January 30, 2012, Volume VI, Number 5

FEAST OF THE VENERABLE MARY WARDMonday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

January 31, Saint John BoscoFebruary 2, Presentation of the Lord

February 3, Saint Blaise

Question of the WeekFor the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time“…he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.” Where do you go when you need to get away and be with God? Is there a deserted place in your house where you can pray? Have you created a holy place to pray? What is the best environment in which you can clearly hear the voice of God? What needs to be absent for a place to be called a deserted place where you can pray?

NCCL News

3rd Annual NCCL Conference Scholarshipin memory of the life and ministry of

Sister Maria de la Cruz Aymes, SH for

Diocesan Leadersserving

Catechesis with Hispanics Through the Generosity of

Information about the Scholarship process along with an application can be found on the NCCL website. Go to the NCCL homepage www.NCCL.org for more information including the application.Application deadline, including all support documentation, must be received no later than midnight, Thursday, February 16, 2012.

Pope Recommends Silence to Allow Reflecting, True Communication

"When messages and information are plentiful, silence becomes essential if we are to distinguish what is important from what is insignificant or secondary." Benedict XVI offered this reflection today in his message for World Communications Day, which he dedicated this year to the theme "Silence and Word: Path of Evangelization."

He spoke of the need for a balance between silence and word: "When word and silence become mutually exclusive, communication breaks down, either because it gives rise to confusion or because, on the contrary, it creates an atmosphere of coldness; when they complement one another, however, communication acquires value and meaning." Silence "gives rise to even more active communication, requiring

sensitivity and a capacity to listen that often makes manifest the true measure and nature of the relationships involved," the Pope said.

Silence, moreover, is what we need to speak to God, the Pope recalled. "If God speaks to us even in silence, we in turn discover in silence the possibility of speaking with God and about God," he said. "In silent contemplation, then, the eternal Word, through whom the world was created, becomes ever more powerfully present and we become aware of the plan of salvation that God is accomplishing throughout our history by word and deed," the Pontiff continued. He concluded: "Word and silence: learning to communicate is learning to listen and contemplate as well as speak." The full text can be found at www.zenit.org/article-34175?l=english

First CL Podcast for 2012 is Now Available: Year of Faith

According to Jonathan Sullivan the latest CL Podcast is now up and waiting for you to listen. It features a roundtable conversation about the Year of Faith announced by Pope Benedict XVI. You can listen at http://www.catecheticalleader.org/2012/01/episode-013-hangin-

out/. If you are interested, you can read the Apostolic Letter, Porta Fidei, announcing the Year of Faith at http://tiny.cc/9r5fr. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith also released a Note with Pastoral Recommendations for the Year of Faith (http://tiny.cc/iwxrp). You can also view a short RomeReports video on this Year of Faith at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSDefJ9JzCk.

Value of Silence: 46th World Day of Social Communications

Silence does not mean absence of communication. It is, rather, the other face of the word, which confers meaning on it, modulating the times of socialization, education and evangelization. These are some of the reflections found in the Message for the 46th World Day of Social Communications, signed by Benedict XVI and published today, on the liturgical memorial of St. Francis de Sales, patron of journalists and communicators. The theme of the message is "Silence and Word: Path of

Evangelization." The Message was presented by Archbishop Claudio Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

Silence, explained Archbishop Celli, is not "lack of communication" but "part of the flow of messages and information that characterizes the new culture of communication." Silence "can express closeness, solidarity and care for others," in addition to being a "strong way to express our respect and love for others." Silence is also a form of respect for the other, an "active attitude" that "gives room to the other to speak," added the prelate.

Today's culture, instead, entails the serious risk of "not listening to the other's question and of trying to impose prefabricated answers." In conversation, on the contrary, silence is fundamental in as much as it makes possible "inter-activity," hence, a real search for truth.

The Holy Father's message stresses that "it is from silence that the building of justice is born. Hence, the silence that the Pope invokes is not the alienating of oneself from the concrete reality," Archbishop Celli said. "There are moments, however, when I cannot be silent: My silence would be a betrayal of man. The full text of papal message can be found at www.zenit.org/article-34175?l=english.

New Wineskins Award – You Have Less Than A Month Left to Nominate

Last year was the second year this award was presented. The award has two recipients; one for a parish level program and one for a diocesan initiated program. When the award was instituted, former NCCL Board member Tom Quinlan stated that “This award is different from our current awards which celebrate the accomplishments of deserving individuals. It is designed to recognize an existing catechetical/evangelization program or initiative that reflects the vision and values of the National

Directory for Catechesis, is innovative in some manner, and has had a track record of success.” The background information on this award along with an application can be found on the homepage of our website (http://www.nccl.org)..

Assistant Director for Certification of Ecclesial Ministry.

Harry Dudley begins work today as the Assistant Director for Certification of Ecclesial Ministry at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in the Office of Education. Formerly Harry was responsible for catechesis in the Archdiocese of Washington, DC. Harry is a long time member of NCCL.

CALL TO FAITHFUL CITIZENSHIP IS AT THE HEART

The challenges of living one’s faith in the public square and protecting the lives and dignity of the poor and vulnerable are the focus of the 2012 Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, which will be February 12-15, at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. “Faithful Citizenship:

Protecting Human Life and Dignity, Promoting the Common Good,” is the theme of this year’s gathering, and speakers and workshops will explore the social ministry implications of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, the call to political and civic responsibility published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and reissued ahead of the 2012 elections.

The assembled Catholic social ministry leaders will also visit representatives of Congress to present proposals and concerns about policies affecting the most vulnerable people in the United States and around the world. The Catholic Social Ministry Gathering is sponsored by USCCB and 14 Catholic partner organizations including Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Catholic Charities USA, Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, Catholic Labor Network, Conference of Major Superiors of Men, National Catholic Rural Life Conference, National Catholic Partnership on Disability and the National Council of Catholic Women.

Among the plenary speakers are Carolyn Woo, the new president and CEO of CRS; Arturo Chavez, president of the Mexican American Catholic College (MACC); John Carr, executive director of Justice, Peace and Human Development for USCCB; as well as Mark Shields and David Brooks from the PBS News Hour. For more information on Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, visit: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/index.cfm

The Jesuit Post (feat. Kevin Garnett, Jesus, Bob Dylan and Descartes)

I (Paddy Gilgar, SJ) mean, look, I’m a thief.  Being a Jesuit?  Stole it from my buddy Dan.  Getting close to God?  Took the idea from my

best friend Jeff.  Starting this site?  Take a look around the web, it’s everywhere (seen Simmons’ www.grantland.com, anyone?).  And there are great people out there trying to share the good word in their own ways (and to them I say thank you).

But the point is this: it can feel easy to blow off God these days.  Or put it another way: it can feel difficult to figure out why or how God might make a difference.  It’s easy to have 1,000 Facebook friends who don’t ask anything of me.  It’s harder to have a few good ones who do.

So I’m laying our cards on the table, and they are these: this site is about Jesus, politics, and pop-culture, it’s about the Catholic Church, sports, and Socrates.  It’s about making the case for God (better: letting God make the case for Himself) in our secular age. Check it out at The Jesuit Post (feat. Kevin Garnett, Jesus, Bob Dylan and Descartes).

No One Exempt From Missionary Vocation

Pope Benedict XVI says that every component of the Church should feel bound by Christ's mandate to preach the Gospel, so that He is proclaimed everywhere. The Pope said this in a text for World Mission Day, which the Vatican released today. World Mission Day will be celebrated this year Oct. 21. "All the components of the great mosaic of the Church must feel strongly drawn in by the Lord's mandate to preach the Gospel, so that Christ is proclaimed everywhere," the Holy Father affirmed.

"The mission ad gentes should be, also today, the constant horizon and paradigm of every ecclesial activity, because the very identity of the Church is constituted by faith in the Mystery of God," he added. Benedict XVI called for a "taking up again [of] the same apostolic

impetus of the first Christian communities, which, small and vulnerable, with their proclamation and witness, were able to spread the Gospel in the whole then-known world."

"So many priests, men and women religious, from every part of the world, numerous laymen and, in fact, whole families leave their countries, their local communities and go to other churches to witness and proclaim the Name of Christ, in whom humanity finds salvation," he noted. The Pontiff stressed the need for missionary work so that all people have the opportunity to know Christ. "The meeting with Christ as a living person who satiates the thirst of the heart cannot but lead to the desire to share with others the joy of this presence and to make it known so

that all can experience it," he said. "It is necessary to renew the enthusiasm to communicate the faith so as to promote a New Evangelization of the communities and countries of ancient Christian tradition, which are losing their connection with God, in order to rediscover the joy of believing.”

"The concern to evangelize must never be left on the margin of ecclesial activity and of the personal life of the Christian, but it must be strongly characterized by the awareness of being recipients and, at the same time, missionaries of the Gospel." The full text of yhe Pope’s comments can be found at www.zenit.org/article-34186?l=english.

NCCL invites you to submit your best practices to its YouTube Channel

In the spirit of our national conference roundtables, we invite membership to submit its best practices in evangelization and catechesis. Please submit your entries to Bryan Reising (breising@dnu.org) and Juliann Donlon-Stanz (Jdonlon@gbdioc.org) for review and they may be a part of the NCCL YouTube Channel. Practitioners in parishes, Diocesan level personnel, scholars, publishers, and other resource people can submit their videos. Thank you for sharing your gifts!

The Inner Landscape of Beauty

This week’s edition of On Being with Krista Tippett is a repeat program and it is one of my favorites. It features he late Irish poet and philosopher John O'Donohue insisted on beauty as a human calling. He believed that people can live through the toughest times if they manage to keep something beautiful in their mind. The author of Anam Cara (Gaelic for "soul friend") articulated a Celtic imagination about how the material and the spiritual — the visible and the invisible — intertwine in human experience. His last book, full of blessings was printed posthumously.

You can order To Bless the Space Between Us. You can also listen to the program at http://being.publicradio.org/programs/2012/inner-landscape-of-beauty/.

Pope's Advice on Ecumenism: Be Patient, Don't Miss a Single Opportunity

Benedict XVI says that despite our divisions, Christians must look to the future with hope, accepting that victory happens in "God's timeframes.'" The Pope offered this invitation Wednesday as he closed the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with vespers at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. "Despite experiencing in our days the painful situation of division, we Christians can and must look to the future with hope insofar as the victory of Christ means the overcoming of all that prevents us from sharing the fullness of life with him and with others," he said. 

The Resurrection confirms that God's goodness is stronger than evil and love overcomes death, the Holy Father reminded. "The presence of the risen Christ calls all of us Christians to act together in the cause of the good," he said. "United to Christ we are called to share his mission, which is that of bringing hope where injustice, hatred and desperation dominate." Benedict XVI declared that the goal of complete unity among Christians "has importance for the good of the human family" and is not a "secondary victory." This is because "our divisions dim the

luminousness of our witness to Christ," he suggested.

Alluding to the theme of this year's Week of Prayer, which centered on victory, the Pope noted: "In today's dominant culture the idea of victory is often associated with an immediate success. In the Christian perspective, however, victory is a long -- and in the eyes of us men -- not an always linear process of transformation and growth in the good. It happens in God's timeframes, not ours, and it demands of us a profound faith and patient perseverance. Even our expectation of the Church's visible unity must be patient and confident. Our daily prayer and efforts for the unity of Christians have their meaning only in such a disposition."

Nevertheless, the Pope clarified, "The attitude of patient waiting does not entail passivity or resignation but a prompt and attentive response to every possibility of communion and fraternity that the Lord grants us." The full text can be found at www.zenit.org/article-34192?l=english.

President Invites Members to Join Committees

As a member-driven organization, President Anne Roat understands the importance of member participation on committees. They are the backbone of the organization. If you are interested in sharing your talents on a committee or if you would care to nominate an individual, either a member or a friend of NCCL with the gifts or skills to meet the committee’s objectives, please contact NCCL President Anne Roat personally at aroat@dol-in.org.

A complete list of committees and their charges can be found at the NCCL website under Committees. In addition, if you sign in you can see the current list of persons belonging to each of those committees.

Nuns Denounce Human Trafficking

While Indianapolis businesses prepare to greet thousands of enthusiastic sports fans, local nuns are working make sure the celebration surrounding Super Bowl XLVI doesn't include incidents of human trafficking.

Eleven congregations of Catholic nuns have partnered with Indianapolis area hotels to educate workers about prostitution and sex trafficking, which are often byproducts of large sporting events, according to the Catholic News Service.

As part of the effort, the women worked with the Indianapolis Department of Health and Human Services to print brochures containing facts about human trafficking, as well as hotlines and shelters workers can contact to report suspicious activity.

For more on the story or to watch a one minute video report by WTHI, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/18/nuns-concerned-about-human-trafficking-super-bowl_n_1213921.html.

FREE Professional Development Webinar – Tuesday, February 7

Ave Maria Press, in partnership with the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership and the National Association for Lay Ministry presents a series of free, online workshops on professional development for parish ministers. For a complete listing of

professional development webinars in this series please visit www.avemariapress.com/webinars

Title: Bringing Lent Home with Mother TeresaDate: Tuesday, February 7, 2012Time: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM EST

Join us for a Webinar on February 7

Space is limited.Reserve your Webinar seat now at:https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/442615344

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email.

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, Nobel Peace Prize Recipient and hero of the “poorest of the poor” has much to teach modern-day families, especially during the season of Lent. Join bestselling author, award-winning journalist, and EWTN television host, Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle, for a look at how her new booklet, "Bringing Lent Home with Mother Teresa," equips families with the holy tools to together progress on their spiritual journeys while forging a blessed bond in the heart of the home. This is a must-attend webinar for parish ministers who are looking for new ways to reach families during the busy season of Lent.

Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle is a bestselling author, award-winning journalist, sought-after speaker, and the EWTN television host of Everyday Blessings for Catholic Moms. She is the recipient of apostolic blessings from Blessed Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI and a frequent guest on national Catholic radio and television.

Catholic Speakers Online: Striving to Be An Evangelizing Church

Late last year in November, NCCL member Thomas Quinlan from the Diocese of Joliet was featured on the Paulist Evangelization Ministries webinar. He conducted a one hour webinar entitled Striving to Be An Evangelizing Church.  You now have access to the webinar at no charge by following this link: http://www.myeventpartner.com/WebConference/RecordingDefault.aspx?c_psrid=E954DD81894C. Fr. Tony Krisak welcomes suggestions on topics and presenters for future Catholic Speakers Online webinars. You can contact him with your ideas at AKrisak@pemdc.org.  

12 Things Happy People Do Differently

Jacob Sokol is committed to living an extraordinary life. He’s the author and life-coach and also loves his mom dearly. He wrote an article in which he noted that studies conducted by positivity psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky point to 12 things happy people do differently to increase their levels of happiness.  These are things that we can start doing today to feel the effects of more happiness in our lives.  You may wish to check out her book The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want You can read the complete article from which these excerpts were taken at

http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/most-popular/12-things-happy-people-do-differently.html

I want to honor and discuss each of these 12 points, because no matter what part of life’s path we’re currently traveling on, these ‘happiness habits’ will always be applicable.

1. Express gratitude. – When you appreciate what you have, what you have appreciates in value.  So basically, being grateful for the goodness that is already evident in your life will bring you a deeper sense of happiness. 

2. Cultivate optimism. – People who think optimistically tend to see the world as a place packed with endless opportunities, especially in trying times.

3. Avoid over-thinking and social comparison. – Comparing yourself to someone else can be poisonous. If you feel called to compare yourself to something, compare yourself to an earlier version of yourself.

4. Practice acts of kindness. – Performing an act of kindness releases serotonin in your brain. Selflessly helping someone is a super powerful way to feel good inside. 

5. Nurture social relationships. – The happiest people on the planet are the ones who have deep, meaningful relationships. Did you know studies show that people’s mortality rates are DOUBLED when they’re lonely?

6. Develop strategies for coping. – How you respond to the craptastic moments is what shapes your character. It can be hard to come up with creative solutions in the moment when manure is making its way up toward the fan. Check out this list of coping strategies from http://www.benzosupport.org/my_coping_stratgies.htm.

7. Learn to forgive. – Harboring feelings of hatred is horrible for your well-being. 8. Increase flow experiences. – Flow is a state in which it feels like time stands still.

It’s when you’re so focused on what you’re doing that you become one with the task. Action and awareness are merged.

9. Savor life’s joys. – Deep happiness cannot exist without slowing down to enjoy the joy. It’s easy in a world of wild stimuli and omnipresent movement to forget to embrace life’s enjoyable experiences.

10. Commit to your goals. – Being wholeheartedly dedicated to doing something comes fully-equipped with an ineffable force. When you’re fully committed to doing something, you have no choice but to do that thing.

11. Practice spirituality. – When we practice spirituality or religion, we recognize that life is bigger than us. It enables us to connect to the source of all creation.

12. Take care of your body. – Taking care of your body is crucial to being the happiest person you can be. If you don’t have your physical energy in good shape, then your mental energy (your focus), your emotional energy (your feelings), and your spiritual energy (your purpose) will all be negatively affected.

Thoughts from Mia

Hello Everybody,

Guess what? Mia Papa told me that the Church is celebrating Ordinary Time. Well I made a humpfy, because I don’t like ordinary stuff. I want things that are exciting. Buts Mia Papa splained to me that “ordinary” in church words means “counting time”. Well I counts very good, so I quickly ran around and I counted, “three balls, six chewy toys (one very chewed) six treats (two buried under Mia Papa’s bed)and two yucky cats that live at Nanny’s. I was done counting pretty lickety splity like. Now what am I supposed to do for the rest of Ordinary Time?

MP (Mia Papa) suggested maybe I could count “blessings”. Well okey dokey then – that should take me all of Ordinary Time because I am very, very blessed. Then I thought, “well maybe I could count the blessings other people have and be glad about those too.” That would be a good thing because sometimes when other people receive special things and I do not, I get all growly about it instead of being happy for them.

It’s going to be a little hard for me because I will have to keep all of these remembering in my head. But, if I was a human like you, I think I’d write them down on a piece of paper so I could look at them again and again. Maybe a family could put up a chalk board in their house where the family could write blessings. Special note: If any “little fur balls” are listening to this, do not write on the walls, or you will hear “No,no Mia, bad dog”. I think that is the official words for doing something naughty, because I surely hear it enough.

So for a start here is my “blessing count”.

My Mia Papa.

My Priest Guy, Fr. Dick.

My warm house, soft bed and good food.

My Office Staff.

The peoples of my parish, specially the ones who like me.

Car rides, specially to Nanny’s or to Graciepoodledog.

Medicine when I feel sicky icky.

Starbucks Doggie lattés.

Quiet Time when I help Mia Papa pray and mediate.

Making people smile.

That’s a pretty big doggie list, and that’s just for today. And tomorrow? I am going to start counting my blessings all over again, and the next day too, and then the next…why not count along with me? God is good.

What a Wonderful World

This is a wonderful way to spend two (2) minutes with David Attenborough’s rendition of the song What a Wonderful World and the photography of the BBC. It apparently was sent as a Christmas card but I offer it to you as January ends and February is right around the corner. Check it out at What a Wonderful World (http://tiny.cc/766x0). “It is good.”

Taps – Il Silencio

If you have never heard the full rendition of 'Il Silenzio', otherwise known as "Taps", This is a most beautiful rendition. The girl's name is Melissa Venema and is playing with Maestro Andre Rieu from Maastriecht in the Netherlands. She is 13 and has been performing for years. This performance is in 2008, Masstriecht, where city officials sealed off the town square and

closed everything down so they get perfect noise control. This is the full rendition of Taps. It takes five minutes but it is quite appropriately called 'Il Silencio' You can listen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh61qnEBFho.

The Silence of the Horses

With a belief that “Music is what you make it” and that “Il Silenzio is not just for mourning or funerals” so tpsossff put this together to show a very different interpretation. Starring Apollo, an old horse now in retirement no humans were harmed in the making of this movie. The music is the same as above, featuring Melissa Venema (age 13) plays IL SILENZIO conducted

by Andre Rieu 2008. Listen/watch at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMsw_dg_Clc.

Kindness Boomerang

What goes around comes around. This charming short film depicts the ripple-effect of kind acts -- the way in which receiving an unexpected moment of generosity from a stranger can cause us to become more aware of the needs of those around us and to take action to become a vector of goodness. It is about five (5) minutes and well worth it. Watch it at

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=2748.

One City, Two Brothers

This has always been one of my favorite folktale but until now I did not know there was a children’s book with this story. It is a wonderful parable of concern for the other. That’s all I am going to tell you because I do not want to ruin the story. However, please know that legend says that the spot where the brothers met became the site of the temple of Jerusalem. You can read more about this book as well as order One City, Two Brothers

Love’s Exquisite Freedom

If you are looking for a poem plus classic art then this is the book you want to buy the person you love for Valentine’s Day. The poet is Maya Angelou and the art work is from Sir Edward Burne-Jones,

The book is the sixth book in the Art & Poetry series. While I have enjoyed them all, the is by far the most exquisite. Check out Love's Exquisite Freedom.

Knowing Jesus and His Message – Conociendo a Jesus y su Mensaje

This is an excellent resource. Immediately following the Learning Session on this resources at the NCCL Conference and Exposition in Atlanta, the NCCL Bookstore sold over twenty (20) copies of the book in English and Spanish.

Based on the protocol used to evaluate elementary religion series, the book used fifteen standards for Pre-K and K through Grades 7 & 8. Included with the binder is a CD with all the materials available for duplication. This is an ideal help for any elementary catechist regardless of the series you might be using. Check out the following and use the Order Form.

PREFACE - Knowing Jesus and His Message (http://tiny.cc/nysql) EXPLANATION - Knowing Jesus and His Message (http://tiny.cc/xuvw8) Standards - Explained (http://tiny.cc/65wmc) Normas y Fundamentos (http://tiny.cc/zfrg2) ORDER FORM - Knowing Jesus and His Message (http://tiny.cc/9j0mb)

Looking For A Good Book?

Stop by the NCCL Bookstore. Purchasing books, CDs, DVDs, and other products on Amazon through the NCCL Bookstore (http://astore.amazon.com/natioconfefor-20) helps support this valuable online ministry.

If you are an on-line shopper and you frequent Amazon.com, please enter through the NCCL Amazon Bookstore as the organization benefits from every purchase you make. It’s an ideal way to support our ministry. Just go to our Home page (www.NCCL.org) and click on the Store tab or click on http://astore.amazon.com/natioconfefor-20 and it will take you directly to our bookstore. It doesn’t matter what you buy, as long as you enter through the NCCL Amazon Bookstore, we get a percentage of your purchases.

We are just building our bookstore and adding titles every day, so if you have any suggestions for books you believe should be available through our bookstore, please drop NCCL a note. All books mentioned in CL Weekly are available at the NCCL Bookstore.

Feedback/Comments should be addressed to: lnagel@nccl.org