. The truth is that they both serve much of the same purposes for communication.

They should compliment one another and always be “on the same page” (no pun intended – ok, yes, it was intended). For example, your bulletin events should be on your parish calendar on your website. Your bulletin can remind people to visit your website/Facebook page to see photos from an event.

Here are 5 ways to make the two work together more effectively: 1. Your web addresses are as important as your other contact information. I’m sure you have the office phone number listed in your bulletin. You should also have the parish website address and adding social icons isn’t a a bad idea either.

2. Using QR Codes WISELY. QR codes are wonderful. They do a great job enhancing print. But they are also most incorrectly used piece of tech. The best rule of thumb with QR Codes is that if you are not directing to a mobile display online . . . don’t use a QR Code. Some ways to wisely use QR codes are: •Add a calendar event •See photos of an event •View a video that provides further information •Give online to your parish or a special cause •Promote “checking in” on social networks 3. Direct readers to your website “for more information”. The biggest mistake I hear and see here to simply state “See the website for more information”. I don’t know about your website, but our’s is over 100 pages. Tell them where on the website to go by listing the website address (i.e. YourParishDomain. com/page) and make sure there really is more information.

4. Use important announcements as posts on your website and social networks. One of the main purposes of online is expand our avenues and ability to reach others. So duplicating an announcement or message from the print bulletin to online is a good thing. You may reach that person who hasn’t read the bulletin and it can serve as a reminder to someone who did read the bulletin but then forgets.

5. Make your bulletin available for download. This was a top priority and request from our parishioners. Here in Florida it is common for parishioners to be away for many months and they still want to get that bulletin. Many bulletin publishers offer this automatically but you still want to link where they get that online on your website. Email notifications of when it’s available online are nice too if available.

So how do you bridge the gap between your print and online communications in your parish?

Brad West lives in Palm Coast, Florida, and assists his local parish with their web site and communications. His eBook “The Connected Church” is available for the Nook through Barnes and Noble and through Amazon for Kindle.

This article was originally published on Catholic Tech Talk. © 2013 Brad West. Used with permission.

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS Rites of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion February 16 at 7p (parishes within 50 miles of Springfield); Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception February 17 at 2:30p (parishes further than 50 miles); Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

CORE Meeting May 16, 2013 at 10a; Knights of Columbus Council 4179 (Chatham)

CORE Retreat March 5-6, 2013; Villa Maria Catholic Life and Retreat Center (Springfield)

National Catholic Educational Association/ National Association of Parish Catechetical Directors Annual Conference April 2-4, 2013; Houston, Texas

Diocesan Youth Conference March 15-16, 2013; Lake Williamson (Carlinville) Chrism Mass March 26, 2013 at 6:30p; Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Ordination of Deacons April 6, 2013 at 10:30a; Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Principals Leadership Conference April 18-19, 2013; Villa Maria Catholic Life and Retreat Center (Springfield)

National Conference for Catechetical Leadership Annual Convention May 20-23, 2013; Cleveland, Ohio

Ordination of Priests May 25, 2013 at 10:30a; Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Confirmation of Catholic Adults June 2, 2013; Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception St. John Bosco Conference July 17-21, 2013; Steubenville, Ohio Wading Deeper: The RCIA for Children and Implications for All Sacramental Catechesis August 2-3, 2013; Holy Family (Litchfield)

“Catechists and those responsible for parish religious education share in one of the essential ministries of the Church – teaching the faith. Catechetical ministry in all its forms can claim to participate in the perennial task that traces its origins to the tradition of the apostles just as it can claim that its message is that which comes to us from the apostles. In this sense, the catechist is part of a great chain of living continuity that reaches back to the apostolic Church and reaches out to those today who need to hear and be formed in that life-giving word. It is easy to see why the Church places so much emphasis on the catechist.”

- Cardinal Donald Wuerl, New Evangelization: Passing on the Catholic Faith Today

This work is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

COREnotes February 2013 - Issue 13 The Feast of St. Blaise

Office for Catechesis 1615 W. Washington • Springfield, IL 62702 - 4757 217.698.8500 ph • 217.698.8620 fax • dio.org/catechesis