The Meditations of the Passion 

Our children's Religious Education in the atrium ends on the second week of May.  As the children love the candlelight ceremonies, I make them a priority.  They will go on to a summer program and then CCD in the Fall.  I try to give them the benefit of all our CGS presentations so that they have the most memorable year preparing for the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist.  Therefore, I like everything to be setup in advance of the children arriving.  When they enter, they know we're going to do something special, so they have the anticipation and motivation.  I always tell them what will be happening the following week, as the children often ask me. 

They are excited to come if they know what it is and they never forget!  I honestly think attendance is better as they discuss it with their parents.  I hear them discussing it when  they arrive and leave the atrium.  So I make sure the setting and props are in place when they enter. 

Everything is planned out like a major production and it should be beautiful and appealing.  I have five small low tables my husband made for me and I use them for many different presentations: The Synthesis of the Mass, The Meditations, The Reenactment of the Last Supper, The Leaven, The Growing Seed, The Level I City of Jerusalem, The Cruets and Washing of the Hands and for presenting the Bible Stories each week in front of the prayer table.  So they are very useful.

In addition to placing the buildings from the City of Jerusalem with the Scripture Booklets, I also downloaded photos of these buildings from Jerusalem.  I show them the photos before we start and go around the tables explaining each station.

In addition, I reworded the Scripture to make it easier for the children to read.  Half the class still had trouble with the easier wording because English is their second language.  I've shortened the text as well.  Each candle is lit before reading the Scripture booklet.

    

The last two booklets 8, "The Tomb," and 9, "The Risen Christ," were not required.  I wanted to add them to complete the story of Christ's Passion.  I usually read the booklet on the Resurrection to them which is brief.

 

We have a moment of silence after the  Crucifixion.

 The Reenactment of the Last Supper

   The children get so excited anticipating this day.  It's fun

and exciting to them.  More importantly they relive Jesus'

last night spent with His Apostles at the Cenacle (which comes

from Latin "cenaculum" meaning dining room).  We then

reenact Judas being paid by soldiers, Jesus being arrested

in the Garden and finally crucified, but Risen.  We light the

candles by the crucifix and have a moment of silence. 

 

To relive it in that way really brings it to life for them.  We use 

small tortillas and raspberry lemonade.   Afterward, they finish 

eating the tortillas and drinking the lemonade for a job well

done.  I use five small tables for this setup and for the Meditations 

on the Passion the following week as well.  It takes me about an 

hour to set this up.

The Last Supper

The week before the Reenactment, I  select Jesus, Peter and John 

for their parts and tell everyone about the Reenactment we'll do the 

following week.  The others can sit wherever they choose on that 

day and that becomes their part.  I tell them that we don't know if 

the Blessed Mother or Mary Magdalene were there, but we think they

might have been.  So I assign those parts to a volunteer.

There are always a couple of girls who want to be in those roles.

The Blue Strip - 

"The History of Creation"'                         Timeline

 

 

 

          When I first saw "The Blue Strip," as it is called, I knew that I wanted to take Level II training.  I've always loved history and timelines.  Telling the story of Creation has been very special to me as it celebrates God's love of all His creations.  It is also a good introduction to the Bible.  I now read Genesis with the class beforehand.   I got this idea from a Home School mother who came into the atrium on the first day of class. She somehow knew about this timeline and was ready to let me know what she wanted me to teach.  She did not like the idea of a smaller man, or cave man, presented.  She also said that she reserved the right to teach this to her children.  I respected her opinion because my daughter, sister and numerous younger friends are Home School moms also.  So I listened in hopes of learning something more.  I thought maybe she was against evolution and wanted only Adam and Eve to be the first men on earth.  I'm sure they were and told her so, and that is why I've always read about Adam and Eve from the Bible with my class since then.  I also believe in evolution as we've discovered bones of cavemen, confusing though it is. So this came as a big shock I wasn't prepared for - CGS is Gospel to me.  I never saw her after that until Communion Day.   I suppose she was satisfied that her daughter loved the atrium.  However, I continue to teach Creation very thoughtfully.  I enjoy Science and follow discoveries in outer space of new planets and galaxies to inform the children.  I used the words, "Big Bang" in my Creation story and have found out that this theory has even been debunked by some scientists recently.  However, I read it today in the news online so "Big Bang" is still used in scientific circles.  

 

Presently for Lent I've been reading a book called Luisa Piccarreta and the Divine Will - Teachings of Jesus by Susanne James.  Then I came across the following page.

So now I'm back to square one and will no longer speak of the smaller man as evolution but simply say, "The first men God created were smaller at first and then he created all sorts of homo sapiens (humans) with larger hands and brains.  God loves diversity.  With God all things are possible." If anyone would like to share how they carefully word this description of man's changes when doing the Fettuccia, I'd be interested to learn your thinking on this.   

Miata wrote in to tell me that the smaller man, the hominid, has been removed from the fettuccia and blue strip, and that we should just mention,  "Humans were the first of God's creations that could look around at the rest of creation and ask, "Who made this?"  Humans were also the first beings that could use their hands to improve and make new things out of creation around them."  

I'd already gotten rid of the blue man from the Fettuccia a long time ago after talking to the mother about it and now will get rid of the blue man from the Blue Strip.  Thank you, Miata.  I wouldn't have known otherwise.