"We're Eternal"

Aidan, 6, said during a reflection on the Wolf and Hireling, "The Good Shepherd's not afraid to stand in front of the wolf. He's eternal. And we're eternal, too. Not in this life; in a whole brand new life after this one."

Look! Jesus is everywhere here!

A catechist told the story of a 3-year-old's first day in the Atrium.
Rosanne practically danced outside of the Atrium, in the courtyard. It was finally her turn to come to the Atrium! She had been coming with her mother, watching her older brother Devin enter the atrium, for three years. Finally, she would hear her own name called! Rosanne was the first to offer to model a "quiet walk", to whisper her name using "quiet talking", and was very eager to name the items she saw on the prayer table. When I asked what she saw, she said, "I see Jesus, holding a lamb." How amazing to me that children intuitively know Jesus is our Good Shepherd. And as we walked through the environment, quietly taking in all that we could with just our eyes, she stopped before some artwork of the Good Shepherd, which hung on the walls near our Mass area. "Look! Jesus is everywhere here!" Another year is underway.

What is Life all About?

Twelve-year-old Deidre's written reflection:
What is life all about?
The sun comes up, the sun goes down.
The tide comes in, the tide goes down.
You wake up, you go to sleep.
Is life just a routine?
Our purpose in life is not to see who becomes the richest.
It is not to see who is the most beautiful.
But it is to serve the Lord and learn to love Him.
So don't waste your time trying to become rich or beautiful,
spend it on learning to love the Lord and serve him.

The Lost Sheep

After the Eucharistic Presence presentation, Henry worked with the material. He had the Good Shepherd go out and find the lost sheep, and when the lost were found, the altar was set for a grand celebration, to mark their return. Henry said that the people around the altar "couldn't believe it," so amazed were they at what the Good Shepherd had done. The people were "so surprised" to have a celebration like this.

When evil comes

Immediately after a presentation of the Wolf and Hireling, an 8 year old, whose parents were in court challenging one another for possession of the children in a divorce case, said: "Jesus told this because we're the sheep and He's the shepherd. When evil comes, we're just gonna get back up with the shepherd. It's gonna be all right."