December 15 Class Update: Gifts, Christmas, Break

Greetings 8th Graders (and Parents)!

Summary of Most Recent Class

Ms. Lawrence led our time of learning in class as we explored the 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit, each of which was represented by a symbol.

Here is a link to the slides shown during class.

Please feel free to eat the edible symbols and blow the bubbles.

Please also share the card that was in the envelope with your family if you haven't done so already.

Recent Exit Slip Questions

Someone wondered if Confirmation will be via Zoom or in-person:

Sacraments, including Confirmation, are permitted in-person activities in Church, and sacraments must happen in-person.

Here are responses from Paul's Uncle Bernie to exit slip questions from when he visited our class on December 8:

Poverty rates: 16% US, Cook Country 21%, North Lawndale 64% (a number which Paul's uncle feels is low based on what he's seen)  - Oak Park overall poverty is 8%

Chicago Voyagers is able to host the outdoor activity programs because they developed 3 pages of guidelines based on guidelines from health agencies, which include coverings on the face, staying outdoors, keeping safe spacing, and cleaning hands and equipment regularly.

The video shown toward the end of class on December 8 wasn't necessarily an ad, but was created originally for a fundraising event which is important so that donors and prospective donors of Chicago Voyagers can see how their donations make an impact, especially when hearing from the youths who participate.

Important note: We are on break from RE class on December 22 and 29.  We resume class on January 5.  We recognize that this class falls during District 97's Break: We only realized recently that District 97 shifted its break.  However, we still intend to have class that evening because we want to maximize the amount of time we spend learning together during the month preceding Confirmation.  During that class, we'll spend time unpacking the meaning of the Christmas Season, which starts on December 25, 2020, when we celebrate Christ's birth, and extends to Sunday, January 10, 2021, and includes several major feasts.

Faith Booster Activities
During the break time, please spend some time doing one of the following activities.

You can submit your reflection in this Google form.

If you haven't yet submitted the minimum of 5 required Faith Boosters, the deadline for them has been extended.  They are now due on December 31.  Please let us know if you are unsure how many more you still need to complete.

Even if you already completed the required minimum of 5 faith boosters, you are still to complete one of these activities.

Your submission is due by class time on January 5.

1. Watch either of the following videos: Bishop Barron on The Nativity of Luke's Gospel or Bishop Barron on Christmas.  Write a short reflection on what stood out to you and why.

2. Listen to any song in this video compilation of Christmas songs on YouTube.  

You can go to the description to view the entire list, by clicking on Show More if needed, and click on any of the links to go directly to that song. Reflect on what stood out to you and why.

As an in-depth option, listen to all the songs, just under 1 hour.

3. In-depth option: Watch the Advent Vespers Prayer Service at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for Sunday, December 20.  The livestream starts at 2:50 PM CT, with the prayer service beginning at 3 PM CT and lasting until about 3:30 PM.  You may also view an archived video of it later.  This link goes to a webpage where you can view the Vespers prayer service and it includes a PDF program booklet with the lyrics of what is sung.  The video and PDF for the Vespers may not appear until after 2:30 PM CT on Sunday.  This link goes directly to the YouTube channel video, where you may also access the videos for Vesper prayer services from previous Sundays.

4. In-depth option: Watch the movie The Nativity Story, made in 2006, starring Keisha Castle-Hughes and Oscar Isaac, rated PG. It is about 1 hour and 40 minutes long. It is available to watch in its entirety on YouTube for free.

You can check back later during the break period to see more options, as there's a good chance more may be added to the above list.

You can also pick one of the options listed in the previous update for December 8 class.

A particularly pertinent option to this time of year is G.F. Handel's oratorio, Messiah.  There is a part where the story of Christ's birth is sung.  Please see the videos in the list of Faith Boosters for the December 8 class update.

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

We pray you and your families have a blessed remainder of the Advent Season, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year from 2020 into 2021.  May you be filled with great joy deep within because God has come to us in Christ.

God's Blessings,
Debbie Lopez
Paul Rubio

December 8 Class Update: the Immaculate Conception and Chicago Voyagers

Greetings Students (and Parents),

Summary from the Last Class

We gathered most recently for class on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

For our opening prayer, we listened to this song, "Be Born in Me", sung by Francesca Batistelli.

This Feast Day celebrates when Mary was conceived in the womb of her mother, whom tradition has named St. Anne.  Because Mary obediently submitted to God's will for her to bear the Son of God, the Church teaches that she was conceived free from the stain of original sin.  She took up an important role in God's plan of salvation that has unfolded throughout the centuries, and participated in advancing His victory over sin, represented by how she stands over a serpent in this statue at Mary's altar inside Ascension Church.

We all have the chance to do the same as we obediently follow God's will for our lives.

It is also the Patronal Feast Day of the United States of America.

In Washington, D.C., is the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.  Paul has visited it several times since his first time there 7 years ago and highly encourages going there whenever in the city of Washington at any time in the future.

Then, we heard from Paul's Uncle, Bernie Rupe, who shared about his work with Chicago Voyagers.  He is the executive director of this organization that serves inner-city youth by providing them opportunities to go on outings in nature areas to help them heal from traumatic experiences and build strong character.  He also talked about how to put faith into action by helping those in need, especially since God has chosen us.  Please feel free to visit the link to learn more about this organization.

Here is a promotional video for Chicago Voyagers that we watched:

Faith Booster Activities for this Week

Here is the link to the submission form for this week's faith booster activities.  Please note that this link goes to a Google form, and this link is the only place where you need to submit Faith Boosters for class.  It is no longer necessary to submit them through the Survey Monkey form as previously stated.

Your submission is due by class time on December 15.  Please be sure to indicate which option you chose along with your brief reflection of 1-2 sentences.  

And if your parents were contacted about missing submissions from previous weeks, please complete them as soon as possible.  You can let us know if you're not sure which ones you're missing.

Please note: In consultation with Ms. Lawrence, any of these activities count as Faith Boosters.  A minimum of 5 Faith Boosters are due by December 15.  A minimum of 10 service hours are also due by then. Even if you have completed all the required number of faith boosters, you must still complete at least one of these options. 

1. Spend time with one of the following daily Advent reflection resources, or pick one of your own choosing.  Please click on the links to sign up for any of these programs.  Once you sign up, each day of Advent, you get a short reflection.

Relevant Radio "Advent Inspirations"

These are 1 minute long each.

Dynamic Catholic "Best Advent Ever"

These videos are about 3-4 minutes long.

Real Life Catholic "Unshakeable Joy" Advent program.

These videos are about 3-4 minutes long.  To access this program, you create a free account on the website.

Miracles Abound Advent booklet, which was mailed to all RE families

Please note that there are suggested activities for each day, and doing any of those counts as Faith Boosters.

For your activity submission, write a 1-2 sentence reflection on any 1 day of these Advent daily reflections.  You can also pick another daily Advent reflection resource not listed here, but please state in your submission which one you picked, and a web link, if applicable.

2. Watch the two videos for selections from G.F. Handel's oratorio, Messiah, in which the choir sings the words of prophecy from Isaiah 40, both "Comfort Ye" and "And the Glory of the Lord".  Write a 1-2 sentence reflection on what stood out to you in these words that were sung and why.

In-depth option: Listen to all the prophecies in part 1 of the Messiah, about 50 minutes long, or listen to the entire oratorio, just over 2 hours long.  Here are YouTube videos for part 2 and part 3.

3. Listen to any one Advent song in this YouTube video.  You can go to the description to view the entire list, by clicking on Show More if needed, and click on any of the links to go directly to that song.

For your reflection, write 1-2 sentences reflecting on what words in the song stood out to you and why.

In-depth option: Listen to all the songs in this video, about 45 minutes, and reflect on what stood out and why.

4. Go on a virtual tour of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. This church has multiple side altars that are dedicated to a different version of Mary.

Write a 1-2 sentence reflection on what stood out to you in the basilica's design and why.

5. Reflect on the 54 titles of Mary in the Litany of Loreto, in the novena that Relevant Radio offered recently.  Pick any one title, listen to the 1-minute reflection on it, or read its transcript, and write a reflection on what stood out to you about that title and why.

In-depth option: listen to all 54 titles, and write a reflection on what stood out to you and why.

6. Watch the short video about the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe on this webpage.  You may also click on the links to the right of the video and read the articles on those pages.

Write a 1-2 sentence reflection on what you learned from the video or from reading the articles.

7. In-depth option: Watch the December Taize Prayer Service, posted on the Ascension YouTube channel.  You can watch it when it airs at 7:30 PM CT on Friday, December 4, or watch the archived video at a later time.  Write a reflection about what stood out to you, perhaps even song lyrics.  (You may also watch the Taize prayer services for September or November. All three of these prayer services are just under 30 minutes long.)  Please note, the video will go live on the YouTube channel close to 7:30, so please feel free to tune in 5 minutes ahead of time and refresh the webpage as needed until the video appears.

7. In-depth option: Watch the Advent Vespers Prayer Service at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for Sunday, December 13.  The livestream starts at 2:50 PM CT, with the prayer service beginning at 3 PM CT and lasting until about 3:30 PM.  You may also view an archived video of it later.  This link goes to a webpage where you can view the Vespers prayer service and it includes a PDF program booklet with the lyrics of what is sung.  The video and PDF for the Vespers likely won't appear until after 2:30 PM CT.  This link goes directly to the YouTube channel video.

Vespers prayer services will happen on this YouTube channel every Sunday of Advent at the same time.  You can watch an archived video of the prayer service for November 29 and December 6 on the Shrine's YouTube channel.  Please note that the prayer services begin around the 13:00 mark in both videos.

Looking ahead

In class on December 15, Ms. Lawrence will join us to lead a time of learning on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  This class is one of the Confirmation-specific focus sessions that takes the place of the quasi-monthly sessions that were to happen in-person.

As usual, please feel free to contact us with if you have any questions, seek clarification, etc.

Let us rejoice as we reach the midpoint of Advent, beholding how God is at work even now while we await the celebration of His first coming on Christmas Day and His Second Coming at the End of Time.

May you be filled with joy as we light the rose candle on our Advent wreaths this Sunday, which is Gaudete Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent.

May Mother Mary of the Immaculate Conception intercede for all of us and the United States of America.

And we remain ever connected as Church: All my relations.

God's blessings,

Joy to you all,

Debbie Lopez

Paul Rubio

December 1 Class Update: Starting Advent

Advent Greetings!

Recent Class Summary

In our most recent class, we spent some time focusing on the meaning of Advent.

We watched this video for our opening prayer, the song "Even So Come", performed by Chris Tomlin:

And we watched this Busted Halo that summarizes Advent in 2 minutes:

Advent is a season when we look forward to the celebration of Christ's First Coming on December 25, His Second Coming at the End of Time, and how He is coming to be present with us in our lives even now.

We spent a little bit of time on the passage Isaiah 40:1-5, which is the 2nd reading for this coming Sunday's Mass.  Dr. King included words from this passage in his "I Have a Dream" speech.

During class, we also had a visit from Aura Lee and Nathan Kelly, two friends Paul knows from Valparaiso University.  They shared their perspectives on faith: Aura Lee talked about how she converted from the Presbyterian Church to the Roman Catholic Church, and they both discussed how they live faith as a married couple and in their professional work.

Exit Slip Questions

One exit slip question addressed in class was a follow-up from Father Rex's presentation on Jesus Christ back on November 17.  He mentioned that we don't know much about the early life of Jesus, and someone in class asked why.

In Luke 2:51-52, it says Jesus returned from Jerusalem to Nazareth with His parents, and "grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."  Jesus was fully human and fully divine, and all that He did during His early years was God's way of preparing Him for HIs mission around the age of 30.

Also, remember that the Gospel writers had a specific purpose in writing their Gospels, and as part of that, they chose to focus on specific parts of Jesus's life, while not mentioning much about other parts.

Paul also addressed a comment from November 10 when we looked at the Eucharistic prayer.  It's a great mystery that the wine changes into Jesus's blood, which the Church explains in the concept of transubstantiation.  As we spend time at Mass, we can better understand this mystery.

Faith Booster Activities

For class on December 8, please pick at least one of the following activities to do.

Here is the link to the submission form.

Your submission is due by class time on December 8.  Please be sure to indicate which option you chose along with your brief reflection of 1-2 sentences.  

And if your parents were contacted about missing submissions from previous weeks, please complete them as soon as possible.  You can let us know if you're not sure which ones you're missing.

Please note: In consultation with Ms. Lawrence, any of these activities count as Faith Boosters.  Even if you have completed all the required number of faith boosters, you must still complete at least one of these options. A minimum of 5 Faith Boosters are due by December 15.  A minimum of 10 service hours are also due by then.

1. Spend time with one of the following daily Advent reflection resources, or pick one of your own choosing.  Please click on the links to sign up for any of these programs.  Once you sign up, each day of Advent, you get a short reflection.

Relevant Radio "Advent Inspirations"

These are 1 minute long each.

Dynamic Catholic "Best Advent Ever"

These videos are about 3-4 minutes long.

Real Life Catholic "Unshakeable Joy" Advent program.

These videos are about 3-4 minutes long.  To access this program, you create a free account on the website.

Miracles Abound Advent booklet, which was mailed to all RE families

Please note that there are suggested activities for each day, and doing any of those counts as Faith Boosters.

For your activity submission, write a 1-2 sentence reflection on any 1 day of these Advent daily reflections.  You can also pick another daily Advent reflection resource not listed here, but please state in your submission which one you picked, and a web link, if applicable.

2. Watch the two videos for selections from G.F. Handel's oratorio, Messiah, in which the choir sings the words of prophecy from Isaiah 40, both "Comfort Ye" and "And the Glory of the Lord".  Write a 1-2 sentence reflection on what stood out to you in these words that were sung and why.

In-depth option: Listen to all the prophecies in part 1 of the Messiah, about 50 minutes long, or listen to the entire oratorio, just over 2 hours long.  Here are YouTube videos for part 2 and part 3.

3. Listen to any one Advent song in this YouTube video.  You can go to the description to view the entire list, by clicking on Show More if needed, and click on any of the links to go directly to that song.

For your reflection, write 1-2 sentences reflecting on what words in the song stood out to you and why.

In-depth option: Listen to all the songs in this video, about 45 minutes, and reflect on what stood out and why.

4. In-depth option: Watch the December Taize Prayer Service, posted on the Ascension YouTube channel.  You can watch it when it airs at 7:30 PM CT on Friday, December 4, or watch the archived video at a later time.  Write a reflection about what stood out to you, perhaps even song lyrics.  (You may also watch the Taize prayer services for September or November. All three of these prayer services are just under 30 minutes long.)  Please note, the video will go live on the YouTube channel close to 7:30, so please feel free to tune in 5 minutes ahead of time and refresh the webpage as needed until the video appears.

5. In-depth option: Watch the Advent Vespers Prayer Service at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for Sunday, December 6.  The livestream starts at 2:50 PM CT, with the prayer service beginning at 3 PM CT and lasting until about 3:30 PM.  You may also view an archived video of it later.  This link goes to a webpage where you can view the Vespers prayer service and it includes a PDF program booklet with the lyrics of what is sung.  The video and PDF for the Vespers likely won't appear until after 2:30 PM CT.  This link goes directly to the YouTube channel video.

Vespers prayer services will happen on this YouTube channel every Sunday of Advent at the same time.  You can watch an archived video of the prayer service for November 29 on the Shrine's YouTube channel.  Please note that the prayer service begins around the 15:00 mark.

Here is the link to the submission form for recording your service hours and faith boosters for Confirmation.  Please enter your submissions here for the RE office records in addition to the link above where Paul will check submissions and look at the reflections.  The reflections are only needed in the above link, not the one in this paragraph.

Looking ahead

In class on December 8, we'll spend some time on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. We're also scheduled to have another guest speaker who will talk about the social justice work of the organization Chicago Voyagers.

Please contact us if there are any questions, etc.

God's blessings on your Advent journey, that you may be ready to welcome Christ even in today's circumstances.

Debbie Lopez

Paul Rubio

Above is a photo of the Advent wreath in Church. Below is a photo of the Advent wreath in Paul's home.  Both photos are by Paul.