St. Nicholas in the Atrium

This was great!

My only bummer: a 7 minute video I made, I can't seem to upload anywhere. I took it on my phone. I can watch it there, but cannot upload it to Facebook, to here or even watch it on my computer. WEIRD.

Advent Prophecy Themes 2013

Each year, it seems that particular themes are honed in on by the children - even across two geographical locations and educational lifestyles. I wonder how much is affected by our readings in the Liturgy perhaps - and in the world at-large.


This year our focus has been on emphasizing the First Coming of Christ and the Second Coming of Christ.

Some points the children hone in on:

Historical Context:

• Periods of light and darkness in the history of Israel
• Moments of light in the deepest darkness - bring us HOPE
• Ancient Church's historical practice of fasting and penance during ALL of Advent and Lent. 

Interesting tidbits learned: 

• Which season has Gaudete Sunday - which has Laudete Sunday (or Laetare - we're doing some research on that one --- either way the 4th Sunday of Lent starts with an L to match Lent - and that's how we remember which one goes with which season ;) )
• Why THAT Sunday of each season? 1 Sunday past the half-way mark - to give us hope that the penitential time is coming to an end soon. Don't give up now! 
• Who knew Ms Jessica could connect prophecy studies to the sacraments. Wait - does that mean our faith is INTER-connected? Just like the VINE? Oh. Oops. Guess we need to keep paying attention (yeah, some stories there - the children are so intuitive this way)

First Coming

• We can't really prepare for a Baby to be born in the PAST - but we do prepare our individual hearts and lives to receive the gifts He gave us with His first coming: His Life (Eucharist) and His Light (received at Baptism, spreading throughout the world)
• The prophecies prepared the Hebrews for the First Coming - but also prepared the world for His Second Coming. Not all prophecy has been fulfilled. 
• Some of the Jews at the time of Christ thought that all Messianic prophecies would be fulfilled at one time. But now we look and see that with TWO comings, He will come once as a Child - and once a Glorious King. 

Second Coming

• As we prepare ourselves to receive more and more fully the Gifts of the first coming - we are also preparing ourselves to spread the light of Christ - and therefore be ready for the Parousia, at whatever moment it begins. 
• As we prepare, we know there are still going to be times of darkness and difficulty - but God always wants us to come back to Him. 

Thus not only are we seeing songs of preparation and of Advent (Light One Candle, Light the Advent Candle (I can't recall the name of that tune precisely at the moment), Come Lord Jesus, O Come Emanuel, etc.) --- we are also seeing songs of Reconciliation, tying in perfectly with the children in one of my sacramental preparation groups who are receiving this sacrament for the first time in the month of December.

Our favorite?

Create in me a clean heart - 

Help me start over again. 

Please Lord don't leave me, 

I need your Spirit, 

I cannot make it alone. 

Restore to me the Joy of Salvation - 

Oh my God. 

~Based on Psalm 51 (also our source for the Lavabo prayer!)~

It is OH so time for a YouTube video of that song. I'll see if a group of parents will let me record their children singing if I just videotape the words with the children's voices in the background....


Additional observations: 

I have one young man, 3rd grade, who insists on always mentioning "judgment" before mentioning "Parousia". Perhaps it is time to pull out the level 3 work on "Holy Bible and Parousia" for him. Seriously. This child canNOT get off the judgment portion of Parousia - and there is SO MUCH MORE to it.

All Faith Formation is Sacramental Preparation

Everything we do to explore our faith, to make it ours, to deepen it, to strengthen it, is preparation for reception of the sacraments.

Every Sacrament is a sharing in the Life, Death and Resurrection of Christ.
And what is the Life, Death and Resurrection of Christ, but the Paschal Mystery?

This photo taken from so far away, cropped from a much larger photo
Amazing what cheap cameras can do these days ;)

To prepare for this Paschal Mystery participation, we have to LIVE the faith of our ancestors: the Hebrews - longing for the Savior. Preparing to receive Him by listening to the words of the Prophets.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a Great Light.

The Hebrews had many dark times in their history; we too have dark times in our lives. There is always hope: the Light of Christ.


Previous post on "Prophets of the Lord"


As we spend this Advent preparing for the SECOND coming of the Lord, we can see in the prophecies clues to His first coming as well as clues to His second coming. We can see both the messianic message - and the moral message: how to prepare our hearts to receive Him, both in the sacraments and when He comes at Parousia.

"In the wilderness (of our own hearts), Prepare THE way for the Lord!"

Prophets of the Lord

In the weeks leading up to Christmas break, the level 3 children began work on the prophet studies.

In level 1, we focus on 5 particular Messianic prophecies - prophecies pointing to the first coming of the Messiah.

• The People who walked in darkness... 
• And you Bethlehem of Ephrathah...
• The Lord shall give you a sign! A maiden...
• For a Child was given us, a Son born to us; upon His shoulders...
• A Star shall come forth out....

(we include the Scripture passages when we read aloud from the Scripture, to emphasize where each of the passages is found - I invite you to find these passages (all within the prophets) and to find the end of each passage we actually use ;) )

Each of these prophecies reveal something particular about the coming Messiah - not just the Messiah who was born in the stable, died on the cross and rose from the tomb; but the Messiah who is coming again, for whom we daily prepare but most particularly prepare during the weeks leading up to the celebration of Christmas. 

In level 2, these prophecies are reviewed again, going deeper. Emphasizing to the children that every time we come back to God's Word there is something more for us if only we will keep our eyes and hearts open. Thus, in level 2, we discuss some of the actual Old Testament history - just a bit. 

And we add a few more specific prophecies: 

• A shoot shall spring from the stump of Jesse....
• Then the wolf shall be the guest of the lamb...
• A voice cries out: "In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord!"...

And we expand the Star and Sceptre to include "I see Him, though not now; I behold Him, though not near...."

For the most part, the meditation on these prophecies flows with the particular group of children - what are their insights? What words stand out for you? What do these words mean? Share any intellectual knowledge I have about a word, a phrase, a point in history that is pertinent to the discussion. Hold back any insights that the children are not pointing to yet - there is time in the future to come back to these prophecies again and again. 

Level 3 continues the same prophecies and adds a study on what used to be several prophets and now focuses mostly on Isaiah. The children aren't going for it - and want to study more!

This year, in the level 2 & 3 atrium, I gathered all the children to meditate upon the first set of 5 - for many it was review, and a couple of children sat back as if to say, "I've got this, so I'll just sit quietly and let the conversation flow for the younger children." They sat up a bit straighter when I started mentioning things they didn't know yet ;) Who was Jesse? how does he fit in? But I thought Jesus would be a descendant of Jacob? Who are all these people? How do they connect? Frankly, the 6-7 year olds really weren't there for that part of it, but they were meditating on the words in their hearts (if their faces revealed anything!) during parts of the conversation they didn't connect with. 

We read the words several times during our meditation. 

The beauty of these prophecies, is that I honestly don't remember all that was discussed, all that was explored, all that was discovered - but the children do - it is in their hearts - what stood out for them in that moment is now stored within their hearts - a seed that will sprout later, or nourishment for an already growing seed. What stands out for me are the revelations made in my own heart. 

Thus allowing that ebb and flow of private meditation with outward reflection as the conversation continued to cycle through the younger and the older children was very beautiful to experience in the atrium. 

What stood out for me from the children's responses? In one of my atriums (the specifically level 3), the children revealed that the real desert in one's own heart. Sometimes we really do need to go somewhere barren in order to discover the truth of God, but many times that desert is within ourselves; as well as among people who have not yet found God's love and mercy. 

I did very specifically point out to the children that it is NOT "The voice cries in the desert, "Prepare the way of the Lord!" but instead: "The voice cries, "In the desert, prepare the way of the Lord!" Hm. A BIG difference! Too bad our lectors don't quite get that nuance all the time ;)
(update: it seems that some of the New Testament translations of this Old Testament passage have the punctuation marked in the wrong place - not the fault of the lectors - the fault of the translators... how sad :( )

A continual reminder in the atrium - WHO is a prophet? A prophet is someone who truly hears the word of God (in some cases eats it!) and then shares that Word with the world. Perhaps a particular individual, perhaps a particular group, but always the message contains Truth that is for everyone - all peoples of all times.

A listening ear - and a listening heart.

Eventually I did dismiss the youngest ones, inviting each of them to take a prophecy card of choice for tracing with the calligraphy markers and/or pens. This was fantastic for getting the older children to show the youngers (when the olders became available). (the rest of this description is for both the oldest in the level 2/3 and all of the children in the level 3) I kept the 3rd through 6th graders for further meditation; going a bit more into the history of the Israel. We've not yet pulled out this timeline, but I felt some more facts of the history were in order. So we walked through some of that history in broad overview - giving light to how these prophets connect to each other and to whom they were speaking. 

How do these prophecies truly apply to our lives today? 

How do they guide us today? 

How do they help us understand the Parousia? 

What more prophecies could there be? Isn't this enough? It is... and it isn't. 

Afterwards, the 4th-6th graders in each atrium were invited (can I say "required"?) to explore the Prophet Studies binder. This is a material with some recent updates, thus my set of prophet booklets for the just-level-3 is different from the set of prophet booklets in the combined 2/3 atrium. The booklets have been minimized in content to really focus on the most key points. However, I am personally disappointed to find that the focus is almost entirely on Isaiah only. Despite their being 18 prophecy books... Hm. 

But I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the materials in the combined atrium had not yet been updated. So I took some photos of the Scripture chart (seen below in one of the photos), as well as the question cards. I re-created these materials for the just-level-3 atrium, but left the booklets alone. 

Scripture chart shown here
level 2 child tracing in calligraphy
level 3 children doing a prophet study

I then have the children in the just-level-3 atrium read the introduction booklet. Then select a green card with questions. Read the booklet that it tells them to read; but then, in order to answer the remaining questions, also pull out that Scripture chart in order to find the remaining answers directly in the Bible. 

This works fine in the level 2/3 atrium - these children are mostly homeschooled or unschooled; the ones who do attend school are very responsible as well - so this atrium, despite several new-to-the-atrium children has readily adjusted to the freedom of movement within the atrium. 

In my only-level-3 atrium, my other catechist usually sits with these children while they are working to help keep them on task and support them as they make their work choices. My 5th and 6th graders are all-new to the atrium (having an excellent but only part-time atrium experience for sacramental preparation in 1st or 2nd grade) and they attend a traditional school - so they are still exploring what this atrium environment is all about. The 4th graders have been in the atrium since Kindergarten, so they're old pros at it ;) 

The level 3 prophet study looks at the calling, the vocation, the struggles and the messages of the prophets. My hope is that the set-up we now have, requiring the use of the Bible, will pull the children into the lives and messages of the prophets, encouraging them to read and discover more than the "work-required" portions. This introductory work really has the possibility of opening wide many doors into Biblical exegesis.

Not Quite Christmas

It is not quite Christmas and I have a hard time believing it.

Advent slipped away. Amidst what? Not the shopping (I've bought groceries once this past month and all gifts this year are home-made or already purchased); not the parties (we really minimize those - just one thus far - all others will be during the Christmas season); not the decorating (we decorate on Christmas eve).

Amidst the vitriolic words directly towards others, including myself. Amidst reading and hearing about the evil attitudes of people in the stores. Amidst the job losses. Amidst hearing stories of consumerism. Amidst the stories of mental illness and the sufferings of families.


It doesn't feel like Christmas. Perhaps this was what the first Christmas felt like: a world in need of a Savior.

A world filled with bitterness. Filled with accusations against another's morality. A world filled with lack of understanding; lack of trying to understand. A world devoid of peace and goodwill towards one's neighbor.

And today these things coming from Christians.

If that is how non-Christians see Christians, no wonder they would rather stay away. Far away. I don't blame them.

No wonder they laugh at us for saying "Jesus is the reason for the season" as they put up signs saying, "Use reason for the season!" implying that Jesus could not be what we claim Him to be.

Because we can't even get His teachings right - His teaching on morality and accusing one's neighbor and planks and splinters. Therefore, how could we possibly get right an understanding of His birth? And death? and resurrection?

Something to ponder next time one is tempted to call into question a stranger's 'Christianity'. Are we judging splinters through our planks?


So yes. Perhaps it does feel like Christmas. That first Christmas. A world filled with disbelief. And vitriolic hatred - because that is what it is when Christians behave with such malice, with such worldly consumerism. The world was full of it that first Christmas. Then, just a few months after that first Christmas, innocent children were slaughtered in the name of murdering a newborn King - by a man with a mental illness.

Sound familiar yet?


The truly faithful were begging for Him to come then; the truly faithful are begging now. Search your heart - are you begging for Him to come now? Or are you hoping for another day, another year, another lifetime?

Perhaps it is time to prepare for the coming of Jesus into our own hearts. Our own stony, cold hearts. That is what Advent was supposed to be about. Is supposed to be about. Preparation for His coming - not the first time; but the second time - the Parousia. When God will be all in all.

Prepare our hearts to receive Him - all of Him, in all of us.

It begins NOW.

It is not quite Christmas - there is not peace in our hearts. But doesn't that mean it IS quite Christmas?


It is not quite Christmas. Christ is not quite present.

Can we make it happen? Can we be ready for Him?

Only then, can it truly be Christmas. As He intended it.

It begins NOW.