April 25, 2023, Class Update: Going Forward in Faith with the Spirit

Once again, Easter Greetings everyone!

Recap of our Class This Week

It was wonderful to gather together for one final class for this RE year, in which we did a variety of activities to focus on what faith in the Risen Christ means for our lives.

We had the opportunity to reflect on what we experienced in class this year, on exit slips and also in notes that you wrote to your future selves. We even did a snowball toss on how we can grow in faith.  And we celebrated with treats.  We explored with elements like holy water and cotton swabs to form a Trinity triangle, to illustrate how we live in the life of the Trinity.  In our Chronos time based on the clock, we experience Kairos time when we have important encounters with God.

We rejoice that Christ is Risen, and He continues to live in us through the power of the Holy Spirit:  The Spirit brings us alive in faith, together as One Church.

I illustrated this idea by playing the song "I Believe", which was a promotional tool for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, performed by Nikki Yanofsky, a jazz-pop singer from Montreal.  It's one of my favorite songs.

And we know that we are not alone, because the God Who conquered death through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ continues to help us in our challenges and gives us joy and purpose in living, which we are called to share with others as we keep growing in faith.  We are also in the company of the whole Church, all of us on Earth, and all the saints in Heaven--including those picked by our students who are scheduled for Confirmation this month.

Because of the Resurrection, we are bound for the glory of Heaven, which we can experience now with great joy in our lives.  And everything we do to grow in faith, including Mass, community, and our own prayers, is worth all the effort.

Recap of This Year

We experienced so much this year:

We spent time exploring our Sacred Tradition, Scripture, the Eucharist, our mission as people of faith, the saints, and the meaning of the different liturgical seasons: Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter.

You all helped contribute money to provide gifts for people in need during December and for supplies so that inmates can send notes to their moms for Mothers' Day next month.

Looking over the exit slips from class, it appears that you all certainly enjoyed the music videos I often played as prayers, and "P-A-R-T-Y!"

Thank you for all the wonderful, unique ways you each contributed to making our class what it is.

A big thanks to our guest speakers in class this year: my Uncle Bernie Rupe, my family friend Scott Buhrmaster, my friends Nathan and Aura Lee Kelly, and former NBA star Ashraf Amaya.

And a big thanks also to Gabby DeSantiago, our high school class aide, for our commitment to assisting with class this year.

Sending You Forth

At the conclusion of class, everyone got an envelope with several items:  There is a personal note from Gabby and me. I personally took about 2 hours to write my part as a way to affirm your part in our class.  There are images of the floating device and the Sacred Heart candle I held up at the start of each class.  There's also a sheet with a list of suggested practices for continuing to grow in faith.  Please look it over, and try out different activities to see what works for you.  And there's a photo of our class.

Please know that even though our time in class has concluded, I am still here to support you.  So please feel free to reach out if you're seeking spiritual guidance or even answers to faith-related questions.  You all certainly asked lots of great questions in class this year.

I look forward to seeing you at Mass, and if you can stick around for a couple of minutes afterward, I would be glad to talk with you and hear about what's going on in your lives.

This website will remain active indefinitely, so you can visit it to refer back to any video or resource from class.

I am so grateful and blessed for our time together this year.  It's been an amazing journey that led from my baptism, to middle school when I flourished in faith, to college when I grew in zeal for faith to the RE classroom.  As I mark the 10th anniversary of my college graduation next month, I'm joyful that I've taught RE for each year since graduation as a way to hand on the faith that was given as a gift to me, and that has given me even more reason to celebrate the anniversary of my baptism on Friday, April 28.

I'm grateful for the unique ways each of you contributed to class this year.

I will continue praying for you, because we remain connected as One Church, in the spirit of the words I learned 10 years ago in Winnebago Country:

All my relations.

Keep up the P-A-R-T-Y!

For those of you who have been confirmed, I pray a joyful life in the Holy Spirit for you.

The Blessings of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be upon you all.

Paul

Christ is Risen and Alive, as illustrated by the Paschal Candle, above, and, below, the Resurrection stained glass window in the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City, IA.

Keep swimming in the Ocean of God and growing in faith

P.S. Our opening prayer was the song "Glory Bound", performed by Matt Maher.  It related to the wording of the second reading from Easter Sunday Mass, Colossians 3:1-4.

I played a short part of the song "God's Not Dead" performed by the Newsboys.  The reference to the lion is a symbol of St. Mark the Evangelist, whose Feast Day is April 25.

I played this clip from the movie State Fair, to show that in the roller coasters of life, we are not alone.

I played this EWTN segment with two basketball players who entered religious life.

I played this video interview with Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, who talks about the role of faith in her life.

Here's the bilingual English-French version of "I Believe" with Nikki Yanofsky and Annie Villeneuve.  There's also a French language version performed by Annie V.  And there's a video is performed by the One Voice Children's Choir.

I played a short segment of this video on the Introductory Greeting at Mass to illustrate the idea of the Trinity.