Why Bread? Why wine?

Have you ever stopped to wonder why Jesus chose bread and wine as the gift of himself? No? Me neither until I became a Catechist in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. And even then, the first time I gave this presentation I wasn't sure what the point was. "What could the children possibly get from this?"

I just gave the presentation "Story of Bread" for the second time in my history of being a level 3 catechist (grades 4-6.) We went through the whole presentation. At the end, I asked, "Ok, what do you think? Why did Jesus choose bread and wine?"

Child: So many things come together to make it all: People, the priest, God

Other Child: Don't forget the Earth - Fruit of the Earth

Me: Ok, why is that so important to Jesus, that all of this come together?

Child: Togetherness

Other Child: Unity - He wants to bring Unity.

Audible gasp of other child followed with: It parousia in our food!

This was never part of my consciousness before. Ever. And without this work that God has gifted me with I would have never known. Each day that I get the privilege of working with children in the atrium, I learn something new about the Good Shepherd and his Plan for us. It is the Good Shepherd and the Openness of the Children that are my teachers.

Advent Traditions

I have a confession to make. We don't put up a Christmas Tree. We never have. In the beginning of our life together, it didn't make sense to put up a tree because we lived far from Chicago and Houston and those were the places we spent the holiday. So why put a Christmas Tree up if we weren't going to be around to enjoy it? I always felt a little sad about this. I always wanted  my own tree with my own ornaments.

Fast forward to today. We are rooted here in the Chicagoland area these days. We have a 6 year old daughter. I thought for sure that when this happened that we would definitely get a Christmas Tree. I thought that Gracie's pleadings would most definitely melt Justin's heart, he would cave and we would get a tree.  Currently, Justin is in Korea. Before he left, in quite a defiant tone, I told him that while he was gone I was going to get a tree.

So he is gone. Did I get a tree? No.

I have been thinking and praying about it. In the end it was Gracie that helped me realize why we don't need a tree. We were in the grocery store and she said, Mommy, we need to get cranberries for the fireplace. You know, like we do every year. 

That was when it dawned on me that we have instilled some very important Advent traditions that Gracie has come to expect. 

Advent is a time where we are called to slow down and ponder the light that Christ brings to each of us each and every day. For me and my family, this means slowing down and simplifying life. 

Here are some of the Advent Traditions that we have.

• Making as many Christmas Gifts as possible. (For last years craft)This helps us avoid the rush of Christmastime Consumerism, slow down, and pray for each person as we craft their gift. The Christmas Shopping Rush - in the grand scheme of things will only make me feel worse as I can not afford the perfect gift for each person in my family. Gracie said to me just yesterday, the perfect gift is God's love. I asked her how do we give that? She said we love and we pray.
• The Advent Wreath  We gather around the Advent Wreath and sing  Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.
• Cranberry Garland Gracie strings cranberries to dress the hearth. 
• The Manger Scene
• Advent Carols We listen to Advent Carols.  Then for the 12 days of Christmas we listen to Christmas Music. You can access my Spotify Playlist on Facebook.

Advent is a season of slowing down and relishing in the things that bring us closer to Christ. After thinking and praying I realized that a Christmas Tree will not do that for us. Really, it is a place to put unperfect presents. Because the most perfect present I can provide is prayer and love anyway, Right?

Sofia Cavalletti on The Parable of the Good Shepherd

I have spent this year immersed in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. It is tremendous. I completely recommend it. I have learned so much about our God, my Faith, my relationship with Jesus, our Children and how they are in touch with the deep. Much of my bedside reading has been Sofia Cavalletti, the humble servant behind the curriculum of the Catechesis.

Here is some of what she has to say about the Good Shepherd.

The points that most enchant the children , are above al the personal love and protective presence of the Good Shepherd: he calls each one of His sheep by name, He knows each intimately even if there are many sheep; He calls his sheep and gradually they become accustomed to the voice of their Good Shepherd and they listen to Him. In this way a precious relationship is established; a thread of love binds the sheep always more closely to their Shepherd. The Shepherd's voice is powerful and supremely patient; it never tires of calling and reaches out even to those sheep who are far away, beyond the sheepfold. Slowly the too turn to hear his voice and they gather together into one great flock. The Shepherd knows the needs of His sheep, and He guides them to good pastures, walking ahead of them to show the way and to be the first to confront any danger should it arise. So the sheep are safe and peaceful with their Good Shepherd; they know there is someone to protect them even in danger.

The Religious Potential of the Child

by Sofia Cavalletti

p.65-66

* * *

So for Easter this year, Gracie and I made 3 sheepfolds: 1 Zach and Allie, 1 for Peyton, and 1 for my god-daughter in Italy.  It was a wonderful project for us to work on over Holy Week. To pray for our family and friends while being together in a special creative space. 

our first 3 sheep

They are all ready for curing in the oven

It all fits nicely...

...in this box.

Children Show us the Kingdom

 

Let the little children come to me. Don't keep them away. God's kingdom belongs to people like them. What I'm about to tell you is true. Anyone who will not receive god's kingdom like a little child will never enter it.

 Matthew 10:14-15

 We should not forget that the child can help us, too, by showing us the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. A great respect for the individuality of the child should be a part of our deepest Christian thought; and putting this thought into practice should tend to the personal refinement of every religious teacher.

Maria Montessori, The Mass Explained to Children

Maria Montessori on Religious Education

During a job interview six years ago the gentleman who would become my boss a year later read this quote to me. I was new to Montessori at the time. I was a wanna-be religious educator and learned of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. When Dan read this, I was amazed at which the profound reality of liturgy was passed on to children. Maria Montessori was one amazing woman. She not only developed amazing materials that make each and every concept tangible for the child so that independence is mastered at each level; she thought of each child as a whole being: spiritual, emotional and physical. This excerpt is from The Discovery of the Child's chapter on religious education. This was written about her first work with religious education in a 3-6 environment.

Work in the fields as part of religious education:

We thought that it would be an excellent idea to have the children grow the wheat and the grapes to be used as the material for the Eucharist and thus incorporate the children's religious activities into their labors and joys in the fields. we therefore set aside portions of a large meadow where the children used to play in the afternoon for the growing of grain and vines. Two rectangular patches were picked out by the children themselves, one on the extreme right and the other on the extreme left of the field. A type of grain was then chosen that mature rapidly. Furrows for the grain were laid out in parallel lines, and each of the children sowed a portion of the grain in them. 

The actual sowing, the care required to see that no seeds fell outside the furrows, and the seriousness and solemnity with which the labors were carried out at once showed that the activity was suited to the goal intended. A little later the vines were planted. Those looked like shriveled roots and were so dry that they gave no promise of that marvel to come, the appearance one day of real bunches of grapes. The shoots were placed equal distances apart in furrows laid out in parallel row. Then we decided that it would be well to plant flowers all around them as a kind of unending homage of fragrance and beauty to the plants which one day would furnish bread and wine for the Eucharist...