Friday, 22 October 2010 marks the sixth Catechism Class since I have become a trainee Catechist. A typical Friday begins with personal prayer early in the morning followed by breakfast as I will be home only by 11.30 am. The children's' Mass begins at 8.30 so I leave by 8.10 in order to be present while the children arrive. I wear a badge with a red satin ribbon that has my name on it, this gives me the authority to tell the adults that the main church is reserved strictly for kids and they have to please use the side rooms. They cannot get annoyed with me as long as I wear the badge that states that I am a PEP Volunteer. (To the layman this means that I am a Personality Enhancement Volunteer.) We are called PEP Volunteers for reasons that I shall not go into here.
Parents and children start pouring into the church and I stand where I can direct the kids to their seats and gently tell the grown ups, "I am sorry, but the whole church is reserved for the children." The grown ups are pretty grown up about this.
As the children come in I recognize a familiar face of a little boy or girl in my class who is preparing to receive Holy Communion and a glad smile of recognition lights both faces, the child's and mine.
During the Mass I keep a stern eye out in case the kids are distracted or fidgeting, or I have to find place for a latecomer. I have noticed one particular brother and sister who are always quarreling. He is such a little bully and she is such a little doll. I had to change her place the last time because he was being really mean to her. Another little girl came in with her small sibling. There was no place for the two of them together, so the older one sat in front while I found place for the little one somewhere in the middle. At regular intervals the big sister came to check with me if the little sister was ok. I assured her every time that she was. I found that most touching and amusing.
After Mass I have to go to the the school premises where the Catechism classes are held. I have to sign the register confirming my presence, I then pick up the folder with the kids names as we have to mark their attendance as well. The children play in the corridors most boisterously until the bell rings and then they go to their respective classrooms. This noisy pastime will end hopefully, as an announcement was made that running up and down the hall was not permitted. Some of the more friendly kids who come early have a chat with me and tell me what they have been up to. I get them to help me distribute whatever study material has to be given. We do all this before class actually starts in order to save time. I hang a large sign outside the class room which indicates that the room we are in is 4C, this makes it easy for the children to know where they have to go. This is my responsibilty - I put the sign up and I take it down after class and keep it with me until the next class on Friday.
Once the bell rings all the kids settle down in their places - there is a lot of giggling and pushing and shoving ofcourse, but soon there is relative silence and the child assigned to say the prayer begins. The class commences in earnest with a review of the previous lesson. A lot of ground has to be covered considering that the class is only once a week. I walk up and down the rows of desks making sure that my 40 young charges are paying attention to the teacher and writing down the notes that are given. It is quite a job to make sure the girls are not whispering and the boys are not kicking each other or calling each other naughty names or scribbiling in their books.
The teacher who actually teaches the class is pretty good. I listen and learn. I too am required to prepare for the lesson that is being taught in class so that I know what is going on. Another reason is that in the event the teacher does not show up, I should be able to take the class and do a credible job. (I hope this does not happen anytime soon. I still have to find my sea legs.) Right now my children are being taught how to prepare for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Once we are well into the class and the kids are busy with writing I take the attendance. This too is my area of responsibility. Which is good, I hope to soon start placing names to faces.
The hour and a quarter seems to speed by and it is time for the children to leave. A closing prayer is said by the same child who prepared the opening prayer and the kids disperse. The teacher and I take a quick look around to see that nothing is left behind, we turn off the lights, wipe the board of any evidence that we were there, I remove the sign and we leave.
I thank God for His inspiration to serve Him in this way. It is a joy to be among His little ones. God has blessed me abundantly and my intention in becoming a Catechist was to gratefully give back in some small measure for all I have received. But to my wonder and delight I have found that I continue to receive from the open hands of a generous God.
As the children come in I recognize a familiar face of a little boy or girl in my class who is preparing to receive Holy Communion and a glad smile of recognition lights both faces, the child's and mine.
During the Mass I keep a stern eye out in case the kids are distracted or fidgeting, or I have to find place for a latecomer. I have noticed one particular brother and sister who are always quarreling. He is such a little bully and she is such a little doll. I had to change her place the last time because he was being really mean to her. Another little girl came in with her small sibling. There was no place for the two of them together, so the older one sat in front while I found place for the little one somewhere in the middle. At regular intervals the big sister came to check with me if the little sister was ok. I assured her every time that she was. I found that most touching and amusing.
After Mass I have to go to the the school premises where the Catechism classes are held. I have to sign the register confirming my presence, I then pick up the folder with the kids names as we have to mark their attendance as well. The children play in the corridors most boisterously until the bell rings and then they go to their respective classrooms. This noisy pastime will end hopefully, as an announcement was made that running up and down the hall was not permitted. Some of the more friendly kids who come early have a chat with me and tell me what they have been up to. I get them to help me distribute whatever study material has to be given. We do all this before class actually starts in order to save time. I hang a large sign outside the class room which indicates that the room we are in is 4C, this makes it easy for the children to know where they have to go. This is my responsibilty - I put the sign up and I take it down after class and keep it with me until the next class on Friday.
Once the bell rings all the kids settle down in their places - there is a lot of giggling and pushing and shoving ofcourse, but soon there is relative silence and the child assigned to say the prayer begins. The class commences in earnest with a review of the previous lesson. A lot of ground has to be covered considering that the class is only once a week. I walk up and down the rows of desks making sure that my 40 young charges are paying attention to the teacher and writing down the notes that are given. It is quite a job to make sure the girls are not whispering and the boys are not kicking each other or calling each other naughty names or scribbiling in their books.
The teacher who actually teaches the class is pretty good. I listen and learn. I too am required to prepare for the lesson that is being taught in class so that I know what is going on. Another reason is that in the event the teacher does not show up, I should be able to take the class and do a credible job. (I hope this does not happen anytime soon. I still have to find my sea legs.) Right now my children are being taught how to prepare for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Once we are well into the class and the kids are busy with writing I take the attendance. This too is my area of responsibility. Which is good, I hope to soon start placing names to faces.
The hour and a quarter seems to speed by and it is time for the children to leave. A closing prayer is said by the same child who prepared the opening prayer and the kids disperse. The teacher and I take a quick look around to see that nothing is left behind, we turn off the lights, wipe the board of any evidence that we were there, I remove the sign and we leave.
I thank God for His inspiration to serve Him in this way. It is a joy to be among His little ones. God has blessed me abundantly and my intention in becoming a Catechist was to gratefully give back in some small measure for all I have received. But to my wonder and delight I have found that I continue to receive from the open hands of a generous God.
