I am glad that I am required to post on this blog for a homework assingment. Otherwise I would not have been so persistent in getting back on the blog. It has been over a year, because I still find my journal far more available and, to be honest, definitely easier. However, this is the way the world is going so I must learn to move on.
I had a wonderful RE Congress this year. For years, I attended Congress as a Religious Educator for my parish. I was inspired by the number of other Religious Educators in attendance. I loved the classes, but I realize now I attended the Congress like I would attend a conference for work. I participated in the activities, picked up good information, and felt spiritually refreshed. Last year, for the first time, I attended as a Catholic school principal. I experienced a whole new dimension of the Congress. Not only did I attend with my entire staff, I ran into other principals I had met through the Archdiocese. We shared ideas, attended sessions together, celebrated together and had the fun of running into each other. I felt connected. I felt immersed. This year was even better. The Master Catechesis program has expanded my world further. It was a joy to continuously run into people I knew throughout the weekend. My sense of belonging, purpose, and faith community are so much richer. My deepest desire is that my school, students, staff, and parents experience that same faith and joy in God.
This year I attended workshops on technology and service projects. Both topics are key components of our WCEA self study. After 24 years in public education, it is a blessing to learn about these topics in the context of faith. The CaTECHchesis with TECH Tools by Sr. Caroline Cervey was amazing. She demonstrated how technology supports Blooms taxonomy of critical thinking with free websites and applications. I had never heard about Slideshare, Quia.com, Glogster, stacks, wordle. or Geocaching before. The are so many so many wonderful ways to communicate faith. My favorite idea from the presentation was haveing students send spiritual e-cards. We don't have to lose faith as we work in the technological age
I discovered a program that has been in existence for 6 years. On Friday nights LMU presents the Film Showcase. The showcase presents films and documentaries from the past year that demonstrate Catholic social justice values. The clips were touching and thought provoking. I spent two hours being enthralled by Finding God in the City of Angels, October Baby, Cosmic Origins, Film, Women and Sirit:Catholic Sisters in America, Restless Heart: The Confessions of Saint Augustine, We Shall Survive, Kind, True abd Necessary: Stories From the Blue School House,Raju, The Way, and For Greater Glory.Producers and directors for many of the films were actually in the audience. Some of the films, such as October Bay are not even released yet. I was totally unaware of these films and this showcase. I purchased The Way the very next day. It is reassuring to know that if our culture today learns about values, ethics, morals, and spirituality through movies that there are wonderful movies from which to learn.
My Congress ended with Rev. Ronal Rolheiser presenting Feeling God's Voice through Physical and Mystical Touch in the arena. Despite the large crowd that came to hear him, I felt like Father Rolheiser was talking to me, He used beautiful imagery such as the disciple placing his head on Jesus' chest feeling the heartbeat to demonstrate Jesus' intimate love for us. What touched me most were his words about family members/children who don't attend Mass with us. Our love for them will keep them in touch with God. Finally, he stated that with all the chaos in the world and the many things that we have done wrong we have always remembered the Eucharist and for our God that is enough.
