Family Formation has evolved over the years, but one of the constants is its connection to the liturgy. The priest paper doll, Sabbath Scripture Book and Liturgical Calendar have been with us from the beginning as ways to help your family prepare your hearts and minds for Sunday Mass each week.
Each piece stands on its own, but if you want maximum effectiveness (especially in this year when we’re studying the Liturgical cycle), let me suggest the following use of these pieces:
- On Saturday evening, find the date on your Liturgical Calendar. There, you’ll see the color your priest will be wearing tomorrow so you can…
- Dress your priest paper doll. This is most efficiently done if Father’s vestments are colored, cut and ready to go.
- From there, pull out your Sabbath Scripture Book and read tomorrow’s Mass readings. If your kids have a shorter attention span, just do the Gospel reading.
- Have fun reading the Pauline family’s interpretation of it and encourage a little discussion.
- Take a minute now to have everyone put bookmarks in their Bibles so they can easily find the readings and follow along at Mass. You’ve all just heard the Gospel one time so hearing it again tomorrow will make it easier for you to pay attention and meditate on the meaning.
- Then take care of the kind of stuff that makes you crazy on Sunday mornings. You know what I’m talking about – all those kid-related details that steal your peace and make getting to Mass a frazzled train wreck. Prepare your tithing envelopes, pick out something nice to wear to Mass, find all your missing shoes, plan a simple breakfast. Set all your Bibles by the door (or better yet, in the car).
In all honesty, I can’t say that we always did thing this way, but I really can say that when we did there were great Sunday morning blessings!
You can order all these pieces at our web site, or if you’re in the area stop by the office during business hours. We keep limited supplies on site.
Family Formation 