Liturgy Essentials

09-17-2025

Fee: $60 | Five Weeks
Prepare for effective liturgy planning in your faith community. Focused on the basics of Catholic liturgy, this course examines how the Constitution on Sacred Liturgy provides the vision for the liturgical life of the Church.

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Topics include the importance of ritual and symbol, liturgical ministry, the importance of proper liturgical space, and the way in which music and popular devotion enhance and expand the experience of meaningful worship.

Topics

Week 1: Course Introduction
Week 2: The Principles of Catholic Liturgy
Week 3: The Four Parts of the Mass
Week 4: Liturgical Ministry, Time, and Space
Week 5: Music and Devotions

Digital text available in the course: James A. Mongelluzzo, Understanding the Liturgy: A Guide to How Catholics Worship. Twenty-Third Publications, 2018.

Content Scholars:

Rev. Msgr. James A. Mongelluzzo, S.T.D. is a priest of the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, and serves on the faculty at Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary.

Jacqueline Regan serves as Associate Dean of Students Affairs and Career Services, Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry.

Saint Mary Magdalene

07-30-2025

Fee: $30 | Four Weeks
Who was Saint Mary Magdalene? What does scripture tell us about her ministry? What impact does her saintly life have on us today? This course explores the imagery of Saint Mary Magdalene, both positive and negative, that have shaped our view of the Apostle to the Apostles.

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This course also explores the impact of her life on the ministry of women in the church. To complement the informative text and videos, a scripture study text is included to provide an optional prayer experience of St. Mary of Magdala as portrayed in the Gospels

This course has an optional text: Dinah Chapman Simmons. Mary Magdalene: Apostle to the Apostles. Little Rock Scripture Study, 2018.
(Little Rock) (Amazon)

Content Scholars:

Madeleine Boucher, Ph.D. (text) is a former professor of New Testament and director of the Women's Studies Program, Fordham University
Barbara Reid, O.P., (video) is Carroll Stuhlmueller, CP, Distinguished Professor of New Testament Studies and President of Catholic Theological Union at Chicago.
Christine Axen, Ph.D., (video) is a medieval scholar and professor at Fordham University and Manhattan College.
Mary Catherine Hilkert, O.P., (video) is professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame.
Sandra Schneiders, I.H.M., (video) is professor emerita of the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley.
Nontando Hadebe, Ph.D., (video) is a theologian and senior lecturer at St. Augustine College in South Africa.
Dinah Chapman Simmons (optional prayer text) is director of Sacramental Preparation and Liturgy at Saint Benedict Parish in Halifax. She also serves in parish ministry in the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth.

Image Credit: Original photo by Fr. Ted Bobosh (CC BY-SA 2.0)

A Church of and for the Poor

07-30-2025

Fee: $30 | Three Weeks
“The poor you will always have with you” (Matt 26:11)
Jesus’s words are as true as ever with today’s volatile economies and extreme financial inequality.

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In pursuit of a 21st Century Christian discipleship, join a guided conversation focused on the many faces of poverty. Explore the biblical and theological roots of the Church’s continuing commitment to the poor, evaluate several proposals about ways to respond to poverty, and converse with others about what it means to be a Church of and for the poor. This course uses the issue of C21 Resources The Poor: What Did Jesus Preach? What Does the Church Teach? edited by Rev. Kenneth R. Himes, O.F.M.

Topics

Week 1: Course Introduction
Week 2: The Many Faces of Poverty
Week 3: How We Respond in the Face of Poverty

Additional Materials Needed

All materials are included in the course. View this issue of C21 Resources, "For the Poor: What Did Jesus Preach? What Does the Church Teach?" If you prefer to have a hardcopy of C21 Resources, request one from The Church in the 21st Century Center at church21@bc.edu.

Content Scholar: This issue of C21 Resources was edited by Rev. Kenneth Himes, O.F.M., professor of theology at the Boston College Theology Department.

Image: Lazarus and the Rich Man by Nigel Lawrence, used with permission.

Teaching Religion to Children: Creative Strategies and Best Practices

07-16-2025

Fee: $60
Explore teaching as a vocation, the various types of learners, different approaches to presenting content, and ways to create sacred space and pray with students in the classroom.

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Sharing the treasure of Christian faith with the next generation can be a real challenge. It’s not enough for children to learn doctrine, but they need to find meaning in the faith for their lives.

Focused on the elementary and junior high catechist and religious educator, this course explores the fundamental questions facing educators: Who are my students? What should I teach? and How do I teach it effectively? Participants will learn about the developmental needs of their students and their diverse learning styles as well as different strategies and resources to provide a quality faith-based education. This course is not dependent on any catechetical textbook series.

Topics

Week 1: Introduction
Week 2: Who are my Students?
Week 3: What Should I Teach?
Week 4: How Do I Teach It? Part I: Strategies
Week 5: How Do I Teach It? Part II: Holistic Student Formation

Additional Materials Needed

Joe Paprocki. The Catechist’s Toolbox: How to Thrive as a Religious Education Teacher. Loyola Press, 2007. (Loyola Press) (Amazon)

Content Scholars

Joe Paprocki, D.Min., (text) is National Consultant for Faith Formation at Loyola Press. He has over 35 years of experience in ministry and has taught at the high school, college, and general-adult levels. He is the author of numerous books and he presents to audiences across North America.
Thomas H. Groome, Ph.D. (videos) is professor of theology and religious education, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, and former director of Boston College’s Church in the 21st Century Center.
Melinda Brown Donovan, M.A. (video, article) served as associate director for continuing education, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, through May, 2019.
Anne Krane, M.Ed., M.Div. (video) is a Pre-K teacher and Ministry Coordinator at St. Columbkille Partnership School. She is also the host and creator of the Breakfast with God program.
Fr. Quang Tran, S.J. (video) is a Jesuit priest of the Central Southern Province. He is originally from New Orleans, LA. and is currently a doctoral student in counseling psychology at Boston College. He is a co-host of the Breakfast with God program.

Teaching Religion to Adolescents

07-16-2025

Fee: $60 | Five Weeks
Drawing upon theology, developmental psychology, and religious education, this course addresses the questions: Who are my students? What should I teach? and How do I teach it effectively?

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Young people today are growing up into a world making complex demands of them: in school, the marketplace, personal relationships, and in the use of technology. Join us to explore the developing capacities and needs of adolescents. Draw from Scripture and Church teaching to increase your skills as a teacher (or parent) for helping teens understand and deepen their faith, strengthening them as they rise up to respond to the world around them. This course equips catechists and religion teachers with the resources and strategies needed to teach adolescents about the Catholic faith with inspiration and confidence.

Topics

Week 1: Introduction
Week 2: Who Are My Students?
Week 3: What Should I Teach?
Week 4: How Should I Teach? - Part 1. Adolescent Appropriate Strategies
Week 5: How Should I Teach? - Part 2. Holisitic Student Formation

Additional Materials Needed

All materials provided in the course.

Content Scholars

Jared Dees, M.Ed., M.A., (videos) is an author and the creator of the website The Religion Teacher, which provides practical resources and effective teaching strategies to religious educators; Dr. Max Engel (videos) is assistant professor of education at Creighton University; Dr. Thomas H. Groome (videos), professor of theology and religious education, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry; Dr. Patrick Manning (articles and videos) is assistant professor of pastoral theology at the Immaculate Conception Seminary and School of Theology at Seton Hall University; Dr. Theresa O’Keefe (videos) is associate professor of the practice of youth and young adult faith at Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry; Susan B. Reynolds (videos) is a Ph.D. student in Theology and Education at Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry

The Eucharist: At the Heart of Catholic Life

04-12-2025

Fee: $30 | Three Weeks
The Eucharist is like a precious jewel, and as we view it from many angles and perspectives, we deepen our appreciation of its value and beauty. the meaning of the Eucharist, the theme of real presence, Eucharist as sacrifice, and the connection between Eucharist and justice.

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This course provides guided discussion around the Fall 2011 issue of C21 Resources, a publication of Boston College’s Church in the 21st Century Center. This issue, entitled “The Eucharist: At the Center of Catholic Life,” edited by John Baldovin, S.J., contains articles by a variety of authors, excerpts from key ecclesial documents, and poems. Attention is given to parents handing on the faith in reference to Eucharist, praying the liturgy of the Eucharist, and a brief look at the current translation of the Roman Missal.

Topics

Week 1: Introduction to the course
Week 2: Real Presence and Sacrifice; Parents, Children, and Eucharist
Week 3: Justice; Liturgy of the Eucharist; Adoration

Everything you need for this course is provided on the course site. View this issue of C21 Resources, "The Eucharist: At the Center of Catholic Life" (PDF). If you prefer a hard copy of C21 Resources, email The Church in the 21st Century Center at church21@bc.edu.

Content Scholars

Various scholars contributed articles, under the editorship of Rev. John F. Baldovin, S.J., professor of historical and liturgical theology at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.