UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Karen Eifler

Did You Know? The Meaning of the Advent Season

Many people may know that the Advent season focuses on expectation and think that it serves as an anticipation of Christ’s birth in the season leading up to Christmas. This is part of the story, but there’s more to Advent.

The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming,” which is a translation of the Greek word parousia. Scholars believe that during the 4th and 5th centuries in Spain and Gaul, Advent was a season of preparation for the baptism of new Christians at the January feast of Epiphany, the celebration of God’s incarnation represented by the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus, his baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, and his first miracle at Cana. During this season of preparation, early Christians would spend 40 days in penance, prayer, and fasting to prepare for this celebration; originally, there was little connection between Advent and Christmas.

By the 6th century, however, Roman Christians had tied Advent to the coming of Christ. But the “coming” they had in mind was not Christ’s first coming in the manger in Bethlehem, but his second coming in the clouds as the judge of the world. It was not until the Middle Ages that the Advent season was explicitly linked to Christ’s first coming at Christmas. More on the “anticipation” part of modern Advent practices in a future Did You Know segment.

“Did You Know?” is a mostly regular feature in upbeat in which dimensions of Catholic practices of faith are unpacked. If you have a question, please contact Fr. Jim Gallagher (gallaghe@up.edu) or Karen Eifler (eifler@up.edu).

TLC Teaching Tip of the Week: Using “Backward Design” to Plan Lessons

In this IGNITE-funded video, education professor Julie Kalnin talks with Karen Eifler about using an orientation called “Backward Design” to plan lessons that foster deeper understanding rather than passive memorization. It is a good complement to Jeffrey White’s IGNITE video on course design and Terry Favero’s on painless formative assessments.

St. Joseph & The Holy Cross Brothers: Did You Know?

St. Joseph is the foster father of Jesus. He was engaged to Mary when, by the Holy Spirit, she became pregnant with Jesus – see the Gospel of Matthew 1:18-25. Not much is known about St. Joseph beyond the fact that he remained committed to raising Jesus alongside Mary and that he is named as a carpenter. Scriptures relay that several times he received dreams that helped him to know how to help Mary care for Jesus. From these few bits of information, St. Joseph has become the patron of many groups, including carpenters, fathers, travelers, as well as patron of many countries and peoples. Interestingly he is also known as the patron of a good death. Joseph comes about this by way of not being referenced later in the Gospels. So it is believed that he died earlier in life, with Jesus and Mary at his side—a pretty good way to go.

St. Joseph is also the patron of the Holy Cross Brothers. Blessed Basil Moreau took on a group of teaching brothers, the Brothers of St. Joseph, founded by Fr. Jacques Dujarié, joining them with an already gathered group of priests to found the Congregation of Holy Cross. The brothers continued to look to St. Joseph as their patron and have ever since sought to emulate his devotion to Jesus and his commitment to service to God’s family.

Did You Know? is a mostly weekly feature in upbeat that pokes around among the many interesting features of UP as a Catholic and Holy Cross university. If you have a question or topic of interest that you would like covered in this feature, please send it to Fr. Jim Gallagher, C.S.C., Campus Ministry, or Karen Eifler, Garaventa Center.

The Difference Between Feasts of All Saints and All Souls: Did You Know?

It’s nearly universal among faith traditions to have beliefs and practices focused on departed family, friends, and strangers. The Catholic Church professes its links to those who have gone before us with two adjacent holy days: November 1 of each year is All Saints, and November 2 is All Souls. When Catholics talk about All Saints, they are referring to those whose faith and actions on Earth, infused by Divine grace, lifted them directly to heaven after their deaths, where they intercede for those still on earth. All Souls is a day for Catholics to pray for the souls of all the departed, especially, in Catholic lingo, those in purgatory (which is a concept to be addressed in an upcoming entry in this space), awaiting the final judgment of a loving and benevolent God. At UP, one marker of All Souls each November 2 is the laying of a wreath in front of the memorial (between Buckley Center and Franz) honoring all those who have served on our faculty or staff and have died. It is another manifestation of the essential communitarian orientation at the heart of Catholicism. Living or dead, we are all connected to one another.

“Did You Know?” is a sort of regular feature in upbeat about the host of wild and lovely things Catholics profess. If you have a question, send it to Fr. Jim Gallagher (gallaghe@up.edu) or Karen Eifler (eifler@up.edu).

 

TLC Tip of the Week: Teaching Reading, No Matter What You Teach

TeachUP for Teaching & Learning CollaborativeIn this IGNITE-funded video, Ellyn Lucas Arwood, education, offers five strategies for increasing the capacity of your students—regardless of academic content area—to be more adept readers of course texts and notes. “How Can I Teach Students to Read In My Academic Discipline?”

For more information contact Karen Eifler, Garaventa Center, at eifler@up.edu.

 

November Month of Remembrance: Did You Know?

The month of November is traditionally a time in which the Catholic community remembers those who have died. It is related to the fact that the end of November is the end of the Liturgical Year with a new year starting the First Sunday of Advent – the four-week period of preparation before Christmas.  The Church then uses this end of the year period as a time to think of the end of life and the end of all things and the great hope that our earthly end is transition into a new life in God’s heavenly reality. We give thanks for those who have gone before us and we look with prayer and hope to their new life in heaven and our desire to join them there one day.

At UP, we have a special practice as a part of this month of remembrance.  A stack of cards and a basket are placed in the entrance to the Chapel of Christ the Teacher and on front desks across campus beginning the week after fall break. Members of the campus community are invited to write a name of a family member or friend who has died and then place that card in the basket. Cards are collected over the first weeks of November and are placed at the foot of the altar throughout the month. Those whose names are placed there at the altar are prayed for daily at Mass and at Evening Prayer.

“Did You Know?” is a mostly weekly feature in upbeat that pokes around among the many interesting features of UP as a Catholic and Holy Cross university. If you have a question or topic of interest that you would like covered in this feature, please send it to Fr. Jim Gallagher, C.S.C., Campus Ministry, or Karen Eifler, Garaventa Center.

Communion Blessings: Did You Know?

Did you know about receiving a blessing at the time of Communion at Mass? Members of the UP community are welcome to attend and participate in the Mass whenever it is offered on campus.  For those who are not Catholic or for any reason do not receive Communion at Mass, there is an option for coming forward to receive a blessing.

One would approach the minister in the line with everyone else and upon arriving at the front of the line can place a hand on your chest or cross arms over your chest.  At this point the minister will offer the greeting, “May Christ be with you.” You may respond with an, “Amen” or simply follow the line back to the pew.

The reception of Communion at a Catholic Mass indicates a faith in the true presence of Christ Jesus in the Eucharist as well as a commitment to communion with the Catholic Church. While it can be difficult to be at Mass and unable to receive Communion, it is also important to allow the act of reception to reflect that commitment to Communion. It is also important to note that there are significant levels of participation that happen whether or not one receives Communion. It is good to have everyone present participating to the full level that they are able.

Did You Know? is a mostly weekly feature in upbeat that pokes around among the many interesting features of UP as a Catholic and Holy Cross university. If you have a question or topic of interest that you would like covered in this feature, please send it to Fr. Jim Gallagher, C.S.C., Campus Ministry, or Karen Eifler, Garaventa Center.

Did You Know? A UP Archive of Why Catholics Do Some of the Stuff They Do

The “Did You Know?” upbeat feature has answered a lot of questions that members of the UP community have asked about why Catholics profess and do some pretty distinctive things. If you are new to UP, or new to wondering about such things, this link will take you to the archive of questions and answers. Once there, navigation is intuitive: click on a question and you will be led to the answer. If this triggers a new question for you, please send it to Fr. Jim Gallagher (gallaghe@up.edu) or Karen Eifler (eifler@up.edu) and it’s likely you’ll see it unpacked in this very spot in the year ahead.

Final Chance to Hear Marilynne Robinson’s Zahm Lecture

UP received permission to record Marilynne Robinson’s 2019 Zahm Lecture, “Wisdom and Knowledge,”and make it available only to the campus community for 30 days following her public address. That period ends this Friday, October 11; at that point this link will no longer be active. Robinson’s lecture will be published (with the Zahm and UP affiliation cited) in her next collection of essays, forthcoming in the next 18 months.

For questions contact Karen Eifler, Garaventa Center, at eifler@up.edu.

TLC Tip of the Week: Enhancing Class Discussions

In this 10-minute IGNITE-funded video, David Turnbloom of the theology department offers strategies for increasing the quality and quantity of student participation in class conversations. His ideas are portable across multiple content areas.

For more information contact Karen Eifler at eifler@up.edu.