All of our faces

It was a wonderful moment lately, when we were making up our own verses to "He's got the whole world in His hands" and one of the radiant little boys, age 4, paused, took a quick look at all his classmates, and pleased us all by declaring, "He's got all of our faces." As we sang about God holding the beauty of all of our faces, I was thankful to be exactly where I was and the whole thing just seemed well...HOLY.

Several children were working on puzzles in the atrium. Kallie, age 6, said "What shall I do?" and then quickly proclaimed, "Oh yes, the prayer table." She knelt on the pillow, and the catechist lit the candle, clasped her hands, and said a long prayer out loud. The catechist was moved by the natural way this occurred.

I am new

In circle time with the children age 2-5 before going up for communion I asked if we had anyone who was new. Xavier’s hand went up. Xavier is three years old and had been attending our atrium since he was an infant. Thinking to myself that Xavier was only trying to get my attention I only responded to those children who were indeed new and visiting and continued with introducing the new children to the group. Meanwhile Xavier 's hand continued to wave persistently until after the last new child had been introduced, and with some exasperation, I finally said, "Yes Xavier." Xavier 's response was "I'm new." I responded, “Xavier you are not new. I have known you ever since you were a baby." At that Xavier looked me straight in the eye and slowly rose to his feet saying with all the seriousness of a three year old going on 33. "I am too new. Every morning when I wake up I am new. We are all new every single day." I humbly said,"Yes, Xavier you are right. Thank you for pointing this out to us."

The Lord is my King always

Branson, age 6, had a grandfather who was quite ill. He prayed these words at the prayer table:

The Lord is always my King.

And when I see Him I am never lonesome.

And when I am lonesome, some aren't.

And those who aren't, try to comfort me.

Bur you never know when you are going to be lonesome.

But the only thing that is in my heart is you and the animals

Help, this day, everyone who needs you.

But when I see you I feel really happy.

Amen.

After Branson had finished saying these prayers he sat back in astonishment - wondering what had actually happened and from whence all these words had come! He said, "When I was silent I could hear God's voice in my head." He grabbed his head in wonderment and said, "It almost sounded like God was shouting at me!"

Let the Lord be with you

Branson’s grandfather was ill, and would be going into surgery the next day. His catechist asked the 6-year-old if he would like to sit at the prayer table together. Her own prayers for his grandfather were offered in silence- as she didn't want to influence the words of his own prayer offering. After a significant period of silence he opened his mouth and the following words came forth:

Let the Lord be with you.

Christ's name, the Lord, with love and care.

Be with my grandfather and all those who need you.

When I look at this candle I can see you, Lord,

But the only thing that is in my heart is you, and the earth.

On earth, I see you in every rock and stone.

Make sure that the earth is in your heart and all people.

Amen.

It grows and grows

After a presentation on the Liturgical Calendar, Julia, 8, referring to Ordinary Time, said, "About that Growing Time - we put all that we know about God together and it grows and grows."

The Chalice and the Paten

Daniella had come back to the atrium for her second year. She had prepared the altar many times but had never had the Last Supper presentation. One day in the fall she sat for a long time gazing at a 2-dimensional wooden model of the Last Supper, a work of art kept near the material on the shelf. The cup and plate were crude looking rather like a wooden knob and a flat chip. I (the catechist) went and sat quietly beside her for a while. I touched the cup and plate and said, "They are like the chalice and paten."  She looked at me and said intensely, "They are the chalice and paten."

Jesus makes it shine!

The small group was around the altar. A child prayed "Thank you for making the sun."
Wanda responded "God made the sun, Jesus makes it shine!"