Someone Has Been There Before Us

I hope that the whole parish will join me in welcoming our new parish sacristan, Robert Thacker. Robert is a ten year old young man who has been in our Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program for three years now. His mother, Diane, gave me permission to share with you the story about how he came to serve our parish in this way.

Diane brought her son to us three years ago because she heard that we have Catechesis of the Good Shepherd as the formation program for our 3-12 year olds. Due to Robert's special needs (something called Sensory Processing Syndrome), his parish DRE and Diane realized that his parish religious education program was unable to meet his needs. He had already spent some time working one-on-one in a CGS atrium at another parish, but his mother hoped that we would be able to help Robert work together with other children, especially so that her other son would be able to have time in an atrium without putting undo time pressure on an already burdened family.

Working together with a one-on-one assistant, Robert thankfully was able to work and participate successfully with the other children in our CGS atrium (our word for classroom). Although Robert was not able to sit still or quietly for very long, one thing that the catechists and other children could not fail to notice was that Robert had an unusually profound grasp on the Mass and other devotions.

This child who would bounce around from room to room and touch whatever he could see, was drawn powerfully to the works on the gestures of the Mass and even a special work on the Rosary where he would sit and recite the whole prayer with his special assistant.

His assistants and catechists all spoke with awe about his reverent attention and command of the Mass. He would repeat the words of the priest verbatim and insist that his "congregation" (which always included his assistant and, sometimes, other children) kneel all the way up (no resting on your heels!) A parent whose child was in his atrium last year (but is in a different room this year) mentioned to me a few months ago that her little girl was wondering aloud about Robert, "I wonder how he is. I think he is going to be a priest."

Unfortunately, due to difficulties inherent in children with Sensory Processing Disorder, Robert has not been able to serve as he would like at Mass. And as this year progressed in school and in the atrium, it became apparent that his occasional SPD outbursts that were manageable when he was smaller had become more difficult and sometimes dangerous to others as he had grown. This sweet, gentle boy who loves the Church and loves the Mass could not join in the community the way that it is usually done. Both we and his mother were heartbroken.

After a long discussion with Diane involving the extreme difficulty of bearing the cross of special needs especially without the help of the Church, I promised we would do all we could and that we are not giving up. After all, Robert is not just a boy with special needs. He is a boy with special abilities, too. In a discussion about what to do, one of his catechists suddenly offered a crazy idea: What if Robert could help prepare for Mass? What if Robert could serve as a parish sacristan?

Even as we prepare to present the work of "The Preparation of the Chalice" in the atrium, we introduce the cruets and tell the children: "When we go to Mass, someone has been there before us." That someone is the parish sacristan. From the age of three, we show the children how to prepare the cruets of water and wine. Robert had also seen presentations on the liturgical colors and he always knew what color Father's chasuble would be. He has had years of preparing the altar with everything that was needed: the paten and chalice, the corporal, the purificators, the hand towel, etc. We knew immediately that she had discovered the answer.

After receiving approval from Father, I called his mom to ask her if Robert would be willing to serve as parish sacristan. She broke down into tears. Just ten minutes earlier, she told me, she had offered a prayer of abandonment to the Holy Spirit and told God that she trusted Him completely to take care of Robert. It was an answer to prayer.

So for the past month, each Friday afternoon, Robert and his mom or dad meet me at the Church. Robert takes his special cross necklace (like the altar servers wear) and goes to the front of the tabernacle and offers the special "sacristan prayer" asking God to bless his ministry and he gets to work. He ensures there are enough hosts in the sacristy, the cloths are prepared, the proper chasuble is set out, and now he likes to make sure that any burnt out candles in front of our Mary statue are replaced with fresh ones. Sometimes he will open and read Sunday's Gospel to me, sometimes he will pose in front of the mirror as he holds up the large hosts (like a priest would do) while he counts them. Always he will sign and date the paper that has his duties written on it and turn it in to the office mailbox.

A few weeks ago, his father, Larry, was able to be there and watch him do his work for the first time. "Bob," he said with emotion in his voice, holding his son's shoulders so that he could look at him straight in the eyes, "I'm so proud of you, son." And we all are.

It is the highlight of my week now to come and do this work of preparing for Mass with Robert. My favorite part is at the end, just after he has dropped his completed paper in the mailbox and he turns and shakes my hand and says, "See you next week, Ms. Mandie." Then off he goes to his next adventure.

God's blessing on you and your family this week and always,
Mandie DeVries, Director of Religious Education

A Child Makes Sense of the Eucharist

Several years ago now on First Communion Sunday, according to his custom, Father Harris began his homily by asking the children questions. That particular year, he began simply enough:

"Why are we here today? What are we celebrating?"

An eager child piped in: "We are receiving Jesus."

Father pointed to the back of the church to the bread and wine: "In a little while they are going to bring up the bread and the wine. Is that Jesus? No. It will be placed on the altar, but then something is going to happen. We teach that it is going to become the Body and Blood of Jesus... Well, I have two questions for you: 1) How can that even happen--bread and wine turning in to Jesus' Body and Blood? and two 2) Why would Jesus want to do that?"

As the Director of Religious Education and a catechist, I drew in a deep breath. I mean, I believed we'd prepared the children well for this day, but Father! Those were rather difficult questions for 8 year olds to be answering in front of a couple hundred people! I think their parents were even squirming a little, afraid maybe that the question would be addressed to them next.

An arm shot up.

I saw that it wasn't an 8 year old who raised her hand at all. We had a first grade child that year who begged to be allowed to receive her first communion. She had drawn a picture and written a note to Father Harris letting him know that she felt that Jesus was calling her to receive that year. "How can I refuse this?" He'd said, holding in his hand her drawing of him giving her first communion, with the words "Jesus is calling me" written there.

Father pointed at little Olivia and she stood up so that she would be heard.

"Well," she began boldly, "He can change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood because He is God and He can do whatever He wants."

Good one, I thought, as she took a breath. I wondered how a just-turned-7 year old child would explain something that scholars, theologians, priests, bishops, and popes have taken millenia to carefully present. I might have been holding my breath.

"And," she continued confidently, "Jesus knew that He would be going back into heaven, but He didn't want to leave the people alone without Him, or to never be with people who had not been born yet. So He gave us this gift because He wanted to be with us forever."

Father was speechless, and started walking back to his chair. He said his homily was over because she had just preached it for Him.

Sometimes we adults get a little caught up in the hows and whys and complications of faith. We see evil and we are scandalized, we experience suffering and we are jaded. Is God really there? Does He really love us at all? But that beautiful day in May 2012, the simplicity of a child cut through all of the big words and big ideas and explained the great Sacrament we celebrate this weekend (Corpus Christi) as one simple concept: Love. He wants to be with us. Doesn't that make sense?

"At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will." Luke 10:21

 God's Blessing to you on this Feast of Corpus Christi and always!
Mandie DeVries, Director of Religious Education

In Memory of a Good and Faithful Shepherd

I literally gasped for breath and fell off my chair when I saw the text that informed me that the beloved Father Kiernan passed away suddenly from a heart attack yesterday: Pentecost Sunday. Over the past year, he has been a very special part of our program, assisting Father Harris with our monthly reconciliation evenings with our Religious Education classes. I will never forget what he told the kids they must do EVERYDAY (pray), or his sweet, gravelly voice singing with a group of boys, "Jesus, Jesus come to me, all my lovin' is for thee..." He was an incredible father-figure, and I'm so grateful that I got to know him over the past year. I've decided to reprint this article from last November about just one of the many lessons I learned from him. I only had to change the last line...


Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon him.

What's for Dinner, LORD?
(reprinted from November 2015)

I remember being told to say my prayers as a child. Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray. I thought it meant to pray my nightly prayers, or pray before meals. I thought it meant to ask God for things, and to take care of people. I thought it meant to say thank you to God when He answers my prayers. I didn't realize I could pray just by saying His name!

Our family was able to attend noon first Friday mass at the Basilica of St. John last week, and the homily was given by Fr. Jim Kiernan. If you know Father Kiernan, a retired priest in this diocese, you know that he always wants to know if you are praying to God each day.

His homily hammered that point home: you not only need to be talking to God every day, you need to talk to God ALL day!

If we're honest, most of us would admit that the one person we talk to ALL day is ourselves. We might say to ourselves, "I wonder if so-and-so is going to call today" or "It looks like it's going to rain today" or maybe "I wonder what we're going to have for dinner today."

Fr. Kiernan didn't suggest that we stop talking to ourselves, but that we just add one word to the end of the sentence: LORD.
"I wonder if so-and-so is going to call today, LORD" or "It looks like it's going to rain today, LORD" or even "I wonder what we're going to have for dinner today, LORD."

"It's like magic!" Father Jim explained, "You were having a conversation with yourself and you let God listen in! That's praying!" Before long, he promised, we would be talking to God all day long.

St. Paul tells us to "Pray without ceasing." I've already been trying this for a few days, and let me tell you what a change it brings!

Now that You have welcomed your good and faithful servant home, please thank Father Jim for sharing this beautiful idea and his incredible life with us, LORD.

The Widow's Mite

A friend recently attended Mass where the priest spoke to the parents of young children in this way: "You know, many mothers and fathers are afraid to attend Mass with their little ones because they as adults can't pay attention like they did when they went without children. They can't hear the homily as attentively, they can't pray as reverently. In fact, they may be trying their best just to keep the grace/sin meter in the positive for the duration of the Mass! But remember, God doesn't measure our lives based on how much we give. Think of how he considered the bounteous donations of silver and spices to the temple treasury by the rich Jews of his time. Of course they could give, and they could give without it hurting one bit. Jesus focused on the woman who gave just two mites. Why? Because she gave all she had." 

Be of great courage when Mass is hard with young children. God will bless your efforts and multiply your gift generously. Sometimes you even get to see the fruits of your sacrifice while the children are still young. As we contemplate how the Holy Spirit came upon his Church, gathered together in the upper room so many centuries ago, I give you a few stories collected over the past few weeks of how that same Spirit fills the children with spontaneous joy and love:

Last weekend, I attended Mass at a different parish in order to celebrate my friend's daughter's baptism. The homily for the Ascension was preparing for this weekend's Pentecost celebration. The priest was entreating all of us to be ready to say YES to the Holy Spirit. Mary, he said, was the first to receive that outpouring at the Annunciation. She was there at Pentecost telling everyone, "Say YES!" A little 3-year-old boy in the front pew (under it, actually), spontaneously shouted in response, "YES!" The good monsignor was a little taken aback, as he meant to prepare us all to say yes NEXT Sunday, but since when have you heard of a 3 year old waiting patiently for anything, least of all the Holy Spirit!

That story reminded me of 8:30 Mass a couple of weeks ago. As Father Harris said the words, "This is my body, which will be given up for you" and held up the newly-consecrated host, the silence of the community was broken as a just-turned-3-year-old girl exclaimed, "Mommy! It's a miracle!"

And one last story...

After that mass, a parishioner shared that the previous weekend her husband was heading to Saturday night Mass on his own, because he was taking their toddler son to the grandparents' house the next morning. When the little boy noticed his daddy driving away, he asked, "Where Daddy go?" His mom explained that Daddy was going to Mass, at which point the little boy ran to the front door and tried to put on his shoes in a hurry as he kept repeating, "Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!"

Remember, it's not how much you give, but how much of yourself that you give. When we give all we have, God pours out His blessings in abundance!

The Widow's Mite by James Christensen

May the Holy Spirit bless you!
Mandie DeVries, Director of Religious Education