The Child and the Adult

From The Religious Potential of the Child pages 52-53:

“There is a deep bond uniting God to the child, the Creator to His creature…a bond with which no person should dare to interfere.

“The help the adult can give the child is only preliminary and peripheral, and one that halts – that must halt – on the threshold of the ‘place’ where God speaks with His creature.

“The incandescent moment of the meeting with God occurs in secret between the Lord and His creature, and into this secret the adult may not and should not enter.”

I read the above again recently and it touched me deeply, so I thought I’d share.

The world rewards the quick answer, the fast solution. We are trained to respond at the earliest age, garnering praise for coming up with the correct response with alacrity. The atrium allows the adult, as well as the child, to ponder the great mysteries of God without the pressure of an expected response. This is a beautiful gift, one that often takes my breath away  :-)

~ Beate

Our Work in the Atrium

“...it should never be forgotten that yours is a holy work.  The Holy Spirit is present wherever the name of Christ is proclaimed.  He is in our midst whenever we lift up our hearts and minds to God in prayer.  He will give you the light and strength you need!” ~ Pope Francis

Christmas in the Atrium

Today culminates the Christmas season in our Church, so it is fitting that we spend our atrium session with a Christmas celebration. It is always lovely to be pulled back into the heart of the matter - that beautiful manger holding a wee baby. The children in all atria make a procession to adorn the prayer table. They carry the prayer cloth, the Bible, a candle, the nativity figures and sing Christmas carols - it is always quite festive. We proclaim the scripture passage - Luke 2:1-7 for the youngest children and Luke 2:1-20 for the rest - while setting up the nativity scene. This is such a familiar story, yet it always holds something new if we only take the time to listen. We wonder together at what it would have been like to be there - would we have recognized our Lord?

The older children spent some time in prayer and then gathered objects in the atrium that would symbolize their gift to the baby Jesus. There was a pencil because He helps us write our "blank page," a Sharpie, because He leaves a permanent mark on our lives, a candle, because He is the light, the globe, because we are to share His love with all. The children's sincerity and diligence in searching for the perfect item was a blessing for us as catechists. Again I am humbled by their theology.

In the peace of the Good Shepherd,

Beate

In Memory of Sofia Cavalletti

An interview about the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd

Archbishop Naumann of Kansas City interviews catechist and formation leader Diane Olsen about how the Montesorri method is applied to teaching the Faith to young children. This information segment answers question parents often have about Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Diane beautifully stresses the difference between formation versus education and gives a few ideas of living a religious experience in our homes with our children.

Direct download: 2013_fc_eg_Cat_of_Good_Shep_mixdown.mp3

Good Shepherd Sunday

Today, after an incredibly rich four hour retreat yesterday, eleven very happy children received our Lord for the very first time. May they always remain in His love! Congratulations to Sophie, Kolbe, Sophia, Ashlyn, Suraya, Jacob, Madison, Allie, Matthew, Nate and Michael - it's been a blessing sharing this journey with you :-)

Thank you Father Alberic, JoAnn Origer, Joyce Colyer, Sarah Buescher, Sabine Summerville and all the parents for all you did to help us to prepare!

Holy Week

Sunday began Holy Week. In the words of my friend Leonie, "Holy Week boldly proclaims His love and presence and ushers in the rejoicing of Easter. Even when we don’t feel His presence, Holy Week reminds us that he has been there all along. He will be there all along. There is that sense of suffering-with, and that glorious recognition, in our noisy lives, of the joy of the Resurrection."

Yesterday, Archbishop Gustavo blessed the Holy Oils at the Chrism Mass. Tomorrow we begin the three day liturgy leading to the Glory of the Resurrection! Too often these days tend to be spent doing last minute things for Easter - oh no, your sandals are too small! What happened to your white sweater??? What are we going to eat!?! How can we arrange work and school for everyone that we can get to Mass?

Instead, I'm taking a deep breath and reflecting on the important stuff ;-) Seven years ago my now 13 year old gathered sheep around the Last Supper work and sat with it a long time. She'd recently made the discovery that we are the sheep and that reality spoke to her in a very profound way. There, at the table of the Last Supper, Jesus the Good Shepherd shared how He would remain with us forever. The next day, He gave His life for His sheep. In our own lives, we are invited to share in both the suffering of the cross and the joy of the resurrection. Perhaps the suffering intensifies the joy. It's a deep theology and it is the children who have opened it up for me.

My prayer for you is that you will listen to the whisper of our Lord as He invites us to stay awake with Him during the Triduum - to spend some silent moments just being with the one who loves us most and gave His all just so we can be eternally united with Him!

~ Beate