FLYING SOLO

The last two days have been days of firsts. Yesterday I gave a teaching for the first time to a prayer group other than our own Young Adults in Christ Fellowship. It is the first time that I have been tested outside familiar territory and today I was thrown into the deep end as I took my first Catechism class solo. I am happy to say  that I did not stutter in the first instance and I did not sink in the second, largely due to grace and the prayer support I had received.

The Holy Spirit was in control on both occasions, however, had I known in advance that I would have been left alone to take the Catechism class I would have been chewing my nails in nervous anxiety, uncertain about whether I could handle it.  Until yesterday I honestly believed that it would be a while before I could take a class on my own, now I know I can. There were times during the lesson when all the kids were actually listening attentively to what I was saying and I found that pretty exciting. 

Unfortunately, I did not have the teacher’s manual for Book II and I must frankly confess that I did what Fr. F warned catechists never to do – I read the lesson once just before I went for Mass, quite confident that I would play my comfortable task of class minder – a role I thoroughly enjoy. But God had other plans for me today. The senior teacher called just as class was about to begin and asked me to take the class as she was busy with another project and could not come,  she promised she would drop in later .  Bearing this comforting thought in mind that I would not be alone too long, I asked which of the children would like to say the opening prayer. We have a couple of bright sparks in class who carry a little booklet containing a collection of prayers for kids with them (both boys) which I think is interesting. One of them put up his hand shaking it vigorously so I asked him stand in front of the class and  he led us in the opening prayer. 

The subject for the day’s class was, “ Gifts of Bread and Wine” and ‘The Feeding of the 5000.’  I introduced the subject by asking them to tell me on which occasions they received gifts.  The whole class erupted in excitement as they spoke animatedly for a while on the subject – each one trying to outdo the other.  Then I asked them what was the greatest gift that God had given us. One of them said, “Our parents.”  I said, “Yes, our parents are a great gift, but they are not the greatest gift that we have received.” . I told them that Jesus was the greatest gift that the Father has given us and in turn, the greatest gift that Jesus gave us was Himself, Body and Blood in the Eucharist. 

There is this clever kid who normally raises his hand to answer every question that is asked.  Sometimes it seems that he says the first thing that  pops into his head but a couple of classes ago he told the senior teacher that he had come across the word adultery often in the Bible and wanted to know what it meant. One would imagine that Scripture was liberally sprinkled with this word. For a nanosecond there was pin drop silence as the kids were all ears waiting for the response. Hats off to the teacher who very calmly and briefly explained the meaning of the word. His next question was about divorce.  She looked him straight in the eye and said the Church does not permit divorce. It was said with such absolute finality, I believe the kids will remember this response for life.  Today  however,  this bright spark asked me an intelligent question as Fr. F would say. He wanted to know how it could be one Body when each one received Jesus in a separate round host.  I explained to them how Jesus took the bread, blessed it,  broke it and gave it to His disciples – in the same way  His own body would be broken for us in His Passion, it is this one Body that is broken that we receive in Holy Communion. He nodded his head in assent.

I called out three kids to stand in the front and asked each of them to read 5 verses from the Gospel of John 6:1-15  on the Miracle of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish.   Mindful of what Fr. F told us during the course about standing up whenever we read the Gospel in class in order to give due reverence to God's Word, we all stood up and listened to the reading.   I discussed the passage with them, stressing on how God always satisfies and how He never runs out of blessings.  He gives to all and there is always plenty left over.  We also discussed the importance of readily giving what we have no matter how small and that God could work wonders with it.

The hour seemed to speed by and it was time to mark the attendance of the children.  I swiftly lost control of the class at this point as almost  everyone wanted to go to the washroom. Once the attendance was taken it was time for the closing prayer.   I did have a few difficult moments with the class clown but managed to keep him in control.  During the closing  prayer I invited him stand in front of the class, made him close his eyes, bow his head, join his hands and then I asked the rest of the class to look at him and assume the same posture while we prayed.  He squirmed a little but having no choice he stood angelically until the short pray was said and it was time to file out of the class.

I rushed down excitedly to meet my colleague, the senior catechist, to let her know that I had survived my solo flight.   I was pretty pleased with myself.  Hopefully my children went home with a greater sense of the wonder of the gift they are preparing to receive.

For my part, I resolve to be better prepared for the next class and to make sure I receive my copy of the teachers’ manual.