From the February 5, issue of the St. Mary's Newsletter
“They felt it.”
By Beverley Hoyt
“Who felt what?” you may ask. The question was, “How did the wise men know to go seeking the Savior who had been born?” The answer I expected from the gathered group of children ages 3-12 was, “They saw/followed the star.” What I got was a much more profound answer.
Placing a hand over his heart, a six year old child looked up at me and said, “They felt it.” His gesture showed me that he believed the wise men felt the Christ child come into the world; they knew it deep in their souls. This six year understands the profound doctrine of the Gospel reading of the Magi. He understands that these men, these kings, had such a relationship with God that they felt his arrival in this world. It does not matter where they came from; how long it took them to arrive at the home of the infant king; where Jesus and his family were living. The truth is that the kings had been waiting and they knew when Jesus came into the world, they felt it. There was not a news broadcast or a messenger sent in any form other than a star, but they felt the presence of God incarnate in their world and were called to respond.
Have you ever felt it? Have you had moments when the kingdom of God was so near you could feel it? This six year old knows that we can feel the presence of Christ in the world. That it is possible to align ourselves with God in a relationship where we can feel his presence. He knows that God is and wants to be close with us always, so much so that we can feel his presence.
I am (again) called to examine my own faith. Am I forming/maintaining a relationship with God in which I can feel his presence? Would I have gotten up and gone seeking this infant king? How much time do I spend rationalizing my feelings rather than acting on them? Am I still enough to know when God is present in my life? Am I watching and waiting?
Every Sunday that I work with the children of St. Mary’s, the children along with the Holy Spirit call me into deeper relationship with Christ. “How much closer are children to God?” I am called to ask myself. Christ tells us that the kingdom of heaven belongs to children (Matthew 19:13) and that we must become like children to enter the kingdom of God (Mark 10:16 and Luke 18:17). In what ways can I open my life to that child-like relationship I am to have with God the Father, Jesus the Good Shepherd, and the Holy Spirit who lives within me?
Heavenly Father,
Help me to be like a child and to be aware of your love deep within my soul. Help me to feel your presence in my life like a child and like the Magi.
In your holy name I pray,
Beverley
Catechist Corner-January 1, 2012 issue of the St. Mary's Newsletter
A reflection by Beverley Hoyt
Yesterday, I was hurrying from one school back home then to another school – driving down Old Leeds Road thinking about what I would change about my house, my life, my kids’ schools, the list goes on – when a gentle voice said “Appreciate”.
WOW! I’m sorry God; you have given me so many good and perfect gifts and I always want more! I have the “gimmies” just like my children. I wonder where they get it!?! I should appreciate all the gifts that have been given to me– health, home, family, food on the table, peace, hope and joy. Instead I am thinking about what could be better. I had forgotten the “reason for the season” and had gotten caught up in all the hype.
Dear Lord,
Forgive me for all my “wants”, when you have already supplied me with all I need!
Help me to greater appreciate the numerous gifts in my life.
Help me to serve you.
Thank you for calling my name and bringing me back to you when I wander as a lost sheep.
I trust that you will keep calling me and I will try to slow down and listen more.
Thank you for the Light you have given to the world through your precious son, Jesus.
Help me to rest in the comfort that you will supply my every need.
Amen.
Catechist Corner-October 15, 2011 issue of the St. Mary's Newsletter
By Beverley Hoyt
I love Sunday and being in the Atrium with the children! They seem to have a special capacity for understanding God’s love and his word that we adults do not have. I learn from them every week and am constantly amazed at how easily they comprehend “hard” ideas from scripture.
Lori and I are enjoying the new influx of children on the Mountaintop as the new 4th graders have joined our group. This Sunday we split the group to look at two different parables – The Talents (Matthew 25: 14-30) and the Ten Bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13).
I had the group that looked at the Talents. The children loved thinking about all of the talents God has given them from playing the drums and golf to being funny, helpful and cheerful. They quickly noticed how the “master of the Vineyard” gave to each according to his ability and gave more as the servant proved himself worthy. They recognized that talents must be practiced and used for them to grow and help others and that talents cannot be given away. The children understand that we can receive joy from people sharing their talents with us, but the other person does not get the actual talent.
The children were not as concerned with the ending of the parable as adults usually are. They understood that weeping of gnashing of teeth can be avoided by using the gifts and talents God has given them and loving God as he loves us.
Without knowing it, the children are developing their moral sense of “how to act in the kingdom of God.” They are fully aware that God has a plan and that they are a part of that plan. Now they are learning that they have choices to make which will help strengthen the Kingdom!
Catechist Corner-June 5, 2011 issue of the St. Mary's Newsletter
By Beverley Hoyt
People frequently ask me to explain Catechesis of the Good Shepherd to them. What is it?
Catechesis is time set aside in a special place for Bible and Liturgical study. It grows with the people who are participating, so they can grow in their faith. It starts with baby steps – one verse or gesture at a time and gradually evolves into intensive scripture studies and discovery of how and why we worship as we do, how all the prayers form one prayer, how scripture determines liturgy, how music fits in, and why we worship the way we do.
During the week of May 16, a group of women finished a Catechesis of the Good Shepherd level 2 formation course at St. Mary’s. Over the past several years this group of women has met to study scripture and liturgy together. They have studied the development of the child, but they have also been called to be children in the presence of Christ.
This group of women is joined forever in their love for the Good Shepherd and in their love for each other. They have truly become a Christian family – bonded by their faith.
They are part of the larger flock of sheep Christ calls to the sheepfold each week to celebrate his love for the sheep. They have committed to keep the “flock” together when the wolf comes and the flock scatters. They will continue in the fellowship, the breaking of the bread and the prayers as they have promised in the liturgy of Baptism and will help the whole flock of St. Mary’s gain strength by shepherding the lambs of the flock.
All of us are called to be a part of the flock for we are the sheep of His pasture. Have you found your place among the sheep? Each sheep has a special calling as a part of the plan – It is my prayer that each sheep find his part so he can share in the joys of working in the kingdom!
Beverley
Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24
By Virginia Phillips
The passage above is the basis for a lesson in the Atrium called The Mystery of Life and Death. One Sunday recently, I worked on this lesson with a group of 5 or 6 second and third graders. We read the passage several times and worked with the “material” together – pots containing wheat plants in varying stages of growth, along with some unplanted seeds and some fully mature dried stalks of wheat. I didn’t “teach” them anything, just asked questions and was amazed at where the conversation went…
I passed each child a seed from a small tin and asked, What is this? Give me words to describe it. Hard. Small. Brown. Bigger than a mustard seed. Dead? No, not dead. Asleep. Alive? Well… Let’s keep thinking. I carefully dug up a 1” sprout from the second pot and laid it on a paper towel. We examined the roots dangling from a fattened and broken hull of a seed and the bright green shoot bursting out the other end. Is this alive? Yes! Can you see the seed? Yes, but it looks different. How did this life come out? Extracting a taller sprout from the third pot, we studied the roots and shoots. The seed hull was now gone. What happened to the seed? It turned into the plant. It hatched! Is this alive? Yes!! I passed each child a mature dried stalk of wheat. There were clusters of seeds at the tops, maybe about 50 seeds on each. We split one pod open and saw a seed just like the ones we have in the tin. How much life can eventually come from one seed? A whole field.
We reread a part of the scripture: “…but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” What is Jesus trying to tell us? That one life can make more life in the world. That we are supposed to do a lot of good things with our lives. One child, a boy, ran over to another table and grabbed a figure of the Good Shepherd from a work relating to that parable and called out: The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep! Jesus died so we can have life!
Communion Class
By Beverley Hoyt
During the season after Epiphany, a class on communion was offered for 3rd and 4th graders of St. Mary’s who wished to gain a deeper understanding of the gift of the Holy Eucharist. The children explored scripture and their relationship with Christ. The children spent 5 weeks in Bible study and prayer and then had a day long retreat where they renewed their Baptismal vows and had the Rite of Reconciliation. These children are to be commended for their hard work and dedication to their lives with Christ.
The children who participated are pictured below: Adah Allen, Jacob Brashears, Carter Dewees, Evan Dunbar, Cate Jones, Nia Katechis, Kathleen Kelley, William Lott, Warner Payne, Atkins Roberts, Bruce Toomey, William Watts, Anna Caroline Williamson.
Catechist Corner
By Brantley Fry
If we want to help the child draw nearer to God, we should with patience and courage seek to go always closer to the vital nucleus of things. This requires study and prayer. The child will be our teacher if we know how to observe.
– Sofia Cavalletti, Co-creator of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
One Sunday a couple of years ago, my husband and I attended a class that Beverley was teaching for Adults so we could see what our children were learning in Sunday school. This class seemed like a good way to avoid the more complicated theological classes that were offered to adults that day. We could opt for the “easy” class, and avoid the (self imposed) embarrassment of not being able to answer questions or knowledgably contribute to the conversation in the adult classes. Instead, what we realized was this Catechesis thing is not an “easy,” watered down, kid version of Sunday school, but a challenging way of opening ourselves to a relationship with God.
We found ourselves immersed in “Sunday school” on a level we had never experienced and were propelled into the simplistic beauty that is Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. That one class got us hooked and after serving as Atrium Assistants for a year, we began the formation course last summer. What we learned very quickly was that Catechesis is not about teaching one’s knowledge to children; it’s about learning with children.The title of the formation textbook may sum it up most succinctly; it’s about “Listening to God with Children.”
When reading Sophia Cavaletti’s statement above, the portion that stands out is, “…The child will be our teacher if we know how to observe.” As parents, many of us recognize and identify with this statement, because our children teach us something every day. Sometimes those lessons are missed until days, weeks, months, or years later, but when we observe and are aware, the lessons become apparent more quickly and more powerfully. On those Sundays when we have the privilege of being in the Atrium, the 4 and 5 year-old children of this parish teach us about and bring us closer to God. They teach us to be still and listen to God.
It’s amazing! I used to think that we would have to tell the kids to be still and listen, but that’s typically not how it happens in the Atrium. What could be a room full of commotion and noisiness more typical of kindergartners is instead (on most Sundays) a room full of prayerful learning and peaceful accord. It never fails to amaze me how these otherwise rambunctious children enter the Atrium and become calm and quiet. The space of the Atrium inspires peace and the children flourish in this peace. They come to the Atrium – a place of prayer and contemplation - and they bring a calmness, preparedness, and openness to pray and contemplate the mysteries of God. They teach us that if we are still and listen, we can have a closer relationship with God.
