New inspiration in old lessons

Most mornings after breakfast and chores but before math and stories, we gather up for prayers, which also include some sort of reading and discussion.

This is no idyllic, maternal Cassatt scene, however. We’re more like a Rockwell painting with one kid crawling over the back of the couch with a full diaper, another covertly fingering a Hot Wheels car within his folded hands, and another speeding through prayer words as fast as possible. Was that even English? It must be. We’re not exactly classical Latin homeschoolers. I often practice Bradley breathing techniques to keep my blood pressure and reading voice level down.

We offer our prayers for “The Fourteen P’s” ~ a list of requests that, over the years, we’ve managed to finagle all beginning with “P” (our pope, our priest, our papa, our president, etc.). Then I read something. It could be children’s apologetics or a liturgically-themed periodical. It could be the Mass’ Scripture readings or cool Old Testament books like Judith or Tobit. Proverbs are always popular here, what with all the lessons involving insects, dog vomit, and wayward women.

When I’m at a loss for something new or I’m too tired or out of sorts, we simply sit quietly (and I use the word quietly very loosely), give God our small sacrifice of time, and recite each child’s favorite prayer. I usually pass out pieces of gum to each one when we’re done, as long as they were polite or at least made valiant effort (Rewards help the habit.).

But then one morning I gave in to my petulant fatigue, skipped my stretching exercises, doubled up on coffee, and half-heartedly poked through the day’s forthcoming lessons. Just like that I had a new morning prayertime devotional idea:

I would read to everyone the First Communion prep books that my seven year old was working through. Very simple; very basic; very strong. The older kids would think they were getting away with easy stuff, the younger ones would begin to internalize important words and the beautiful paintings that accompany the text, and the boy preparing for First Communion would be the star. Seemed like a win-win in my overly caffeinated state.

And it was. Amazingly, the children that had already gone through all of it had the most insightful comments and thoughtful questions. They offered serious, loving help to their little brothers and sisters, with a dose of practicality (Don’t worry about memorizing the act of contrition prayer; Father will help you.), humor (Don’t get too close to the person in line right in front of you because their hair might tickle your face and that messes up your spiritual concentration.), and depth (You don’t have to think too hard about Jesus being fully human and fully divine; that’s why the Church calls it a mystery.). We still did memorize the prayers together, practice walking in a line, and discuss Jesus as a 7-year-old boy, fully human and fully divine. There was frantic flipping through Bibles, searching for “that verse about every knee bowing” or “that story about the master and talents.” It was good to see their excitement and to be reminded of such things as:

God made me because he loves me

The love of Jesus is like a fire in his heart.

Sin is disobedience to God’s laws.

Grace is God’s life in us.

After Holy Communion, I should tell Jesus how much I love him.

The connection with our Lord was wonderfully written, simple enough for a child of course, yet profound enough to give reflective pause to the elder and younger. We discussed lessons like, “Jesus loves everyone; we must love everyone” (What about mean people? What about the dirty guy with the sign outside the store?). Lessons like, “Jesus carried his cross and suffered; we must carry our cross and suffer” (What’s my cross? Why doesn’t he fix everything?). It took us close to a month to make it through our two main books (The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism and My Path to Heaven). Long before we finished them, I had plenty of fresh thoughts for new books and passages to memorize and ponder together for family morning prayers.

I fell in love with our Holy Faith all over again and I believe my older children were re-animated with affection. I plan to do this in the beginning of each year. I also plan to skip stretching and double my morning coffee intake much more often.

“The disciples approached Jesus and asked Him, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child over, placed it in their midst and said, ‘Amen I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.’” (Matthew 18:1-5)

Allison Howell and her family are longtime residents of the Valley. They are Catholic converts and keep a hobby farm full of animals and children.