New Pastures

Following the presentation of the Found Sheep, two 4-year-old girls were working with the sheepfold.  After a time they burst into joyful laughter. I looked over to see that the sheepfold was empty.  "Where are the sheep?" I asked.  Confidently they showed me the altar. They had arranged the sheep around it.  ""The Good Shepherd invited them to eat bread and drink wine," they explained. The catechists rejoiced in awe that the Shepherd had led them to a new pasture.

The door to the Holy Spirit

While doing reflecting on the Parable of the Insistent Friend, Elton, age 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."

Fill our hearts with joy

A portion of a prayer service, written by a 9-12 year old atrium group:
Lord God, guide us through your path of love and hope. Fill all our hearts with joy. Dear Lord, help us find our way past evil and hate, and lay us down to rest in your soft palm. Teach us, Lord. Fill our minds full of you. You are the Good Shepherd.

Dear Holy, Everlasting Father, to you we give this prayer of peace for everyone in the world, so our enemies will be our friends. May peace be from heaven to earth for all eternity. May angels guide us everywhere. Amen.

We need to be grateful

After narrating the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, we began to reflect. Julia immediately said, "We need to be grateful for what we have, and not be jealous of others. Like the children in Haiti (referring to children in orphanage we are collecting clothing and raising money for) are grateful for food and probably not jealous of us."
The context of discussing plans to help the Haitian children immediately before the lesson nudged Julia into a more immediate, or current, understanding of the parable than the children would usually have.

He told them how he loved

To my question of the Simeon and Anna could have known who Jesus was among all the people in the Temple when Jesus was presented there as a child, Natalie, age 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.”

Jocelyn, age 5, had worked with and meditated on the Jesus' Presentation in the Temple.  The words she asked me to write on her tracing booklet were, “God is important.  To see the light of God, find the love of God; sit in silence with God.”  She shared that she too felt important.

He'll bring peace to the World

After reading the Adoration of the Wise Men scripture booklet with Natalie, age 4, I wondered why this baby was so special.  She responded, “because he’ll bring peace to the world.”  She asked to sing, “This Little Light.”  When I wondered what the light was that we sang about, she responded, “God.”

After I read to him the scripture for the story of the Adoration of the Wise Men, Keenan, age 4, told me that the wise men brought presents to the baby because they love him. When I asked why they loved the baby, he said "because he'll be king someday."