The Nativity, by Riley, age 4

While working with the Annunciation to Mary, I wondered with Nate, age 5, how we would respond if God asked us to do something, even something that was thought to be impossible. Nate replied, “I would want it to come true,” but that he’d be “worried that it would not.”

After joining a presentation on the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, Jabria, age 3, prayed, “Thank you God for giving us God.”

Jocelyn, age 6, was working with the Birth of Jesus and the Adoration of the Shepherds material.  When I read the word “delight” in the scripture booklet, she wondered what that word meant.  I wondered how delight would feel.  Jocelyn replied, “It feels delicious.”

Pour Goodness into Herod

Felicity had been working on the Kingdom of Heaven and the Leaven. The following week, she asked about Herod as she again worked with the Leaven, “Why would he kill a baby?” She said, “I wish I could pour this in [the leavened dough into the unleavened]…pour goodness into Herod.”

Naomi was working with the model of the Cenacle on her own. I noticed that she had placed the velvet lining from the box on top of the lid from the box and one figure on top of the lining. When I asked her why she chose to do so, she said, "He is on a blanket on a bed. He is baby Jesus wrapped in...what do you call it?" I asked her if she meant swaddling and she said yes and rolled the velvet lining around the figure.

A group of first graders, all 6 years old, were reflecting on the Annunciation to Mary.  When I wondered how they would respond if an angel asked them to do something that they’d never considered, like having a baby, Naomi responded by gesturing yes with her head (we’d been working a lot with gestures during the previous weeks).  Dora, said, “yes” and made a gesture of nodding her head while holding her hands, palms together, over her heart.  Bailey also said “yes” and signed yes with his hand.

It flys to send messages from God

Edwin, age 4, was participating in a presentation on the Annunciation. When I asked what an angel is, Edwin explained to the others, “It flies to send messages from God.”

Jesus is everywhere in your heart

When I wondered with Bella, 4, what the gesture of the sign of the cross placed on the person being baptized could mean, she replied, "Jesus is everywhere in your heart."

God gave us the baby

During a presentation of the signs of Baptism I explained that the small sign of the cross made on the baby's forehead indicates that he/she belongs to God. Dorothy, 6, said, "It means that God gave us the baby."

It's like creation

My son Christopher, age seven, has been in the atrium for four years.  He mentioned on the drive home that he had been doing the preparation of the chalice.  I asked him what he thought "the mystery of the water and wine" meant.  (I was thinking it meant that we are so small, and God is so great.)  But Christopher said, "It's like creation:  the water is the people, and the wine is Jesus and God.  When everything was prepared in the world, people came last, just like the water is added last after the wine is prepared."    I asked the other catechists whether any of them might have presented this idea to Christopher, but they hadn't -- he came up with it himself.

The altar

The altar, by Felicia, age 10.

Chalice and crucifix

During Holy Week Sarah, just turned 4, "Poured" the crucifix into the chalice and "drank" it.

It receives the light of Christ

When I wondered with Harold, 5, what the gesture of the imposition of the hand might mean in the Baptism work, he replied, "It [the water] receives the light of Christ."

Glory Alleluia

 

Jayla, age 5, was working with the Eucharistic Presence material.  She asked to sing Mary Had a Baby.  Jayla then suggested new verses to the song, which we then sang together:

He called the sheep

The people came

They ate all the bread

They drank all the wine

Glory Alleluia

Jesus is more important

Ilona, age 4, was working with the Preparation of the Chalice.  Hannah had decided that the wine represents Jesus and that the water represents us.  When I wondered why we pour all of the wine into the chalice and only one drop of water, Ilona responded, “Jesus is more important than us.”

Jesus and people are together

 

As we discussed the Preparation of the Chalice material, Felice, age 5, declared “There’s more wine because Jesus is more important than people.”  After we prepared the chalice, she said, “I was wrong.  I change my mind.  Jesus and people are together.”

We can't be separated from him

 

After preparing the chalice with the water and wine, I wondered if the water could be separated from the wine.  One child insisted that it couldn’t be separated and explained, “we are together with Jesus.”  Paul, age 6, added, “and we can’t be separated from him.”

We're family now

 

During the presentation on the Breaking of the Bread when I asked how it felt to share bread together, Jill, age 9, explained, “I feel like we’re a family now.”  During the rest of the discussion, she and others frequently referred to feeling like family.

Together with Jesus

 

After preparing the chalice with the water and wine, I wondered if the water could be separated from the wine.  Hannah, age 7, insisted to her classmates that it couldn’t be separated.  She explained, “we are together with Jesus.” 

Jesus is us

 

A few weeks after the presentation on the breaking of the bread, Dorian, age 6, was working with the Preparation of the Chalice.  She exclaimed, “This is the same as the bread!  Only with wine.  We’re sharing and he’s sharing.”  Later she added, “Jesus is us and we are Jesus.  We have him.”

Jesus falling on us

 

Dorian, age 6, was working with the gestures of baptism.  When I wondered what the sign of the cross over all at the baptism mean, Dorian replied, “Jesus is always with us.”  When I wondered what the imposition of the hand over the water could mean, Dorian said, “God.”  When I wondered what the pouring of the water over the person being baptized could mean, Dorian explained, “Jesus falling on us.  We are Jesus’ ‘cause Jesus’ bread is with us and Jesus’ blood is in us.”

He is the bread and the wine

 

I began to present the Eucharistic Presence material.  As we set out the table, cloth, cup and plate, Alden said, “This is just like the table over there!” and he pointed at the Cenacle material which recounts the Last Supper.  Later, after he told me that the bread and wine are Jesus’ body and blood, Alden said, “But I don’t know how he fits his whole body in the bread and wine.”  After I removed the Good Shepherd statue, I wondered where Jesus was in the pasture of the church.  Alden replied, “On the table.  He is the bread and wine.”

We had placed the sheep around the table and I wondered if there were sheep at church.  Alden shook his head no.  I wondered who the sheep could represent, who is around the table at church.  Alden said, “People.  Just like that picture over there” and pointed to a painting of the Last Supper.  Later, as we replaced the sheep with the people, Alden chose the figure of the priest.  He said, “Why do we have a priest? I thought Jesus was in the bread and wine.”  I wondered if Alden thought a priest and Jesus are the same thing, and he said “yes.”  He chose to sit in silence and after when I wondered what he heard, Alden said, “God.  He said Jesus is always with us.”

Jesus, sleepy pie

 

Jenna, age 3, was praying in song at the lectern by the model altar.  She sang, “Do not be afraid. Jesus, sleepy pie Jesus, won’t you go to sleep.  We will stay with you.”  She sang other words as well.  She then asked to pray alone in silence at the altar with the candles lit.

Kingdom of God and the grain

 

Working with the Kingdom of God and the Grain, Tillie, age 5, had drawn around a grain of wheat taped to the paper.  I asked her to tell me about it and she said, “This is the cross (drawn on the piece of tape over the grain).”  Around that she’d drawn hearts with larger hearts around them.

Night and day

 

Quinton, age 5, eagerly accepted a presentation on the Kingdom of Heaven and the Grain.  His excitement was very clear.  Even before I began the lesson, he excitedly talked about planting a grain of wheat at home or in the playground.  He listened to the scripture very attentively.  He declined singing after the lesson saying, “I want to meditate.”  He quickly replicated the drawing from the scripture booklet of the grain sprouting then growing, and then explained it to me.  When I asked if he wanted me to write words, he asked me to copy these words from the booklet: “Night and day, while he sleeps, when he is awake, the seed is sprouting and growing; how, he does not know.”

Forever and forever and forever....

Theo, age 4, was working with the City of Jerusalem.  When I turned off the light (the signal that it is time for the atrium to close) he asked, “Why are you going to close the atrium?  Keep it open forever and ever and ever and forever and forever and…” (many more forevers).

He's probably really relaxed

 

Before the presentation of the Good Shepherd, Wendy, age 4, explained that the Good Shepherd cares for the sheep “because he loves them.” After the presentation, I wondered who the sheep could be, and she responded, “Maybe they are his worry.”  I wondered what their names could be and she responded by naming each as she returned them to the sheepfold, “Wendy, Becca, Ken, Lucia, stars, sky, Bucia, Grass, etc”  When I wondered what the Good Shepherd’s voice sounds like, she replied, “Like ah… he’s probably really relaxed.” She asked to pray in silence, and afterwards when I asked how she felt, she replied, “Calm.”

They would be safe in the sheepfold

 

As we discussed the parable of the Found Sheep, Xander, age 4, said “The shepherd left the others because they would be safe in the sheepfold.”  He said that the shepherd looks for the lost sheep “because he loves them.”  When I wondered how many times the shepherd would look for the sheep, Xander responded, “any time.”

His full self is in heaven

 

When Finnegan, age 7, overheard a classmate say that only Jesus’ spirit was in heaven, Finnegan replied, “his full self is in heaven.”

The Good Shepherd wants his sheep to be home

 

Miranda, age 3, was working with the Good Shepherd.  She explained and demonstrated how the Good Shepherd’s voice sounds like an owl.  She then announced, “The Good Shepherd wants his sheep to be home.”

The altar and Julia

 

Julia, age 6, set the altar.  She then went into their classroom and returned with four children.  She asked them to sit in front of the model of the altar. She then sat in front of them on the edge of the altar.  She picked up each article, said its name, asked them to repeat it, and passed that article around.  She led them in 2-3 songs, including Thank you God, and then had each practice snuffing the unlit candle.  She then directed each child to put away an item from the altar.

They don't know a stranger's voice

 

As we discussed the Good Shepherd material, Aidan, age 3, said, “The Good Shepherd leads the sheep, but they don’t know a stranger’s voice.  He protects them.”  He said, “Do you want me to tell you what  his name is?”  When I wondered with the Good Shepherd’s name could be, Aidan said, “Its Jesus!”  When I wondered what the sheeps’ names could be, he said, “This one is Max.”

There are like a million people

 

After a classmate said that they had drawn too many sheep in their drawing of the Good Shepherd, Eva, age 9, explained, “You could never have made too many people with that work.  Because sheep in that work are people and there are like a million people.”

He calls them by name

 

Before we began the presentation of the Good Shepherd, I asked Yves, age 4, what he thought a shepherd does for the sheep.  Yves responded, “He calls them by name.”   I asked if there was anything else the shepherd did and Yves replied “He leads them.”  Yves’ words come verbatim from the scripture reading, which he hadn’t heard for several weeks.

Who are the sheep?

 

Danielle, age 3, was receiving the presentation on the Good Shepherd.  When I wondered what the sheep’s names might be, she quickly replied, “Danielle.”  When I wondered which sheep was Danielle, she pointed to the sheep being held on the Good Shepherd’s shoulders.  She said that another sheep was named Maisy (her sister), then asked what my name was, and then said that a third sheep was named by my name.  Later, as we put the material away, she repeated the names of these three sheep.  She spoke of putting sheep to sleep and that the Good Shepherd made them a blanket.

Jesus rose!

 

As he set the altar, David, age 5, picked up the crucifix and said, “Jesus rose!”  He looked closer at the picture on the crucifix and said, “I see nails in his hands.”

God made Jesus

 

While talking with classmates while praying at the altar, Dylan, age 6, said, “God made Jesus.  God made grass.  God made Saturn’s rings.  God even made metal!” 

Prayers at the altar

Bruno, age 5, worked at the altar and then wrote the following prayer with the moveable alphabet: “bruno, thundr, mom, daddy, ben, tereesa” (Thunder is the name of his dog, Ben is his brother and Teresa is his sister).

I'm in God's world

When the classroom teacher of Willa, age 4, asked her what she liked about working at the model altar, Willa replied, “so soft and quiet and peaceful… and makes me feel like I’m in God’s world.”

God has given us all

After Willetta, age 4, completed her work of altar tracing, she asked me to write these words: “God has given us all.  All he has given.  God has been a father to Jesus and to Joseph also.  Jesus is really special.  Mary is his mother.” (She initially used the word “was” but changed this to “is”.)

A Mutual Friend

Nena, 4, came to us in the fall with no experience of church. One of her parents is Christian and one is Jewish, and both had had negative experiences with organized religion. Nena slowly warmed up to the atrium, and her nanny reported that it became her favorite activity. Just after Easter Nena's mother told me this story: At home one day Nena found a small black book. (It was a prayer book her mother had as a child.) She asked if she could look at it and her mother said yes, with no further comment. She watched as Nena turned to the first page and saw the big cross on it. Molly looked up at her mother with a face full of joy, "Oh Mommy, I didn't know you knew JESUS!"

Created with Hope

Prayer by a 4th grade boy whose father is in jail and whose mother is dead:

Lord God, you created us with hope. We thank you for all the good things you give to us. Please forgive your children who went against you and help those who don't have any strength or can't see their families any more because of sickness and can't walk, see or hear. God, you have opened up the light and gates to heaven. We thank your son Jesus for dying on the cross for us. You give us sun, earth, land, trees, animals, grass, people. And at the end to our earth there would be hope.

" I see GOD!"

Mother and child walked labyrinth together. Child ran through labyrinth with great joy. Arriving at the center, child shouted " I see GOD!"

A Variety of Things

During our Pentecost celebration, our 6-12 children brought a plant to represent Creation, when the Spirit moved over the waters, and the following to correspond to the gifts of the Spirit:

- The Good Samaritan for Understanding (He understood the traveler's pain)

- The Good Shepherd for Knowledge (He knows the Sheep and the Father)

-  The Mustard Seed for Fear of the Lord

-  Simeon and Anna for Piety

-  A prophet for Counsel

- For Strength, a variety of things, including the oil of baptism, the woman who looks for the coin, and bread and wine

- For Wisdom, the Maxims

The Door

While doing the Parable of the Insistent Friend, Eddie, 8, and I read the maxim, "Ask and it shall be given you." At the end I asked him, "What door do you think this is?" He said, "The door to the Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God."

God Says It With Flowers

While doing flower arranging, Bibi, 6, said, "The Holy Spirit comes to me in flowers."

The Language of God

After reading Acts 2:1-11 with a group of 9-year olds, the catechist asked, "How could people from so many different places all understand the apostles?"

Nathan replied, "Because when you speak with God there is only one language, and they were all speaking the language of God."

The catechist asked, "Is there any other time we know of when all people will be speaking the 'one language of God?'"

The children replied, "Parousia."

Fire

At end of a presentation on baptism, Taylor, 3, wanted to sing "God Gives Us Fire" (to “God Is So Good”). He stayed focused on work rest of morning (an accomplishment for him.) Made a drawing of orange/red "fire" (scribbly-looking) on large paper, then spent a long time coloring the map of Israel all green. Overheard him telling Mom that the green was fire. Her comment to the catechist (thinking she had a budding pyromaniac): "What's with all this fire?!"

Prayer to the Spirit

Group Prayer from Level II:  

Come Holy Spirit,

Fill us with your love and goodness.

Free us from our sins and help us on our path to heaven. 

We pray that your power will take the evil away from the planet you made us.

Thank you Holy Spirit, thank you.

Amen

God blesses me

Isaac, 4, not yet baptized, takes in all that he sees in the atrium and in the liturgy with joy. Upon leaving the church, he exclaims with a smile, "God blesses me!"

A Mother's Day Prayer

A Mother's Day Prayer

God is a mother that is gentle and kind.

God can cook for the rich and the poor.

You shall never die in the hands of God.

You are the daughter of God, and every girl is the daughter of God.

God breaks himself

Steven, age 5: "God breaks himself in two - just so we can share him. And his spirit stays up in heaven until we ask for it. Then he breaks it into a million pieces so everyone can have some, and he wants us to share what we got so love can spread over the whole world."

Celebration

Awe, Wonder and Strength

In our Pentecost celebration, after the children lit their candles to choose their gifts, they told each other why they chose their gifts. Here are two:

I chose awe and wonder because there are so many beautiful things, I just want to appreciate them more. Serena, 9

I chose strength because we need it so we don't despair. Xander, 9

He Likes to Share

After attending the Liturgy of the Light, Celia went home and said to her Mum, "You know, Mum, Jesus is the Light and he likes to share his Light with us, to you and me, because he loves us so much."

So Many Questions

Manuel, 5, was receiving the presentation on the City of Jerusalem. When we spoke of Jesus' death, he asked, "Why?” He also asked, "Why did he be risen?" I, too, wondered why, and Manuel responded, "Because he was dead there and God didn't like him dead. I think that's why." Manuel then discussed Israel as part of Asia, the need for bridges, and Galilee as part of Israel. He then wondered what Jesus looked like and if there had been electricity then. He prayed the song, "You Shall Go Out with Joy."

Frighteningly Beautiful

On Saturday during our Celebration of the Liturgy of the Light, we read the gospel story of the Women at the Tomb. I asked the children how the women had reacted (afraid but also full of joy) and asked them if this reminded them of other stories from the Bible. Niamh, in second grade, suggested the Parable of the Pearl, because the merchant felt happy about finding the pearl, but perhaps was frightened by how beautiful and precious it was.

This Is Good for All of Us

Henry, 4, sang this prayer at the Paschal Candle:

Mary had a baby, this is good for all of us.

And pray for Mary until the baby, until he dies in the ground, and then he rose on the cross.

He was alive a long, long time ago. I thought he would never die again.

But you can still go where he lived.

Someday at supper he said, "Here's my body and here's my blood. You should drink this until I die."

And if you wanted to go to the land of Israel, you'd have to go across the ocean, and over New York and over the salty sea, and the plane would drop you off where Jesus lived.

50,000 to 1

Yun, 6: See that candle? (the Paschal Candle) It's Jesus and God. There's at least 50,000 darkness out here and only one light. And that light challenged the darkness and won.

Sam: When Jesus was killed on the cross, his light got snuffed. But when he rose, it was like his light lit up a pile of firewood--and the light was MUCH stronger. Everyone was amazed!

Yun's response to Sam: It doesn't matter how big the darkness is, it can't put out the light. But even one little candle can light up this dark room.

Party Time

At the end of the Cenacle work, when I announced that Jesus rose three days after he died, Mari, 4, said, "If Jesus rose, I'd throw a party!"

The Onlookers

Transforming

While reflecting on the Last Supper with a group, I asked two children, who had mixed up the Leaven before the Last Supper presentation began, to bring their work over to the cenacle. I asked them how the Leaven reminded them of their work at the cenacle. They responded, "It rose like he rose," and "Jesus makes love, peace and joy grow so that the Holy Spirit can come and there won't be any more wars." Belle, 6, added, "It makes me think it's part of transforming. The yeast makes the flour transform into bread, and he transformed the bread and wine into his body and blood."

Courage

When discussing the arrest of Jesus, we remembered how the crowd "fell back" when Jesus said, "I am he." I asked why, and Michael, 7, said that they were afraid, "Because of his courage. He stepped forward rather than hide or run."

Rose

Danny, 4, was working with the Cenacle while I presented the City of Jerusalem nearby. When a child said, "He rose," Danny interjected, "When we get dead we're going to rose."

Arrested

He Runs After Us

Nayah, 4, was receiving the Found Sheep for the first time. When asked before the reading what the Shepherd would do when he realized that one of the sheep was missing, she replied, "Run out!" She picked up the figure of the shepherd, rushed it over to the lost sheep, and said, "Pick up the sheep and put it back in the sheepfold."

Broken

When asked, "Why did Jesus break the bread for his disciples?" Beya, 6, replied, "You know, he said the bread was like his body. And he had a broken heart."

God's Plan B?

A Level III group was discussing Joseph and his brothers, and how Joseph says that God had a plan to save the family. Xavier asked "What was God's 'Plan B'?" – meaning, suppose Joseph's brothers hadn't sold him? Oscar answered, "The question is 'What was Plan A?' Because God did not want Joseph's brothers to sell him. God just used that to help the people in the famine."

So Glad to See You

Prayer by Thomas, 7, (whose grandmother had recently died) after the presentation of the Origin of the Eucharist:

God, I will never leave you out of my heart.

And I will do the same thing for you, Jesus.

When I die I will see you for the first time and when I see you I will be so glad that I will hug you as if you were my mother.

Synthesis

Kino, 6, was working with the City of Jerusalem. When I asked if he recalled what happened at the Cenacle, he pointed to the Cenacle material, and then to the altar, explaining, "And that's the table."

Jesus and the Animals

God is Cool

Anna sat in the doorway watching the Fettuccia work in the hall. She said, pointing to the candle lit beside the Bible, "That's my birthday candle" and, pointing to the long ribbon, "That is my birthday present." Then she wrote,

I (heart) God he is cool.
And he is watching us
I believe in him
he is ril (real)
he made me

Helping Hand

On the Fettuccia, towards the end of the ribbon, a figure of a human being and a hand represent the first human beings, created in God's image. Nathan (6), while reflecting on the figure of the human being and the hand, remarked “We help God create!”

Gifts for God

The Fettuccia is a 50-meter long ribbon that gives the elementary child an impression of the vastness and unity of the kingdom of God. The following responses were offered during this presentation to the children:

Vicki (6): “God gave us the gift of the whole world. What gift can we give to God?”
Catechist: “What could we give him?”
Vicki: “Gold.”
Catechist: “Gold. Could we give Him anything else?”
Vicki, then the other children: “Our love. Our kindnesses.”

Everythhing We Are

During work with the parable of the mustard seed Korey said:

The kingdom of God is everything we are and everything that is. It keeps on growing bigger and bigger just as the mustard seed grows into a big shrub.

All We Need

Tyler, 5, said, "There is only one pearl because there is only one God and that's all we need."

The Bush Was Not Consumed

We were doing Exodus with Dani, Faith and Nicholas (6th graders). Faith asked how Moses knew that the burning bush was God and not Satan. Dani responded that "If it had been Satan the bush would have been consumed."

Light and the Red Sea

Drawn as a response to the story of the parting of the Red Sea. The caption reads "In Him there is no darkness at all: the night and the day are both alike."

King and Soldiers

A presentation on the Flight into Egypt took an unexpected turn as some of the third graders considered King Herod's order to kill the innocent children in Bethlehem. They wondered, “Who is responsible for the sinfulness of the killing - King Herod, the soldiers who did it, or both? If a soldier was just following the king's orders, was that wrong? The soldier could have been punished, even killed, if he had refused to follow the king's orders. But the soldier could have refused, or have found another way not to carry out the order.” This interesting discussion revealed the growing interest in justice and moral behavior in the elementary age child.

Holy Spirit?

We were meditating on the Presentation in the Temple, and particularly on Simeon's response to the Holy Spirit's prompting to go to the temple, and his response to holding the Christ child. Kelly, age 8, asked, “How do we know if the Holy Spirit is really speaking to us?” She deeply considered this question, wondering, “Is it in a dream, or while we are awake? And how do we know for sure that it is the Holy Spirit, and not just our own mind?” This is a profound question.

How Did They Know Him?

To my question of how Simeon and Anna could have known who Jesus was, out of all the people in the Temple, Nyere, 4, responded, "Maybe when he was in Heaven before coming into his mommy's tummy, he talked to them and told them how he loved them."