Reading the Word of God is key to building a personal relationship with Jesus and the Church while learning to live our faith!  Did you know there are 73 books in the Bible? It’s true! The Old Testament has 46 books, and the New Testament...

In a society where young people are well connected virtually but still feel isolated and lonely, how can we build school communities where young people feel important and seen? We can start by focusing on creating inclusive communities...

Watch Steven Ellair talk about engaged, active learning and how his experience as a religion teacher informed the creation of Discover! Finding Faith in Life. Discover! is a brand new approach to faith formation and religious education...

We talk a lot about love and the need to be loving people, but what is love? This is a question that Paul’s converts in Corinth must have been asking as well. In his First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul replied with a famous paragraph...

When I first began teaching, I would invite the class to take several minutes for silent prayer before we began. Shortly after I started this, individual students would approach me privately and ask, “But what am I supposed to do during...

I don’t recall where I first heard this quote, but it has stuck with me ever since. It is a quote that simply states, “What we do inside of the Church makes no difference unless it affects what we do outside of the Church.” I have repeated...

The new year is here! The twelve months to come stretch before us, like clean pages on a calendar. You may already have appointments and other responsibilities marked, but no one can deny that the new year gives us an opportunity for...

We honor the saints because they followed the way of Jesus, each in their own way and with their own gifts and talents. The saints encourage us to follow Jesus, to love God and others, using our own gifts and talents, just as they did....

You may have heard about “active learning.” Let’s take a few minutes to dive into this topic with Steven Ellair and envision how you can incorporate this practice into your classroom to make learning even more meaningful! https://vimeo.com/390017967?share=copy Explore...

During the season of Advent, the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation often becomes a sacrament of focus in faith communities. Children celebrate First Reconciliation during Advent, and parishes often offer communal reconciliation...

Have you ever been teaching, and you look out to see a room full of young people just staring back at you with glazed eyes? Maybe you’ve experienced sessions where children start twitching, get easily distracted, or maybe even disruptive...

This is such a special time of year. The excitement of the holidays is mounting, and Advent is about to begin, our preparation for the Incarnation and Nativity of Jesus, ushering in a time of hope, joy, and light for the whole world. We...

The ancient Celts, who invented our Halloween celebration, were particularly sensitive to the turning-points of the year. They had to be, for their survival depended on their knowledge of the growing season, the movements of the sun,...

If you’ve been in the classroom for some time (or have children of your own), it is no secret that learners have different ways and different circumstances in which they thrive. We know that what works for some doesn’t necessarily work...

As Christians, we know we’re called to serve one another. This, we can understand, is one of the core messages of the Gospel, especially significant in the instructions to love our neighbor as ourselves. But what does that look like...

Among the many ways to pray, scriptural prayer is one of the best for children. The stories, images, characters, and words of the Bible are an excellent starting point for a child’s prayer. What better way to begin praying than to start...

The Summa Theologica, written by Saint Thomas Aquinas between the years AD 1265 and 1274, is one of the most extensive summaries of Catholic theology ever written. Meant to serve as a compendium of all known learning of the time, the...

If you were asked to describe what the Church is, how would you answer? Would your answer be about the buildings, the people, or the teachings? Once you have that description, how would you then describe the Church’s purpose?   That...