While the catechesis offered within the family is ordinarily informal, unstructured, and spontaneous, it is no less crucial for the development of the child's faith. "In a certain sense nothing replaces family catechesis, especially for its positive and receptive environment, for the example of adults, and for its first explicit experience and practice of the faith."
- National Directory for Catechesis, 48.E.1
One of the best ways for families to form faith is to simply talk about the Sunday readings together. Check here each week for discussion prompts.
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – 11 July 2021
Amos 7:12-15. Psalm 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14. Ephesians 1:3-14. Mark 6:7-13.
Travel Light. To do ministry – that includes every one of us who is baptized – the gospel, Jesus, really, tells us to travel light. No cane, food, suitcase, money. Just go and do.
What encumbers me from doing what I am called to do, from doing good work?
What food and drink can I give away (mercy work) to help others do good work?
What money can I donate to worthy, needed causes?
- Bulletin Shorts for Year B - 2021 ( Eliot Kapitan, Springfield, IL)
These questions are copyrighted and provided by license from The Pastoral Center. Parishes and other organizations need to purchase their own license before distributing this material with their parishioners. As such, the material may not be reposted to a parish website or social media page without the parish obtaining an individual site license. To purchase a parish license, please visit Questions of the Week.
Questions of the Week:
Adults:
What good news of Jesus can you share with others this week?
Children:
What good news of Jesus can you share with others this week?
The following resources are offered from a variety of sources and are available for parishes to use without individual licenses.
The Apostles and the New Exodus from Sunday Dive with Katie Patrizio
Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2021) from Catholic Theological Union
Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (2018) from Catholic Theological Union
Reflection Questions from TeamRCIA
Sunday's Gospel from Pflaum
Sunday Connection from Loyola Press
Sunday Readings and Background from Our Sunday Visitor
Questions of the Week from Our Sunday Visitor
Activity of the Week from Our Sunday Visitor
Gospel Reflection from RCL Benziger
Praying Toward Sunday from The Center for Liturgy at St. Louis University
Spiritual Reflections from The Center for Liturgy at St. Louis University
Looking More Closely at the Word from The Center for Liturgy at St. Louis University
Gospel Reflection from John Michael Talbot
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time from the Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns
The Mission of the Twelve from Franciscan Media
We Need One Another from Liturgy.Life Blog
Build.Plant.Grow the Word this Week from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University
Hear the Word! from Renew International
Take Nothing With You from Catholic News Service
The Sunday Homily from Paulist Evangelization Ministries
52 Sundays from the Archdiocese of Detroit
Beyond Sundays: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Living from The Five Loaves
Order of Mass and Spiritual Communion from RCL Benziger
Resources Specifically for Children
Coloring Page from Holy Heroes
Mass Quiz from Holy Heroes
The Sunday Mass Video from Holy Heroes
Sunday Gospel Coloring Page from CatholicMom.com
Order of Mass and Spiritual Communion (Child/Youth Version) from RCL Benziger
Los siguientes recursos son ofrecidos de una variedad de sitios y están disponibles para las parroquias sin licencia individual.
Evangelio Dominical desde Pflaum
Lecturas Domincales y información adicional acerca de las lecturas desde Our Sunday Visitor
Preguntas de la Semana desde Our Sunday Visitor
Actividad de la Semana desde Our Sunday Visitor
Reflexíones en español desde The Center for Liturgy at St. Louis University
Construye.Planta.Crece desde The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University
52 Domingos desde la Arquidiócesis de Detroit
El Ordinario de la Misa desde RCL Benziger
El Ordinario de la Misa (Jovenes) desde RCL Benziger
Vietnamese
Check out the section of our website on "Faith Themes." While it remains a "Work in Progress," this is the place to visit for curated resources on a variety of Faith Themes.
While there are some activities and materials written on a child/teen level, much of the material is on the adult level. Parents are encouraged to preview resources and share as appropriate. Families will benefit from talking about the topics with one another.
Fashioning Faith is a subscription resource from the Center for Ministry Development that offers complete faith formation sessions on a wide variety of topics. These sessions are designed for the whole family together and/or separate sessions on the same topic for various age groups.
Vibrant Faith @ Home is an ecumenical resource from Vibrant Faith that offers family resources that can be used either in the home or in gathered faith formation sessions.
Catholic Family Faith is curated by Faith Formation leaders from across the country to help catechists and ministry leaders accompany parents and families in faith.
vCat (Video Catechism) is a ministry and resource of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and Outside da Box. It offers videos and discussion guides for the Four Pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. While designed specifically for teens, this resource can be used by entire families.
Liturgy Training Publications has a wide variety of resources that can be used for growing family faith. Resources include, but are not limited to, the following:
Belonging to God's Family: Nurturing Your Child's Faith Life (en Español)
Celebrating Sunday for Catholic Families 2021-2022 (en Español)
Praying Together: Ideas for Developing Family Prayer in Your Home
The Leadership Institute of the Diocese of Bridgeport offers several resources for families:
Vocation Lessons, a ministry of Vianney Vocations, offers lessons for K-12 students to learn about marriage, priesthood, and religious life.
CathFamily is a ministy supported by the Marriage Resource Center of Sydney, Australia. It is dedicated to assisting families in making the home the living heart of the Church. It offers activities, blog posts and resources for family faith formation.
Discover Your Neighbor, an interactive education program sponsored by the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, offers lesson plans reminding us of our call to be Missionary Disciples and learn from our neighbors.
Loyola Press shares a wealth of resources and ideas on its Family, Fun and Faith page. They also have articles about various aspects of our faith on their Our Catholic Faith page.
Catholic Family Crate offers a monthly subscription service for families, providing a box of resources each month to enable growth of the domestic church.
Catholic Sprouts is dedicated to helping parents grow their Domestic Church and evangelize their children. From blog posts, to resources, to podcasts, this site offers many great ideas!
Subscribing to The Formation5: Family Faith Formation e-mail list yields a daily e-mail from catechist Jared Dees offering saints, Scriptures and . Jared also has resources on his personal website:
The Pastoral Center has a wealth of information and downloadable resources for faith formation during this time. Visit their Coronavirus page for resources that include: