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

February 25, 2025, Class Update: Spiritual Toolboxes

Greetings everyone!

I missed being at class, and I'm grateful that Mrs. Monaco jumped in close to the last minute to oversee class for the 7th and 8th graders.

I hope you enjoyed the Jeopardy game.

As a recap, Mrs. Monaco talked about spiritual toolboxes.  Here are the bullet points of what's in the spiritual toolboxes:

A rubber band: To remind you to be flexible 

A paper clip: To remind you that God helps you hold things together 

An eraser: To remind you that no mistake or misunderstanding is permanent, and there is Reconciliation

Bubble gum: To remind you that you are a child of God and are essential within

A crayon: To inspire you to go out and color the world 

Smarties: To remind you that you are smart in choices 

Bible Quotes: To remind you that God is still speaking – and to encourage you 

Candy: To keep joy within you and keep you laughing 

A yellow pencil: To write down those great thoughts you want to share with God 

A Band-Aid: To remind you that God can help you heal 

Stars: To remind you what you are reaching for, the heavens

Bookmark: To remind you of community, the support we receive from our family of faith 

These are great symbols for how grow in relationship with God.

The upcoming season of Lent is a great opportunity for us to do spiritual practices that will help us grow in relationship with God.

Before Lent starts on Ash Wednesday, March 5, we have a Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras celebration.

Instead of class as usual, on Tuesday, March 4, please go directly to the Pine Room for the festivities.  At 7:30, we will have a prayer liturgy to burn the palms to create ashes for our foreheads for Ash Wednesday.

We're back to class as usual on March 11, and I eagerly look forward to seeing you all then.  We'll explore more about Lent and the meaning of Confirmation.

Please feel free to reach out to me with questions, feedback, etc.

We're not just lucky, we're blessed.

As we get closer to Confirmation, you, students, remain in my prayers because we are connected as One Church professing one faith in the God Who loves us and works wonderously in our lives:

All my relations.

God's blessings,

Paul

Inside the sanctuary of St. Mary Parish in Temple, TX

Let's put our spiritual toolboxes to work in service, like I did scrubbing the floor of St. Augustine Church in Winnebago, NE.