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."

In Order of Importance

Rex (age 9) was working with the figures from the Nativity and the Adoration of the Shepherds. He asked me to look at their arrangement: the Child Jesus was towards the front of the table, on the green felt representing the fields where the shepherds lived. The other figures were also on the green felt, in rows behind Jesus: first, Mary and Joseph; then, the angel and two shepherds; in the back row, the sheep and another shepherd. Rex said they were lined up in order of importance.
The catechist remarked, “It looks as though they are following him.” Rex lifted up the Christ Child to indicate that he could not yet move on his own and remarked, “He would be floating.” [The catechist was struck by this image of the nations following a child who was completely unable to move himself.] The catechist recalled, “It reminds me of the sheep following the Good Shepherd. Do you think this Child is the same Good Shepherd?” Rex said, “Yes.”
After a period of silence he said, “I have always wondered if God, who had no hands or arms or legs but who made the whole world, knew what he would look like when he came to earth.”

True God to True God

The child said of his drawing, "The sheep is full of light--Jesus' light. It sparkles as it walks." He made a sparkle gesture with his hands.

He knew them by Heart

Catechist asked, "How can the Good Shepherd tell all the sheep apart?"
Child answered, "He knew them by heart."

The Good Shepherd is keeping his eye on him

I was presenting the Good Shepherd Parable to Otto, who had missed the presentation with the larger group. Whenever possible I like to work with a child one on one with his material. We reread the Scripture, with Otto moving the figures. At the end, he chose not to move the sheep back to the sheepfold. He kept the group of sheep with the Good Shepherd, off to one side. Then he took one sheep from the group and moved it away from the others, and then into the sheepfold, alone. I asked him, "...this sheep is not with the others?" He said, "The sheep doesn't want to be with the others right now." He thought a moment and added, " But the Good Shepherd is keeping his eye on him anyway."

I love you

Ursula and I did the Good Shepherd on Friday. After reading the line "the sheep know his voice," I mused, "I wonder what that voice sounded like. I wonder what it was like." Then I heard Ursula whisper, "I love you."

Seven-year-old skeptic

A catechist had been concerned about her son’s increasing questioning of religious teachings, and shared this: Tonight, just a few minutes ago, he came down worried about a nightmare, and I suggested that he ask his guardian angel to help him be brave. Half asleep, he mumbled "Not real ... you know that, mommy." But then, as he walked back upstairs, he stopped at the TV cabinet. On top of it were a few broken sheep from our atrium that I'd recently brought home to repair. And he picked one up and said, "Well, I guess I could bring this one to bed with me to remind me of the Good Shepherd.” So, there is something for my catechist's heart to ponder: Guardian Angel -- "not real." God -- "How can God exist?" But the Good Shepherd -- well, there's someone even a seven year old skeptic could make his peace with.

Lead all your flocks to peace

Prayer by a group of 10-11-year-olds:
Shine your light on us, oh Lord,
So that we may worship you in happiness.
Oh Lord, our Shepherd, lead all your flocks to peace.
Guide us through our journeys with love and life,
So we may serve you wholeheartedly,
Until one day when there is one flock and one sheepfold. Amen.

Dalia, age 3, has been fascinated with the Last Supper (Cenacle) presentation and asked for it on perhaps six successive weeks. When it was presented to her each time, the figures of Jesus and the twelve were taken one by one from their box as they were brought into the upper room and put around the table. Dalia, however, when working alone with the material always carefully lined the figures up behind Jesus and moved them in and out of the room in this way. I finally realized that she was connecting them with the Good Shepherd story and later noticed her move the figures both in the Good Shepherd parable and Cenacle the same way. She had discovered a great theological truth!

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?"
Krista, age 6: A long time before Jesus was on the earth, the Jewish people were slaves in Egypt. God and Moses did plagues on Pharoah and the Egyptians, and the worst one was the Death Angel. The Death Angel flew over the houses that had the blood of the lamb on the doorpost, but all the first born sons of the Egyptians died. Even Pharoah's own son. But when Jesus came to earth and lived out love, and died on the cross and rose up on Easter, the Death Angel lost his power forever."

Found Sheep

Natalia, age 4, was receiving the presentation on the Found Sheep for the first time. When I wondered what the Good Shepherd would do when he realized that one sheep was missing, Natalia replied, "Run out!" She picked up the figure of the Good Shepherd and took it quickly to the figure of the missing sheep, then explained, "Pick up the sheep and put it back in the sheepfold."

At the beginning of the Good Shepherd presentation, Natalia, age 4, said that the shepherd cares for his sheep by "naming, loving, and leading them." After we read the scripture booklet, she said that the Good Shepherd is Jesus and that one of the sheep is named "Mister."

Lenora, age 5, had just received the presentation on the Found Sheep. She asked to sing the Good Shepherd song (a song that I've been working on writing and had shared a bit with her). We sang together and then she suggested that the song needed more verses. She suggested, "I love the sheep, and the sheep love me" and we sang this. She then began to meditate on the Good Shepherd. For the next hour she meditated and periodically come to me to offer another "verse" for the song. These were the verses:
* "Everybody's a family.
* Everybody in the green tree is a family.
* All the birds that sing are in the family.
* Everybody that are animals are in the family.
* Everything that sings is part of me.
* All the trees I see is a part of me.
* And I love green beans.
* And I love all the twinkles in the trees.
* And I love green beans.
* And I love all the monkeys in the trees."
Upon finishing her meditation, she gave me her "book" with a freehand drawing of "God" and two tracings each of the Good Shepherd and the sheep.
The next day, Lenora chose to work with the Good Shepherd again. While meditating, she again offered me more verses: "I love smelling flowers. I love taking showers (that rhymes)" and later, "God has lots of power." She gave me her meditation tracing of a sheep with many lines and circles all around it. Lenora explained that it is "The Protected Sheep" with "like a bubble around it."

"He calls them happy"

Mariana, age 5, was working with the Good Shepherd. When I wondered how Jesus had responded when asked "Who are you?" Mariana explained that Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd." When I wondered what shepherds do, she explained, "Take care of the sheep. Give them food and give them water." When I wondered how the Good Shepherd calls the sheep, she replied, "he calls them happy" and added while pointing to the sheep, "these are all the family of sheep." When I wondered later what the Good Shepherd's voice sounds like, she replied, "Jesus' voice. Mary and Joseph wanted to have a baby." She then meditated on the Good Shepherd.

Shalom

Nia, age 3, was working with the Good Shepherd. As she moved the figure of the Good Shepherd, she sang "shalom, shalom, shalom..." to herself. She seemed content.

During a discussion about the True Vine, suddenly Nathan, age 6, began talking about the sheepfold and he said this:
"The sheepfold, you know, it's just a holding place. We don't belong here. We belong with God and we're going back to God. This is just where God sends us to learn."

He would need his power now...

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?"
Barney, age 6: "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."

Look! Jesus is everywhere here!

A catechist told the story of a 3-year-old's first day in the Atrium.
Rosanne practically danced outside of the Atrium, in the courtyard. It was finally her turn to come to the Atrium! She had been coming with her mother, watching her older brother Devin enter the atrium, for three years. Finally, she would hear her own name called! Rosanne was the first to offer to model a "quiet walk", to whisper her name using "quiet talking", and was very eager to name the items she saw on the prayer table. When I asked what she saw, she said, "I see Jesus, holding a lamb." How amazing to me that children intuitively know Jesus is our Good Shepherd. And as we walked through the environment, quietly taking in all that we could with just our eyes, she stopped before some artwork of the Good Shepherd, which hung on the walls near our Mass area. "Look! Jesus is everywhere here!" Another year is underway.

The Gate is open

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