Beth sat in the doorway watching the Fettuccia work in the hall. She said, pointing to the candle lit beside the Bible, "That's my birthday candle" and, pointing to the long ribbon, "That is my birthday present." Then she wrote,
" I (heart) God he is cool.
And he is watching us
I believe in him
he is ril (sic) "real"
he made me
he is mageic."

The Fettuccia is a 50-meter long ribbon that gives the elementary child an impression of the vastness and unity of the kingdom of God. The following responses were offered during this presentation to the children:

Una (6): “God gave us the gift of the whole world. What gift can we give to God?”
Catechist: “What could we give him?”
Una: “Gold.”
Catechist: “Gold. Could we give Him anything else.”
Una, then the other children: “Our love. Our kindnesses, gold, (other responses).”

Towards the end of the ribbon, a figure of a human being and a hand represent the first human beings, created in God’s image. Nolan (6), while reflecting on the figure of the human being and the hand, remarked “We help God create!”

God is Great

Kent, age 7, did The Gifts work, and explained that his favorite gifts were those on outer space and the fragrances. He illustrated a Kingdom of God Gifts booklet saying “God is great. He prepared for us.”

Oscar, age 8, was at home with his mother. She was creating a flyer on connecting the atrium, home, and church for families. Oscar shared some of his ideas:
1. Light a candle at dinner and think/talk about comparisons with light
and Jesus.
2. Say Grace at every meal. Think about God's gift to us and us saying
thank you. Think about how we can say grace always. (Silently at a friends
house or at school). If you didn't say grace you wouldn't be saying thank you to
Jesus for the wonderful food.
3. For older group: At church - listen to the words the priest is saying
and "connect all the parts together in your mind".
4. For older group: Notice all the symbols of light in the church (ie.
sunlight shining through the window onto the cross, because that to me is
like God shining in upon us during mass - and sometimes you can even see
a shadow of Jesus from the cross within the sunrays and that is Jesus and
God together as they are together, - shining down upon us.

Tricia, age 6 drew a four page booklet:

Page 1 - smiling Jesus on the cross
Page 2 - chalice
Page 3 - paten
Page 4 - Altar, chalice, paten, candles. She referred to the last drawing as "The Last Supper".

God made the sun, 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!"

Listening sooo carefully

In a conversation with 5-year-old, I asked: "How do we know when the Gospel is read in church?"
Kyle: Because I am listening sooo carefully to hear what Jesus wants me to do.
(The answer I had been expecting was, "Because the big gold book gets carried down the aisle.")