November 15, 2022, Class Update: Remembrance

Greetings everyone!

It was great to be back in class with you again.

We spent some time remembering those we know who have passed on from this life, which is customary to do during the month of November as we reach the end of the liturgical year.

I'm glad that I had the chance to incorporate the celebration of 100 years since my Grandpa José's birth during class time, and it certainly seems like you enjoyed the pan dulce.

I also took some time to address some of your questions from previous classes, and it's good that you are all thinking deeply about questions pertaining to faith.

In the spirit of remembrance, we shifted focus toward the end of class on the Eucharist, when we remember and re-present the sacrifice of Christ and encounter His living presence.

We are off from class on November 22, and we resume on November 29.

Our class is going to make a contribution to this year's parish-wide Christmas Angel project.

We agreed each student in our class will contribute a minimum of $5, and I will match it.

Remember, you can't just ask your parents for the money.  You can use allowance money, or earn it from doing some extra chores.  If your family hosts relatives for Thanksgiving Day and you help set up the table, clean the dishes, or prepare the food, or if you help prepare a dish to take to a family gathering, that all counts.

The money is due in class on December 6.

I thank you in advance for your part in supporting those in need to celebrate the Nativity of our Lord on Christmas Day.

There's no other activity to do for our next class.  If you haven't completed one or either of the two activities, please be sure to do so by our next class.

We'll be in a new liturgical year when we meet next on November 29, and the plan is to look more closely at the season of Advent and follow-up with more study of the Eucharist.

As usual, please feel free to contact me with questions, etc.

And as I mentioned in class, I am grateful for your prayers for last month as I underwent the job interview process.  I am delighted to share that I received and accepted a job offer for the position of technical services librarian at Concordia University Chicago, where I plan to start on November 30.  I invite you to please continue praying for me as I transition from my current job to a new job.  I look forward to this new opportunity to serve that university community even as I continue to serve you.  It was a long, involved process to find this job, which I feel will be a better fit than where I am now.  I'm grateful for the prayers of many, and the opportunity to get my mind off work once a week and spend wonderful time in class with you as we encounter God through our studies.

I pray you and your families have a blessed Thanksgiving holiday and celebration of Christ the King Sunday on November 20, the final Sunday of the liturgical year.

Remember that the word "Eucharist" is Greek for "Thanksgiving".  In addition to giving thanks on the annual holiday in November, we have the chance as Roman Catholics to give thanks all the time, especially at Mass.

And we are all connected as One Church:
All my relations.

God's blessings to you,
Paul

The Body and Blood of Christ at Ascension

Altar at St. John Berchman's Church in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood

Christ the King window in Ascension Church, behind the organ


P.S. I played this music video of "America, the Beautiful" performed by Lexi Walker, at the start of class.

I played this video of "The Circle of Life" as we get close to the end of this current liturgical year and start a new year.

Toward the end of class, we watched this short video called "The Veil Removed", which gives a much different perspective on the spiritual reality of what happens at Mass.

Our closing prayer was the story of the healing of ten lepers in the Gospel according to St. Luke 17:11-19.

Here is a link to an article on the 7 deadly sins, which I mentioned in class while addressing exit slips questions.

Extra Credit Options:

Read President Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863 and/or President Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation.

Attend Thanksgiving Day Mass at 9:30 at St. Edmund's Church.

Then, write at least one sentence in this form about what stood out to you from whichever option you picked.

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