Saints and All Hallows Eve

Next week is Halloween and, more importantly, the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls.  Is there a connection here?  If so, what is it?  And what do we really believe about saints?  Watch the video below to hear answers from Fr. James Martin, SJ.


[Video is 8:14 long]

Put on Superman

A version of this article appeared in the October 2010 Maneline.  Make this Halloween a teachable moment for your children.

Superman: always a popular costume choice

At the end of October, children across the country venture out into neighborhoods donning Superhero attire, Angel outfits, and all other sorts of costumes.  As a child I always looked forward to Halloween, the day I would march around in my homemade Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume (as Donatello, of course) and walk from door to door trick-or-treating.  A funny thing would happen when I wore this costume -- I changed.  While in costume, everyone expected me to take on the persona and the behavior of Donatello and I happily obliged with “Cowabungas”, “Dudes”, and attempts at athletic jump kicks.  I had put on Donatello and the outside changed my very thoughts, words and actions.  I was a “little Donatello” for a night, realizing a lifelong dream of being a “hero in a half-shell.”

In baptism, we hope for a similar transformation.

No Family is Perfect

Halloween is a week away.  In Vienna, the annual Halloween parade is right around the corner.  You may feel lots of pressures to live up to how another family celebrates Halloween.  Keep this in mind.

"A family is holy not because it is perfect, but because God's grace is at work in it, helping it to set out anew everyday in the way of love." -- Follow the way of Love

 Simple words from the Bishop Conference echo those of Jesus: "Love one another."

Website Wednesday: Busted Halo

Busted Halo looks like this

Today, we'll take a look at a popular web magazine focused on our Catholic faith, and faith in general: BustedHalo.com.  Don't be fooled by its name, the website is a great portal for growing your faith.  Overseen by the Paulist Fathers, Busted Halo tries its best to reach you where you're at through engaging articles, podcasts, videos and more.

Engaging the World
Busted Halo makes a point of writing articles relevant to what's going on in the world right now.  An example of that was their recent coverage on the death of Steve Jobs.  Four different blog articles from four different perspectives appeared on the website, sifting through Jobs' life and finding principles that can be applied to our life in faith or lamenting how his passing will affect their family life.  If there's something big going on in the world, an article from Busted Halo should appear shortly, engaging that event from a Catholic perspective.

Car Conversation: Good Post-RE Questions

After RE classes have ended, you have a perfect opportunity to talk to your children about RE.  Following up will reinforce what they learned because it gives them an opportunity to articulate their faith in terms they know and use.  We'll take a look below at how to rephrase two common questions, and give you two more good questions to ask your child.

Rephrase Common Questions

• "How was class today?"  This question has a very limited answer range and doesn't invite children to give a good response.  Instead, try asking for something concrete: "What was your favorite part of class?"  They'll have an opportunity to pause and replay class in their mind before giving you an answer.  Give them time to respond, and make sure to ask all your kids.
• Potential follow up: "Why was it your favorite part?"
• "What did you learn about?"  Many children will answer this question with "God" or "Jesus" or something along those lines.  There answer isn't wrong, but probably isn't want you hoped for.  Try asking: "Tell me about what you learned?"  This question invites a much more thought out response.  Instead of answering a question, they can tell a story.
• Potential follow up: "Tell me more!"

Gospel Reflection (Oct. 16): What Belongs to God?

The following is used by permission from the blog Echoing Hope, written by Jonathan Lewis, a DRE in Mill Valley, CA.

Matthew 22: 15-21

In today’s Gospel passage the Jewish leaders are trying to trick Jesus into getting in trouble with the government (Roman Empire) by trying to get him to say that a person need not pay taxes (since paying taxes wasn’t one of the Jewish laws).

Jesus responds by asking them: whose face is imprinted on the coins? When they respond “Caesar” He tells them that they should “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God”.

It is important as Christians for us to live a life of justice: giving each person what is owed to them. But how do we give God what belongs to Him? What belongs to God? We believe that God created the world, every person, and everything. Every day God continues to give us life and love as a free gift. While Caesar’s face was imprinted on coins, the face of God is imprinted on each of our hearts. We are called to give God our whole selves, everything that we are, nothing less. We do this by resembling God in our thoughts, words and actions.

Car Conversation: Reminds You of Jesus

a statue of Jesus

An easy car conversation to hold with your children this week: Who have you seen or encountered this week that has reminded you of Jesus?  In what ways?


Makes sure before you ask the question you have an answer from your own life.  Your kids will probably ask you for an example right away.  The best examples will be someone that they know too, someone in their life.

Don't be intimidated or afraid -- you can do this!

Image: zole4 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Columbus Day

A reminder: no RE classes on Monday or Tuesday because of the Columbus Day holiday.  Enjoy the extra time with your family!

2 Other iPhone Apps for Catholics

iPhone: pretty popular

The final part of a three part series on iPhone apps for Catholics.

In our second installment, we looked at two apps meant to help you pray in outward ways (part one found here).  The Divine Mercy Chaplet can be prayed with many people, ditto the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office).  This last installment will take a look at two apps meant to be introspective prayer aides, helping us to turn to God in different ways.

Here are our last two apps we'll preview in this series.

Blessing of Pets

Meet Q the cat

Yesterday was the Feast Day of St. Francis.  Over the years, it's become popular for religious organizations to hold a "blessing of pets" or "blessing of animals" in the days before or after October 4 (see below if you wonder why).  Although we don't offer an opportunity to gather and bless your pets here at St. Mark, you can do a brief, and meaningful, pet blessing ritual at home.

Before the blessing, you'll want to decide whether you want to include singing or not.  Some great songs include Canticle of the Son (aka All Creatures of our God and King) of Prayer of St. Francis (aka Make Me a Channel of your Peace).  Another question: indoor or outdoor?  If you have an indoor only pet, the answer is obvious, but if your pet is both, then outdoor might be the way to go.

Feast Day of St. Francis

In honor of today's Feast Day of St. Francis, a brief look at his life:

Who Cares About the Saints? (St. Francis) from Loyola Productions on Vimeo.

Talking to Children about Death

With the recent passing of our Pastor Emeritus Monsignor Tom Cassidy, I thought it would be appropriate to post about a difficult topic of conversation with your children: death.  But instead of trying to write an article, I thought it more fitting to link to a few articles written by people who have talked to children about death, and pull out some common themes (found at the very bottom of the article).

Below are articles from several perspectives, one from a Catholic, one from a hospice care website, and one from more of a psychological background.  Included is information on pamphlets we have at St. Mark meant to help grieving children.  If you have any suggestions about how you have talked to your children about death, leave a comment or send me an email.

Funeral Information for Monsignor Cassidy

Sadly, early Saturday afternoon our pastor emeritus Monsignor Tom Cassidy passed away.  Below is the funeral information:

Thursday, October 6th

Wake: 4:00 to 6:00 pm

Mass of Christian Burial: 7:30 pm

Reception to follow in the Activities Center.

Private interment at a later date.