Parish Mission Talks
Robert has been engaging audiences of all ages for over 20 years in both Catholic Education and Parish Ministry. His love and joy for the Catholic faith shine through in talks peppered with humour that aren't afraid to take on the hard topics when needed.
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From the Questions Christ Asks Us to Prayer; from Faith and Marriage to Kick-Starting Your Lent; from Daily Catholic Life to Life in the Catholic Classroom; or ask to have a talk created especially for your needs.
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Whether it's for interactive small group sessions or large parish gatherings; your live and personal Catholic Moment can last an hour, a day or several evenings.
The Prayer Life
St. Padre Pio once stated: Prayer is like oxygen for the soul! Prayer is our conversation with God; a time to bring our worries to the Lord and to quietly reflect on his answers. Yet, often our prayer life seems dry and unproductive – more of a monologue than a dialogue. No matter where you are in your faith journey, this talk will give you some practical tips to get your prayer life going and take your conversations with God to a deeper level.
The Courage to be Catholic in a Post-Christian World
In a world where sin is applauded it takes courage to live faithfully as a Catholic Christian. Although we are not all called to speak out in the public square, we are all called to live out our faith publicly as a light in the darkness. It can seem lonely to be a Catholic in today’s society, and taking those first steps to live one’s faith publicly are scary. Be not afraid! Christ is with us, and with each step we begin to realize that we are not alone. In taking courage from one another we can bring a Culture of Life to the world.
Creating Catholic Classrooms (and beyond)
With over 20 years of Catholic teaching experience, Robert has taught grades K to 11 in subjects as varied as French, Science, the Arts, Geography, History and Religion. At every step of the way he has seen the importance of our Catholic faith in the classroom for student success. Although the classroom is where the Catholic teacher has the most impact, a school’s Catholic Culture has much to do with their missionary success.
Either as an hour-long presentation or a half/full-day interactive workshop, Robert can share with your staff best practices for supporting your school’s Catholic identity in the classroom, the staffroom and your Catholic school community.
The Questions that Christ Asks Us
We develop our relationships with others through conversations, feeling each other out with questions and answers. Our relationship with Christ is no different – Jesus asks us questions, and our relationship with him is formed by how we answer. By delving deeper into 7 questions that Christ asks us in Scripture, we can grow in our understanding and love for him.
This subject can be given either as an hour-long talk or a half-day reflective workshop.
How Our Catholic Faith Strengthens Our Marriage
Venerable Fulton Sheen always counselled young couples that it takes 3 to get married - a man, a woman and God. In a world where strong marriages seem to be the exception rather than the norm, one has to wonder what has gone wrong. Too often marriage is seen as a contract between individuals instead of a sacrament before God. In this talk we will explore how trust, forgiveness, humility, service, thanksgiving and prayer all play a part in creating a strong Catholic marriage where it takes 3.
An ideal talk for parish marriage preparation courses, this talk can also help strengthen couples looking to grow together in Christ.
Kick Start Your Lent – a pre-Lenten workshop
Every year Lent seems to sneak up on us. We’re just getting over the joyful celebrations of Christmas when Ash Wednesday reminds us that we need to prepare in penance for Easter. So often we don’t even think about Lent until someone asks us what we’re giving up. When we don’t prepare for Lent, when we come to our Lenten Sacrifice at the last minute, we’re doomed to fail – an even more guilt. This parish evening mission is designed to help Catholics kick start their Lent with prayerful preparation to not only discern their best Lenten promise, but also strengthen them to persevere through the 40 days from Ashes to Calvary.
Walking Through Advent with Mary:
a visio-divina of the Joyful Mysteries
"Are we there yet?"
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Advent can seem like the second hour of a long, long car ride. The first of the Christmas frenzy is over, and we realize that the Christmas prep season is here for the long haul. We're so focussed on our Christmas destination, that we forget to enjoy our Advent journey.
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Who better to walk through Advent with than Mary? This half or full-day retreat prayerfully contemplates the Joyful Mysteries using the medieval practice of Lectio Divina with an artistic twist. Incorporating vibrant artwork, tranquil reading, meditative silence, and prayerful reflection to slow down and truly prepare hearts for Jesus' birth at Christmas.
Testimonials
"Robert took us on a true retreat experience."
~Tania D. - St. Patrick's, Markham
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"I've never looked at the Bible this way before."
~Glen T. - St. Leo's Brooklin
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"A fantastic opportunity to contemplate and reflect on our relationship with Jesus."
~Marilyn C. - www.catholicland.com