2023-24 Grade 8 Religious Education

Greetings everyone! During class, everyone had the opportunity for the sacrament of reconciliation with Father Rex. To set the tone, we prayed Psalm 32 at the start of class. And after going to confession, you all had the chance to pray the Stations of the Cross. Then we considered what Church authority means with an audio clip from The Patrick Madrid Show on Relevant Radio as he talks about a time he used a napkin in apologetics.  Afterward, I summarized some pages in our class book that described what happened in the Protestant Reformation when certain people objected to Church teachings, and the Church's response, both by the bishops and those who established religious orders, including St. Ignatius of Loyola. As Roman Catholics, we believe God started the Church when Jesus Christ was on Earth and He has handed His authority to the leaders, guided by the Holy Spirit, to interpret Christ's teachings, including those in the Bible. Toward the end of class, we watched short tw...

Lenten Greetings everyone! During our most recent class, we started with the song " Purified " by Michael W. Smith. I connected it with my experience in a Native American Sweat Lodge ceremony during a service trip to northeastern Nebraska 11 years ago this month. St. Augustine Mission in Winnebago, NE Lent is a time when God seeks to purify us so that we can turn away from sin and enter more deeply into relationship with God. The sacraments are also an important part of our relationship with God, bringing us in contact with the life of God.  We nourish that life through the Eucharist. Adoration chapel in the Immaculata Monastery in Norfolk, NE I shared three Relevant Radio Eucharistic Encounter videos. This video focuses on how highways are built around churches in major cities. This video tells a story of a priest who was so intent on making the sacraments available to the people, even when he was aging and his health was declining. This video tells about how poor people ...