Dear R.E. Teacher / Chaplain,
With schools opening again in the morning I thought I’d help you get back into the swing of things with details of new resources & up-coming events.
As schools were closed during the start of Lent you might want to begin the week with lessons about Ash Wednesday & Lent. Our resources page contains numerous PowerPoints, videos & worksheets to use with all year groups.
February 20th is Word Day for Social Justice and on our website you will find some PowerPoints, resources & links to materials useful in teaching about social justice. Remember to also check out the Trócaire Lenten resources here.
With the Papal election taking place in March I have put together a variety of resources including a PowerPoint lesson to use with R.E. classes over the next few weeks. The BustedHalo video is excellent and on its own probably covers everything about the election of a pope your students would ever want to know. If your students have their own computers/tablets they can click on the highlighted words in red to get a definition of the words.
Please let me know how you get on with the resources or if you have any other ideas. I was also thinking you could organise a mock Papal election with a class or year group. People could be nominated in the same way as a class captain contest and the person who gets two thirds plus one of the votes is the winner.
UPCOMING EVENTS
This is the seventh year of the “Emmanuel” Music Programme – a project of the Dublin Diocesan Liturgy Resource Centre. The aim of Emmanuel is to promote liturgical music and its practice in second level schools among teachers and pupils. This year marks two special occasions for the Catholic Church; the Year of Faith and the 40th Anniversary of the founding of Trócaire and the music this year reflects both celebrations.
58 schools with over 2000 students (700 per night) from our Diocese will participate this year and if your students are participating here are two ideas for exploring some of the songs in R.E. classes. The 14th song on the night is ‘Make me a Channel of your Peace’ and there are resources about St. Francis of Assisi here. The 15th song is ‘Who will Speak’ which is a Marty Haugen Song. The words at the beginning are of the late Archbishop Oscar Romero, El Salvador and there are Oscar Romero resources here.
Iona Institute Talk: The alleged conflict between science and faith
Monday, February 18 at 8pm in The Davenport Hotel, Dublin 2. Admission free
The Iona Institute are very pleased to invite you to their next talk on Monday February 18th which will be delivered by priest and physicist, Dr Andrew Pinsent on the topic of ‘The Alleged Conflict between Science and Faith’. This talk may be of particular interest to teachers of 5th year L.C. R.E. exploring the Religion & Scrience coursework titles for the 2014 L.C.
One of the great myths of our time is this supposed conflict. Few myths are more damaging to the standing of religious faith in Western countries. Currently, the notion of a conflict between science and faith is strongly advanced by ‘New Atheists’ such as Professor Richard Dawkins. However, as priest and particle physicist Dr Andrew Pinsent will argue, the myth is exactly that.
Fr Andrew Pinsent is Research Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion at Oxford University, a member of the Theology and Religion Faculty, a Research Fellow of Harris Manchester College and a priest of the diocese of Arundel and Brighton.
His most recent book is TheSecond-Person Perspective in Aquinas’s Ethics: Virtues and Gifts (Routledge, 2012) and has published a popular catechetical course, Evangelium. He also aims to promote improved understanding of science and religion issues through public talks and contributions to the media, including for the BBC, Channel 4 and EWTN.
If you are interested in coming please email: info@ionainstitute.ieor phone 01 6619 204.
Tea and coffee will be served afterwards.
National Parish Youth Conference
Tullamore Junior Parish Pastoral Council is holding its annual National Parish Youth Conference on Saturday 23rd February in St Mary’s Youth and Community Centre Tullamore.
There theme this year is “Life is a Gift!’. The Council is working hard to ensure that this year’s event will be as productive and as exciting as last year’s event. The event has received the blessing and support of Bishop Michael Smith.
They are delighted to have Joan Freeman from Pieta House as a guest speaker. They hope that she will give some insight into suicide among young people in a way that is appropriate to all those present. Ciara Molloy (Last year’s Chairperson) will give a talk on “In pursuit of happiness. Scott Evans who has worked in youth ministry for the last ten years and author of “Closer Still” will also speak. The event will be facilitated by Mr Will Faulkner from Midlands 103. There will be a variety of music to entertain throughout the day. A new aspect this year are the workshops. Jonny Somerville the National coordinator of Youth Alpha Ireland will give one of the workshops. There will be workshops on -Setting up a Junior Parish Pastoral Council, Setting up a Youth Prayer Group, Youth Alpha, and a workshop on music ministry.
The hope as a Council is that every parish across Ireland will be represented by young people between the ages of 12 – 18 years of age. Those involved in Parish Youth Councils, Youth Choirs parish groups and R.E Departments are most welcome. The Conference provides an excellent opportunity for young people to express their views, share ideas and receive support from each other. They also hope that it will contribute to the Year of Faith Celebrations. For further details click here.
Kind regards,
Gary
Email: garyabrahamian@gmail.com