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
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