June 29, 2025: Bonus Post for Summertime Spirituality

Greetings everyone!

In the weeks since the RE year concluded, I've had some amazing spiritual experiences, and I've had prayerfully in mind all of my 250+ former students and families.

In May, after sightseeing in the Boston Metro Area, my first visit to Massachusetts, I traveled south to join my family for vacation time in the Washington, DC, Metro Area.  I stopped in New Haven, CT, my first time in Connecticut, and went to see St. Mary's Church--please see photo directly below.  Blessed Father Michael McGivney served as a priest there, and founded the Knights of Columbus there.

Washington, D.C., has become a place of spiritual significance for me because of two places I enjoy visiting during my annual trips to that area.

The first is the National Shrine of St. John Paul II.

Here I'm posing next to St. Faustina, in a photo taken by a fellow visitor.

Here I pose next to Pope St. John Paul II, in a photo taken by a fellow visitor.

Here's a portrait of Pope St. John Paul II.  I lit the prayer candle in the lower right corner.

The lighting isn't the best, but here's la Virgen de Guadalupe.  I lit a prayer candle in the lower right corner.

Just to the south is the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Here's a prayer candle I lit.

A fellow visitor photographed me outside the Basilica.

I also attended Mass at two different churches in Alexandria: St. Joseph's, founded with funds from St. Mother Katharine Drexel, and St. Mary's Basilica, the oldest Catholic parish in Virginia.

St. Joseph

Basilica of St. Mary

In Baltimore, I stopped by the Basilica of the Annunciation (please see photo below), the first Cathedral in the US, although the Archdiocese of Baltimore has a different Cathedral now.

And I saw the house--in the photo below--where St. Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton lived before she settled in Emmitsburg, MD.  Last year, August 28 marked 250 years since her birth, and this coming September 14, marks 50 years since she was canonized the first US-born saint.

(If you're interested in reading more about my trip and what else I experienced, including the National Memorial Day Concert, Fort McHenry, and lunch at a tavern where George Washington ate, please contact me and I'll send you a link to the post on my personal blog when it's complete.)

In mid-June, I was at Guaranteed Rate Field for the Pope Leo XIV Celebration.

Here I am in the stands, holding a flag that was in my hand when I came within 20 feet of Pope Francis at World Youth Day 2019.  Parishioner Bill Skalitzky took this photo of me.

Here's the view during the broadcast of the message of Pope Leo XIV. 

At the end of Mass in the stadium.

I highly recommend that your families spend 7 minutes watching Pope Leo's message that was broadcast at the celebration, the first message for a US audience.  He specifically has words for young people.

When visiting these places, and at Pope Leo's celebration, I was praying for you, that God will work wonders in your lives and bring you alive in faith.

Please know of my continued prayers for you throughout the summer and beyond.  If there are any specific prayer intentions you want to share with me, please send them my way.  I remain available to support you spiritually.

I look forward to seeing you at Church.

God's blessings,

Paul

Artwork, inside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, depicting the descent of the Holy Spirit.  I pray the Holy Spirit pours out fresh graces day by day upon all my former RE students and their families.

April 29, 2025, Class Update: Easter and Pentecost

Easter Greetings!

The celebration of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday is such a glorious day, and it is so glorious, it spills forth into the 50 Days of Easter Season as we continue to rejoice in the new Life of the Risen Christ.

Above and below are views inside Ascension Church decorated for Easter Sunday and Season

Just as the winter gives way to spring and the rising of the sun signals the end of nighttime darkness and the start of a new day, so the Resurrection of Christ proclaims the beginning of new and glorious Life for us, the faithful.

Two of my favorite sunrise pictures from onboard the westbound Amtrak Southwest Chief train from July 2022.  Above is in western Kansas, west of Garden City getting close to Colorado.  Below is the view from south of Needles, CA.  In the picture appears the Colorado River with Arizona on the far side and in the foreground is California.

To start class, our opening prayer was the song "Alive (Mary Magdalene)", which provides a perspective of the Resurrection from the viewpoint of St. Mary Magdalene.

Christ is alive, and as people joined to Him by faith, we share in the newness of Life He won for us by the Resurrection.  This Life in us sends us forth, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to proclaim the Good News to all the world.

We begin our lives joined to the Paschal Mystery of Christ's Death and Resurrection in baptism.  The anniversary of my baptism was the day before this class, on April 28, so I was glad to celebrate it with you all.

At the end of the 50-Day Easter Season, we celebrate Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Church.  By the Holy Spirit, the Apostles proclaimed the Good News of God in different languages so that other people gathered in Jerusalem could understand them.  (If you scroll down on this webpage, you'll see a map of all the different geographic places where people came from when they gathered in Jerusalem on Pentecost.)

This same Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to develop our relationship with God and grow in holiness as we reflect His character in the world.

The Church in the Vatican II Council emphasized the idea of "The Universal Call to Holiness", in which all people, lay and in religious life, are called to live out their relationship with God.

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception has a piece of artwork that illustrates this idea, entitled "The Universal Call of Holiness".

We have many examples of saints who sought to grow in holiness before God, and as an activity in class, everyone had the chance to create an acrostic of their Confirmation saint's name.

Because of the reality of Christ's Resurrection, we focus on the glory to come, and it impacts us even now.  (In fact, toward the end of the Easter Season, we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus Christ, rejoicing that He went to Heaven and will follow Him.)  This idea was in the song that was our closing prayer, "Glory Bound" by Matt Maher.  

The Dome inside Ascension Church depicting the Ascension of Christ

And so we have reached the end of this Religious Education year.  During the course of this year, we learned about Sacred Tradition, the Eucharist, the Bible, the liturgical seasons, our mission as people of faith, the meaning of Confirmation, and how we live out our faith.  We had three guest speakers, including my former student Faye, my college friend Will, and my Uncle Bernie.  We watched two different documentaries, one about the faith experiences of those in the MLB, and another on stories of God at work in the lives of people in central Illinois.

Looking at your exit slips, you mentioned that you enjoyed the documentaries in class, seeing the National Eucharistic Congress presentation of actor Jonathan Roumie, the snowball tosses, and the food.

Thank you to Hadley for assisting with class, and to Mrs. Lopez for providing so many wonderful treats for our class.

We are truly blessed, not just lucky, but blessed by the time we spent together in class encountering God.

I am so grateful and blessed that I have had the opportunity to be your Religious Education teacher and support you in your faith journey this year.  Also, as a Julian alumnus, I'm glad that I had the chance to reconnect with today's Oak Park middle schoolers.

We will gather once more on Wednesday, May 14, for Mass at St. Edmund's at 7 PM.

Please know that although our time in class has concluded, I am still here to support you.  Your parents all have my contact info, so you are welcome to have them reach out to me at any time if you seek spiritual support or have questions about faith. I hope to see you at Mass, and please feel free to come greet me before or after.  This website will remain in place indefinitely, so you're welcome to come back and visit it if you want to relisten to a song from class or anything.

I strongly encourage you to keep close to the Holy Spirit, Who, as Jesus says in John 14:26, will continue to teach you about faith and remind you of all that you've learned about faith.

We remain connected as One Church by faith in Christ, Who died and rose again, and continue to abide with us by the Holy Spirit.

All my relations.

We look forward to seeing you at the End of the Religious Education Year Mass on May 14 at 7 PM at St. Edmund's Church.

Keep swimming in the ocean of God to encounter His presence.

You are a gift, so be a gift of blessing to others.

You're not just lucky, you're blessed.

Jesus Christ is risen and lives forever! Alleluia!

God's blessings,

Paul

Here is some other Easter music to enjoy:

"Jesus is Risen"

"Be Not Afraid"

Here are a couple of stories I didn't have the chance to share in class that tell about the journeys of faith for two people in the sports world.

Father Burke Masters, the Cubs chaplain

Simone Biles

April 15, 2025, Class Update: Holy Week and the Triduum

Greetings everyone!

The Paschal Mystery of Christ's Death and Resurrection is at the heart of our faith.

The days when we commemorate these central events happen at the end of Holy Week during the three days of the Triduum that begins on the evening of Maundy Thursday, continuing through Good/God's Friday and Holy Saturday, and lasts until Resurrection/Easter Sunday.

The Triduum was our focus during class time.

Our opening song was "Glory in the Cross of Christ", and its lyrics encompass our focus during Holy Week and the Triduum.

During His Passion, Christ suffered greatly, and through the ages, people have asked why there's suffering in the world.  Bishop Barron offers some thoughts on this topic in this homily.  We listened to a few minutes of it starting around the 8:00 mark when he shares a story about his family's dog when he was growing up.

In Philippians 2:6-11, the second reading for Palm Sunday Mass, St. Paul writes that Christ humbled Himself in obedience to the Father and suffered greatly and then died on the Cross, fulfilling the plan to redeem us from sin, and then He rose to new life.

We recall Christ's exuberant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and we hold palms to remember how Jesus got lavish treatment when He entered.

On Maundy Thursday, we celebrate when Christ instituted the Eucharist, and the priesthood, at a meal with the apostles celebrating the Jewish Passover, when they remembered God's deliverance of His people from slavery in Egypt and established a covenant with them.  Christ instituted a new covenant at that Passover meal, with a new commandment to love one another.  Maundy comes from the Latin term mandatum, the word for command.  (I recorded this video 5 years ago to illustrate elements of Maundy Thursday.)

Then we remember the Crucifixion on Good Friday, terminology that comes to us from the phrase "God's Friday".  During the liturgy of this day, we venerate the Cross by touching it with a reverent gesture.

The darkness of Holy Week Friday continues when the Holy Saturday Easter Vigil begins with the church in darkness.  As we hear stories of how God sought to save His people, the light in the church grows gradually brighter until all the lights are illuminated when we sing the Alleluia acclamation and rejoice that Christ is Risen.  (I also recorded a video on Holy Saturday and its stunning visual effects.)

There is so much joy that marks Easter Sunday when we celebrate the Lord's Resurrection, and it continues for 50 Days until Pentecost.

Becuase of the Resurrection, we are truly a people of hope, and that is the focus of this year's 2025 Jubilee.  We finished class with the Jubilee 2025 Year Prayer.  Everyone got a copy of it upon leaving class, along with a handout on the Shroud of Turin that I got from the National Eucharistic Congress.

We'll focus on the meaning of the Easter Season next time we gather as we approach the end of the RE year.

Please feel free to contact me with questions, etc.

Remember, you're not just lucky, you're blessed.

We remain connected as One Church bound by faith in Jesus Christ Who humbled Himself to the point of death on the Cross to bring us salvation and new life:

All my relations.

God's blessings for Holy Week and the Triduum,

Paul

Inside Ascension on Palm Sunday

April 8, 2025, Class Update: God Working in Us

Greetings everyone!

During our opening prayer time was this video of Chris Tomlin's performance of "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)".  It features scenes from the movie Amazing Grace, one of my favorites that I watch annually.

In celebration of Percy Julian's birthday on April 11, we watched a clip from the biographical documentary on his life Forgotten Genius, in which he shares a story about his great-grandmother at the time of his college graduation.  She bore wounds from a beating she received in the waning days of slavery and then said his graduation, with honors, was worth all the scars.

Jesus bears the wounds from His crucifixion as a sign that His wounds were part of the sacrifice by which God redeemed us.

We continue to re-present that sacrifice when we gather for Mass.  I shared some analogies about the Eucharist to help us understand this mystery a little better.

We also watched part of actor Jonathan Roumie's speech at the National Eucharistic Congress when he does a dramatic reading of John 6:47-69, a scene that isn't part of The Chosen series in which he stars.

This link is for the entire speech, which lasts about 15 minutes, and his dramatic reading starts around the 9:00 mark.

I was there when Jonathan Roumie spoke before tens of thousands gathered in Lucas Oil Stadium on the second to last day of the National Eucharistic Congress.

Ultimately, at the end of that passage, some disciples stop following Jesus, but the Twelve remained committed, as St. Peter, speaking for all of them, expresses belief in Jesus.  We are called to go forth from frequent reception of the Eucharist to confess our faith in God by how we live.

One great example of someone who expressed her faith in Christ was 16-year-old Brazilian Olympic athlete Rayssa Leal, who competed in the 2024 Paris Summer Games, and used sign language to share a verse from John chapter 14.

This video shares the story, and the report itself ends around the 1:30 mark.

On March 25, hundreds gathered to testify to the beauty of all life, including the unborn, at the Illinois March for Life in Springfield. The Diocese of Springfield, IL, made this video recapping the event.  I make a cameo appearance at the 2:16 mark.

We concluded class with Philippians 3:8-14, in which St. Paul writes about how he considers the Cross to be the greatest gain, and strives constantly to grow in faith grounded in the Cross of Christ.  It was the second reading for Mass in Cycle C of the Fifth Sunday of Lent, which was April 6.)

The Cross is a central part of Holy Week and the Triduum, which will be our focus in our upcoming class on April 15.

Please feel free to contact me with questions, etc.

Remember, you're not just lucky, you're blessed.

We remain united as One Church, professing faith that shows the power of the Cross in our lives:

All my relations.

Paul

P.S. A very Happy Belated Birthday to our class aide, Hadley, whose birthday was on April 9.  Thanks to the students in class for signing a card for her.

March 18, 2025, Class Update: Transformed to Live Faith

Greetings everyone!

As an opening prayer, I offered the story of Exodus 3 when Moses encounters God in the burning bush. God says the place where Moses stands is "holy ground".  I heard these words proclaimed 12 years ago when I was at St. Augustine Mission, which is holy ground because it was founded by St. Mother Katharine Drexel.  The reading can be found for the 3rd Sunday of Lent Cycle C readings here.

St. Augustine Mission in Winnebago, NE

During Lent, we recognize how God desires to make us holy.  The Gospel reading for the 2nd Sunday of Lent, in Luke 9, tells the story of when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a high mountain, often a place of encounter with God in the Scriptures.  Then Jesus was transfigured in the appearance of His Heavenly glory.

At age 9, I posed on the top of Mount Cadillac in Acadia National Park in Maine, with the Atlantic Ocean in the background, in a photo likely taken by one of my parents.

Here I pose in the mountains near Cripple Creek, CO, when I was visiting with Colorado cousins in a photo taken by one of those cousins.

It gave the apostles of glimpse of the glory that was to come after His Resurrection.  That glory is not just something Christ experiences, but what we strive for as we heed the call to repent and strive to live in greater holiness by putting faith into action.

I have been blessed to put my faith into action and attain great purpose in life by being your RE teacher.  So I was glad to celebrate the day of your Confirmation the day before my birthday, as I could celebrate how I have lived a life with great purpose by giving of myself to you.  I hope your Confirmation inspires you to live out your purpose by helping contribute what you have to offer in building up the church.

As a birthday gift, in addition to the treats, I played the song "Glorious" from the documentary Meet the Mormons, and in a performance by the One Voice Children's Choir.

We then heard from our very special guest star, my Uncle Bernie Rupe.  He talked about the organization he founded, Chicago Voyagers, which serves at-risk youth by giving them the chance to participate in outdoor adventure trips.  He showed this video during his presentation in which the youth participants share the impact of participating in a CV outing.

Our closing prayer was the concluding prayer of the Holy Ghost Litany.

We're off for Spring Break. When we resume on April 8, we'll continue to explore Lent, the Eucharist, and how to put faith into action.

Remember that you're not just lucky, you're blessed because you are part of the One Church and we are all connected by faith in God:

All my relations.

God's blessings,

Paul

This message is on a gift that I got, most likely when I graduated college.  I often think about it when it's my birthday and I hope you take the words to heart.

On March 25, the Solemnity of the Annunciation, I was in Springfield for a March, and I stopped by the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to light a prayer candle for our class, which is shown in the photo below in the center.

I lit the candle by this statue of St. Patrick.

March 11, 2025, Class Update: Journeying Together as One Church

Lenten Greetings Everyone!

To set the tone for our Lenten journey, our opening prayer in class was "Jerusalem My Destiny".

The major idea of Lent is that it originated as a time period of intensified preparation for those preparing to be baptized and initiated into the Church.  In fact, the composer of the song wrote it to encourage his young children as they prepared for baptism.

For those of us already baptized, it's an opportunity for us to take up practices that help us grow in our relationship with God, so we can be ready to renew our baptismal promises on Easter/Resurrection Sunday.

We remember that although we have sinned, God says we are worth fixing, just like Sally says Radiator Springs is a town worth fixing in the courtroom scene of the movie Cars, my favorite animated film.

So we enter into the desert with Jesus, similar to the scene in the Oak Park Conservatory's Desert Room, a stark environment where we can be purified.

I shared the story of participating in a Native American Sweat Lodge ceremony 12 years ago when I traveled to Nebraska, which is a spiritual purification experience.

As Catholics, we hold to the idea of purgatory, a process whereby God, in His mercy, removes the effects of sin upon us as we transition from this life to Eternal Life with Him.

Michael W. Smith's song "Purified" speaks wonderfully to this idea of purification.

Lent leads to Easter Sunday, when we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ and our new life in Him.  The night before, new members of the Church are initiated through Baptism and Confirmation. We renew our baptismal vows and profess our faith as belonging to One Church.

I shared the story of Belong Designs, the apparel company my cousin Mark co-founded, which is based in the Denver Metro Area.

This video of "Behind the Brand" tells its story.

God desires to fill us with a passion for Him and we find that we belong as we follow our passion for Him and grow in faith.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, in faith, we come together as One Church.  In Confirmation, we are united more closely to the Church.

To illustrate this idea, I shared the song, "I Believe" performed by Canadian pop-jazz singer Nikki Yanofsky for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Here's a French-language version of the song.

Here's a bilingual version performed by the One Voice Children's Choir, and another bilingual version performed by Nikki Yanofsky and Annie Villeneuve.

To conclude, I shared a prayer I have been offering in the lead-up to Confirmation Day on March 15 from a Pentecost Novena card.

Indeed, we profess one faith in God and are connected as One Church:

All my relations.

And remember, you're not just lucky, you're blessed because God has called us to be part of His Church.

God's blessings,

Paul

Here's the recipe for homemade pretzels that I brought to class, which I got from a special Lenten bulletin many years ago at Ascension:

Mix 1 package active dry yeast with 1 tablespoon sugar in 1 1/2 cups lukewarm (100-110 degree) water.  Mixture should bubble.  Stir in 1 teaspoon salt and 4 cups flour.  Place on floured board and knead in 1/2 cup more flour.  Knead about 8 minutes.  Divide into pieces, roll into ropes, and shape into pretzels.  (As you fold the "little arms", pray the Lord's prayer or another Lenten prayer.)  Let rise until about double in size.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Place  pretzels on greased cookie sheet.  Brush with mixture of 1 egg yolk mixed with 2 tablespoon water, and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Bake 12 minutes or until golden brown.  Depending on the size of the pretzels, this recipe can yield anywhere from a dozen to three dozen pretzels.

March 4, 2025, Class Update: Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday

Greetings everyone!

We spent our class on this evening at a Mardi Gras celebration to let the good times roll before the start of Lent.

At this celebration, we often sing "When the Saints Go Marching in".  Here's a performance of it at an Andre Reiu concert.

While the weather prevented it this year, customarily we burn palms on Fat Tuesday which becomes ashes for our foreheads on Ash Wednesday.

Customarily, our prayer liturgy has words about ashes and repentance.  Fire destroys what is old and lets new growth emerge, just as God desires for us to be made anew during Lent.

People often covered themselves with ashes as a sign of mourning for their sins.  Prophets like Ezekiel and Daniel mourned the sins of God's people.  Fasting was also a way to show contrition to God.

Esther fasted and wore sackcloth as she pleaded with God for her people.  Their deliverance in the Persian Empire is the basis for Purim, which Jews still celebrate today, usually in March.

In the Gospel according to St. John, people brought a woman caught in sin to Jesus, but no one condemned her after Jesus turned the matter on them.  Then Jesus told her to go and sin no more.

The prophet Isaiah says that when we're sorry for sins, God comforts us.  Even though Lent is a somber time, it concludes with the joyful celebration of Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

As we journey through Lent, we remain connected as One Church professing faith in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit: 

All my relations.

God's blessings,

Paul

From the 2024 palm burning prayer liturgy on Mardi Gras