"Do You Have Anything on Lent for Kids?"

I've heard this question a few times in the last couple of days, and each time the perfect "resource book" has been just what the person was looking for.

The Lent-Easter Book: Living and Celebrating Our Catholic Customs and Traditions is an amazing collection of activities, crafts, stories, prayer ideas, and general discussion-starters. This book is chock-full of helpful materials for use in family and classroom settings. You can't tell by the photo, but the book is spiral bound for easy reference, and it contains many easy-to-use templates and reproducible pages.

So if you're looking for creative and fruitful ways to help your family live the lenten season, this is the resource book for you!

Presentation for School Children on St. Paul

This is just too cute not to share! Sr. Susan James recently gave a presentation on Paul for 6th graders at Our Lady of Grace School in Castro Valley.

Well, they were certainly attentive during her presentation, as their thank-you notes demonstrate. Here are a few excerpts from the notes for your reading pleasure:

Dear Sister Susan,
"...I really liked learning about [Paul] because his life is full of adventures. I especially love the part when Jesus talks to him and tells him to change. His reaction to what he saw was so amazing that I felt like I was there...."

___________

"I was interested at how long St. Paul lived. I thought that 40-49AD was an early dying time. I mean at a time where people didn't live that long. I will try to do more of the three things you told us about in class. One, to get more serious with my relationship with God. Two, to read the bible more. Last but not least, to be one with my community parish. To be kinder and have kinder actons."

___________

"My favorite part was when St. Paul went to all the countries and preached. That must have taken like 6 months or something like that. It was cool how he got back to preaching right after he was stoned. God probably gave him the strength to do all of that stuff. How did he do all of that stuff when he was blind? Oh, God probably gave him the strength to do all of that stuff."

___________

"My favorite part was when Paul saw the light of Jesus.... You have inspired me so much, Sister Susan. Thank you again for coming to our school to share with us the wonderful story of St. Paul!!!"

Needless to say, Sr. Susan has received a standing invitation to return to the school anytime!

Pauline Marketing Department Starts Its Own Blog

Our Marketing Department in Boston has just started this blog with the latest on new releases from our publishing house, Pauline Books & Media. For example, here's a new title that is coming later this month for kids:

Twelve humorous readers’ theater scripts, performed with or without props, engage and entertain students in grades 4–8. The book includes a play for every month of the year that features a contemporary kid with a real-life problem—and a saint who helps them solve it.Written in an easy-to-use readers theater format, these scripts work well in a variety of educational settings, teach basic information about the saints, promote good values, motivate, and inspire. Kids will enjoy the funny storylines and the quirky characters so much that they won’t even notice how much they’re really learning.

I know we here in Redwood City will be following this blog faithfully and reporting here on some of the new product, but you may want to subscribe directly.

Best-selling Pauline author coming to Redwood City

Sr. Kathryn Hermes, author of the bestselling book Surviving Depression, will be in town in early March. Sister is based in our Boston provincial house, where she is director of the acquisitions office for our book centers nationwide. She is also the author of a number of other titles dealing with the subject of healing and spirituality (I've posted pictures of her titles below, with links to their descriptions from our Pauline.org site).

We are pleased to announce that Sr. Kathryn will be available for a book-signing here in our Center on Saturday, March 7th, from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Don't miss this great opportunity to meet a wonderful author whose books carry a message of hope and wholeness.

A New Pauline Blog

Our Sisters in Culver City have started a new blog to report on all the events happening in connection with their Book Center/Outreach Evangelization in Los Angeles and San Diego. The new blog is maintained by Sr. Rose, whose movie reviews we already link to (here and at the bottom of this page). So...we welcome the Culver City community to the blogosphere!

Lent is right around the corner!

Yikes! It's less than a week away, everybody!

Ash Wednesday, February 25th this year, starts our 40-day lenten journey with Christ. It's always a grace-filled season, an opportunity to deepen our relationship with God and others, a time to rededicate ourselves in love and service.

As always, we have wonderful resources available for personal, family, and parish use. Might I point out one new title? Lenten Grace was written by a team of Daughters of St. Paul. It contains reflections on each of the Gospel readings, from Ash Wednesday and extending to the octave of Easter. This book is the prayerful fruit of the sisters' own lectio divina. Here's a small taste, connecting with the parable of the prodigal son:

The Father's love is like the unending cascade of water crashing over Niagra Falls. The falls' awesome power is but a hint of the eternal Father's passionate, thunderous outpouring of life-giving love. Its force pushes aside any excuse I can mutter for ever running away from his love. It catches us and throws us into the depths of his heart--a "heart on fire" for each person. Lord, I am sorry for the times I have gone away "to a distant land" and broken your fatherly heart.

Coming Soon to a Parish (hopefully) Near You: Pauline Film Nights!

Sr. Rose Pacatte, Director of our Pauline Center for Media Studies, has already blogged about last weekend's dedication of the Parish Movie Theater at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Fremont. You can read about the dedication here.

The new parish religious education center features 8 classrooms (with mounted flat screen TV/monitors), 4 offices, a library, a gathering/meeting room, and a 135-seat theater. Sr. Rose writes that Holy Spirit is probably the first parish to construct its own movie theater, providing a "space" for faith to dialogue with culture.

We're pleased to announce that Holy Spirit will be hosting Pauline Movie Nights beginning next month--and that we here at Pauline Books & Media will be helping to lead the discussions on the films, drawing from them important and relevant connections with the gospel and our daily lives.

Here is a tentative list of dates and films. We'll be posting more on this wonderful initiative soon!

Friday, March 27th, 7 p.m. "The Burning Season."

Friday, April 24th, 7 p.m. "The Legend of Baggar Vance."

Friday, May 22nd, 7 p.m. "Somersby."

Friday, June 12th, 7 p.m. "Moonstruck."

Friday, July 24th, 7 p.m. "The Spitfire Grill."

Friday, August 21st, 7 p.m. "A Beautiful Mind."

Friday, September 18th, 7 p.m. "Life is Beautiful."

Friday, October 30th, 7 p.m. "At First Sight."

Friday, November 27th, 7 p.m. "Deep Impact."

Friday, December 11th, 7 p.m. "The Year of Living Dangerously."