Here’s one simple yet profound lesson from working at TOBET: when working, set aside the things distracting you from the task at hand. Keeping your attention on your phone is like keeping one foot in the door: your mind isn’t willing to focus when your body could leave at a moment’s notice. Be where your body is!
If you only had ONE hour of mandated formation every year to teach over 2.5 million Catholic children and youth, what would you give them? We at TOBET know. We’d have them learn from our new program called Bridges and Boundaries.
In the age of the Internet, we consider it quite fashionable to talk about how much we want to do away with the ever-present distraction of our smartphones. And yet for many of us – myself included – we don’t often get past the talking stage when discussing getting rid of our phones. Some people switch to “dumb” phones, but often times we have to just learn to live with this distraction as a cost of living in a modern world. That begs the question, why do these devices which we hoped would connect us make us feel more distant than ever? You can probably already guess the answer: because the body matters!
With the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord behind us, Christmas season has officially ended in the Roman Calendar. Though some will continue observing it until Candlemas, most of the Church has moved into Ordinary time. The excitement of the holiday season has calmed down, and we can look toward the year ahead. So, what’s next for TOBET?
This week, we change pace a little. As opposed to a violet candle, we light a “rose” colored candle. This candle, the Shepherd’s candle, represents joy. This past Sunday also had a special name: Gaudete Sunday. “Gaudete” means “rejoice” and comes from the introit, “Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete.” (Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.) So why, when in the midst of a season of waiting, should we rejoice two weeks before Christmas?
With Thanksgiving behind us, we turn our attention towards Christmas. We call this season of anticipation for the coming of Our Lord in the Incarnation, “Advent.” Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas, with each Sunday having its own theme represented by one of the four candles on the Advent wreath. Starting on the first Sunday of Advent, we light the first violet “Prophet’s Candle,” which symbolizes Hope.
In biology the term “type specimen” refers to the first sample of a new species. With animals, the type specimen means the first dead body found. Until someone produces a type specimen for bigfoot, we cannot say for certain it exists. Without studying a physical body, all information about the beast will remain speculation. This explains why some people who believe in bigfoot come across a little crazy, they have no bodily specimen to limit their speculation.
Some things simply require a bodily experience to properly understand why we should have a healthy fear of it. God gave us a huge world to explore, and a sense of fear to keep us safe from danger. But even so, that fear should not keep us from legitimately pursuing our goals – the greatest of which is to love God above all else. But when we overcome our fears in pursuit of God, we come to a greater love of Him through the virtue of courage.
This post discusses the basis of good music, and how are bodies can let us know it’s good by the way it makes it feel and the way it can change our moods.
The author reflects on the significance of school uniforms, highlighting their role in promoting equality, fostering community identity, and enhancing safety. They suggest that uniforms reinforce shared educational purpose and relationships among individuals.