Family Formation

Again this week we’re going to start with an Old Testament reference and look at how Jesus instructs us to live it out under the New Covenant.  The most obvious change is the day we celebrate (now Sunday instead of the original Jewish Sabbath on Saturday).

Our parish priest has been known to teach that we were created ON the 6th day, but FOR the rest and worship on the 7th, so how do we honor Him on that day?  The Lord’s Day is meant to be the high point of our week where we not only worship but we bring all our offerings (good deeds, acts of love and sacrifice, etc.) from the prior week with us.  When your priest is lifting up the offerings of bread and wine to God and praying that they will be acceptable, you should also mentally lift up your own offerings from the previous week and imagine them on the altar with everything else being given to God.

May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of His name, for our good, and the good of all His holy Church.

Shortly after that, as you receive Holy Communion, you will get the graces you need to go out again and start the cycle all over.  Hearing God’s Word, a good homily, and receiving the Body and Blood of Christ equip you to do more acts of love that you will bring back to Mass the next Sunday, and so on.  It’s really a pretty amazing set-up!

The activity for this lesson is a game that will help your whole family learn about some ways to cooperate with those available graces by keeping the Lord’s Day holy.  The preparation is simple – just gather a small token for each player and cut all the cards apart and mix them up, face down.  From there, simply take turns drawing a card and following the instructions.  “Spend your time during Communion in prayer thanking Jesus for the gift of the Eucharist,” move forward 6 spaces.  “Don’t look for your lost shoe until just before it is time to leave for Mass,” move backward 3 spaces.

You get the idea.J

This month in class we learned about the physical presence of God with us and this lesson starts with a little Old Testament history on the topic.  Anyone who has seen Indiana Jones knows something about the Ark of the Covenant and the Presence of Almighty God within.  It was a beautiful sacred vessel – pure gold – housed in a special tent and within that in a special room called the Holy of Holies.  Eventually, the Temple was built in Jerusalem, but it was still the same set up where certain people wearing certain vestment and performing certain actions were the only ones permitted within.  If anyone did not meet these specific requirements, they were not worthy to be there and would be struck dead if they tried!

This lesson is a perfect example of the New Covenant fulfilling and completing the Old because when Christ came He changed everything and through the sacraments and especially the Eucharist He makes this place, our bodies, into living temples where He really and truly dwells right now.

The first activity focuses on this reality that your heart can be a tabernacle and that you should do all you can to make it a beautiful dwelling place for God.  One of the things you can do is to focus better on what is happening in the Mass so you can enter in and really meet Jesus there.  The Tabernacle of My Heart activity offers prayers for both before and after Communion (a time when it’s especially easy to get distracted by all the activity), and gives younger kids an image on which to focus and help minimize those distractions.  We recommend you take a little time to let your kids decorate their Jesus pictures as beautifully as possible.  (As much as I frown on glitter, I have to admit this may be a really good time to get it out and make your projects radiantly beautiful!)

The second project illustrates a concept so simple that it’s easy to miss just how profound it really is.  Simply put – if I believe that Christ can live in me, it’s only logical that he can live in you as well. Obvious, right?  The challenge is remembering that this applies to everyone including that annoying sibling, that mean kid at school, that terrible driver who cut you off on the freeway this morning, and even that person who wronged you so grievously that you wonder if you’ll ever be able to truly forgive him.  Like I said, profound.

Most of us will spend our entire lives trying to recognize Christ in everyone around us and we hope to help your kids start that journey with the activity entitled Heartfinder Glasses.

Jesus, Your heart lives in all people I see.  Teach me to love them as if they were Thee!

(And if you happen to get a photo of your little saints wearing their Heartfinder Glasses, send it on over.  I’d love to post a few!)