October 18, 2022, Class Update: The Story of God and Being Gift

Greetings everyone!

At the start of our most recent class, we welcomed Gabby, our class aide this year, for the first time. She is a third-year OPFHS student and one of my former students.  Welcome Gabby and thank you for volunteering for our class.

After having a little celebration for the 17th anniversary of my Confirmation, it was story time as we focused on God's work of salvation through hand motions. Below my signature is a video of the hand motions.

God created us, saved us from sin, and sent the Holy Spirit to guide us in fulfilling God's purpose for us.

Theology of the Body, a series of talks by Pope St. John Paul II, describes what that purpose is.  We are created in the image and likeness of God, Who is love, because He gives Himself in total gift to us, ultimately in Jesus Christ. We are called to reflect God's character by giving ourselves as gift to one another.

For this week, there is an activity for you to do.

Visit the website on Eucharistic miracles created by Blessed Carlo Acutis, an Italian teenager who desired to share his faith with others.

Pick one Eucharistic miracle to read.

After reading it, write a reflection of 2 sentences about what you learned in the Google form at this link.

Your submission is due by class time on October 25.

You only have to spend 5 minutes reading about the miracle and submitting a reflection.

If you read about more than 1 Eucharistic miracle, you get extra credit, but only one is required.

Looking ahead, we'll continue to explore the ways that God reveals Himself to us, especially in Scripture.

Remember that you are a gift, loved by God Who created you, and calls you to be a gift by loving and giving yourself to others.



As I reflect on the 17 years since my Confirmation, I'm grateful that you all are a part of my faith journey that has happened since then.

Someone in my family took this photo of me, in the center, at the reception following my Confirmation Mass on Saturday, October 15, 2005.  To the right is Bishop Kane, and to the left is my Uncle Bernie, who was my sponsor.


Blessings of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit on your week.

We are all connected:
All my relations.

With prayers for you,
Paul

P.S. The song for our opening prayer was "We Are One Body", the theme song for World Youth Day 1993 in Denver, CO.




Here's a video I created two years ago with the hand motions we did in class.


I based my Theology of the Body overview in class on this video presentation.

Our closing prayer was from John 7:37-39, taking place at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles.

Sukkot, or tabernacle, at the KAM Isaiah-Israel Synagogue in the Kenwood Neighborhood on the Southeast Side of Chicago, across Greenwood Avenue from the Obama family home.

I also mentioned this video presentation in which I took part last month, hosted by the OPRF History Museum.  It was about the creation of the present Oak Park middle schools.

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