Side Dishes for Adults
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November
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This month's side dishes for adults include suggestions in four categories: pray, watch, explore, reflect.
Pray
Our actions as faithful citizens should flow from prayer. We we pray, we experience God and we remember that He is in us and in all people, who are created in His image and have inherent dignity. If we want to truly be faithful citizens, we must know how to come to God in prayer, experience God in ourselves and others, and listen to the ways God is calling us to respond.
Click here to view and print "Praying LIke a Faithful Citizen: 9 New Ways to Pray."
Watch
Thanksgiving attitude
During this month of thanks and family gatherings, Fr. Mike Schmitz offers a way to turn our apologies into gratitude for others' acceptance of our "I'm sorry." It's a great message that we as Christians can embrace to help us move forward rather than stay stuck in difficult relationships.
Click here to watch, "I'm sorry vs Thank You."National Vocation Awareness Week
National Vocation Awareness Week is celebrated the first week of November every year in the United States Catholic Church. The week is dedicated to awareness of and promotion of all vocations, but especially the vocations of the priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life. We express our gratitude -- Thanks be to God! -- and renew our prayers and support for those who have been called to or are considering a particular vocation.
Click here to watch "How pursuing a vocation is filled with joy."Click here to watch, "What's My Vocation?" with Fr. Mike Schmitz
Explore
After reading Luke 24:13-35 and watching Fr. Michael Driscoll's video at this link, consider exploring:
- The Emmaus story using art like Sr. Marie-Paul's icon of the two disciples as a married couple. Read more at this link.
- Ideas for a Thanksgiving litany or other table prayers that connect with the Church liturgical year. Print a Thanksgiving table prayer at this link.
- How you can incorporate the liturgical year into your meal planning and cooking. Visit "Catholic Cuisine" at this link and "Catholic Recipes for the Liturgical Year" at this link.
Reflect
Below are short reflections on the readings for Sundays of November shared by Tom Quinlan, Ministry Director of St. Joseph Educational Center in Des Moines. These are great tools for personal prayer and reflection, and also wonderful ways to help lead a discussion about the readings among the members of your household.
Gospel reflection for Sun, Nov 1, 2020, Feast of All Saints
https://youtu.be/uFqm8yQQOTE
Gospel reflection for Sun, Nov 8, 2020
https://youtu.be/218OVhbLUd4
Gospel reflection for Sun, Nov 15, 2020
https://youtu.be/qOfiuSbC2Vk
Gospel reflection for Sun, Nov 22, 2020, Solemnity of Christ the King
https://youtu.be/FCzetoFMgcs
Gospel reflection for Sun, Nov 29, 2020, First Sunday of Advent
https://youtu.be/FCzetoFMgcs
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October
Side dishes for adults include suggestions in four categories: pray, explore, reflect and participate.
Pray
Examen
Participate in this guided audio examen with Becky Eldridge.
https://soundcloud.com/beldredge98/guided-examen-with-becky-eldredg
Explore
Spiritual Plan
Create an individual spiritual plan for yourself for the next year.
https://lpress-craft.s3.amazonaws.com/files/TraWeb5269_SpiritualPlan.pdfExcerpt from "The Inner Child"
https://virtualfamilyofbelievers.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/3/3/133300024/chapter4_theinnerchapel_.pdf
Other Resources from Loyola Press
Reflect
October Gospel Reflections
Watch these 5-minute video reflections recorded by Tom Quinlan, Director of St. Joseph Educational Center, West Des Moines.
Sun, Oct 4, Respect Life Sunday
https://youtu.be/NX2fXRdJoAc
Sun, Oct 11, 28th Sunday Ordinary Time
https://youtu.be/so-EsR8FZW8
Sun, Oct 18, 29th Sunday Ordinary Time
https://youtu.be/cU1rpVE8LyQ
Sun, Oct 25, Priesthood Sunday
https://youtu.be/Qy8EcB4t9Gw
Participate
Faithful Citizenship
Although many of us are tired of all the political ads, it is essential that we Catholics exercise our rights and responsibilities to participate in the governance of our nation, state, and local communities.
As Catholic citizen, we are called to register to vote, to inform our consciences, and to make informed decisions as we exercise our right to vote.
To discover more about our call to participate in the public square, please visit the USCCB's Faithful Citizenship page at https://www.usccb.org/offices/justice-peace-human-development/forming-consciences-faithful-citizenship
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September
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LIVE! Speaker for Adults
Join Mike Patin as he shares about connecting to Jesus. This message is just for adults on their faith journey. https://youtu.be/Yhp0auyle0Y
September Prayer Tool: A Space for Prayer
One of our goals for this month is for our households to create a prayer space in their homes (or refresh an existing one). Whether you live in a household of one person or ten, having a focal point for prayer aids in quieting down and placing oneself in God's presence. A prayer space can be anywhere - a dedicated corner of a room, a shelf with some spiritual items on it, the centerpiece of the kitchen table...and it is good to add to your prayer space as the year unfolds.
Watch this video to learn about the basics of creating a prayer space.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhy_o0-9HUQ&feature=youtu.be
This article expands upon the video to share more ideas for your prayer space.
https://buildfaith.org/creating-a-prayer-space-at-home/
Be creative! Make it your own! Let us pray....
Discovering the New Testament
As we explore the New Testament this year, it is good for us to have a reminder of how the Bible is organized and how to look up a Scripture verse or passage (group of verses). Here is a short description of how the books of the Bible are arranged and another explanation of how to look something up in the Bible.
https://watch.formed.org/symbolon-the-catholic-faith-explained/season:1/videos/the-bible-god-s-love-letter-to-humanity
To access FORMED for FREE using our church account, visit: https://formed.org/signup and enter our parish zip code: 50263.
Faithful Citizenship
Although we are all tired of all the political ads, it is essential that we Catholics exercise our rights and responsibilities to participate in the governance of our nation, state, and local communities. Here is a video from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) which explains our role as Catholic citizens and calls us to register to vote, inform our consciences, and make informed choices.
To discover more about our call to participate in the public square, please visit the USCCB's Faithful Citizenship page.
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