Prepare For The Unexpected

This was going to be class number three on my own.  This time I was not caught off guard.  I was advised to prepare a quiz or a word search based on the Bible and generally keep my children occupied for the duration of the class.  I agreed.  I went on the net and tried to find something appropriate from Catholic websites for kids.  This proved to be not only time consuming but I could not find anything suitable for kids who were preparing for their First Holy Communion.  I gave up and decided to talk to the children instead about the different parts of the Mass, the sequence, and what each part means.  I was really excited because I found some great sites which explained everything simply and interestingly so that a child could understand. There were also a lot of great pictures to go with the texts.

I printed a copy of the text  and prepared myself for the class.  I reached early for the Children's Mass and spent a few minutes before Jesus in the Adoration Chapel imploring the Holy Spirit to enable me give the children an idea of the awesome Liturgy we celebrate every Sunday.  The earlier Mass was still going on so I sat outside and kept praying quietly, looking at Mother Mary and asking for her intercession.

After the Celebration of the Mass I went to the class room, wrote the topic of my lesson for the day.  Wrote down the different parts of the Mass in random order and waited for my children to come in.  There were lots of question.  They wanted to know if they had to write what I had written on the board.  I said no not unless they wanted to.  The bell rang, I was all fired up with enthusiasm when the door opened and a senior came in and instructed me to use the time to revise the prayers my children were supposed to know as well as to go over with them how to prepare for their first confession.  Hmmmm! I said OK.

We said the opening prayer and then we went through the common prayers that the children were required to know.  I spoke to them about prayer and about making a brief examination every night - this would help them in preparing for their first confession as they would be aware of where they failed most often each day.  Then we spoke about how they will go about  making their first confession.  Despite having gone over this in previous classes when I asked them what is the first thing they must do when the are in the confessional they all said, 'Say the Act of Contrition'.  So carefully I went over with them what they were required to do once they were in the confessional.

It was a good class in the end and my teaching on the Liturgy will have to wait for another day and another class.  In the meantime the good Lord wastes nothing - I was able to appreciate the Liturgy better as I studied it more closely and I will be the better for when I worship on the Lord's Day.