In my experience as Children’s Faith Formation coordinator I have the priviledge to observe and interact with many children and their parents. I see how families make church a part of their lives, promoting the values we as Catholic Christians promote, incorporating the teachings of Jesus into everyday lives, attending Mass and actively partcipating in the life of the parish by attending events, learning more about their faith (both parents and chidlren) prapraing for sacraments.

Encouraging children to enjoy Church is a tricky business. This becomes more and more true as children enter junior high and later High School. There are so many things that compete with our time. Being part of a parish community is like a habit (a good one) formed together with support from the community and family members.

Here are some keys:
1) Church should always be fun - chidlren should be engaged in Mass. Parents can answer questions, during these "teachable moments" and point out things that are happening so that the children understand the importance of what's going on, i.e. prayer during the Eucharistic Prayer and after Communion.  That's not to say that we should be "entertained" when we go to Mass, but instilling guidelines for appropriate behavior can be approached from a positive place.
2) What if Church activities/Mass were a priority in families? What if Church was at the top of the list and all other things were fit in after or around Church?
3) Sometimes I hear parents using God as the "bad guy". Saying things like, “You better knock that off, God will see you” using God as “the bad guy” to correct/alter behavior sends the wrong message to children. God is not the bad guy - he loves us unconditionally - God is always there for us - even, and especially when we’re in trouble. If God is who you as parent use as the “enforcer” who would your child pray to in times of trouble?
4) Don't use the Bible as punishment. Once a mother told me that when her son misbehaves, she has him choose a Psalm and copy it. This reminded me of the teacher in the classroom making a child write 100 times: "I will not talk in class without raising my hand". Did this method ever work? How many of us had to write things like that on the board and went right on doing whatever it was we got in trouble for? Why would we want to associate the Bible with punishment? Isn't the Bible something to be treasured and cherished? It's God's WORD after all and is meant to teach us something about who God is and why he sent his only Son, Jesus to save us.

So on this Christmas Eve, let's think of ways we can promote attendance at church and participation in a positive way!

Questions from a 5-year old

Earlier this year, I received this e-mail from a parent of three little girls. The youngest, who is 5 had some very challenging questions for her parents, so the mother e-mailed me. Below are the questions and my answers in italics.

* You know how God made everyone? Well, who made God???

God is and always was - He is all powerful so, I guess you could say he made himself! But basically, this is a mystery to us.

* If Jesus is Mary's son, and God is Jesus's father, then why isn't God married to Mary? (I tried to answer this by explaining the immaculate conception, but that's a REALLY hard concept, especially for a five year-old.)

We are all God's children - God gives the babies to their parents to raise for him. At the end of our lives, God calls us back to heaven to live with Him. So God gave Mary and Joseph, Jesus to raise for him (just like he gave your girls to you and your husband to raise).

* How does God GET power to do everything?

God IS power - he is the source of all power and wisdom and thus just IS power.

Do you have any words of wisdom for us?

keep it simple, especially for a 5-year old. As adults we expect complicated answers especially to faith matters, but for children, the simpler the better.

(Used with permission)

Creche Scene

This past weekend, our parish hosted it's First Annual Christmas Creche Exhibit. We asked parishioners to bring their nativity scenes to the Hall one half hour before each of the weekend Masses and set them up using the tables that we had provided. After each of the Masses, our pastor and community blessed them. People were then free to take them home, or leave them for the display at other Masses. It was totally up to them. We also asked people to write a little story about their scene; where it came from, when they got it, that kind of thing. There was one set that was given to the couple as a wedding present in the 1960's, some from Mexico, Ecuador, Guatamala, etc.

Families walked through commenting on and looking at all the variety and beauty contained in these sometimes simple, sometimes elaborate sets.

This morning, I just received an e-mail from a mother in the parish. She said her 5th grade daughter was greatly inspired by this display and created her very own Creche scene out of clay. The family baked it and it will now become part of lasting Christmas memory. What a great activity for Christmas break! And what a lovely way to engage the family in the Christmas story. This scene features the Three Kings or Magi which are only part of Matthew's version of the Christmas story. This opens the door for a conversation about how the two Gospel writers (Matthew & Luke) tell the story of Jesus' birth. Families could read these two stories and ask children to talk about the differences and similarities and wonder about the details that are not told in the stories.

To follow this up, watch the film, The Nativity Story and discuss.

Five myths about Christmas - The Washington Post

Five myths about Christmas - The Washington Post:

'via Blog this'

Welcome!

Well, this is something that I've been thinking about doing for quite some time - writing a blog about my experiences with families, children and their faith journey's.In my ministry as faith formation coordinator at a small-ish parish in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, I have had the privilege of working with several hundred families over these past 12 years. In my conversations and encounters with them, there are often triumphs I'd like to share, sometimes there are things that give me pause and need further reflection and sometimes just inspirational things that others need to hear about! Also, sometimes, children ask their parents questions that they don't know how to answer! Well, here is the place for that!