What a Holy Week!

I was moved by a few emails/posts from parishioners & catechists who shared about their families' experience with the Holy Week liturgies last week. It is always the aim of our work in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd to assist the child to fuller participation in the mass. These two stories warmed my heart so much I wanted to share them with you!

The first is from a catechist with two boys in our Level I program (3 and 5 years old). She attended Holy Thursday mass with her children and they were so moved by the part where the altar was stripped that they came home and emptied their own little prayer table that they had set up. Usually the prayer table has a cloth (the color had been purple), a bible, a statue, maybe a few prayer cards, and a candle. The mom told me that they took turns taking things off and even folded (!) the prayer cloth. When they were done it looked like this:

Also, on Easter morning I woke up to this jewel in my notifications on Facebook. It was from a catechist with 3 boys between 7 and 12 years old. 

"My family went to Easter Vigil mass last night. I haven't been in a long time, probably talked myself out of it since last time I went when my boys were little, one threw up right in the middle of it! Anyways, my niece was receiving her sacraments last night so we went. 

During mass I was in awe of our CGS program! How the last few years of being involved in CGS had been preparing me and my boys to fully understand and participate not only in Mass each week, but for this Vigil Mass. Every moment gave me a flash of a work from the atrium! I can't explain the feeling I had while I was sitting there - grateful-peaceful-awe-love! 

And it was made even greater when I looked over at my boys and saw their participation. Most of the way home from Ft. Dodge I sat in the car thinking of how awesome our CGS program is!! Not sure why, but this morning I just had to get on here and share with you all how thankful I am that my boys and I are a part of this program!! Happy Easter!! Alleluia!! Alleluia!!"

Easter Blessings on you and your families!

Pirates and Saints

You never know where the work of a Level III child might take you. In this case, it was into the land of movie-making! These boys took their saint research to a whole new level. Even though I'm the director of our program here, I joked that I was a little nervous with all of the noise that my fellow workers in the vineyard might come and take my catechist card. My assistant and I were commenting as they (loudly) rehearsed that these boys were not likely to forget the story of St. Rose any time soon. I don't think I will either!

What would You Choose?

Sometimes a topic really jumps out at the children and the catechists will see a flurry of new and intense work. This last week in Level III was like that. We are about 6 weeks into a Moses study, and in the last couple of weeks, we've seen 3-dimensional representations of the comparison between Egyptian and Hebrew life after the Exodus, lots and lots of interviewing with interesting questions, and some of the kids even got together "after hours" to work on their project. I promised I would print this here.

Hebrew Times

by Madeleine D, Lydia S, Peyton L

We interviewed several people (Jamie C., Bethany D., Mary T., Genny L.) about Hebrew Times and what they would do if they were in place of a Hebrew slave. Most people wanted to follow God, but admitted they would complain they were travelling for forty years with nothing to eat except manna (which is translated to mean “whatch-a-ma-call-it”) and birds [quail].

When Question #2 asked: If you were a Hebrew slave who had just been freed, would you grumble and complain? Mary T. answered, “Probably not at the beginning, but if I were wandering in the desert for forty years, yes.”

We were also curious of what people would think of Moses. Jamie C. answered, “I would think he’s crazy,” and Bethany D. said, ”At the beginning I’d like him, but in the middle not really.”

So what about you? Would you rather have a large spacious many-roomed house with servants and worship many gods (which are hunks of rock) or live in a cramped tent have a hard life and worship the one true god (not a hunk of rock)? Which would you choose? It’s up to you to find out.

Egyptian                         Hebrew
Good house                    Cramped tent
Fertile land                     Desert land
Servants                         No servants
Worship many Gods     Worship one true God

Chose Egyptians         Chose Hebrew
Read Exodus 7-10        Read Exodus 12-15

Do You Love Me?

Each day at mass after the Great Amen and the Our Father, as the moment nears when the people are to receive Jesus in the Eucharist, there is a collective moment when everyone turns their attention away from Our Lord who just became present on the altar, and toward each other: The Sign of Peace.

There is no small amount of discussion in liturgical circles about whether it would be better to move this sometimes noisy, sometimes awkward gesture to a place earlier in the mass or even to take it out completely. I mean, it's so distracting, right? Sometimes when the moment comes to offer our neighbor a sign of Christ's peace, the din that ensues is anything but peaceful. Is it really necessary or can we just get rid of it?

To forgive or to forgo?

Remember that the Sign of Peace happens about 30 seconds after we say these words in the Our Father: "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." In essence we just told God that He only has to forgive if we forgive others and that we are sorry for what we've done. It's easy to say those words sometimes without realizing that action needs to follow it up.

Over the course of almost 15 years of marriage, there have been (ahem) a few times that my husband and I have arrived at Mass on not the best terms ever. Something may have been done or said that morning or earlier that week that threw a deep divide in our marital bliss.

I remember a particular time when I spent most of the mass brooding over injury and not paying terribly close attention to the homily... But I knew it was coming... that moment when I would have to choose to forgive or to forgo receiving our Lord in the Eucharist.

You see, before we got married, my husband and I developed the habit of always giving one another the kiss of peace first, then going on to the other people around us. If I skipped him over, it would be a deliberate decision not to reconcile.

"Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift." Matthew 5:23-24

Do You Love Me?

As I knelt during the Eucharistic prayer, I felt a tension building in me. Deep inside I heard the echo of Jesus's question to St. Peter so long ago, "Do you love Me?" I responded to Him as He became present on the altar: "Yes Lord, you know that I love you."

"If anyone says, "I love God," but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." 1 John 4:20

As we stood to pray the Our Father, again I heard the question posed,"Which is more important to you: this grudge you are holding in your heart, or Me? You cannot hold on to both."

It wasn't until the moment when Father began this prayer that my icy heart finally began to melt:

"Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles: I leave you peace, my peace I give you. Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and grant us the peace and unity of your kingdom where you live for ever and ever."

My husband and I did exchange the kiss of peace that day. When I received Communion moments later, I felt a flood of peace enter my soul, probably because I had so recently made room for my Lord in my heart.

The Second is Like It

Among the myriad of other blessings our family receives while attending mass each week, the Sign of Peace is one of the most simple and profound. It makes it impossible for our grudges to get set in concrete, so to speak, because we have to choose to allow the waters of His mercy flow to into our relationship.

"...[O]ne of them tested him by asking, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments." Matthew 22:35-40.

So for any of you who may be influential in the discussion of where and whether to have this important gesture included in the Mass just before communion, consider this: it can save marriages! Rather than being a distraction from the most important thing (worship of God), the Sign of Peace can serve as a regular challenge to grow and purify our love of God through love, mercy, and forgiveness of our neighbor. 

A Reflection for Christmas

Sleeping Child

All creation ached to see the Word when He leapt down,

When God eternal, visibly, cast off his heavenly crown.

In the cold of night He came, as starlight blazed and filled the skies,

He left that place beneath her heart, and looked into her eyes.

Her fiat's Fruit, her yes's Son, her blessed womb had borne,

Yet death's dark shadow lingered close, as swaddling clothes were shorn.

For as the humble came to set themselves beneath His gaze,

She knew not all who sought Him out would offer joyful praise.

Could she see through tears of joy and mingled sorrow twain?

Divested from her womb, she now must lay him down again?

But to evince and show to all her perfect love of God, 

She laid her Son thus shrouded by for shepherds, kings, to laud.

But when his eyes grew heavy, and He knew an infant's rest,

She kissed his head and gently held her son against her breast.

In sorrow hence she'll hold Him thus when all is reconciled,

But joy pierced first His mother's heart, held by her sleeping Child.

~May the Child Jesus always find in your heart a welcome place to rest. 

Merry Christmas and God Bless,

Mandie DeVries, Director of Religious Education

The Original Bonus Baby

It is always interesting when children eavesdrop on adult conversations. You never know what ideas they get in their heads when they think they know what you're talking about, but they really don't.

Recently, our family had a lovely visit from a parishioner who brought us a meal to celebrate the birth of our baby boy, David. She enjoyed holding him and telling stories of her family. As usual, my older girls gathered round to listen in, and put their oar in whenever they could find a space.

We were talking about how much more you appreciate the little babies when you are older. I had my first baby 13 years ago and with the huge learning curve for the first one and toddlers to distract me for the other four, this is my first baby that I have really been able to enjoy from the start!

Adorable pic of David taken by Emily Perry at Emily Perry Images

When our guest shared about how blessed their family has been by "bonus babies," our 8-year-old piped in wanted to know what a bonus baby was.

"Well," I began, carefully, "when a couple thinks that they aren't going to have any more children, then God blesses them with one, people call that a bonus baby."

"Oh," she said, "like your friend Mary?"

I explained to our guest that after miscarrying her second child, my friend Mary was told that she had less than a 1% chance of having children again, but after being anointed with Lourdes water at a healing mass, she WAS blessed with another child, and is now expecting her 6th!

"That's one way to look at it, but that isn't exactly what people mean," I told Leah. "Usually a "bonus baby" is a blessing a couple receives when they are older and don't expect to have more children."

"Ooooooh!" She said, as the lightbulb went off in her head. "Like Abraham and Sarah when they had Isaac!"

We all laughed and concurred that she got the concept this time. "Yes," I told her, "I think Isaac must have been the original bonus baby!"

The Best Thing I Ever Did

About 11 years ago, someone invited me to take a class on how to teach preschool religion. I had an almost-preschooler and a new baby. The cost was a bit steep at $375, but everyone spoke so highly of this 8-day course, I decided to go for it. After a few days in the course, I was more than intrigued by the formation - I was hooked! That was when I realized that this was only Part ONE of the Level I course, and that the following summer would be another 8 days and another $375! But it was too late. I was already sold. Eleven years later I will still tell you it is the best thing I did for my faith, my parenting, and maybe my life!

Not everyone begins formation for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd as blindly as I did. I showed up the first day unaware that this was more like a college course than a workshop. Even if it was more educational than I forsaw, it was also far more of a spiritual investment than I expected.

Ever since that summer in 2004, I have been telling everyone I knew to give some time to be formed in CGS, and if they can manage it, to get trained in all three levels (270 hours!) In the years since I was trained, things have changed quite a bit in our area. The biggest change is that we have local trainers, and the cost and format of the trainings have been streamlined.

About 2 years ago, with much prayer and trepidation, I began the discernment process of working to become a formation leader for Level I of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. It was about 6 weeks ago that I received my recognition as a formation leader from the National Association. I have long desired to open this opportunity to adults who are not quite ready to make the commitment to be catechists, but who have been hearing of the spiritual fruit that is coming from these incredible formation courses and want to come and see!

I am thrilled to announce that as part of our Adult Faith offerings at All Saints, we will be offering a national Level I course (serving 3-6 year old children) beginning in January for a parishioner rate of $60 for the whole course! (Out of parish participants will pay $300 for all 90 hours).

For more information about CGS, this course, or to register, check out our parish website: www.dmallsaints.org/cgs or our blog at allsaintscgs.blogspot.com. Class size is limited to the first 15 participants (and it is my secret hope that many of them will be MEN). I hope to see you on the first day, January 16th!