Come, Holy Spirit, and stir up in us all that we need to live well in your Kingdom. Amen.
As we celebrate the end of the school year we also prepare to celebrate the great feast of Pentecost. Last week we ended the Atrium year by pondering and enjoying the work of the Holy Spirit, Who we celebrate during this beautiful solemnity. The children were introduced to or recalled anew the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Knowledge, Understanding, Wisdom, Counsel, Fortitude, Piety, and Fear of the Lord. The Level 2 and 3 (E1 and E2) children then gathered materials from the Atrium which have helped them to know and enjoy the work of the Holy Spirit. Finally, all of the children were invited to choose a particular gift - having received all seven of them in Baptism - to ask the Holy Spirit to stir up within their hearts and souls. Come, Holy Spirit, and stir up in us all that we need to live well in your Kingdom. Amen. As we enter the holiest days of the year may we never forget the great gifts we have received from the one who willingly laid down His life from the very moment of His conception. Jesus gave all of His time, His love, His attention, and His presence throughout His life including the night before He died when He spoke new words, words we continue to hear today: "This is my Body, given up for you...This is my Blood, poured out for you." The next day, on Mount Calvary, this same total gift of self was seen in a new way when He breathed His last. Jesus has died, but we also know that He is risen. As we wait in sure hope of the celebration of Easter in just a few days, may we also wait in sure hope of the coming of the Parousia, when God will be "all in all," and His presence will no longer be hidden in the signs of bread and wine but we will see Him "face to face."
In accordance with a tradition which had begun by at least Medieval times, the children have taken time during this past week in the Atrium to write and decorate an Alleluia card. Some of the younger children remembered this event from last year, but for many this was a new experience. We spoke about what "Alleluia" means ("Praise the Lord!) and talked about Lent as a time of quiet and listening as we prepare for Easter, a time to "set aside" and "save up" our Alleluias for that greatest of all feasts! Alleluia! He is Risen! This week we had the gift of celebrating the Risen Light of Jesus through the Liturgy of the Light. For the first time we enjoyed this beautiful celebration outside in order to provide space sufficient for all of our elementary children and adolescents to gather. While the symbolism of the light overcoming the darkness was not as clear, the sacrifice was well worth it in order to have so many of us together to celebrate the great solemnity of Easter. Truly, God is so very good!
One of the greatest truths of our faith is our belief in God's great love for us, a love which is never-ending and incomprehensible in magnitude. In the Paschal Mystery this love is "enfleshed" in the actions of the Good Shepherd who literally lays down His life for His sheep. During Holy Week each year we take time to deeply ponder this mysterious truth through our living out of Palm Sunday and the Triduum, one liturgy lived out through the services of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. While the Lenten season is a time of focusing on the Paschal Mystery in the Atrium as well, this great truth is always available to return to through the materials present in this space. In fact, in looking at the Atrium materials there are hardly any which do not include this great mystery. What a gift to be able to hear the truth of God's love consistently and in so many different ways.
As we approach the middle of Lent we continue to listen deeply to the ways Jesus prepared His apostles and us for the great mystery of His death and resurrection. These truths cannot be separated; Jesus died and He is risen.
In the liturgy, there are a plethora of ways that the truths of our faith have been "incarnated" in physical, tangible ways: stained glass windows which remind us of the presence of the saints, lit candles which show Christ's Risen Life, bread which is made from wheat fed by sun, earth, and rain before being harvested, mixed, and baked by human hands, showing how all of creation is brought to the altar in order to be offered back to God through the priest who acts in the person of Christ, the head of the Mystical Body. In the Atrium, this same pedagogy or manner of teaching takes place through the sensorial materials created by Maria Montessori, Sofia Cavalletti, and Gianna Gobbi. Thus, the materials of the Atrium provide a concrete way to approach the most essential truths of our faith. We are body and soul, and often the mind and spirit are fed through the senses. Thomas Aquinas, building on Aristotle, states, "Nothing is in the intellect that was not first in the senses." While this is true for us all, it is particularly the case with children. Here are a few materials which are "in process" and were captured as a child stepped away from his/her work.
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Carolyn Kohlhaas
CGS Catechist and Formation Leader (Levels I, II, and III) Categories
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April 2024
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