January 5 Class Update: Christmas Season and Confirmation

Greetings 8th Graders (and Parents)!

We thank you for the effort you made to attend class this past Tuesday during a week of break.

Merry Christmas to you all as we continue through the final days of the Christmas Season.  We started this special season on December 25, when we celebrated the birth of Christ.  There have been other feasts when we recall the ways God has manifested, or shown, Himself to us: the Feast of the Holy Family on December 27; the Feast of Mary, Mother of God on January 1; and the Epiphany, observed throughout the USA on January 3, and in other parts of the world on January 6.

We spent time in our most recent class on the Good News of Christmas, which was announced by the Angel to shepherds near Bethlehem.  God has entered our world, born as a baby, to redeem us, and restore us to right relationship with God.  Now that Christ is God with us, He is so close to us, and accompanies us always, through the Holy Spirit.

He shines a bright Light into the darkness of the world.  We draw close to that Light, just as Magi traveled a long distance, following the light of a sign in the Heavens, to worship the Christ Child. We are called to embrace that Light, and be transformed by it, so we can bring it to others.

Paul illustrated these ideas through various photos from his childhood years.

One significant passage that talks about the meaning of God among us in Christ is found in John 1:1-18.  We looked at verse 14 specifically.

We viewed two YouTube videos of songs during class, "Christmas Angels" by Michael W. Smith, and "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", performed by the Christian musical group Casting Crowns, which is slightly different from other performances in the arrangement of the lyrics.  Here's a link to the version we watched with the lyrics, and another version that shows its live performance.

The song was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in a difficult time in his life in the 1860's, when there was war in the United States, which affected him personally.  Here's a link to read more about the story behind "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", which truly speaks powerfully about the Good News of Christmas.

Looking ahead, the Christmas Season ends this Sunday, January 10, with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, another way in which God revealed Himself to us in the world.  We'll spend some time on the meaning of this Feast in our next class on January 12, and also spend time on the significance of Confirmation, too.  We are just about a month away from Confirmation on February 6, and the classes during this month will have that as a point of focus.

For this week's activity, please spend some time reflecting on the meaning of the Christmas Season in one of the following activities:

1. Read the Prologue in John 1:1-18, online or in a print Bible, and write a reflection on it.

2. Watch any one of the video reflections from the Archdiocese of Chicago for the 12 Days of Christmas and write a 1-sentence reflection on it.  This link goes to a playlist with all of them.  As an in-depth bonus option, you may watch all of them.

3. Listen to any one song in this YouTube video collection of Christmas songs and write a 1-sentence reflection on it.  You can look at the list of songs in the description, and then click on the link to go directly to that song.  As an in-depth bonus option, you may watch all of them.

4. Read the PDF file with a Bible commentary sent via e-mail to your parents and write a 1-sentence reflection on it.  We can send it to you again if needed.

Submissions can be entered in this Google form.  Even if you've already completed the minimum 5 faith boosters, please still submit a reflection for one of these activities.

All those who completed their Confirmation e-log should receive an e-mail this week from the RE office with information on writing a letter to Father Rex about why you want to be confirmed.  The letter is due January 19.  If you haven't received anything yet, it is likely because there is something missing in your Confirmation e-log.  Please contact us and we can check what, if anything, you might be missing.

Please feel free to contact us with any other questions, clarifications, etc.

Let us continue to rejoice in the God Who has come so close to us in Christ.

Joy to the world!

Come let us adore Him!

God's Blessings,

Debbie Lopez

Paul Rubio

Above is the beautiful Nativity scene inside Ascension Church. Below is a view of the Saturn-Jupiter conjunction, in a photo from December 20, 2020, right by the Oak Park Conservatory.  The conjunction appears as a white dot just above and to the right of the tree near the center of the photo.