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Question of the Week: Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 23, 2013

Question of the Week

For Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 23, 2013

“…but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” Do you associate pain and suffering with loss? Does the idea of pain and suffering evoke a sense of fear in you? What is it you fear when you listen to these words of Jesus? What are examples of when you have been unwilling to lose your life for the sake of Jesus and his message? What feelings have you experienced when you willingly suffered in order to follow the teachings of Jesus?

Prayer for Safety in Hurricane Season

Let us pray for safe passage through this hurricane season.

Hurricane Prayer3

Open the Door of Faith

catechetical sunday 2013

This year, the Church will celebrate Catechetical Sunday on September 15, 2013, and will focus on the theme Open the Door of Faith. Those whom the community has designated to serve as catechists will be called forth to be commissioned for their ministry. Catechetical Sunday is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the role that each person plays, by virtue of Baptism, in handing on the faith and being a witness to the Gospel. Catechetical Sunday is an opportunity for all to rededicate themselves to this mission as a community of faith.

(Look for more information to come in the next few months).

Strong Catholic Families - Video Now Available

Great news! The new Strong Catholic Families promotional video is now uploaded onto YouTube and is available for you to use and share in helping to promote the Strong Catholic Families initiative in your area. The video is four minutes in length and does a wonderful job at summarizing what the process is about and speaks to both parents and local leaders. Some possible uses include:

Place the link on your diocesan SCF website or the local parish/school websites.
Use it at mass or a parent gathering to help promote an upcoming SCF presentation.
Local consultants can use it during their initial parish/school consultation with leadership.
Use it at regional or diocesan gatherings/retreats to help promote the initiative in your area.
When you view the video, click the “Like” button which will help this video gain some “viral footing” on the YouTube channel.
Share the link on your personal and ministerial social media pages.

The Spanish version of this video (using subtitles and promoting the Fortaleciendo Familias logo) should be ready later this week and links to both versions will also be posted onto our SCF public website. Should you wish to download these videos from YouTube, you must first download a plug in (such as www.keepvid.com) and use that tool to save it to your own computer.

Speaking of our public website, we have renamed it so that it is easy to locate: www.strongcatholicfamilies.org. It will go through a complete overhaul during the summer to be more visually appealing and user friendly. If you have suggestions for what features you would like to see there, please pass them along to me ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) by mid-June.

--From Strong Catholic Families National Coordinator, National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry 05/22/2013

{Click on YouTube above to open video}

The Catholic Teenager

The Catholic Teenager: A Few Mysteries Solved

1964 Nineteen Sixty-four is a research blog for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) [http://cara.georgetown.edu/] at Georgetown University edited by Mark M. Gray. CARA is a non-profit research center that conducts social scientific studies about the Catholic Church. Founded in 1964, CARA has three major dimensions to its mission: to increase the Catholic Church's self understanding; to serve the applied research needs of Church decision-makers; and to advance scholarly research on religion, particularly Catholicism.

As a recent study (http://www.pewforum.org/Faith-in-Flux%283%29.aspx) by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found, “Almost half of Catholics who are now unaffiliated (48%) left Catholicism before reaching age 18” (...some of them return [http://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com/2012/06/reverts-catholics-who-left-and-came.html]to the faith later in life). In 2012, thanks to the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) CARA got the chance to interview teens about their religious faith in a national survey. The overall study focused on interest in vocations (http://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com/2012/10/millions-of-never-married-catholics.html). A total of 1,609 respondents were interviewed (English and Spanish) in May and June 2012. Of this sample, 677 respondents were ages 14 to 17. Here are a few highlights from their findings. If you are interested in reading more along with several more graphs, please go to http://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-catholic-teenager-few-mysteries.html.

Ninety-two percent of the teens with two Catholic parents self-identified their faith as Catholic (Overall, 76% percent of the teens indicated they reside in a household with two Catholic parents). Only 55% of those with one Catholic parent self-identified their faith as Catholic. Thus, some teens may be adopting the affiliation of a non-Catholic parent. It is also the case that as they become more peer-connected they may be attending services or religious programs with friends of other faiths and this may alter their religious identities. Some are “falling away” from religion generally and losing any affiliation.

Although use of new media and the internet is widespread and frequent among American youth, many Catholic teens do not indicate use of these tools yet to connect with content about their faith. When these teens seek out religious or spiritual content they are still more often looking to traditional media than new media. Television is the most popular choice for this.

North American Forum on the Catechumenate: Letter from Steven R. Janco, Chair of Board of Directors

North American Forum on the Catechumenate

In a recent letter from Steven R. Janco, Chair of the Board of Directors of the North American Forum on the Catechumenate, he announced that:

…the Board of Directors has made a commitment to dissolve the North American Forum on the Catechumenate as a not-for-profit organization. The target date is June 30, 2013. Ending operations on date should, hopefully, allow us to wrap up Forum’s affairs without having to file for bankruptcy. It is important for you to know that Jim Schellman, Forum’s executive director, is in full agreement with the board’s decision. The board will be working closely with Jim as we map out the weeks ahead.

As we prepare to wrap up Forum’s affairs, the Board is filled with gratitude for an extraordinary 30 years. It is no overstatement to say that Forum and its Team members have given shape, direction, and energy to our experience of Christian initiation in the United States and Canada. The expertise that Forum has provided and fostered since its founding continues to bear fruit through the writing and activities of its Team members, through the ministry of diocesan leaders who cosponsored and promoted Forum institutes, and through many thousands who have taken part in Forum’s learning opportunities over the years. Even as we grieve Forum’s closing, board members remain confident that Forum Team members, diocesan leaders, and others committed to the full implementation of the RCIA will find new and creative ways to continue the mission that commenced in Estes Park, Colorado, and Calgary, Alberta, 31 years ago.

NCCL extends its prayers and support to Jim Schellman and the Forum’s staff members during this difficult time and pledge our continued support of the Forum’s commitment “to evangelization and conversion through catechesis, liturgy, discipleship, and mission.” The North American Forum has been a longtime partner of NCCL, active at our conference and exposition, and until this latest move, shared equipment and other processes associated with the normal day-to-day operations of running a national organization.

Children's Books Available on Saint Francis of Assisi

Here are several children’s books on Saint Francis of Assisi. All can be ordered through the NCCL Amazon Bookstore. Simply click on the title of the book below to learn more about each book.

Saint Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis

Francis

Saint Francis of Assisi