RECongress 2010 - Period 4: Saturday, March 20, 2010

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What is Catholic identity as lived by today’s young adults, and how can ministry relate to this lived identity? We will hear from several young adult Catholics whose testimonies will open up conversation about how to proceed ministerially with this new generation. Dr. Tom Beaudoin will moderate a panel of Tefi Ma’ake, Raymund Nanadiego, Jessica Coblentz, Brenden Busse and Linda Quilizapa.

Dr. Tom Beaudoin is Associate Professor of Practical Theology in the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education at Fordham University in New York. He also currently coordinates the Rock and Theology Project, which explores "secular" rock and "sacred" theology. Dr. Beaudoin is author of many published articles and essays on faith and culture; his most recent book is "Witness to Dispossession: The Vocation of a Postmodern Theologian." He lectures nationally and internationally.

What kind of pastoral leaders are needed in the priesthood of the future? What are some issues crying out for prayer, study and change if the Church is to have a sufficient number of quality people in the priesthood. This session will explore needed changes in the future priesthood.

In the mainline U.S. culture, "thanks" has been the usual response made to those who do good to us. However, this was not the case in Jesus’ time, nor is it the pattern in many other cultures today. In this session, Fr. Michael Crosby will explain the differences. Using the teachings of Venerable Solanus Casey, appreciation will be shown to stand as an antidote to our culture of entitlement.

Fr. Michael Crosby, a Capuchin Franciscan of the Midwest Province, lives in downtown Milwaukee in a fraternity ministering to street people. He leads retreats, and writes and lectures on contemporary biblical spirituality. Fr. Crosby recently launched a six-part video series on social transformation for parishes entitled "Choosing Compassion."

Here is a workshop packed with solid practical advice on how to use the stuff of everyday life to teach children to act with integrity, civility and compassion. Beginning with the idea that it is in us to care, that we are born with an innate capacity for compassion, Barbara Coloroso shows professionals, educators and parents how to nurture and guide children’s ethical lives from toddlerhood through the teen years using everyday situations at home, at school, in social settings, and in the world at large.

Barbara Coloroso is an internationally recognized author and educator in the areas of parenting, teaching, school discipline, nonviolent conflict resolution, restorative justice, and grieving. The former classroom teacher and university lecturer is now an educational consultant for school districts, the medical and business communities, the criminal justice system and educational associations throughout the world.

4-05 Why Do We Do What We Do: An Explanation of the Signs Symbols, Gestures, Rituals and History at Mass

We stand, sit, kneel and genuflect. We say some of the same words time after time. Why begin with calling to mind our sin? What is the "mystery of our faith"? Our rituals become mechanical. We might hear ourselves or others ask, "Why do we do that?" "What is that all about?" This is an opportunity to "walk through" our Mass from beginning to end stopping along the way for an explanation and appreciation of the many things that are a part of our most sacred form of worship. What have you always wanted to ask about? Here is your chance!

"Secularism" or "secularity" are terms often used to describe the world we inhabit in North America and beyond. "Secularism" is as all-pervasive as the air we breathe. It is not something "out there" or "over there" with a different address from ours. Is this all that bad? Are there any advantages to living in a secular culture? What are the challenges we face in such an environment? What are the spiritual resources available to those who seek to sow the seeds of the Gospel in secular soil?

Dr. Michael Downey is the Cardinal’s Theologian for the Los Angeles Archdiocese. He is author or editor of more than 20 books, as well as journal articles, essays and book chapters that number in the dozens. His most recent book is "The Heart of Hope." The founding North American Editor of the international journal Spirituality, Dr. Downey works extensively with contemplative communities and is active in retreat work. In 2005 Pope John Paul II awarded him the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice.

Jesus came that all people might have abundant life. We will explore what "abundance" is and the ways in which we embrace that abundance as Jesus’ disciples. We will consider how catechesis unveils abundance, invites to conversion, forms disciples, and equips for mission.

Dr. Carole Eipers is Vice President and Executive Director of Catechetics for William H. Sadlier, Inc. She served in parish ministries for over 20 years as a teacher, Director of Religious Education, youth minister and Pastoral Associate. Eipers has written and presented for national and international groups in the area of catechetics. She formerly was Director of the Office for Catechesis for the Chicago Archdiocese for nine years and also served as President of the National Conference of Catechetical Leadership.

What does it mean to live "life to the full"? In the more privileged areas of our planet, we are clearly living longer. But does that mean that we are also choosing to live more creative and generous lives? This presentation addresses the vital tasks of human development in the "afternoon of life." In our religious tradition this expresses our call to move beyond the false self toward the new self in the risen Christ. In the language of developmental psychology it describes the "third birth," or the emergence of our deeper self. But whatever the language, the task is the same – to grow in wisdom, grace and generative service.

As more and more pre-Vatican II Catholics join the communion of saints and memories fade of what it was like "before the Council," let us pause and discern the spiritual wisdom that we should bring with us from the American Catholicism of those "olden" days. This workshop will re-claim wisdom from some of its leading personalities, perspectives and practices.

Kids K-8 are immersed in their preferred media zones; catechists already know this. "Sister Catechist" and "Sister Media" will share with us what they have recently concocted in their media mindfulness lab in this highly interactive presentation. Whether you share faith as a parent, catechist, Catholic schoolteacher, scout leader or Vacation Bible School director, join the sisters to learn exciting new ideas to help kids make wise media choices. Handouts will be provided.

Sr. Gretchen Hailer, a Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, is a lifelong catechist practitioner and author. She has been engaged in faith formation of children, youth and adults for over 40 years, and focused in media literacy education since 1975. Sr. Hailer was a member of the staff of the Office for Religious Education for the Los Angeles Archdiocese, and headed their media center. She presently is a retreat facilitator and spiritual director.

Sr. Rose Pacatte is Director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies, located in Culver City, Calif. As a media literacy education specialist, she is a national and international speaker on the subject. A Daughter of St. Paul, Sr. Pacatte is the film/TV columnist for St. Anthony Messenger magazine and a contributor to the National Catholic Reporter. Her most recent book is "Our Media World," with Gretchen Hailer, RSHM.

4-11 "Wait Until Your Father Comes Home…": Making the Faith Come Alive Within Families

As young kids they can’t sit still. As teenagers, they roll their eyes. In college they disappear. As young adults, they don’t darken the doors of the church. How do parents and extended families encourage (without discouraging) the next generation of Catholics? Beyond prayer, what can we do to reach out to Catholics (of all ages) who have left the Church or who are present physically but not engaged emotionally? What are our obstacles and weapons in this lifelong journey of faith with our families?

In all of our sacramental celebrations, music plays a central and vital role. Yoked to music, the words of Scripture and the words of the rites are better able to carry the vibrant voice of the Spirit’s presence in our midst and express our own yearning for God’s transforming work in our lives and in the life of the world. This session will explore how music can be creatively wedded to the rites in a way that helps deepen the understanding and engagement of all. The workshop will focus mainly on the initiation sacraments (baptism and confirmation), holy communion, marriage and the anointing of the sick.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed? Have you ever wished for an extra day in your week, or an extra hour in your day? Have you been pulled in so many directions that you don’t feel at home in your own skin? If so, it’s time to learn to pause. Join Terry Hershey for the permission to become more by doing less. This is not about time management, it’s about letting our souls catch up with our bodies. Terry will teach us how to wear an "I’m Closed" sign, how to Lose What We Don’t Need, how to Make Space to Hear the Heart, how to find Miracles in the Mundane, and how to celebrate a bawdy, unkempt spirit who fills us with grace and transformation.

Mini-Courses dealing with Catholic life and thought – for confirmation, the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, youth ministry and adult formation – are widely under-used in today’s parish. This workshop will help you learn how to create and implement them. It will provide "marketing" strategies and demonstrate how such Mini-Courses can attract people to them if they are created with modern Catholics in mind. This will be a practical workshop and all the materials used will be available online to download afterward.

Each time we celebrate the Paschal Mystery – and however imperfectly live it existentially – we are embodying the Kingdom here and now. We are dining in the Kingdom and inviting others to the feast. But a paradox lives at the heart of this banquet. We are fed with an incredible abundance, the body and blood of Christ. But the content of this food – the body broken, the blood poured out – is the self-emptying of Christ. To consume this food is to empty ourselves with Christ. Assisted by Anawim, Bob Hurd will explore this theme in song and theological reflection.

Bob Hurd teaches in the Graduate Pastoral Ministries Program at Santa Clara University in California. His liturgical music is widely used and is featured in numerous hymnals in the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Australia. His most recent collection of music is "Dining in the Kingdom: Songs for Communion and Gathering." The members of Anawim are Barbara Bridge, John Gilb, Marie Hodgson, Kathleen and Dominic MacAller, and Andrea and Jim Drollinger.

The good-hearted intention to feed the hungry and clothe the naked is not enough! Good intentions do not guarantee success. Come learn five of the critical and often overlooked ingredients that make parish social ministry potent and engaging. Come prepared to change your ministry and change your life!

4-17 A Gold Mine of Talent: How to Discover and Call Forth Gifts of Talent in Your Parish

Every parish is situated atop a gold mine of talent. The question is how to extract the gold from the mine. This session will present the limitations of traditional forms of talent recruitment and will offer a new approach to stewardship that makes use of a proven talent awareness instrument (The Clifton StrengthsFinder) and a process through which parishioners can discover their God-given talents and be motivated to become better stewards of those same talents.

Fr. Daniel Mahan, a priest of the Indianapolis Archdiocese, is Executive Director of the Marian University Center for Catholic Stewardship in Indianapolis. He serves in full-time stewardship ministry, making presentations throughout the United States and Canada, and recently in Australia and the Philippines. Fr. Mahan is the author of "More than Silver or Gold: Homilies of a Stewardship Priest" and one other book.

Recent events have shown the continued challenge of living in an increasingly multiracial society. Despite momentous changes, we are still engaged in an ongoing quest for racial justice. This session will highlight some of these challenges, and then explore how the thoughts of Thomas Merton, the 20th-century spiritual giant, can help Catholics more effectively become proactive and spiritual agents of racial justice and reconciliation.

Many people feel a deep hunger for relationship, but our contemporary world often inhibits our efforts to forge authentic Christian community. Various elements of modern life impede us from even becoming aware of what our deepest hungers are. This workshop encompasses a Gospel meditation on the ministry of Jesus, who not only satisfied people’s hunger but helped them recognize the deepest hungers at the core of their being. The session concludes with reflections on how we can imitate Jesus’ ministry of awakening in ourselves and others our thirst for the higher things of God.

Dr. Timothy Matovina is Professor of Theology and the William and Anna Jean Cushwa Director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He has offered presentations and workshops on U.S. Catholicism and various theological topics for dioceses, pastoral institutes and ministry formation programs throughout the United States.

In this session, Bishop Malcolm McMahon will present a reflection of how far the churches and ecclesial communities have traveled on the path of ecumenism. What are the hopes and challenges as they continue to journey, and how they will fulfill Christ’s prayer that "they may be one" in the future.

Rev. Malcolm McMahon has served as Bishop for the Diocese of Nottingham, England, since 2000. The London-born former provincial for the English Dominican Province has served in a variety of pastoral and academic posts. Bishop McMahon is Chair of the Department for Catholic Education and Formation of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales; he is also a member of Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission and contributed to its recent Agreed Statement.

This is the presentation of a new concert/drama to be used during the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe incorporating song, storytelling, drama, dance and art to tell the fascinating, whirling story of Spain, the New World and the new people called "Mexicanos." The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe/Tonantzin and her journey with Mexico is told through the eyes of the Indian. It begins with the Aztec nation and moves through the conquest, the apparition of Guadalupe, continuing to tell of her journey with her people through poverty, revolution and the struggles of life between the borders. It is a story of power, despair, solidarity and hope.

Donna Peña is a musician and composer whose music has been sung in churches throughout the United States. She has performed concerts and has presented workshops across the country and has been recognized for her contributions to music, community and culture. Peña, a former Director of Music and Liturgy, is currently performing with Mariachi Flor y Canto as vocalist and violinist. Her latest CD releases are "In Times of Trouble" and "Sigan la Bandera – Guadalupe’s Journey with Mexico."

In this session, Sr. Helen Prejean shares the powerful stories of two men on death row she believes were innocent, which inspired her second book, "The Death of Innocents." In this workshop Sr. Prejean talks about the legal system and how it needs to be fixed. She will expose how innocent people are condemned to death along with the guilty.

Building on last year’s strong response to his presentation on the Cosmic Christ theme, Richard Rohr will take the conversation to the next level. What is the difference between Jesus and the Christ? Why have we missed so many of the earthly and social implications of our central doctrine of the Incarnation? How does a cosmic understanding of Christ change our very notions of salvation, liberation, and our possibilities for communion and inclusion? We are indeed waiting and very ready for such a second coming of Christ.

In a fractured world the Church’s mission of reconciliation is more crucial than ever. Paul of Tarsus began his adult life bent on violence but through an encounter with the Risen Christ he was transformed into an apostle of reconciliation. Reconciliation, in fact, is one of the most fundamental aspects of Paul’s theology and ministry. This presentation will consider Paul’s theology of reconciliation and its meaning for us today.

New translations are now available for the four main Eucharistic Prayers for the Order of Mass. Why did the words change? How did these Eucharistic Prayers come to be? How can priests pray them with more understanding? Come and learn more about the heart of every Mass – the Eucharistic Prayer.

4-26 Targeting the Foreigner: A Look at the History of Anti-Catholic Behavior in the United States

Anti-Catholicism has been a large part of American history. Waves of immigrants from Italy, Ireland, Germany and Mexico have been met with violence and resentment since the early days of the Republic. We will look at the Nativists, the Know-Nothings, the Ku Klux Klan and the presidential elections of the 1890s, 1928 and 1960. American "patriots" were frequently anti-foreign, anti-Catholic, very powerful and well organized. There were anti-Irish riots in New York, Mexicans were lynched in California, and many immigrants were terrorized. It is time to take a look at this often-ignored part of American history.

It is not the amount of darkness in the world or yourself that matters. It is how you stand in that darkness that makes all the difference. In this lively presentation on spiritual and psychological resilience, lessons normally shared with healing and helping professionals will be offered for all persons interested in strengthening a compassionate heart.

Dr. Robert Wicks is on the faculty at Loyola University, Maryland. He has taught in universities and professional schools of psychology, medicine, social work, nursing and theology. Dr. Wicks has served as General Editor of three series of books, and published over 40 books for both professionals and the general public; his latest works include "Prayerfulness" and "Bounce: Living the Resilient Life." Dr. Wicks received the papal medal from Pope John Paul II for his service to the Church.

4-28 From Darkness to Light: Exploring Conversion in Luke-Acts for the Year of Luke

Stories of conversion have fascinated people for ages. The only two-volume work in the New Testament, Luke-Acts, offers a unique assessment of the phenomenon of conversion in an attractive narrative fashion. This workshop will explore conversion from Luke’s perspective while relating it to other stories of conversion that continue to inspire.

2010 RECongress Period 4

Religious Education Congress
Saturday, March 20, 2010
10:00 - 11:30 am

2010 RECongress Period 4

Religious Education Congress Saturday, March 20, 2010 10:00 - 11:30 am

Religious Education Congress
Saturday, March 20, 2010
10:00 - 11:30 am