Amazing Catechists

Teaching and learning the faith together

Merry Christmas!

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Yes, it’s still Christmas even if the neighbors put their tree out today because it’s trash day! Mine, however will stay up until the Feast of the Epiphany. But let’s go back to, “it’s still Christmas” for a bit.

We celebrate Christmas for eight days. The celebration begins on Christmas Eve and continues until January 1 with the celebration of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. Within these eight days we celebrate a few important feast days. On December 26, we celebrate St. Stephan, a deacon and the Church’s first martyr. The 27th St John, apostle and evangelist is remembered. December 28 is the Feast of the Holy Innocents in honor of the children killed by King Herod just after Jesus was born. (See Matthew 2:16-18) On December 30 the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph is honored. The Church continues with the Christmas season with the Epiphany on Sunday, January 8 and then the Baptism of the Lord on January 9. Tuesday the 10th begins Ordinary Time again.

At little tip on how you know the season changes; the colors you see in Church will change! The Christmas season color is gold or white. The priests’ and deacons’ vestments as well as banners or cloths used on the altar are gold and/or white. When we move into Ordinary time the color is green.

Enjoy celebrating Christmas for the entire season. Jesus is the greatest gift, a visible sign of the Father’s love for us. The Incarnation gives us new life, both literally as we see a newborn baby and spiritually in that Jesus’ becoming man saves us. He brings us joy and abundance of love. Celebrate!

©Deanna Bartalini, 2016

When does Christmas Begin?

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pointsettaNow that Halloween is over, it’s time to celebrate Christmas, right? Forget about that forlorn November holiday coming up focused on gratitude; let’s get to the presents.

I honestly have no objection to seeing the pumpkin and ghost decorations in my local CVS give way to Santas and snowmen so early. I like the sparkly, pretty aspects of celebrating Christmas as much as the next person, and retailers have their own schedules based upon people’s purchasing habits. That really has nothing to do with the celebration of the birth of Christ, which is really what we should be preparing for. Rather than focus on a “war on Christmas,” let’s actively try to bring back an observance of Advent, which will serve to create a more meaningful Christmas for everyone.

In these more secular times, a child could really spend his whole childhood not having any idea what Advent is, or never hearing the word.  Several years ago, I spent our last CCD class before the break with my special needs students helping them craft a simple Advent wreath out of paper and cardboard. One of the mothers, when she arrived to pick up her son, had never heard of an Advent wreath and had no idea what it was.  I was not all that surprised, but it did make me a little sad.

One of the drawbacks, as seen by the culture, to Advent, is that it is penitential–hence all the purple.  It is a time to prepare for the coming of the Christ child, so it is wholly appropriate that we settle our minds, prepare our homes and do the best to cleanse our souls.  It’s not nearly as popular as decorating your home in lights and evergreen but it will ultimately do you more good.

My advice for the observance of Advent is always to be as sparse as possible. It’s just such a busy season with so many wonderful things driving us outside the home that I really feel it’s important to not take on too much extra; just pick one thing a week to observe Advent.

One fun way to start off is to make the night before the first Sunday of Advent a New Year’s Eve party. The new liturgical year is starting, so why not ring it in? I buy the sparkling apple cider and we have a fun, junky dinner and watch a movie, or we have some friends over and make a real party with hats, horns and confetti.

On Sundays in Advent, as a family, we light the wreath right before dinner and my husband leads us in the traditional prayer. We use this inexpensive booklet, but there are many printable resources available.  This prayerful moment really connects the children to the preparation aspect of Advent, and then a candlelit dinner is always a little more special. It really is amazing how it quiets everyone down and allows for real discussion and connection.

On that first Sunday, I also put out the Nativity sets ( I have the ones you can play with and the one that came to me from my grandparents, which means a lot to me–that one is up high).  After dinner I usually read a picture book of the Nativity Story.

Another great resource to add to your Advent is a wonderful story called Jotham’s Journey. It is a daily Lenten read-a-loud which tells the story of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem from the eyes of a young boy. It’s written by a Protestant, but there is nothing incompatible with our faith in it. It is all biblically based and very compelling. I believe there is a similar book written by a Catholic but I’m not familiar with it, so I can’t really comment on it–although I would love to hear people’s opinions if you have read it.  A small caveat about Jotham’s Journey: the story can be a little intense, so maybe not for very young or very sensitive children–Jotham gets sold into slavery for a little time and is ill-treated. The same author, Arnold Ytreeide, has several of these tales for Advent, and they are worth exploring.

Another tradition we keep is to add straw to the manger for sacrifices and good deeds, much like the Lenten crown of thorns.  It’s an important and simple reminder to the children that Advent is a penitential season.

We also observe St. Nicholas Day every year: the children put out their shoes the night before and I put gold chocolate coins and small gifts to put in their shoes.

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We then spend the day reading St. Nick stories, coloring, making  spoon saints and then feasting.  St. Nicholas Center is a wonderful resource and from there you can glean all the information you need about this great saint and his commitment to the poor.

There are several Advent feast days that can be incorporated into your season that exemplify the meaning of Advent. Our Lady of Guadalupe can be observed with the story of St. Juan Diego (whose feast also falls in Advent) and a taco dinner.

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St. Barbara’s day (patroness of architects) can be the day you construct a gingerbread house, or like me, a fake one built with graham crackers and canned icing.

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The best thing you can do for your family is just think of Advent as a cozy time. Lots of reading, singing, crafting, cooking and playing.  If you just focus on binding the children to their faith by building simple family traditions you will have a really nice season and it makes Christmas all the more joyous for your family and that of your students.

Venerable Matt Talbot

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Venerable Matt Talbot

As I was making my way out of Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral, I noticed a small shrine to a man named Matt Talbot. I didn’t pay much attention and moved on. Several weeks later, I attended Mass at my local parish near Castleknock. The Priest stood up to give the homily and began to speak about Matt Talbot. Low and behold it was Matt Talbot Sunday! I decided I better listen. I heard an inspiring story of a humble man who overcame addiction and turned to God completely.

Matt Talbot was born in 1856 in Dublin’s inner city. As his father drank heavily, the family was quite poor. He left school at age 12 and got a job at a local bottling company. By the age of 14, he was already drinking heavily and by 16, an alcoholic.

By age 26, he had stopped attending Mass. From his teen years to his late 20s, his only aim in life was drinking. At one point, he and his brother actually stole a fiddle from a street performer and sold it for the price of a drink.

One day in September 1884, he and his brothers were standing outside a pub, out of money and out of drink. Nobody would offer him anything either. He left the pub and while crossing a bridge, he stopped and came to the realization that he was wasting his life.

That day he went to Holy Cross college to take “the pledge”. While there, he attended confession and indeed vowed to no longer drink. The next morning, he returned to the sacraments. This was the beginning of a remarkable turnaround. He would attend daily Mass for the rest of his life.

The first three months were the hardest. One morning, he was at Mass but could not lift himself to receive communion. He heard a voice saying, “it’s no use”. In desperation, he made his way to the Pro Cathedral and prayed, “Jesus Mercy, Mary Help”. Help indeed came.

Over the coming years, he became focused on his spiritual life. Although he could barely read, he began to study Irish monasticism. He lived a very simple life. His bed was a plank and his pillow was made of wood, similar to the monks who would sleep on the floor with pillows of stone.

He never forgot his struggle though. He once said to his sister, “Never think harshly of a person because of the drink. It is easier to get out of hell then it is to give up the drink.” He then continued, “For me, it was only possible with the help of God and our Blessed Mother”.

Matt’s life had become one of prayer, penance, fasting and acts of charity. Over the years, he repaid all the debts he had incurred at the local pubs. He even searched for the fiddler to repay him for the stolen property. When he could not find him, he offered Masses for the soul of the poor fiddler.

In 1913, he discovered a book called True Devotion to Mary, by St. Louis de Montfort. The recommended chain intended to remind one of his bondage to Christ was not enough. Matt wore a chain that was uncomfortable enough to remind him of Christ’s suffering. When he died on June 7th, 1925 while walking to Mass, he was found wearing that chain.

On October 3rd, 1975, Matt Talbot was declared Venerable by Pope Paul VI. Matt is an example that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. He is a witness that we can say “no” to addictive behavior, change our life and return to God. In our world today, that is a message we desperately need.

As Matt would say to others, “if I can do it, so can you, with the grace of God”. And so, we can.

God Bless

 

Learn more about Matt Talbot at: www.matttalbot.ie

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Immacu-what?

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I was standing at the front of the class, fresh out of Mass. I’d like to say it was a room of fresh-faced fifth graders, but the truth was, we were all tired.

I asked them who had been at Mass.

A few hands went up.

“And why were you at Mass? What were we celebrating?”

“Advent!” They were triumphant. They were confident. They were sure.

And they were WRONG.

Our Mass last night was the Vigil for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, but I didn’t tell them that. Realizing that we had a slight misunderstanding about when Mass was, I tried rewording my question, rephrasing my expectation, hinting and hinting.

One of the students (whose mom is an aide in the class and who sat right behind my family in Mass) knew that it was a Holy Day of Obligation.

Good.

But no one–NO ONE–knew WHY we were at Mass.

It wasn’t in my plan for the evening to talk about the Immaculate Conception. I do have a habit of sending them home with a bit of trivia and rewarding them with chocolate prizes if they come the following week with the correct answer. And so this week’s trivia was to come back next week and tell me what holy day we were celebrating this week.

But wow…I had a moment there in front of that class. I couldn’t help but wonder if my own children (ages 6, 4, and 1) had any idea what we were doing in Mass. (I’m pretty sure no.) I started, in fact, to have a little mental bash-fest with what a failure I am as a catechist to these fifth-graders and to my own children.

But wait! It’s not too late! TODAY is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and, thankfully for all of us, there’s next year, and the year after, and…well, it’s an ongoing thing for us. When we fail (as we will), we must not give in to the temptation to despair and give up.

When my six-year-old gets home from school today, we’ll be doing some of her very favorite things: coloring. Because to her, nothing says “fun” like a printable.

While I’m at it, I’m going to do some reading about the Immaculate Conception, so that I’m prepared to explain it to my fifth-graders next week. In case you need some resources too, here are the ones I’m using:

Now, let’s all say a Hail Mary for our catechetical work and lean back into Mary’s arms. She’s the best one to carry us, after all, and she’s sure to lead us to her Son.