Thursday, February 4, 2010

Out of the mouths of babes

Tonight, some of our young friends began a journey of discovery which will eventually lead them to experience the mercy and forgiveness of God. The process we follow is lots of fun because there are games involved, there is time for discussions and lots of opportunities for kids and their parents to spend time together.

Children and adults alike learn the lessons we have to teach, often without even realizing that they're learning ... and that's the best part ... but the kids (and even their parents) aren't the only ones who learn from this experience. This year, we have invited a few new people to join us as members of the team who together transmit the message and inform children and adults about the lessons of faith, especially as they pertain to the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.

Included in tonight's catechesis was a teaching about the Lord's Prayer, an opportunity for our friends young and old to understand perhaps at a different level, a little bit about the relationship between God and his people. As it turned out, this was also a moment for adults among us to learn some valuable lessons about communication from our young friends.

The question was posed, 'thy will be done ... what's a will?' Answer (and this was offered freely by one of our young friends, 'something we write out when we die'. While this is indeed one possible interpretation for the word will, it wasn't the one we were looking for. Who knew that our young friends were such masters at the synonyms of the English language? Lesson learned: be careful about asking questions, especially about the words used to explain what you're thinking ... you never know who might be listening, and what interpretations they might attach to our utterances.

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