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

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

During a "review" of Good Shepherd presentation at the beginning of the new school year;
Q: What do you already know about the Good Shepherd?"
Ben: "The Good Shepherd was Jesus. When Jesus decided to leave heaven and come down to earth, the angels held his power for him. And on the day when he went down under the water to get baptized, those angels brought him down his power and sprinkled it all through him like glitter, because they knew he would need his power now."

Keith, age 4, when asked - "I wonder what came out of the tomb" answered:

"The Holy Spirit"

Wonder and Awe

Quinn, age 7, chose the readings and songs for our Pentecost Mass. For the first reading, he had chosen the story of the Magi. It seemed a little out of season, but then I realized it made a nice connection to the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, so I mentioned that the magi brought gifts to Jesus, and we receive gifts from the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Then we did the presentation where each child selects a "gift" and lights a candle from that gift's candle.

We returned to the atrium after Mass for an "Open house" work period;' We asked the children to show their parents some of their favorite materials. It was a little chaotic because there were refreshments and tons of people, but the children ate their cake and then set to work.

Cole, 5, who has Down Syndrome, chose the Adoration of the Magi. He took the materials out of the box and then pointed emphatically at me and then at a chair next to his: he wanted me to read the Scripture booklet.

As I was reading, Colin, also 5, stopped and listened, then said, "Oh! Wonder and awe! That's one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It's the one the three kings had." And then he walked away.