Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Tim ReidyFebruary 16, 2012

How do you teach a twelve year old to pray? An intriguing proposal from our friends at The Jesuit Post:

Have you ever wanted to teach middle school? I thought not. It’s no easy task to get sixth graders to sit still, must less get knowledge in their heads. You can imagine my astonishment when I saw a room full of twelve-year olds, silent and still. My Chicago Jesuit Academy colleague Paul Mitchell found a brilliant way to teach tweens how to pray.

He lays out the Ignatian Examen in the simple and direct language of middle school. Paul’s genius is that his method works as well for this easily distracted 27 year old as it does for his students.

You can read the rest here, and view Paul's lesson plan here.

For more on raising faithful Catholics, see Elizabeth Kirkland Cahill's essay in the February 27 issue of America.

Tim Reidy

 

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Juan Lino
12 years 2 months ago
Wow - this is great!  Paul's posters are wonderful - bravo.  If I may, I persoanlly recommend Sleeping with Bread by the Linns as a great intro to the examen.

The latest from america

Elizabeth Cullinan's literary output was not prodigious—but her memorable characters and close attention to the Irish-American culture in which she lived made her a prominent fiction writer in the '70s and '80s.
James T. KeaneApril 16, 2024
Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals continued their discussions about the role of women in the church, listening to women experts, including a professor who spoke about how culture impacts women’s roles and status.
For St. Barnabus, to participate in the Eucharist requires intention, awareness and prayerful preparation.
Being a member of the “I don’t know club” means you will be attacked by both sides. It does not mean you have nothing to say.
Thomas J. ReeseApril 16, 2024