{"id":1294,"date":"2010-08-17T05:07:49","date_gmt":"2010-08-17T12:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/?p=1294"},"modified":"2010-08-23T09:04:03","modified_gmt":"2010-08-23T16:04:03","slug":"an-inspirational-introduction-to-the-value-of-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/an-inspirational-introduction-to-the-value-of-community","title":{"rendered":"An Inspirational Introduction to the Value of Community"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We like to think that we can manage on our own. We pride ourselves in being free, independent, and in control of our own destiny. It doesn&#8217;t always work out like that. Our car gets broken into, the baseball game gets called because of rain, or we get home from the store only to find the bread we bought is moldy. How do we help our students deal with the trials of life, both great and small?<\/p>\n<p>One way is to remind them that in Christ they are never alone. In the current climate of &#8220;I&#8217;m spiritual but not religious,&#8221; it is important to help students understand the value of a community united in Christ.\u00a0 A religion is not a way of controlling or limiting people&#8217;s freedom; rather, a religion is a group of people who come together because they believe in the same thing and who support each other on their faith\u00a0journeys. For Catholics, that community is the Body of Christ.<\/p>\n<p>Despite our culture&#8217;s mantra of &#8220;I can do it myself,&#8221; we all need help from time to time. This is poignantly demonstrated in the following video, which would make a powerful introduction to the concept of what Church really is.<\/p>\n<p><object width=\"425\" height=\"344\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/VYv1NFAgHR8?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US\"><\/param><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"><\/param><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"><\/param><\/object><\/p>\n<p>Thanks to <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2010\/08\/you-raise-me-up.html\">Deacon Greg Kandra<\/a> for sharing the video.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We like to think that we can manage on our own. We pride ourselves in being free, independent, and in control of our own destiny. It doesn&#8217;t always work out like that. Our car gets broken into, the baseball game gets called because of rain, or we get home from the store only to find &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/an-inspirational-introduction-to-the-value-of-community\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;An Inspirational Introduction to the Value of Community&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[69,24],"tags":[8,26],"class_list":["post-1294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-catechesis","category-spirituality","tag-inspiration","tag-video"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/prZ8V-kS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2389,"url":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/teach-them-something-that-lasts","url_meta":{"origin":1294,"position":0},"title":"Teach Them Something That Lasts","author":"Deacon Nick","date":"February 5, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Note: The following reflection was written for Catholic Schools Week 2011 as part of a series for ACE Advocates for Catholic Schools. When I taught Amy she was a bright, athletic, beaming eighth grader. She loved her older sister, her younger brother, and playing soccer. A short two years later,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/category\/news"},"img":{"alt_text":"Holy Spirit by Murillo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/HolySpiritByMurillo-213x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2363,"url":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/101-reasons-to-send-your-child-to-a-catholic-school","url_meta":{"origin":1294,"position":1},"title":"101 Reasons to Send Your Child to a Catholic School","author":"Deacon Nick","date":"January 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"With Catholic Schools Week 2011 nearly upon us, Catholic schools all over the country are about to celebrate the gift of Catholic education. My own involvement in Catholic education has been a blessing I could never repay. From first grade through high school, from undergraduate to graduate school, I spent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/category\/news"},"img":{"alt_text":"Catholic Classroom","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Classroom.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Classroom.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/Classroom.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1331,"url":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/12-virtues-of-a-good-teacher-part-iii","url_meta":{"origin":1294,"position":2},"title":"12 Virtues of a Good Teacher &#8211; Part III","author":"Deacon Nick","date":"August 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Teaching is a noble and essential profession, not only for society but also for the Church.\u00a0 In this third and final reflection on Brother Luke Grande's book Twelve Virtues of a Good Teacher, we meditate on virtues that emphasize the profound effect teachers have on their students. Humility \"Humility is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Spirituality&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Spirituality","link":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/category\/spirituality"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christ and the Children","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Christ-and-the-Children-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2161,"url":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/the-3-functions-of-a-catholic-school","url_meta":{"origin":1294,"position":3},"title":"The 3 Functions of a Catholic School","author":"Deacon Nick","date":"December 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Why do Catholic schools exist? What's really the difference between a public school and a Catholic school? Is a Catholic school simply a public school with an added course called Religion? Is a Catholic school's purpose to be a haven from the world, an island where no bad things come?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Teaching&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Teaching","link":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/category\/teaching-tips"},"img":{"alt_text":"Classroom","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/Picture-2-159x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1753,"url":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/15-rosary-resources-for-october","url_meta":{"origin":1294,"position":4},"title":"15 Rosary Resources for October","author":"Deacon Nick","date":"September 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Because October 7 is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, October is traditionally considered the month of the rosary. This is an excellent time of the year to reacquaint your students with this beautiful method of prayer. The following links may be helpful as you plan your religion\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Spirituality&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Spirituality","link":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/category\/spirituality"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rosary Beads","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/rosary-beads.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3031,"url":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/prayer-of-blessing-for-students-and-teachers-to-begin-the-school-year","url_meta":{"origin":1294,"position":5},"title":"Prayer of Blessing for Students and Teachers to Begin the School Year","author":"Deacon Nick","date":"August 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"One of my favorite things about starting a new month is opening up a new issue of Give Us This Day: Daily Prayer for Today's Catholic. The opening pages for this month's edition greeted me with a prayer for students and teachers from the Book of Blessings, and I thought\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Spirituality&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Spirituality","link":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/category\/spirituality"},"img":{"alt_text":"Students Praying","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/studentspraying.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/studentspraying.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/studentspraying.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/studentspraying.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/studentspraying.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/studentspraying.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/redmond.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1294"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1400,"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1294\/revisions\/1400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/csc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}