November 5, 2012, Volume VI, Number 45

FEAST OF SAINTS ZECHARIAH AND ELIZABETHMonday of the Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Time

Dedication of the Lateran Basilica – November 9, 2012Feast of Saint Leo the great – November 10, 2012

YEAR OF FAITH - Oct. 11, 2012, through Nov. 24, 2013http://www.annusfidei.va/content/novaevangelizatio/en.html

Question of the WeekFor the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time“…contributed from their surplus wealth, …contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.” How does that make you feel about your sense of contribution? Where does your definition of stewardship fit between these two defnitions? How does one determine what is “surplus wealth”? When is enough enough?

NCCL News

Papal Prayer Intentions for November

General Papal Intention Mission Papal Intention

That bishops, priests, and That the pilgrim Church all ministers of the Gospel on earth may shine may bear the courageous as a light to the nations.witness of fidelity to the crucified and risen Lord.

Leadership Institute-2012 November Q&A Live – TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6

The THIRD 2012 Leadership Institute Live Question & Answer Session is scheduled for: November 6, 2012 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. [EDT]

Please click on the link to register:

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https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Nov6_LI_QandA

Featured panelists and webinars:October 6, 1-2 p.m. [E.T.]

Michael TheisenReaching Adolescents with the Good News: A Relational Approach to Discipleship

Rev. Frank DeSiano, CSPIdentifying, engaging and welcoming Inactive Catholics

Sr. Angela Ann Zukowski, MHSH, D. MinUsing Technology to reach out for Evangelization

Lee NagelTaking Stock - Questions to Help Assess and Shape a Parish Faith Community for its Evangelizing Mission

Bishop John Michael Botean & Professor Richard SchneiderIntroduction to the Eastern Rite Churches Through Liturgy & Iconography

Lori Dahlhoff (Facilitator)

USCCB Year of Faith American Saints, Blesseds & Venerables -November St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, M.S.C.Missionary and founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Francis Xavier Cabrini was born into a family of thirteen children. Due to health reasons, her first request to join a religious community was refused, but she was finally able to take her vows in 1877. Soon after being named prioress of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, she was urged by Pope Leo XIII to become a missionary in the United States. However, the house that had been promised to her for an orphanage was unavailable when she reached New York City, and the archbishop advised her to return to Italy. Frances departed from the archbishop’s residence all the more determined to stay and establish that

orphanage. And she did. In 35 years, Frances Xavier Cabrini founded 6 institutions for the poor, the abandoned, the uneducated and the sick, and organized schools and adult education classes for formation in the Catholic Faith. She died of malaria in her own Columbus Hospital in Chicago in 1917. She was the first United States Citizen to be canonized, and she is known as the patron saint of immigrants.

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini . . . Prayers to St. Frances Xavier Cabrini . . . .

More information on American saints and holy men and women for the Year of Faith is available online: www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/new-evangelization/year-of-faith/saints-for-the-year-of-faith.cfm

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NCCL 77 th Annual Conference and Exposition – Cleveland, Ohio

CORRECTION: Last week CL Weekly incorrectly identified the Wednesday keynote speaker. The correct name is Margaret Nutting Ralph which you would have discovered had you checked out the link to her vitae. We apologize for our error in transposing the last two names.

Ann Pinckney, chair of the 2013 Conference Planning Committee, announces the engagement of another speaker for the Tuesday TED style talks. Auxiliary Bishop Frank J. Caggiano was born in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn March 29, 1959, the second of two children of Arnaldo and Gennarina Caggiano, both of whom came to this country in 1958 from the town of Caggiano in the province of Salerno, Italy. His father died in 2002.

In 2004, he was named by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio to serve as Vicar for Evangelization and Pastoral Life, which includes the Diaconate Formation Office, the Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission, the Liturgy Office, the Pastoral Institute, the Office of Faith Formation, the Pastoral Planning Office, the SS. Peter and Paul Spirituality Center and the San Vincente de Paul Centro de Evangelizacion. You can watch his

address to the New York State Catechetical Leaders whom he addressed at the launch event for The Catechetical Leader in the Third Millennium. Go to 32:00 of the second video at http://dioceseofbrooklyn.org/2012-ny-state-catholic-conference/.

FREE Professional Development Webinar – THIS Thursday, November 8

Ave Maria Press, in partnership with the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership, the National Association for Lay Ministry, and National Federation of Priests' Councils presents a series of free, online

workshops on professional development for parish ministers. This webinar O Radiant Dawn: Ministering to Families (and Yourself) this Advent Season is offered on Thursday, November 8 at 3:00 pm EST. You can register at PDW-11.08.2012 (http://tiny.cc/o7h6lw). For a complete listing of professional development webinars in this series, please visit www.avemariapress.com/webinars .

O Radiant Dawn: Ministering to Families (and Yourself) this Advent Season by Lisa Hendey

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As clergy, religious, ministry professionals, laity, family members, and parents, we strive to make Advent a season of prayerful preparation for those around us, but we often fall prey to the busyness and demands of the season. Join author Lisa Hendey for a look at how to make this Advent season meaningful for yourself and others, while at the same time seeking peace and a sense of amazement at the splendor of God's love.

Year of Faith postings on the NCCL Website – Check it out! NEW Postings  It’s up on the NCCL website and there are NEW postings every week. You can find the information under Resources on the Home page or by simply clicking YEAR of FAITH Resources. There is a wide variety of ideas from which you can choose.

NCCL will be posting Year of Faith plans from parishes and dioceses on the NCCL website.  If your committee or Forum has discussed the Year of Faith from an NCCL perspective, or if someone on your committee has plans for the Year of Faith, please email the information to NCCL Board member Joanie McKeown at jmckNCCL@email.com. We'll post links to websites, outlines of plans, introductory articles, worksheets, etc., along with a byline crediting you (or your parish, diocese, committee, etc.) for the materials you are sharing. By allowing others to see your plans you'll be helping other parish and diocesan catechetical leaders as they develop their local plans so that across the country, in parishes large and small, we'll have vibrant celebrations of the Year of Faith.

Five Things Catholics Should Know About The Catechism

To honor the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and the twentieth anniversary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI has announced a Year of Faith. It began October 11, ends November 24, 2013, and is meant to strengthen the faith of Catholics and draw the world to faith by their example.

The pope has encouraged Catholics to study the Catechismas part of the Year of Faith. Alissa Thorell, catechism specialist for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat of Evangelization

and Catechesis, offers "Five Things Catholics Should Know About the Catechism." Thorell explains:

1. It's universal in its scope. Promulgated in 1992, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is the first book of its kind in 450 years, an effort by the world's bishops to convey the content of the Catholic faith to the whole Church. Following the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the

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bishops recognized the importance of providing a more complete presentation of the Catholic faith and teachings to Catholics living in the modern world.

2. It's universal in its content. The Catechism compiles the living Tradition of the Catholic Church and divides it into four sections: what Catholics believe (the Creed), how the faith is transmitted (worship and sacraments), how Catholics are called to live (moral life) and prayer. The contents of these four parts are interwoven, providing an organic presentation of the faith.

3. It's a resource for education. The main goal of the Catechism is to help bishops, pastors, catechists, parents and all who teach the faith. It provides a foundation that encourages bishops' conferences to develop teaching materials from it.

4. It's an invitation prayer. The Catechism draws from the richness of the Catholic Church, including Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, the teaching documents of Church and the lives of the saints. This makes it not only useful for learning about the Catholic faith, but for growing in one's faith through meditation and prayer.

5. It's for Catholics of all ages. Learning and living the faith is an ongoing process throughout a person's life, and the Catechism can help Catholics come to know and love Christ. At almost 700 pages, the Catechism can be intimidating, but it contains short summaries at the end of every section for easy reference. Further, the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers an explanation of each section of the Catechismthat is accessible for all readers.

More information on how Catholics can live the Year of Faith is available online: www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/new-evangelization/year-of-faith/

Vigil of All Saints

Watch our 2006 story on the annual observance of the Vigil of All Saints on All Hallow’s Eve at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington. Friars there choose saints to honor out of the

roughly 10,000 whom Catholics venerate, and the Dominicans’ vigil has become a big draw for priests, nuns, and especially college students. Originally broadcast November 3, 2006 Check it out at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/november-3-2006/vigil-of-all-saints/13666/.

Bishops To Vote On Document Inviting Catholics To Confession

The U.S. bishops will vote on a document encouraging Catholics to see Lent 2013 as an opportunity to return to regular celebration of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. The vote will occur during the annual Fall General Assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), November 12-15, in Baltimore.

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The bishops developed the document to highlight the connection drawn by Pope Benedict XVI between confession and the New Evangelization during the Year of Faith. "The New Evangelization, thus, also begins in the confessional!" Pope Benedict said in March.

The document is "an invitation from the bishops of the United States to all Catholics—bishops, clergy and laity—to participate in the sacrament," said Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay, Wisconsin, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis. In the proposed text, the bishops write that they are eager to help people experiencing difficulty, hesitation or uncertainty about receiving the sacrament. They also express readiness to welcome those who have not gone to confession in a long time.

"The brevity of the statement is intended to help foster a wide dissemination through parish bulletins, print publications and social media," Bishop Ricken added. According to Bishop Ricken, the Evangelization and Catechesis Committee will prepare other teaching resources for parishes and dioceses, and the USCCB statement should be seen as supplementing the voice of a local bishop on this matter.

National Children’s Grief Awareness Day – November 15, 2012

Observed every year on the third Thursday of November, Children's Grief Awareness Day strives to remind grieving children they are not alone. This time of year is a particularly appropriate time as the holiday season is especially difficult after a death. Children's Grief Awareness Day seeks to bring attention to the importance of being sensitive to the needs of grieving children and their families and that caring support can make all the difference in their lives. You can learn more, find out how you can participate and discover some valuable resources by going to http://childrengrieve.org/childrens-grief-awareness-day-0.

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Encourage Participation in the 2013 Multi-Media Youth Contest

Calling all religious educators! Materials are now available for the 2013 Multi-Media Youth Contest, sponsored by the USCCB Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) with support from RCL Benziger. This year's theme is "Be a Disciple! Put Two Feet of Love in Action." Educators lead participants through 5 easy steps to learn about U.S. poverty, the Church’s response, and the Two Feet of Love in Action. Youth then create multi-media work of any type (e.g. painting, video, poetry, dance, etc.) and work to educate their peers before submitting their work to the contest. The contest can be facilitated by any diocesan office – for example, the Religious Education, Catholic Schools, Youth Ministry, Social Concerns, or Hispanic Ministry office. The annual national contest deadline is March 31. Visit the contest materials now in English and Spanish

FREE Professional Development Webinar – Tuesday, November 13

Ave Maria Press, in partnership with the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership, the National Association for Lay Ministry, and National Federation of Priests' Councils presents a series of free, online

workshops on professional development for parish ministers. This webinar A Spiritual Pilgrimage to the Heart of Christmas is offered on Tuesday, November 13 at 3:00 pm EST. You can register at PDW-11.13.2012 (http://tiny.cc/aoi6lw). For a complete listing of professional development webinars in this series, please visit www.avemariapress.com/webinars .

A Spiritual Pilgrimage to the Heart of Christmas by Father Timothy Clayton

Luke the Evangelist was a brilliant storyteller who used two powerful rhetorical tools in his birth narrative: questions and poetry. In the first chapter of his gospel there are four moments where a question is asked by a character in the story, and those questions are designed subtly by Luke to reach off the pages, transcend the ages, and speak to the very heart of his reader/hearer. The four questions form the steps of a kind of a spiritual pilgrimage to the cradle, and walking those steps allows Advent to lead us to the heart of the Christmas season.

The other rhetorical tool Luke uses adroitly is poetry: there are four poems, or

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poetic songs called canticles that Luke uses in his birth narrative, and each one functions in the

manner of a song in a musical: at a poignant moment the action stops for reflection, to be sure the audience understands the moment.

Timothy Clayton, author of the new book Exploring Advent with Luke: Four Questions for Spiritual Growth , presents a webinar that brings Luke's two rhetorical tools clearly into view. Clayton will guide the participants' interaction with them in order to facilitate a spiritual pilgrimage to the heart of the season of Advent, resolving many of the issues that hinder the joy of Christmas.

Standing up to bullying, pigtail-style

This is one of the best articles I have read about personal initiative and getting the community involved.

One of Maisie Kate Miller’s schoolmates always had something belittling to say — about her body, her boyfriend, her fashion choices. But that last little dig, no big deal in itself, brought the 15-year-old sophomore at Marblehead High, north of Boston, to tears a couple of weeks ago. On the stairs behind her, the other girl, a sports standout in the school, was riffing on Maisie’s hairstyle: “Who wears pigtails still? What is this, kindergarten?”

“I turned around,’’ Maisie said, “and she said, ‘Keep walking!’ I don’t know, I was having a hard week anyway, and by the time I got to bio, I was crying.” Maisie’s mom, Joanna Miller, texted her back to just let it go: “Don’t give it any energy is what I told her.”

What came to Maisie, though, was an idea for passive resistance, pigtail-style: Instead of scurrying away or returning the girl’s nastiness in kind, she’d wear her hair like that all week — I’m fine the way I am, thanks — and maybe get a couple of friends to do likewise. She poured out her heart — and her plan — on Facebook, then headed off to her after-school babysitting job.

When she checked in a few hours later, she was overwhelmed to find more than 500 notifications and hundreds of friend requests waiting: “Some of them were people I’ve looked up to and never met! I started shaking and couldn’t stop.’’ But — and this is my favorite part — Maisie typed out a second status update, asking for restraint: “I’d like to

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remind people that this is a protest against bullying,” she wrote, so bullying the girl right back “would be against the movement,’’ which she dubbed “Pigtails for Peace.”

The next day, much of the school in the historic fishing village — girls, boys, a dog and at least one teacher — was pigtailed, and the bully absent. “There were hundreds of them — almost all of the sophomore class’’ copying Maisie’s do, said Loren Weston, a counselor and sponsor of an anti-bullying club. “People from every friend group and year did it,’’ said a junior who didn’t want to be named. “The way she dresses — she’s funky — and outspoken and positive, but she hadn’t been feeling so good,’’ the girl said, and kids were glad to have the chance to rally around her.

In the days since, the student who mocked Maisie has not only backed off, but also sent a message of contrition through friends: “She’s been going through some stuff, too,” Maisie told me on the phone, and hopes that down the line, they’ll be able to talk about it. She’s also gotten multiple messages along the lines of “She’d been bullying me, too, and now she isn’t anymore; thank you!”

Old-fashioned cruelty has always gone on, of course; I’ll never forget the old German nun who routinely yelled at a boy in my class, who had trouble reading aloud, that he was “so stupid” — STYOU-pid, she pronounced it — or the girl with albinism at summer camp who everyone said was a lesbian; I sat with her at lunch one day, not out of compassion, I’m sorry to say, but because she was ahead of me in line in the cafeteria, and that’s how we usually sat; I still recall the stage whispers around us as everyone steered clear, and have often wondered what became of her, and wished I’d had the moral moxie to get to know her.

A few prep school pranksters and “Mean Girls” keep their skills up long after graduation; when a woman in my office mocked the giant crucifix passed down from my grandmother a decade ago — “Even Madonna doesn’t wear those anymore” she said; do these people work from a handbook? — I wanted to cry in middle age.

Cyberbullying has only upped the ante, making it possible for Dharun Ravi, the former Rutgers freshman who set up a webcam to catch his gay roommate making out, to disseminate his handiwork in a way that led to Tyler Clementi’s suicide. But here Maisie has shown us that social media can also be the bullhorn that amplifies the word “no” and stops the intimidation.

It’s important that it was Maisie who came up with her own way out of the problem and made it a kind of community project. What she did instinctively is quite a kindhearted version of the “shaming” suggested as a way of internally policing a common social area — a school, or an Internet group in which the humans involved actually see each other occasionally — by the late Elinor Ostrom, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for economics.

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Maisie is “someone who sticks up for people,’’ said Weston, the counselor who leads the anti-bullying group, “and that’s why this response.” Through an acquaintance from Marblehead, I found Weston on Facebook, where I first saw Maisie’s story, and she led me to Maisie and her family.

Maisie’s mother thinks sticking up for people comes from seeing her father, a surgeon who was diagnosed with a brain tumor when Maisie was 3, become more and more compromised in the three years before he died. A theater kid with flair and “a big personality,’’ her mom laughs, Maisie’s the sort who won’t go to a party if her buddy with Tourette’s isn’t included. An independent spirit who, when told her saleswoman mom couldn’t swing the Shakespeare summer in England that Maisie had hoped for, got busy working at various jobs and paid for the trip herself.

Maisie made me laugh by prefacing our conversation with, “I want to apologize in advance for the fact that I’m going to say ‘like’ a lot.” But she’s taught me something serious. Some wise souls are young in age, and this one has reminded me that the majority usually wants to do the right thing, and may only be waiting to be invited and shown how.

Book Recommended by NCCL Member: God’s Wonderful Plan

Karen L. Streich originally wrote these stories as a way of teachingher young grandson about the Bible. Streich taught Catholic Faith, Morality and Ethics, and World Religions in the Theology Department of Pius XI High School for twenty-three years. When she is not writing or spending time with her grandson, Streich volunteers at the Milwaukee office of a consumer mediation group and at the Ronald McDonald House. Streich lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The book, God's Wonderful Plan: Stories and Lessons from the Bible, can be ordered from Beaver’s Pond Books

http://www.bookhousefulfillment.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=1143

Music Inspired by The Story

Evening prayer on Friday night at the Rep Counciil featured the song Be Born in Me by Francesca Battistelli. It is another version of Mary’s Magnificat and might be worth using this Advent. Half of the songs are about people in the Old Testament and the song CL is featuring is the first song in the New testament. Here is what the promotional flyer states about the CD.

THE STORY is an unparalleled project from the best-known artists in Christian music. The songs on THE STORY take timeless biblical stories and provide a completely new context into

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how God's story of love and redemption intersects with our story of brokenness and failures resulting in a new story of hope and rescue. The CD contains 18 all-new songs written by multiple Dove Award-Winners Nichole Nordeman & Bernie Herms, produced by Brown Bannister & Bernie Herms, and a stellar line-up of artists across all major labels. (Music Inspired By) THE STORY is based on a collaboration with authors Randy Frazee (The Heart Of The Story) & Max Lucado (God's Story Your Story) as well as Zondervan's bible The Story. You can purchase this 18 song CD at Music Inspired By The Story.

Be Born In Me (Mary)

Everything inside me cries for orderEverything inside me wants to hide

Is this shadow an angel or a warrior?If God is pleased with me, why am I so terrified?

Someone tell me I am only dreamingSomehow help me see with Heaven's eyes

And before my head agrees, my heart is on it's kneesHoly is He. Blessed am I.

Be born in me, be born in meTrembling heart, somehow I believe that You chose me

I'll hold you in the beginning, You will hold me in the endEvery moment in the middle, make my heart your Bethlehem

Be born in me

All this time we've waited for the promiseAll this time You've waited for my arms

Did You wrap yourself inside the unexpectedSo we might know that Love would go that far?

Be born in me, be born in meTrembling heart, somehow I believe that You chose me

I'll hold you in the beginning, You will hold me in the endEvery moment in the middle, make my heart your Bethlehem

Be born in me

I am not braveI'll never be

The only thing my heart can offer is a vacancyI'm just a girlNothing more

But I am willing, I am Yours

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Be born in me, be born in meI'll hold you in the beginning, You will hold me in the end

Every moment in the middle, make my heart your BethlehemBe born in me

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

This is an excellent resource. Immediately following the Learning Session on this resource at the NCCL Conference and Exposition in San Diego, 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.

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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

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