Happy New Year- My Book Is Ready for Preorder!

Merry Christmas, friends! I hope that you are experiencing a beautiful Christmas season and are filled with the hope of Christ as you look into the coming new year. I wanted to pop up a quick post to share two exciting announcements about my book- a cover reveal, and preorder information!

Through the Year with Jesus: Gospel Readings and Reflections for Children from Emmaus Road Publishing should be out in mid February and can now be preordered at the St. Paul Center and on Amazon. 

I'll be sharing more in the coming weeks, including freebies to go along with the book, special pre-order bonuses (update- get them here!), and giveaways, but for now I'll leave you with the back cover description of the book, and a few kind words from those that have already read it. Feel free to drop any questions in the comment box. I'm so, so thrilled to be able to share this resource for homes and classrooms with you!

~ ~ ~

From the back cover:

The liturgical year invites us to walk with Jesus through the most wonderful story ever told: the Gospel. In Through the Year with Jesus: Gospel Readings and Reflections for Children, catechist and popular blogger Katherine Bogner reveals the rich mystery of the seasons we celebrate in the Church.

With Gospel readings for each week of the liturgical year, along with tools for reflection, discussion, and prayer, Through the Year with Jesus offers endless opportunities for discovering who Jesus is and better understanding Catholic teaching about his life and mission.

• Promote prayer and conversation about the life of Christ with children through
• Weekly readings from the Gospels
• Lectio Divina prompts to nurture personal prayer or journaling
• Sacred art to accompany the Gospel reading
• Stories of saints and many rich Catholic traditions for the liturgical year

The easy-to-use format of Through the Year with Jesus helps adults lead children to an intimate encounter with the heart of Jesus through the rhythm of the liturgical year and the powerful words of Scripture.

"Katherine Bogner hits a liturgical living home run with this devotional for children…. This book is an excellent, all-in-one way to bring the stories of Jesus and his family and his friends and his life into a home or classroom in a way that kids of all ages can connect with at their own levels. Grownups are sure to find their own faith deepened as well." Kendra Tierney, Author of The Catholic All Year Compendium

"If you've been looking for a way to engage your family or classroom in meaningful conversations throughout the liturgical year here is your answer. Buy this book!" Bonnie Engstrom, Author of 61 Minutes to a Miracle

"Through the Year with Jesus not only has beautiful Scripture readings and reflections on the Gospels, it is also an invaluable guide to help parents, teachers, and catechists learn how to pray through the Bible with their children—and how to teach them to pray and live God's Word." Katie Warner, Catholic Children's Book Author, FirstFaithTreasury.com

"Lectio Divina (and Visio Divina)are the hidden gems of prayer in the Catholic Church. With this book, Katherine Bogner brings these devotions to life for children, teachers, and parents. I am certain her guidance here will lead many young people into an encounter with Jesus Christ." Jared Dees, Founder of TheReligionTeacher.com and Author of Christ in the Classroom

Epiphany Home Blessing Kits (Update for 2021 & Beyond!)

 

(Posting this a little early to give you time to share with your parish and school. You are welcome to email out the pdfs so that they can use them at home!)

"Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage."  ~Matthew 2:2

After Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, the Holy Family was visited by three Magi from the east. They came to worship Christ and bring him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  The Feast of Epiphany is celebrated on the 12th Day of Christmas, January 6th, but in the United States is moved to the Sunday between January 2nd-8th.  On Epiphany, it is traditional for families to bless their homes, remembering the hospitality of the Holy Family to the Wise Men and asking for protection and blessing on the home and all who enter.

The home blessing is done by writing on the door or door frame with chalk the symbols 20+C+M+B+21. The 20 and 21 represent the current year. The + reminds us of the cross on which our Savior died. The C, M, and B stand for the traditional names of the Wise Men, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, as well as an abbreviation for the Latin phrase “Christus mansionem benedicat” which means “Christ bless this house.” Writing on the door also brings to mind the Passover of the Jews during the final plague in Exodus, when the blood of the lamb protected the inhabitants within. 

A few years ago, I wanted to send some resources home with my students and CCD families to help them celebrate this Epiphany Home Blessing Tradition.  Knowing that writing on the door or doorframe might not work in every house (or be every parent's favorite thing), I made these little signs that can hang over or near the door.  They are about 8" x 3.5" and are just made with scrap wood from my parents' barn.  I drilled holes in each corner, painted them with some left over chalkboard paint, and tied on some twine.

I added a small piece of white chalk and a booklet (printable below) explaining this Epiphany tradition, a short blessing prayer, and a few suggested Scripture passages and songs.  I packaged it all in a brown paper bag with the top folded down to form a "roof" and stapled on these cute tags (printable below).

If you'd like to share this tradition with your students, but don't have spare lumber, paint, and twine (or time...), you could easily send home your students with a kit including a black piece of cardstock, chalk, and the traditions booklet.  Or make it even easier and just tape the chalk right to the booklet and pass them out.  This would be a great way to share them out Mass- put a stack with the bulletins and then anyone who wants to can take one home. (Bonus points if you have a priest bless the chalk!)

“In the magi, representatives of the neighboring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the first-fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of salvation through the Incarnation. The magi's coming to Jerusalem in order to pay homage to the king of the Jews shows that they seek in Israel, in the messianic light of the star of David, the one who will be king of the nations." ~CCC 528

Click here for the Epiphany Tradition Booklet:

(I'm just going ahead and updating for a few years into the future, because someone is always looking for this before I get to it!)

Epiphany Home Blessing Booklet 2021

Epiphany Home Blessing Booklet 2022

Epiphany Home Blessing Booklet 2023

Epiphany Home Blessing Booklet 2024

Epiphany Home Blessing Booklet 2025

Epiphany Home Blessing Booklet 2026

*Update- Thanks to a generous blog reader, here is a matching Spanish version of the Home Blessing Booklet!

Bendicion del Hogar Para La Epifania 2023

Bendicion del Hogar Para La Epifania 2024

Bendicion del Hogar Para La Epifania 2025

Bendicion del Hogar Para La Epifania 2026

Click on any of the links below for the three different tags:

(Updates for future years)

Epiphany Home Blessing Tag 2021

Epiphany Home Blessing Tag 2022

Epiphany Home Blessing Tag 2023

Epiphany Home Blessing Tag 2024

Epiphany Home Blessing Tag 2025

Epiphany Home Blessing Tag 2026

Merry Christmas! {Free Baby Jesus Block Print}

 

Earlier this fall I shared with you that block carving and printing has become my new favorite hobby. I've really enjoyed sharing process videos on Instagram and am grateful for the creative outlet this medium has been. I hand carved this sweet infant Jesus stamp for my Christmas cards, and creating it was a beautiful opportunity for reflection and prayer on the hope of the Incarnation.

I'd love to send all of you a personal Christmas card, but since that isn't quite possible, I'm happy to send you this greeting as a little Merry Christmas and thank you for being part of the Look to Him and Be Radiant Community!

Here is the original test print and the carved block- this was my most detailed block to date. The image of Jesus is based on some photos of my sweet nephew, and the Christmas star, poinsettias, holly, and pine are all symbols connected to the birth of Christ.

Click on either image below for the free pdf, both in black on white, and black on brown kraft paper. Feel free to share as a little digital greeting to your friends and family! The edges of the print are marked to an easy to frame 5x7" size. If you display it in your home, I'd love for you to email me a pic or tag me on Instagram!

May the Infant Jesus, born to save us, 

fill our hearts with hope this Christmas Season and always. 

Know of my prayers for you, your families, and your students each day.

Merry Christmas!

O Antiphons Projects {Free Printables, Bible Study, and Google Classroom Projects}

O come, O come, Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel

As the end of Advent draws near, I wanted to give my students a tool to help ready their hearts for Christmas. There is no better way to do that than with the O Antiphons! Packed with meaning from both the Old and New Testament, the O Antiphons have been prayed by Christians for over 1200 years. I created two Google Classroom assignments for my students to choose from, one more open ended and one more structured.

Both studies include:

• O Antiphon Art
• Background info on the O Antiphons
• Links to videos to listen to the O Antiphons in both English and Latin
• A chart with the English & Latin titles, dates, and Old & New Testament references
• Links to O Antiphon printables (coloring pages/ornaments/etc.)

The Bible Study invites the student to read the Old Testament prophecy connected to the O Antiphon and then the New Testament fulfillment. The Creative Project allows the student to study one O Antiphon and create a unique reflection based on their skills and talents- art, poetry, video, news article, etc. If I were teaching in person right now, I probably would have done the Bible Study as a whole class, and then had the students complete the project on their own, but as they are working individually at home I set it up so they could choose.

I would expect either of these tasks to take my junior highers about 60-90 minutes, so this is a multi day assignment for them. You could shorten it by taking out slides, or spread out over several days. Remember the tasks can also be edited to simplify for younger students or enriched for older students. Make it work for your kids!

These were created in Google Slides because I will share them directly to Google Classroom for my students, but you also can download them and edit in PowerPoint to use or share as you need. (A few more details about that at the end of this post).

And FYI, there is a new section under the Sharing the Faith tab with all of the other editable Google Classroom assignments I've made available on the blog. ;)

Click here for the digital O Antiphon Bible Study:

Here's a little preview of the slides:

Click here for a more open ended project allowing the students to learn about the O Antiphons and then create a project like art, a poem, a video, news article, etc.

Here's a preview of the slides:

These activities originally began as a set of printables, which I added to the blog five years ago. If you'd rather have some coloring pages, I have them in several sizes. Each has the title of Jesus, the date, the Old and New Testament references, and an image. They are great as coloring pages, ornaments, gift tags, decorations, or Bible Journaling. Check out this post for the printables:

It includes a full size O Antiphon Coloring Book:

Click here for the 4-per-page mini book, which also make great ornaments or gift tags:

Or they are also available in a 2" size which are great for Bible Journaling or tiny ornaments.

I wish you a holy remainder of Advent and a very blessed Christmas!

~ ~ ~

A few notes about the digital versions: 

-These assignments were created in Google Slides with the intention of being assigned in Google Classroom. You can certainly download them in PowerPoint and send them through email, or whatever tool you are using to communicate with your students.

-They are totally editable. You just have to make a copy on Google Slides or download to PowerPoint before making any changes. Delete, change, add-- make them work for your kids. (If you request edit access on these files, I won't be able to grant it because it would change the master slides for everyone. You have to make a copy to make changes.)

***All of the resources needed for the tasks are readily available- like public websites or docs I've created. If you share the slides with your students, make sure that they can access all of the links as well. For example, if you have a closed Google Domain (many schools are) they will not be able to open any of the files I have linked because I am outside of their domain. You will have to make a copy, save in your own Google Drive, and link. (Unfortunately, I get A LOT of student access requests to docs shared by their teachers, but I can't even email them back because of domain permissions. It breaks my teacher heart to not be able to help them- so if you are in a closed Google Domain, please keep that in mind!)***

Weekly Advent Reflections {Editable Assignments for Google Classroom}

Forgive this for being a bit "late" but I literally just made these for my own students and thought that maybe they could help another teacher or DRE or parent ;) These slides are intended to help guide a student through a little reflection and prayer based on the Advent theme each week. 

Each week, the slides include:

-A short video and included questions on that video

-The reference for the Sunday Gospel of the week and a few reflection questions

-An connection between the Advent theme of the week and beauty- examining art, music, or poetry

-A closing prayer

I would expect this to take my 7th or 8th graders about a half an hour, or it is something that could be spread out one piece at a time over the week. You could certainly edit to simplify or beef it up to stretch to older or younger students. 

These were created in Google Slides because I will share them directly to Google Classroom for my students, but you also can download them and edit in PowerPoint to use or share as you need. 

I also just added a new section under the Sharing the Faith tab with all of the other editable Google Classroom assignments I've made available on the blog. ;)

Click here for the Hope Reflection Slides:

Click here for the Peace Reflection Slides:

Click here for the Joy Reflection Slides:

Click here for the Love Reflection Slides:

A few notes: 

-These assignments were created in Google Slides with the intention of being assigned in Google Classroom. You can certainly download them in PowerPoint and send them through email, or whatever tool you are using to communicate with your students.

-They are totally editable. You just have to make a copy on Google Slides or download to PowerPoint before making any changes. Delete, change, add-- make them work for your kids. (If you request edit access on these files, I won't be able to grant it because it would change the master slides for everyone. You have to make a copy to make changes.)

***All of the resources needed for the tasks are readily available- like public websites or docs I've created. If you share the slides with your students, make sure that they can access all of the links as well. For example, if you have a closed Google Domain (many schools are) they will not be able to open any of the files I have linked because I am outside of their domain. You will have to make a copy, save in your own Google Drive, and link. (Unfortunately, I get A LOT of student access requests to docs shared by their teachers, but I can't even email them back because of domain permissions. It breaks my teacher heart to not be able to help them- so if you are in a closed Google Domain, please keep that in mind!)***