At the end of this week’s lesson on God’s mercy, kids are invited to trade in the dirty hearts they made at the beginning of the lesson for a heart made clean by God’s abundant mercy.  The easiest way to truly make this exchange is through the sacrament of Reconciliation.  If your kids are 2nd grade or older, make time this week to receive the sacrament.

If your kids are too young to receive, you can still prepare them for the day they will be ready.

• Go yourself and bring them with you as you wait in line.  Your witness of attending regularly is the best lesson they can possibly get.
• During your nighttime prayer, get in the habit of helping your kids think about the right and wrong things they did during each day.  As they approach the time for the sacrament of Reconciliation, this habit of examining their conscience each day is an excellent preparations for making good confessions.
• Make the word “sin” part of your vocabulary and use it to describe behavior that is displeasing.  (Be sure to always distinguish willful misbehavior from accidental misbehavior.)