A little more wind to spread the seeds

Kevin, 5, was meditating on the Mystery of Life and Death. He drew the process of seed to fruit, then drew the seed again. He explained, "I made the wheat going through metamorphosis. Then the process starts all over again. It's the same with animals." He added sun, rain and lightning to the drawing and titled it, "A seed is a piece of cake." When I wondered if he had finished, he replied, "I just need [to draw] a little more wind to spread the seeds."

Triple Thumbs up!

Caleb, 5, had meditated at the City of Jerusalem. When asked about his meditation he explained, "God traveled up to my brain to give me more suggestions." When I wondered how that felt, Caleb replied, "A triple thumbs up!"

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."

These are pictures of God!

A very active 4 year old had walked into the atrium the first day announcing over and over again, "God's not here!" As the year went on he had difficulty focusing on his work but would often give a glimmer of light as to what he was taking in. To help him focus on and choose a work I used a camera and had him take pictures of his favorite works. Once the photos had been developed I brought them in for him to see. His eyes grew wide when he saw them and announced, "These are pictures of God!"

Itty bitty fishies in Her Hands

Nate, 3, wanted to pray for his sister's fish who died. The catechist said some words at the altar with him. Then Nate wanted to do work at the Prayer Table and pray for the fish. They set the Prayer Table and Nate was invited to pray. He burst out in song, "She's got the itty bitty fishies in Her hand."

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.