Sunday, June 30, 2013

Psalm 23, Part 4


Reflections by a 6-9-year-old group on the 23rd Psalm (Part 4):

19. God is with you in dark and light.
20. God will BE my light if the lights are out.
21. God will stay with me always, even the days when I'm not on Earth anymore.
22. He doesn't want everythinghe wants US and LOVE.
23. He's always looking for his sheep.
24. Even if I am in darkness, the light will be with me.
25. When we go to Heaven, God already has a table for us. That is the altar and the wine and the breadthe body and the blood.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Psalm 23, Part 3


Reflections by a 6-9-year-old group on the 23rd Psalm (Part 3):

13. He takes me to the right place at the right time.
14. Jesus is always near. You can just relax, He's your protection.
15. God and Jesus will be with me until the end of life. Then I will go to Heaven and live with God forever. If I want a vacation, I'll have to go with God.
16. I don't want anything else except the Lord.
17. He wantsyou to be safe, so he tells you where to go, I'll wait until he tells me which way to go.
18. He takes me from doing something wrong to being forgiven.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Psalm 23 Part 2


Reflections by a 6-9-year-old group on the 23rd Psalm (Part 2):
7. He never lets me go when I'm sleeping.
8. He never lets you go because you're always one of his children—even if you die or grow up,
9. Before you're born, he gets things ready for you.
10. Light is the same as dark when you think of Jesus.
11. You're in Heaven in your heart while you're alive. You're in Heaven for REAL when you're dead.
12. I do not want another Lord.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Psalm 23 Reflections, Part 1


Reflections by a 6-9 year old group on the 23rd Psalm:
1. If we have God and Jesus, we don't need anything else. There's more to life than money.
2. He leads me in the safest place: To the path toward God.
3. Every path you take has something to do with God and Jesus.
4. The table is the altar: you can hide and your enemies can't find you.
5. Jesus blesses my head with oil. I get baptized.
6. Jesus is the shepherd and we're his millions of sheep. Millions of people in the world and they're ALL sheep.

Psalm 23

Here at the Center for Children and Theology, I frequently have the joy of sifting through our database of children's reflections based on their work in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

As I was going through the database recently, I found a entry I'd never seen before from a discussion of the 23rd Psalm done with a group of 6-9-year-olds. Their catechist recorded their thoughts and reflections in a numbered list that had 56 entries! I tried to find favorites to narrow it down to one post, but I just couldn't. Every one demonstrates what theological insight these children have to share with us. And the reflections make it clear how much they have synthesized over their 3-6 years in the atrium.

So in the coming weeks, I'll be posting small portions of those reflections on the 23rd Psalm. Enjoy! And please share your thoughts with us!

Sunday, June 16, 2013

It's a feast!


During a discussion of the words said at the Breaking of the Bread: "Therefore let us keep the feast, Alleluia", Mariah, 8, had this to add: "Therefore let us keep the feast—don't you understand? We've been feasting on love! It's a feast! That's the kind of feast you WANT to keep in your heart. So much love."

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

The gate is open


At the First communion the priest asked the children what it means to receive/eat the bread and wine. Keith, age 7, answered, "It means the gate is open."

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Waiting since I was born


When I invited Tara, 6, to a presentation about communion, she was visibly excited, anticipating that one day it would be her turn. She said, "I've been waiting for communion since the day I was born!"

Sunday, June 2, 2013

This cross was made by Blake, age 7. It depicts the Holy Spirit, eucharist and the sun and moon.