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Living With Goofballs and Dunderheads:
The Example of Therese and Francis

Wednesday, September 26, 6:00-8:30 p.m.
Friday, September 28, 6:00-8:30 p.m.

Objectives:

• Find ways to overlook and/or confront the faults of others
• Know that the community provides support
• Recognize every encounter as an opportunity for growth and learning

Adults who attend will find substance in the example of Saint Therese and Saint Francis for dealing with difficult people. We will uncover meaning for the questions, “What would Therese or Francis do? What can I do?”

Children who attend will meet people who have special devotions to Saint Therese and Saint Francis. From them, we will learn ways to keep our eyes and hearts open to the good in all people and find ways to live peacefully with people, especially in our families and schools.

This session addresses the expectations the U. S. Bishops outlined in the National Directory for Catechesis to educate in the area of prayer, community life, and our call to take the Gospel into the world.

Event preparing for: Feasts of St. Therese and St. Francis

Format:
• Meal and Opening Session
• Breakout sessions of preschool children, families, teens, and adults
• All groups rejoin for Closing

Menu: Hot dogs (made from real beef), baked beans, waffle fries, carrot & celery sticks, ice cream cups

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The Gospel and Your Wallet:
Buying Into A Better World

Wednesday, October 24, 6:00-8:30 p.m.
Friday, October 26, 6:00-8:30 p.m.

Objectives:

• Understand connections between earning, purchasing, and world justice
• Make choices that protect the dignity of the worker
• Realize our own potential and dignity as a worker

Adults who attend will come away informed on what we can do as Christian consumers to promote the dignity of our own work and the work of others.

Children who attend will explore the value of work by reflecting on our parents’ work, considering what our work is now, and pondering what it might be in the future. We will begin to understand how things we buy affect people around the world.

This session addresses the expectations the U. S. Bishops outlined in the National Directory for Catechesis to educate in the area of community life and moral formation.

Event preparing for: Buy Once, Give Twice Boutique

Format:
• Meal and Opening Session
• Breakout sessions of preschool children, families, teens, and adults
• All groups rejoin for Closing

Menu: Beef stroganoff, noodles, green beans, apple strudel

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Lost and Found:
Are There Only Four Gospels?

Wednesday, November 28, 6:00-8:30 p.m.
Sunday, December 2, 12:30-3:00 p.m.

Objectives:

• Learn about the content of newly discovered gospels
• Compare similarities and differences between our four canonical gospels and the other gospels
• Appreciate the historical process of forming the canon and recognize the role of the Holy Spirit in that act

Adults who attend will see how recently discovered gospels and our four canonical gospels expose diversity of the early church. We will learn why some gospels were included in the canon, why some were not, and the significance of choosing four.
Fr. George will be the speaker.

Children who attend will learn who the gospel writers were, how they knew Jesus, and what made them write the way they wrote. We will see that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were not the only gospel writers and why their gospels were chosen to be included in the Bible.

This session addresses the expectations of the U. S. Catholic Bishops stated in National Directory for Catechesis that we educate in the area of scripture.

Format:
• Meal and Opening Session
• Breakout sessions of preschool children, families, teens, and adults
• All groups rejoin for Closing

Menu: Pasta and meatballs, tossed salad, bread sticks, Italian ice

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Islam 101:
Shared Faith in the Family of Sarah and Abraham

Wednesday, January 9, 6:00-8:30 p.m.
Sunday, January 13, 12:30-3:00 p.m.

Objectives:

• Develop tolerance through recognition of misconceptions and exaggerations among religions
• Understand what the Church teaches regarding other religions
• Appreciate similarities among Christianity, Judaism, and Islam

Adults who attend will hear from Fr. Joe Hiliniski of the diocesan Interfaith Commission. Fr. Joe will present correct information that will help us see our common bonds and respect the spiritual foundations of other faiths.

Children who attend will learn how our Christian faith tradition is similar to the tradition of Islam and Judaism. We will learn what our Church teaches us about how we should act toward people of other religions.

This session addresses the expectation of the National Directory for Catechesis to educate in the area of our Catholic tradition and living a life of community and harmony with others.

Event preparing for: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Format:
• Meal and Opening Session
• All adults and teens will attend Fr. Hiliniski’s talk. Preschool children, and children in grades K-5 will meet with catechists.
• All groups rejoin for Closing

Menu: Bukhari Chicken (roasted chicken w/ a soy/teriyaki-base sauce), yellow rice with peas and red pepper, mixed vegetables with mint butter, dessert

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Waxing and Waning:
The Changing Face of the Church in Ohio – 1808-2008

Wednesday, February 13, 6:00-8:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 17, 12:30-3:00 p.m.

Objectives:

• Understand current issues of diocese and clustering through history of church in Ohio
• Recognize and adapt to changing times
• Identify what we value in parish life today

Adults who attend will hear from Fr. Tom Tifft, historian and President of St. Mary Seminary. Fr. Tifft will paint a picture of what the Church looked like in the early 1800's and see its changes over the next 200 years. We will come away with new insights for our present situation.

Children who attend will travel through 200 years of Ohio history and observe how young people experienced Church at different periods of time. From this, we will gain insights to our Church today and discover what we value about it.

This session addresses the expectation of the National Directory for Catechesis to educate in the area of our Catholic tradition and history, as well as early missionary work of the Church.

Event preparing for: Clustering in the Diocese of Cleveland

Format:
• Meal and Opening Session
• All adults and teens will attend Fr. Tifft’s talk. Preschool children, and children in grades K-5 will meet with catechists.
• All groups rejoin for Closing

Menu: Tacos, Spanish rice, sugar cookies

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Suffering In the World:
Walking With God–Confronting the Evil

Wednesday, March 5, 6:00-8:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 9, 12:30-3:00 p.m.

Objectives:

• Realize that God is not the author of evil and does not abandon us when we encounter suffering
• See our need to work through our own suffering, but also lessen the suffering of others
• Reflect how Jesus on Good Friday became an example of one who suffered to lessen the suffering of others

Adults who attend will develop tools to walk with and confront suffering. We will hear the witness of some who deal with suffering as they show us that while we may be objects of suffering we are also God’s agents against evil.

Children who attend will reflect on Jesus’ Good Friday example that shows us how to deal with our own suffering and how to lessen the suffering of others.

This session addresses the expectation of the National Directory for Catechesis to educate in the area of prayer, our Catholic mission, and community life.

Event preparing for: Good Friday

Format:
• Meal and Opening Session
• Breakout sessions of preschool children, families, teens, and adults
• All groups rejoin for Closing

Menu: Creamed chicken over biscuits, tossed salad, cake

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Wednesday, April 16, 6:00-8:30 p.m.
Friday, April 18, 6:00-8:30 p.m.

Objectives:

• Hear and reflect on parts of the mass in a new way
• Be inspired to participate more fully in mass
• Realize that mass is a beginning . . . a sending forth to do God’s work

Everyone will join in the opening where we “freeze frame” parts of the “Greeting” in the liturgy, stopping to explore what the words mean and why we say them. In groups, we will continue work on the story telling and shared meal portions of the liturgy. To close, we will come back together for a commissioning dismissal.

This session addresses the expectation of the National Directory for Catechesis to educate in the area of prayer, liturgy, and our commission to further the Kingdom.
Event preparing for: Every Sunday Liturgy

Format:
• Meal and Opening Session (a slightly longer opening session)
• Breakout sessions of preschool children, families, teens, and adults
• All groups rejoin for Closing

Menu: Sloppy Joes, coleslaw, corn, chocolate chip cookies