HAPPY EASTER! HE IS RISEN!
This is an amazing and challenging time to be alive! It is exciting- and maybe a little scary. I saw a cartoon today and didn’t think to save it to share, so I will describe it: Satan and God are sitting at a table. Satan says something like “I have sent a sickness that closed all the churches in the world.” God calmly responds “I’ve opened up churches in every house.” The thing is, even before this virus, our homes have always been the “Domestic Church.” What exactly is the “Domestic Church?” In Lumen Gentium #11 Pope Paul VI said “The family is, so to speak, the domestic church. In it parents should, by their word and example, be the first preachers of the faith to their children; they should encourage them in the vocation which is proper to each of them, fostering with special care vocation to a sacred state.” In this time when we cannot bring our children to Mass, how are we being preachers of the faith at home? Being a “preacher of the faith” doesn’t have to be actual “preaching” in the usual sense. It is in the ways that you bring God into the everyday. Find ways to be of service to each other in your house- and to others outside. Have your child make cards or write letters to elderly friends and family that may be even more isolated than usual during this social isolation. Make regular phone/video calls to distant family with your child. Be an example of a caring neighbor and friend. Give a prayer of thanksgiving before meals. Count your blessings together in your night prayers before bed. Is your child getting anxious because of the virus and the upheaval of our lives? Teach them to turn to God in prayer- that they can trust their worries in the Father’s hands. Since we aren’t all rushing off for school in the morning- there is time for a morning offering. Put up a prayer by the sink to say while they wash their hands (instead of saying the ABCs or singing “Happy Birthday”). Download an “Alleluia” coloring page to send to church- and talk about how we didn’t sing alleluia all through lent but now we do in Easter time. Don’t hide your faith- discuss it openly at home. It is ok that you do not know everything- and it is ok to tell your child you don’t know the answers to all their questions or even that you have questions yourself. There are ways to find answers- reach out to us at the parish. Being a “preacher of the faith” can be formal- like creating a dedicated prayer space or reading the Bible together and discussing it. But it is also a million different ways you show your child that they are loved. When they hear “God the Father”- your parental love is how they will imagine God’s love for them. In this challenging time, show them patience and kindness. Show them that no matter what they are loved.
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Kelley TanseyFaith Formation Coordinator Archives
June 2021
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