Amazing Catechists

Teaching and learning the faith together

Seven Ways to Observe Advent with Children

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Photo by Stefan Schweihofer (2018) via Pixabay, CCO Creative Commons

Perhaps you too have had the experience of preparing for Christmas, only to realize that amongst the candy-making, the letter-writing, the present-purchasing, the tree-trimming, and more, you never got around to spiritual preparation, even though you really meant to this year.

If you would like to add a more reflective or penitential note to your family’s Advent observance, check out the seven ideas below to get you started.  Choose one (or two), gather what you will need, and start a new family tradition!

Jesse tree

The idea:

Recall salvation history.  Use ornaments decorated with symbols to represent the events and stories leading up to the birth of Jesus and hang them on a tree of some kind (the tree is so named after Jesse, father of King David–see Isaiah 11:1).

What you will need:   

  • You can order a kit.  Check out Etsy for some beautiful ones.
  • You can do it yourself…you need something to be the tree, something to make ornaments, and a Bible or knowledge of Bible stories.  I use a book that has reproducible ornaments.  Each year I photocopy one set of ornaments for each child.  I cut out a large Christmas tree shape from wrapping paper and tape it on the wall.  Each day (when all goes well), the kids color their ornaments while I read to them the passage from the Bible corresponding to the symbol they are coloring.  They then cut out their ornaments and tape them on the tree.
  • The tree can also be a bare branch set into a mason jar full of stones or sand, and the ornaments can be hung on it with loops of ribbon.

Advent stockings: good works

The idea:

The family does a spiritual or corporal work of mercy (or other charitable act) each day of advent.  For example, we might give away a piece of clothing; pray for an end to abortion; pray for our priests; call someone who might be lonely, etc.

You need:

  • Slips of paper listing the good works you will do (see the end of this post for ideas).
  • Something to put them in.  I have mini stockings with numbers on them, which we hang up.  Every evening I put a slip of paper in the next day’s stocking, choosing the activity based on what can fit into our family calendar.  But you could easily do the same with numbered envelopes or, if you are really adventurous, just put them all in a mason jar and see what you pull out!

Making soft Baby Jesus’ Bed

The idea:

Family members make sacrifices and do good acts throughout Advent.  For each one, they lay a piece of straw or hay in an empty manger, trying to get the bed as soft as possible before Baby Jesus will be born on Christmas morning.

You need:

  • Raffia, hay, straw, grass, or strips of yellow construction paper.
  • Some sort of manger.
  • Baby Jesus statue.
  • I bought one similar to this for our family.

Advent wreath

The idea:

Four candles represent the four Sundays of Advent.  Three are purple to represent penance; the fourth is pink for Gaudete Sunday (the 3rd Sunday of Advent.  Gaudete means “joy,” and the priest will wear rose-colored vestments).  On the first Sunday of Advent, light the purple candle that is diagonal from the pink one.  Say a prayer of longing for Our Savior.  Every evening light this candle, accompanied by a prayer, and each successive Sunday light an additional candle.

You need:

  • An advent wreath/candle holder
  • Candles

Salvation history candle

The idea:

Similar to a Jesse tree but for the artistic.  You will draw on a large candle (about 2 feet tall) the scenes from salvation history, starting with Adam and Eve at the top and Baby Jesus at the bottom.  You will burn the candle throughout Advent.

You need:

  • A church-style large candle, 51% beeswax, about 2’ tall.  Can be found at stjudeshop.com
  • Drawing implements

Planned read-alouds

The idea:

Read advent and nativity books during Advent: either one story per day in a book of collected Advent stories or separate books.

You need:

  • A book with a collection of 22-28 Advent stories (here is the one we have); or
  • 22-28 picture books that are Advent-related, about saints whose feast day falls in Advent, or about salvation history.  If you choose this option, you might want to wrap them in wrapping paper and number them, opening up one on each day.

Piece-by-piece nativity set

The idea:

Rather than give a little piece of candy in an Advent calendar, each day brings another object or person to add to the nativity scene, starting with the stable/cave and ending with Baby Jesus.

You need:

  • You can buy a set online that has the requisite number of pieces; or
  • You can make one yourself out of felt, bringing out one piece each day; or
  • Your children make their own paper nativity set, coloring a piece every day using free printables online.

____________________

Resources:

Here is a list of good works you might use for your family’s Advent stockings.

  • Do something nice for someone in secret today.
  • Look around your room.  Is there anything you can give away to the poor?
  • Do an extra chore today.
  • Try hard to be cheerful in everything you do today.
  • Draw a picture of the nativity.
  • Read about a saint today.
  • Pray for your priest today.  Could you offer up a sacrifice for the Church today?
  • Pray for an end to abortion today and give away something to moms in need.
  • Pray for the deceased today.  Could you make a sacrifice for the souls in purgatory?
  • Pray for persecuted Christians today and learn about a country where they do not have freedom of religion.
  • Pray for people who do not know Jesus.  Is there something you could do extra as an offering for them?
  • Pray for your family today.  What can you do to help your family be more like the Holy Family?
  • Pray a Rosary today.
  • Pray the Chaplet of Divine mercy.
  • Do an examination of conscience tonight, and if possible, schedule Confession sometime soon.
  • Take a meal to someone in need.
  • Make a card to send to someone who lives far away.
  • Call or invite someone over who might be lonely.
  • Read the Nativity story from the Bible.
  • Make ornaments to send to the nursing home.
  • Do something for someone else that you normally don’t want to do (such as offer to play a game you know he likes).
  • Eat all of your food with a good attitude (even if you don’t like it) and be grateful you have it.
  • Sing a song to baby Jesus or make up a poem for Him.
  • Act out the nativity or part of the salvation story or do a puppet show.
  • Give money to the poor.  You may do an extra chore and give away any money you earn.
  • Bake something and give away half.
  • Write or draw a thank-you card for someone.
  • Make a gift for your priest or staff at your parish church.
  • Give away food to the food pantry.
  • Give away a piece of warm clothing.
  • Work on memorizing a Bible verse.
  • Go to morning Mass.
  • Give up something you like to do or eat today and offer it up as a prayer for someone in need.
  • Wrap up something you have and give it to someone.

 

Copyright 2018 Amanda Woodiel.  This post first appeared at www.inaplaceofgrace.com.

Classroom Management with Eager Children

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We have all been there. We, the Catechist, ask a question in the classroom. Several eager students raise their hands in a manner that sounds like a miniature version of the clamoring shoppers on Black Friday. These students want to be called upon and share their insight. Stopping the eagerness may, or at least we think it might, discourage them from volunteering their answer in the future.

The Question and Answer approach in the classroom is a favorite of many, wherein the Catechist lectures or writes something upon the board and asks a question to get the classroom to engage in the lesson. This approach can truly become chaotic in the classroom. I have sat in the classroom of many catechists that I mentored, and some have offered me this question: “Did you notice how they got really noisy whenever I asked them a question?” This is a chronic problem for classrooms full of small children. It is only natural for a child who loves truth to desire to share the answer to the Catechist’s question.

Here is a very simple set of ideas for maintaining the focus on the lesson while inviting students to offer answers or ideas:

  • Call on a student before asking the question. For example, “Joe Smith, who created the world?”
  • Call on a specific row. For example, “Can someone in the first row tell me what Ex Nihilo means?”
  • Call on a specific group. For example, “Girls, can one of you tell me how many books are in the Old Testament?”

These simple ideas, especially the first, will maintain order in the classroom and allow Catechists to continue to invite students to offer answers during the catechetical lesson.

The 4 Key Questions for Lesson Plans

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I. Introduction: Planning

It has been my experience that the two most common pitfalls for Catechists, for myself and others, are prayer and planning. I will only speak briefly on prayer since this article is about planning. We get busy. We all get busy. There is a temptation to sacrifice times of prayer in preparation for a catechetical class. Instead of our ministry as a Catechist being the fruit of prayer, we can sometimes rush in and catechize from a place of our own energy. This temptation is even more common among volunteer catechists. Our catechetical ministry must always have enough foresight to prioritize times of prayer for our students, their parents, their godparents, our parish, and the particular class in the coming day or week.

We also have the temptation to not spend sufficient time planning for future classes. We may be able to say, “I am teaching First Confession and First Communion class. This year is about Confession and the Eucharist. First semester is on Confession and second semester is on Holy Communion. I have my textbook. And I know what subject I want to cover next week.” This is all well and good but is lacking the preparedness that makes for an Amazing Catechist. If we move from subject to subject or week to week, we have no real means of monitoring growth and catechetical learning. There is no synthesis throughout the overall year.

The common objection that may arise is: “I can tell you want to encourage lesson plans. But lesson plans get in the way of the Holy Spirit. If I plan too much I will not be going where the Holy Spirit wants me to go.” First, I would say that keeping prayer as the context for our motivation and planning for the classroom will keep the Holy Spirit involved in the process. Second, just as the Spiritual Masters teach us regarding prayer, planning and methods are good but we can make alterations if the prompting of the Holy Spirit arises (in accord with proper discernment).

 

II. The 4 Key Questions

I would not dare to compel you to create lengthy lesson plans like those used in schools. All I invite you to do is to answer four questions with each unit. A unit may span the time of a month or two.

  1. What is the theme of this unit?
  2. By the end of this unit, what should my students know?
  3. By the end of this unit, what should my students love?
  4. By the end of this unit, what should my students be able to do?

These questions can work for small children, teens, or adult participants. Answering these questions provides a system, rooted in prayer, that allows us to evaluate all decisions we make in the classroom. Will this lecture or activity or project help to catechize on the theme of the unit? Will this lecture or worksheet or coloring page or discussion help my students achieve the three categories of goals for this class unit? This prevents us from making decisions “just because it seemed right.”

Perhaps it may be helpful to provide some examples of answers for the four key questions for lesson plans.

EXAMPLE 1:

  1. The Sacrament of Confession for 7 year olds. (Unit Theme)
  2. They should know the biblical foundations for Confession, the role sin and reconiliation play in our relationship with God and others, what happens when we go to Confession, and the form and words of Confession.
  3. They should love forgiving others, love receiving forgiveness, and love the opportunity to encounter the Good Shepherd in the confessional.
  4. They should be able to summarize the Sacrament of Confession to others, be able to make an examination of conscience, and tell me what they need to say/do when in Confession.

EXAMPLE 2:

  1. Oil and Laying on of Hands in Confirmation for teens. (Unit Theme)
  2. They should know the Old Testament and New Testament uses of oil/anointing and the laying on of hands as they pertain to Confirmation.
  3. They should develop a love for the Holy Spirit.
  4. They should be able to pray to the Holy Spirit, articulate to their peers the meaning of the sacramental signs of Confirmation in relation to Scripture, and be able to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit in their life.

 

III. Conclusion: Be an Amazing Catechist

As you can see, this 4 Question approach prevents that catechetical classroom from being solely intellectual. Worksheets, crafts, and presentations will not accomplish all the goals for the unit. The traditional assessments of a quiz or test or worksheet will only accomplish assessing one category of goals: What they should know. The other categories require the use of discussions, reflections, meditation, mentoring, presentations, and guided prayer. This is the recipe for an Amazing Class, made possible by an Amazing God, and made possible because of the prayerful preparedness of an Amazing Catechist.

A Case for the Restoration of Catechetical Recitation

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Over the last fifteen years I have heard numerous individuals share about their experiences as the “last real Baltimore Catechism Generation.” Some express that the formal catechism recitation, comprised of a question and answer dialogue, was a positive influence on their faith life and provided them sound doctrinal formation. Others have a somewhat negative view of their experience and felt that the catechism recitation monopolized their classroom experience. Interestingly though, they do have one positive thing to say about the use of recitation: “I will never forget what I learned.” The famous example being:

The Catechist: Why did God make you?

The Class: “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in heaven.”

This dialogue recitation was not only found in Catholic catechetical classrooms but also is a hallmark of the Classical Education Movement that has been seeking to restore the essence of an authentic education. The name for this dialogue or echo between teacher and class has also been called “Catechism.” For now, let us remain with the title “recitation.”

I seek to suggest that it would be in our best interest as Amazing Catechists, either at home or in a classroom, to carry out the restoration project of bringing back the Catholic recitation. I am not suggesting that this be done as the sole means of educating youth but that the use of recitation should once again become part of our catechetical process. The question and answers of recitation can easily be integrated into the opening of class or the closing of class. The reason for its restoration is that it works.

The traditional characteristic of the younger grades, what we call Grammar School or Elementary School, was the emphasis on memory work. The emphasis on memory work was aimed at cultivating a child’s memory capacity and at the same time teaching them something. Small children can do it, and the last couple thousand years have demonstrated that it fits well with the developmental stages of small children. They like to repeat and imitate. They are a sponge and can handle unusual amounts of information if it begins simple and grows in complexity. Recitation for a small child is like exercise. The more a person exercises, the easier it becomes and the more complicated routines can then be adopted.

Within a few short minutes I have seen 1st communicants be able to answer questions like:

  1. Who is God?
  2. What are the two parts of Scripture?
  3. Name the four Gospels.
  4. Who is Jesus?
  5. What are the Old Testament types of Baptism?
  6. What does John 3:5 say about Baptism?
  7. What does Romans 6 say about Baptism?
  8. How does Confirmation complete Baptism?
  9. How does Confirmation help with the reception of Holy Communion?
  10. What is the Manna in Exodus 16?
  11. How does the Lord’s Prayer connect with Manna?
  12. What does Jesus say about the Eucharist in John 6?

The benefits for the child are beyond this article and deserve an entire book to do them justice. I have chosen to simplify and provide the nine most common fruits when recitation is done well and consistently:

  1. Recitation teaches children to organize a body of knowledge in a systematic way.
  2. Recitation demonstrates to a child how the new lesson of a given class fits within the greater body of knowledge of the Catholic Faith.
  3. Recitation teaches children new and proper vocabulary to help them formulate the concepts they will learn in class.
  4. Recitation provides students the opportunity to grow in confidence for speaking in front of others.
  5. Recitation provides all students in a classroom the same base knowledge to build from in the catechetical lesson.
  6. Recitation motivates the child to develop their memory capacity and their speed and ability for recall.
  7. Recitation provides a body of knowledge that will be ingrained in their long-term memory for the years and possibly decades to come.
  8. Recitation encourages teamwork when done in a classroom setting since the class answers together.
  9. Recitation develops a sense of confidence through the year’s mastery of recitation.

Besides being a time-tested approach to learning for smaller children, especially within a Catholic environment, recitation also provides many helps for the Catechists. Classroom recitation provides the most immediate assessment of a student’s or students’ abilities and their current status in the process of formation. Unlike True and False questions or multiple-choice questions, recitation does not allow for guessing. You either know it or you do not. A catechist does not need to wait until the end of the unit quiz to know if a student grasps the content. They will know immediately. The process of conducting recitation will be discussed in my next article.

The importance of recitation, and the fact that it should not monopolize the classroom experience, is best expressed by turning to L.M. Montgomery’s classic Anne of Green Gables. The orphan, Anne, has arrived at her new home at Green Gables. Marilla asks Anne if she knows who God is. Anne responds, “God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable, in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.” The narrator explains that Anne’s answer was prompt.

Anne then explains that she learned it at Sunday school before being adopted. “They made us learn the whole catechism,” likely referring to a sort of recitation, “There’s something splendid about some of the words.” The role of this catechism recitation had a big impact on her vocabulary, her memory, her recall, and her worldview. However, Anne does not yet know how to be a person who prays to God and follows God. For this reason, Marilla immediately seeks Anne’s religious instruction.

Just as in the example of Anne of Green Gables, catechism recitation can have many benefits but must be accompanied by something more within the classroom. The catechetical recitation and catechetical lesson work together to create something grand: a child formed in the way of Jesus Christ. Anyone would be hard pressed, once they know the different approaches to conducting recitation, to find a good reason to not restore catechetical recitation to its proper place.

 

Image Credit from Wikimedia Commons: Jules-Alexis Muenier: Catechism Lesson

Sacred Art and Assessments for Small Children

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Whether it’s a weekly catechetical class or catechesis delivered within a daily Catholic education environment, it can be a challenge to know what new students know and what they don’t. Knowing their status is crucial before covering new material. The common approach for older kids is to offer a beginning of the year quiz, trivia game, or oral questioning. What can be done to assess, whether it is the beginning of the year or the end of the year, small children? The answer: Sacred Art and Word Association.

In an ideal world, baptized students would enroll in our classes and have a firm catechetical foundation from home as the Church calls parents to be the “first” teachers of the faith and the “best” teachers of the faith (see the Rite of Infant Baptism). Yet, this is not always the case. We cannot take for granted that the kids entering our classroom have a firm grasp of the major figures and events within the grand story of our salvation.

Small children are often shy and quiet when they feel they are being assessed. A direct line of questioning may damage the bridge building that the opening class sessions are meant to finalize. Yet, Sacred Art provides an easy path to building the bridge of trust with small children and assessing their current knowledge of the figures and events of Salvation History and the Sacraments.

Displaying a Holy Icon or a reprint of a painting can provide small children, or individuals of any age, a sense of awe and wonder as they take their seats. Allow them the opportunity to enjoy the Sacred Art. Allow them to get close. Encourage silence during this process. Then ask the students questions about the image. Let us use two examples. The Crucifixion Icon of Meister der Schule von Nowgorod (Wikimedia commons).

  1. Who is the central figure in this image? (Jesus)
  2. What is He on? (a Cross)
  3. Is he alive or dead? (answers may differ)
  4. How many figures have a Halo? (3)
  5. Who is the woman with a halo? (Virgin Mary)
  6. Who is the man with a halo? (John the Apostle)
  7. Why did Jesus die on the Cross? (for our sins)

If a child struggles with this, you can choose to ask them to point at Jesus, find the golden halos, find the Cross, etc. This is not as effective since the child can guess and get it right. The seven questions above are more like a child version of short answers, while the “point and find” method is more like a multiple-choice question.  This next example comes from Adoration of the Child by Sebastiano di Bartolo Mainardi (Wikimedia commons).

  1. What is this an image of? (Christmas/Nativity)
  2. How many animals are in this picture? (2)
  3. What animals do you see? (donkey and ox)
  4. Who is the child? (Jesus)
  5. Who is the woman? (Mary)
  6. Who is the man? (Saint Joseph)
  7. Why are they with animals? (There was no room for them in the Inn).

This may seem like simple stuff, but most of us catechists have had the heartache of having a kid that knew nearly nothing about the faith and we found out too late in the year. This Sacred Art assessment is simple, fun, and nearly exact in its ability to assess their basic knowledge of the faith. Feel free to use other images or use more. You can then choose new images at the end of the year and see if they can improve their ability to recognize the individuals and events depicted in the Sacred Art.

To make sure the class is not merely an assessment, have the kid’s work on a corresponding coloring picture while they wait for their turn to sit with the Amazing Catechist. If the image you are assessing them with is on the Crucifixion, have them color a crucifixion page. After the children have been assessed, discuss the image as a class. Then end the class by inviting students to draw and color on a blank page while trying to imitate/copy the image used for the assessment by matching colors and figures the best they can given their age. This too will allow you a better window into the abilities that fall under the category of developmental skills.

MAC Notes For Praying With Children

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It was a great joy to present some ideas about praying with children, this past Friday (February 16), at the Mid-Atlantic Congress, in Baltimore. It touched my heart very much to be in Maryland (Mary-land!) surrounded by dedicated people of faith.

I want to thank all of you who attended for your warmth, your attention, and most of all for your commitment to bring the Faith to others, no matter how difficult that task may seem. But we know that God is faithful, and what we plant He waters.

Please feel free to ask questions in the com boxes and I’ll add more material, as needed. Here are the bullet points, reading resources, Catechism quotes, Scriptures, and other elements of the talk:

The Annunciation, by Henry Tanner

I began by talking about the fact that we are all made for supernatural experiences and interactions. It is natural for us to experience the supernatural! From the beginning of our lives to the moment we enter heaven, we are accompanied by a guardian angel, a pure spirit so unique that it is a separate species from all other spirits (according to Catholic angelologists). This mighty being beholds the face of God in heaven and attends to our souls with perfect dedication and love.

I shared two prayers from my new book, Heads Bowed: Prayers for Catholic School Days. The first is from Week One and was written for the adult preparing for the school year (there are two weeks of preparation prayers), and the other is from Week Nine of the children’s prayers and provides a prayer lesson on the same topic: Angels!

Here they are:

Holy Angels, you surround us with your prayerful and protective presence at all times, and I thank you. I ask that you watch over our classroom throughout the coming year, filling it with your praises to God and guarding it diligently with your holy presence and your powerful prayers. Draw down from heaven every grace and blessing we need to heal our wounds, repent of our sins, and offer our sufferings in union with the cross of Jesus Christ for the good of souls. Amen. (Week 1: Theme: Strength in Weakness)

Dear Jesus, St. Anselm taught that from the moment we are created in our mother’s womb, God gives us a guardian angel to watch over us.  We are precious to God no matter how small we are. Even though we are hidden away for a little while before we were born, God always sees us and loves us! After we are born, God’s angel stays with us throughout our lives and guides us safely to God, when we die. Our angel will not leave us or stop praying for us until we are ready to enter into the joy of heaven! Amen.  (Week 9: Theme: The Unborn)

Nothing is more natural than teaching the Faith through prayer. We do this naturally when we are raising our own children. We call out the attributes of God, express our trust in His mercy, and use a language of love that helps each child feel they are a part of something beautiful and true.

Every one of the almost 300 prayers in my book is a short catechetical lesson, as well as a prayer. The collection spans about 10 months of school days, plus special occasion prayers, a glossary of challenge words, and a scriptural reference for each week. The traditional dedications of the days and months, the liturgical seasons, virtues, and mysteries of the Rosary, are also woven into the prayers, so that young children experience them simply and older children and adults have more to interest them.

More notes:

We ourselves express an amazing nature that will be perfected, in heaven. On earth, we possess five senses that help us to access the intangibles of heaven, and after the Resurrection of the Dead, our glorified senses will be even more amazing! That’s why the Church is so wise about beauty, which is a gateway to truth and goodness–to God Himself.

Body and Soul: One Human Nature: CCC 365

The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the “form” of the body: i.e., it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature.

When Jesus entered into time, He sanctified it. And when He took on human flesh, he sanctified that, too. That means that every moment of our lives is holy and our lives have meaning and purpose from our earliest biological beginnings to the very end of our natural lives. It is all His! Every moment is precious. The world tells us otherwise, discarding the helpless unborn and the elderly, which is the darkest kind of ignorance, masquerading as sophistication.

Note: Those who have been lied to, indoctrinated, pressured, and wounded by these evils (i.e., post-abortive women and families) are tenderly loved by God and need only seek His healing love to be restored and strengthened, to be given new life, and to carry out their true purpose in Him. Check out Rachel’s Vineyard for loving support in finding healing.

Never doubt the dignity of your own soul. God, who contains the entire universe and all of heaven–the angels, saints, holy souls, our beloved who are living and those who have died, the stars and planets, every layer of creation–this God abides tenderly and devotedly in our souls. Within our souls dwells the Holy Spirit, by virtue of our baptism, and each time we receive Jesus in the Eucharist, we become tabernacles of His holy presence. That Presence has an impact on the world around us, as it radiates through us.

  • St. Therese of Lisieux said, “How great must a soul be to contain a God.”
  • Jesus said, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (Jn 14:23)
  • When the Lord is with us, we are empowered to live the adventure of our own lives, to fulfill the unique calling of God to our individual souls!
  • God wants to make a masterpiece in our souls.
  • Learning and teaching the Faith is a key to that wondrous transformation in Christ.

“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

Learning our faith a little at a time draws us closer to God and empowers our mission.

As we move through our lives, studying our faith, we “scratch” at ideas that may be familiar, but perhaps we don’t fully understand, yet. The Liturgical year takes us round and round the treasure map of our faith, and we scratch a little every year, going deeper into the treasury of grace and knowledge that feeds our walk with Christ. If we keep scratching a little at a time, we uncover treasures that change our lives, light our souls on fire, and make it impossible for us to keep our excitement to ourselves.

I absolutely love Dr. Edward Sri’s book, A Biblical Walk Through the Mass: Understanding What We Say and Do in the Liturgy. He takes each piece of the Mass, scratches and digs deeply into the origins and biblical connections, and unearths the treasures within. He begins with the very start of the Mass:

“On the one hand, from a Scriptural perspective, the words ‘The Lord be with you’ remind us of the high calling we each have. As God’s children, we each have a particular mission to fulfill in the Father’s plan…each of us has a role that no one else can play…these words also assure us that we have access to a higher power that can support us through the trials and challenges of life and help us be faithful in whatever task God has entrusted to us.”  (p. 26)

Dr. Sri goes on to explain that when God says, “I will be with you,” or an angel says, “The Lord is with you,” he is saying that we need not fear anything. He describes some examples: Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Mary. Each is empowered to accomplish the impossible, in friendship with God.

When we hear the priest say, at Mass, “The Lord be with you,” we should hear the voice of the Lord saying to us:

  • I will equip you, I will provide for you, I will defend you, and I will give you victory.
  • Through the gift of Himself in the Eucharist, Christ strengthens us.
  • Our heroes are heroes because they trusted in the power of God.
  • Prayer and study change us, opening us up to God’s grace (LIFE).
  • When we persevere in prayer and sacramental life, we become radiant witnesses.

Pope Paul VI famously wrote: “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.”

We all want to be radiant witnesses, but I sometimes feel, working with children, that I’m ill-prepared or uninspired, so I pray, “Lord, light me up! You are my wattage!” And He never lets me down. If I walk out of class feeling like a failure, I say, “Lord, I don’t know what I did in there, but I know You did something!”

The amazing Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen always prayed before he taught: “Lord, send me Pentecostal fire!”

But to become Radiant Witnesses, we need sacramental healing and cleansing: confession. Here’s the fun commercial I do at all my talks. When you do this for your own presentations, have fun! Sell it! Make them laugh. It will help them remember.

Feeling tired? Rundown? Discouraged? Feel like Jesus hasn’t been answering your prayers, lately? Well, how would you like to get back in the game so fast it’ll make the enemy’s head spin? Get some religion, get your groove back? Let the light of the Lord shine right through you and out to the world? Well, you’re in luck! Because right now you, my friend, can get back in the race with some sanctifying grace. Discovering the elation of reconciliation. Free at last! Free of charge, at a Catholic parish near you, where a priest is waiting to take your call. Get back in the game. Get back to confession!

Why It is Important to Pray With Children

  • Adults humbly approaching the throne of God is a powerful witness.
  • Recognizing something greater than ourselves is an important reality check.
  • Respecting authority in childhood—leads to exercising healthy authority as adults.
  • Praying together gives children a blueprint for prayer—they mimic to learn the language of love.
  • They realize they can have a relationship with God, Our Lady, the saints, angels, and the Holy Souls.
  • They are reminded that they are made for supernatural encounters.
  • Prayer empowers them to enter into the mystery—and the paradoxes of a life lived for God.
  • Memories and habits of prayer, soaked in love, become rich in meaning and take root for a lifetime.
  • An intimate relationship with God is an indispensable means to achieving their life’s purpose with clarity.
  • The habit of prayer strengthens them to stand against dark influences and live for God.

Pixabay

Working prayer into our lessons and lessons into our prayers

Here, I shared some ideas about the naturalness of prayer as a way to teach, and lessons as a way to incorporate prayer, beginning with the Sign of the Cross–again, based on a lesson from Dr. Sri’s book. I began with this excerpt, however, from an EWTN interview with author and editor, Bert Ghezzi:

Bert Ghezzi (from EWTN interview):

  • The sign of the cross is: a confession of faith; a renewal of baptism; a mark of discipleship; an acceptance of suffering; a defense against the devil; and a victory over self-indulgence.
  • When you make the sign, you are professing a mini version of the creed — you are professing your belief in the Father, and in the Son and in the Holy Spirit.
  • When you say the words and pray in someone’s name you are declaring their presence and coming into their presence— that’s how a name is used in Scripture.

The ancient version of the Hebrew letter “Tav” looks like a cross (or an X)

Dr. Sri talked about “signs” in the Bible:

  • Exodus 12: Passover: the Israelites were spared because of the lamb’s blood on their doorposts
  • Revelations 7:3: the saints in heaven have a seal on their forehead
  • Ezekial 9:4: those marked with the TAV were spared the wrath of God.

St. John Chrysostom said this about the Sign of the Cross:

When, then, you make the sign of the cross on the forehead, arm yourself with a saintly boldness, and reinstall your soul in its old liberty; for you are not ignorant that the cross is a prize beyond all price.

Consider what is the price given for your ransom, and you will never more be slave to any man on earth. This reward and ransom is the cross. You should not then, carelessly make the sign on the forehead, but you should impress it on your heart with the love of a fervent faith. Nothing impure will dare to molest you on seeing the weapon, which overcometh all things.

All of this to say that when we “scratch” below the surface and find treasures, we cannot help but share them and that passion ignites a fire in children.

Pixabay

Creating a Prayerful Environment for Children:

  • No phones, please. The addictive quality of cell phones and other electronic devices is very real and should be prohibited in class.
  • Basic discipline should create a safe environment for the shyest children. Don’t let alpha kids take over. Be forgiving but firm.
  • Your own example of faith and reverence is contagious.
  • Beauty! As we know, our souls are touched by beauty. Use it as much as you can: sacred art, candles, music, Easter and Christmas cards! God speaks through beauty and touches our hearts when nothing else can.

Meeting Them Where They Are

  • Learning styles and developmental issues can be understood easily. Lots of information is available online.
  • They remember how you made them feel, so ask Jesus to act through you and speak through you with the love only He can give.
  • The grace of forgiveness and second chances: show mercy, while maintaining order.
  • Children’s memories and associations: sometimes they surprise us with weird connections. They are making memories, as they connect their own ideas with the new ones. Don’t despair that they don’t seem to understand. They’re working on it.
  • Communication and cleaning up messes: be sensitive to the children’s feelings. You don’t know how much you may matter to them or how God may be touching that child by your witness, without your knowledge. If you think you may have done something insensitive, circle back and make amends.
  • Prayer Basket keeps the community strong: get the names of all their loved ones on cards that go in a basket for weekly prayer. They stay connected with the community of the classroom that way, even when they are not able to be present.

First Through Third Grade

  • A decade of the Rosary takes five minutes! Inviting Our Lady into the classroom makes everything better. And Sister Lucia, one of the seers of Fatima (and many saints) have said, “…there is no problem that cannot be resolved by the recitation of the Holy Rosary.” It is a spiritual weapon par excellence!
  • Intentions clarified: make sure the children understand what they are praying for. Invite feedback.
  • Marching to hymns of praise gets their wiggles out and provides a liturgical feel as you transition to the next activity.
  • Spontaneous prayer is important. If a child brings up a worry or concern, pray on the spot.
  • Throwing their prayers up to God. I have them close their eyes and hold out their hands, palms up, giving God everything on their hearts and then making a tossing motion, giving it to him to take care of.
  • God can make good come out of any bad thing, can bring beauty from ugliness, and hope from despair. Keep weaving this into prayer with them.
  • Name saints! I research the children’s names at the start of the year and weave those saints into lesson time.
  • Trips to the Church are essential: entering reverently, blessing themselves with holy water, and genuflecting with their eyes on the tabernacle (greeting Jesus silently in their hearts) can be practiced ahead of time, in class. I love to walk through the Stations of the Cross with them, having the boys say one half and the girls the other, and then switching halfway through (We bless thee oh Lord and we praise you; for by your holy cross you have redeemed the world). Talking about the altar as a table for a holy meal, a place of sacrifice (the Lamb of God), and connecting it all to the sacraments gives them more connection to the Mass.
  • Sacramentals: have them reverently practice venerating blessed sacramentals: i.e., a crucifix, a sacred image, a relic, a medal.
  • Living a moment in Scripture: I act out Bible stories with my kids after I read them aloud, so they get to experience in different ways: they hear the story, see the pictures, and then “live” it for a few short minutes. Every learning style is covered, this way, and it helps them remember. It’s all very easy and loose. For more information, see my booklet, Be An Amazing Catechist: Inspire the Faith of Children.

Fourth Through Eighth Grade and Beyond

  • See above, plus…
  • Cultivating silence: their lives are noisy. Give them opportunities to experience silent prayer.
  • Spiritual bouquets for the Holy Souls: these powerful allies in purgatory need our prayers and pray for us with great impact when we pray for them. Establish this relationship early. It benefits the Church and many souls.
  • Adopting a mission or ministry: choose something where they can receive progress reports and other kinds of feedback, so they see the impact of their prayers and a way to help out when they are old enough.
  • Relationships with saints: through their name saints, the liturgical year, and martyr stories, children can be intrigued about the saints and want to know them better and learn from them. Also, namesaintgenerator.com is a great online resource. Have them pray to the Holy Spirit, then click the interface to choose a saint. They should study the saint’s life and pray, “Teach me what you know,” for a set period of time.
  • Eucharistic miracles: true accounts abound and are fascinating to tweens and teens: see this website: http://therealpresence.org/ 

Scroll down to these images for more information.

  • Incorruptibles: these somewhat strange miraculous occurrences fascinate teens and tweens.
  • Adoration: teens often find a personal relationship with Christ in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I even take very young children and tell them that Jesus is waiting for them, His arms loaded with gifts of grace. They should silently tell Him about their day, share their hopes and worries, and pray simply, “Jesus, I adore You!” With older students, we memorize the Anima Christi for after Communion and for Adoration:

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from the side of Christ, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malignant enemy defend me
At the hour of my death call me
And bid me come to Thee
That with thy saints I may praise thee
Forever and ever
Amen

  • Special liturgies that involve them in the planning, reading, and music, help them to understand the Mass and their role as contributing members of the community.
  • Conferences can do what we can’t. Chastity, TOB, the Real Presence, Vocations–youth speakers have a powerful calling to reach the hearts and minds of teens and tweens. Do whatever you can to get your middle and high school students to appropriate events.

Remember, what we plant, He waters!

 

Here’s my resource list! Let me know if you need anything else. I’m happy to help!

Published Resources:

Heads Bowed: Prayers for Catholic School Days, by Lisa Mladinich (Liguori Publications)

Be An Amazing Catechist: Inspire the Faith of Children, by Lisa Mladinich (in English and Spanish, from Our Sunday Visitor)

Be An Amazing Catechist: Sacramental Preparation, by Lisa Mladinich (in English and Spanish, from Our Sunday Visitor)

A Biblical Walk Through the Mass: Understanding What We Say and Do in the Liturgy, by Edward Sri (Ascension Press)

The Happiness of Heaven: The Joys and Rewards of Eternal Glory, by Fr. J. Boudreau, S.J. (1870) (TAN reprint)

Champions of the Rosary: The History and Heroes of a Spiritual Weapon, by Father Donald Calloway (Marian Press)

What Matters Most: Empowering Young Catholics for Life’s Big Decisions, by Leonard J. DeLorenzo (Ave Maria Press)

Prayer for Beginners, by Peter Kreeft (Ignatius Press)

Free Online Resources:

AmazingCatechists.com

Article on praying with children: http://amazingcatechists.com/2018/02/teach-kids-pray-5-simple-steps/

CatholicMom.com (my puppet scripts)

https://catholicmom.com/kids/puppet-ministry/

MyFirstHolyCommunion.com (Tarcisius)

http://www.myfirstholycommunion.com/portfolio-view/st-tarcisius-boy-martyr-of-the-eucharist/

TheRealPresence.org

http://therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/a3.html

SaintsNameGenerator.com

http://saintsnamegenerator.com/

Fisheaters.com (tour of the church)

https://www.fisheaters.com/churchbuilding.html

 

Teach Your Kids to Pray in 5 Simple Steps

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My husband and I are not unusual in the sense that we have three daughters. What is unusual about our family, however, is that two of our three girls have special needs. “Special needs,” of course, runs a wide gamut. In our case, it covers both minor developmental issues that can be corrected through occupational therapy (for our oldest, Felicity) and complex care that includes medical, psychological, and educational professionals (for Sarah, our middle child).

When we were teaching the older girls how to pray, they weren’t sure what that entailed. I wanted to use the acronym ACTS to explain that prayer can be adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, and supplication (or petition). But they didn’t really understand the academic explanation. Here’s what I did instead. (Thank you, Holy Spirit!)

Use a simple formula for young kids or children who have cognitive impairment to help prayer become a natural, fluid conversation with God that covers all of the four hallmarks of prayer:

  1. Dear Jesus, my day was…
  2. Thank you for…
  3. I’m sorry for…
  4. Please help me to…
  5. I love you, Jesus. Amen.

Have your child begin in front of an image of Jesus or statue. In our home, it’s a framed image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The girls get some holy water, make the Sign of the Cross (sometimes with help), and begin with item #1. Telling Jesus about their day helps them make the connection that Jesus is real and cares about the details of our lives – also that our daily lives change, and it’s good to bring the hurts, frustrations, and joys to prayer.

Item #2 is a prayer of thanksgiving. I try to jog my girls’ memory by saying, “What is something good that happened today you’d like to thank Jesus for?” Sometimes the variations of this might be, “What’s something special about today?” or “Is there a person in your life you want to thank Jesus for?” Gratitude, I believe, fosters a much deeper sense of who we are as people of faith because of acknowledging God’s provision.

When we segue into item #3, we are entering into contrition. This is a very rudimentary form of an evening examen, but the point is to put a habit into place that can be expounded upon later, as your child matures. I might prompt the girls with something like, “What’s something you did today that you wish you hadn’t?” or “Are you sorry for anything you might have said or done today?” It’s incredible the things they remember and bring to the Lord!

#4 is really a continuation of the third item, yet it acts alone as the hallmark of petition, or supplication. I tell the girls that sometimes when we see our sins, we can ask Jesus for the grace of a specific virtue we might need. For example, if Felicity says she is sorry for mouthing off to Mom today, she might ask Jesus to help her use self-control and grow in respect. These, of course, are conversations we have as they go along with their prayer.

Finally, let’s end with praising God! When we tell Him we love Him (which we can never do enough), we end our short conversation by handing Him our hearts.

This has become such a treasured part of our nightly routine, and it has been a very useful way to incorporate spontaneous dialogue between our girls and God.

Text (c) Jeannie Ewing 2018, all rights reserved. Photo by Enis Yavuz on Unsplash

Playing the Ordered Toward Game

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God bless the woman from our parish who comes to my house weekly to help out with the children.  Not only does she give me a half day out of the house, but she, who also happens to be incredibly well-read and steeped in the Catholic faith, enriches my home with a wisdom culled from years of mothering and reading Catholic philosophy.

So when my six year old son asked her if he could stack a doll stroller on top of a mini folding chair on top of a dining room chair and so on to see if he could eventually get his Tower of Babel to touch the ceiling, she was armed with a much better answer than I would have given when he asked, “Why not?”

“Because,” said the sage.  “That is not what those things are ordered toward.”

When I came home, she told me the anecdote, laughing that she had given my budding six-year-old philosopher something to chew on.

But she gave me something to chew on as well.  While I outwardly nodded and smiled, my inward self was as happy as a child treated to a new flavor of candy.  I quickly saw how brilliant this tack is, calculating how very often I can use this line of reasoning to forestall disaster and reasonably answer questions.

Why can’t I swing this metal pole around like a baseball bat?  Because that’s not what it is ordered toward.

Why can’t I climb the door frame like an American ninja warrior?  Because, my dear, that’s not what the door frame is ordered toward.

Why can’t I step on the baby’s sippy cup?  Because. That. Is. Not. What. It. Is. Ordered. Toward.

****

I’ve been reading the book The Benedict Option, in which the author traces the historical shift in the metaphysical understanding of matter from something that possesses inherent meaning and structure to something that has no meaning at all until a person assigns meaning to it.  We see this shift dramatically demonstrated in our current culture’s (dis)regard of the sex of a human body.

Before recent times, a person’s body informed the person’s identity.  The body itself had inherent meaning and structure. My body has female parts; therefore, I am a woman.  Compare this with the present-day “understanding” of the body as something that has no inherent meaning whatsoever.  The fact that I have female sexual organs, runs this way of thinking, in no way determines my sex.  Instead, I assign meaning to my body based upon whatever I want for that day.

How extraordinarily confusing is this way of thinking!  To live in a world in which everything has no inherent structure, no inherent meaning, no inherent order is to be lost at sea in a cosmological ocean–and lost at sea alone.  For if nothing has inherent meaning, then what common ground is there for two people to stand on?

So as a way to bulwark against the prevailing cultural view, we play the Ordered Toward game at my house.  It is a simple game, born of that day when my wise friend introduced the concept to us.

Everyone from the 8 year old to the 2 year old loves this game.  We simply name things around us and talk about what they are ordered toward.  Sometimes I name the object (what is a car ordered toward? To get us from one place to another), sometimes I play the game silly (is spaghetti ordered toward decorating your head? Noooo!), and sometimes I name the purpose and the children name the object (This is ordered toward giving us shade and oxygen.  A tree!).

It’s a fun game to play in the car or in a waiting room to pass the time.  The children giggle because children instinctively know that objects do have inherent meaning.

Start this little exercise at your house and you will be amazed by how useful it is. When someone throws a toy: “that toy was made to spin; it’s not ordered toward throwing.”  When someone sticks his feet in another child’s face: “is that what your feet are ordered toward?”  When a child tries to put his sister’s underwear on his head: “that’s not what it is ordered toward!” [Are you getting a picture of life at our house?]

At the same time, I’m laying groundwork for Theology of the Body before I get anywhere close to teaching about the mechanics of sex.  The point is that our bodies are ordered toward something.  We already talk about what our stomachs are ordered toward (to digest food) and what our eyes are ordered toward (to see), so when we get to the point of talking about our reproductive organs, for example, we will have a solid foundation upon which to lay the Catholic theology of the body, which is to say, that the reproductive organs are ordered toward creating and nourishing life.

Of course, as the children grow older and enter into the rhetoric stage of life, I’m sure we will have conversations about secondary uses and innovative uses of existing things, at which point we will discuss ethics and morality.  The first place to start when one encounters something, though, is in discovering what its primary purpose is–and this is a fun way to begin.

(This post was first published at www.inaplaceofgrace.com by Amanda Woodiel. All rights reserved.  Photo by Chris Crowder (2016) via Pixabay, CCO Public Domain.)

Advent JOY Lesson

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The third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete means joy. I planned an Advent gathering for the families of our parish for Gaudete Sunday. Here is the outline and activities:

Opening Prayer: Use the 3rd Sunday of Advent prayers for lighting an Advent wreath. Include a song if you’d like.

Short Teaching: Explain the purpose of the Advent wreath and the colors and why we use the pink candle today for joy. I also include an explanation of JOY as an acronym for Jesus, Others, You. You can read more about that here.

Craft: A set of 3 votive candles wrapped in colored paper with the letters “J” “O” “Y” on each to spell out JOY. You can use letter stickers or handwrite them. (I would do one set per family.)

Imaginative Prayer: Read Luke 2:1-20 slowly, asking everyone to close their eyes and visualize what is being read. Ask the group what they noticed, how they felt.

Closing: A birthday cake for Jesus. You’ll need to bake the cake ahead of time and then add the other elements when you are with the group. Here is an outline for the cake:

1. Make it round — like the never-ending circle of His love for all of us.
2. Make it chocolate — like the darkness our sins brings to us and others.
3. Make it covered with white frosting — like His purity covering our weakness.
4. Top it with a yellow star and put an angel —bearer of the first glad tidings.
5. Put twelve red candles on top — like the twelve months of the year that Christ is our light; red for the blood He willingly shed for us.
6. Encircle this loving cake with evergreens — the symbol of everlasting life.
I hope you can use this lesson or some parts of it to bring some Advent JOY into the season!

Being “Little Marys”

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As I was driving with Jesus buckled into my lap in His pyx, on my way to preside over a Communion service this past Sunday, I was trying to prepare some thoughts for the reflection after the Gospel.

Although I had just gone to Mass that morning, the readings and homily seemed a vague memory, as it had been pre-second cup of coffee. What was it that the priest said? What was the Gospel again? Something about the Body of Christ, probably…

What do I say to residents on Corpus Christi Sunday, whose holiness and devotion far exceeds my own? Well, since I am no expert, I thought, I must consult the saints!

Of course Our Lady came to mind. But then, along with that thought, a much older and much more vivid memory than that morning’s homily popped into my head. I recalled how my mom told me that my name, Maureen, means “little Mary.”

Never did I find my name among the turnstiles of souvenir pens or plaques with it’s meaning and origin, which so often populate gift shops and craft fairs. I used to search fruitlessly among the Marissas, Megans, Michelles, but no Maureens. My mom, however, told me she named me Maureen for a few reasons, one of which was because it meant “little Mary.”

This happy thought called to mind an image of the Visitation, as I imagined how Mary carried Christ inside her body.

As I prayed with this image, the Lord reminded me that this phenomenon is not unique to Our Lady, since we do this whenever we receive Christ’s Body and Blood. We all become “little Marys,” bringing Jesus to all of the corners of the world.

This reality remained with me throughout the day, long after the Communion service.

What a privilege it is to be a Christ-bearer like Our Lady. And how blessed we are to have such a model and guide as we seek to reveal Him in our daily lives! It is easy to think that we must feel His Presence or seek Him and take Him in in order to become a Christ-bearer. But by nature of our Baptism, the light of Christ shines from within, not from without, and is amplified and fortified each time we receive the Sacraments.

I often wait for Christ to come to me, and wait to love or do ministry until I feel prepared by His Grace, thinking myself to be too weak. But it is precisely then, when we are empty, when we are least full of ourselves, that we are disposed to carry the One who can do all things.

May we all be like Mary, carrying Christ to all around us. Every human person suffers and we get to be healers of divine love. It is easy to forget that Christ’s presence dwells with us long after we have consumed the Eucharist. We may feel His throne is vacant within us at times, as Mary surely felt the pain of his absence during Christ’s apostolic years, and most certainly at the Cross. Yet, she and so many before us trusted and hoped in His fidelity.

Let us be strengthened by the witness of the Saints who recognized their own powerlessness and at the same time the power of the presence of Christ in our souls. From one Christ-bearer to another, I pray that God blesses you each time you receive His Sacred Body and Blood, and that you receive a special gift of His Grace this Friday on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart – the proof of His Love for you.