The Simple Things

A lot has happened since the last time I wrote and posted here. I got certified for Level II of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. I started by second year of graduate school. I am now one of the Co-Directors of the catechesis program for kids at my church. We've begun the process of getting an Atrium III for our Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program. I directed my first Christmas pageant (totally forgot to rehearse the curtain call)! I'm now an Uber driver.

So much has happened in such a short amount of time (if a year can be called that). There are days I feel overwhelmed with all that the Lord has given to me. There are days I feel like I have too much on my plate and I step back and begin to figure out where to put up healthy boundaries. I've cut back my community theater participation; I did not allow myself to be voted as President of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Maine.

I am the Clerk for my church's (I'm Anglican remember) Parish Council. In 2018 we had 9 baptisms and 12 confirmed in our church. Like I said, it doesn't seem possible that so much happened within 365 days but it did! And you want to know the amazing part? Those baptisms were not all infants. Some of them were. Three of them were older children and I had the pleasure and honor of learning with the assistant pastor how to prepare them for baptism. I walked part of the path with them to that moment of immersion and I continue as their catechist and I am so amaze and humbled as I watch those three young girls begin to blossom into their identity as children of God - as sheep to the Good Shepherd.

One of the grandparents of one of those young girls (I'll call her A) told me the other day how, at dinner during the holidays (I can't remember if it was Christmas or New Years but it really doesn't matter) that A stood up on her chair at the dinner table and declared, to the whole family that "God told her that this coming year would bring wonderful changes to the family."

Sometimes I wonder if the kids really understand that God can and will speak to them.

Then I hear a story like this and I know that I and the other catechists at church are doing our job well at helping shepherd these children into walking with God, and listening for Him, and responding to what He has to say.

There are many other stories I could share, but the written word on a screen doesn't always do the stories justice. If you knew the kids and knew the families you would be able to feel on a deeper level the beauty that comes with knowing a child or a group of children actively seek the Lord and know that there is no minimum age requirement to being a disciple of Christ's.

Therefore, I will leave you with one more story.

Beginning in Atrium II of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (ages 6-9) the children are taught to have a more independent prayer table. A catechist will help a child facilitate a Prayer Table where a collect is read, silence is kept, Scripture is read, and many other items can be moved in and out at the children's discretion. As our Atrium III (ages 10-12) is small we have been having a combined Atrium II and III Prayer Table for the past several months.

For Epiphany we have begun to have separate Prayer Tables. The Atrium III kids have been very busy creating their own Scripture and Prayer cards for their prayer table. They think the old table and four white candles are the most beautiful thing in the world because it's theirs.

This past Sunday I only had two Atrium III kids. Three were up in the Mass serving as acolytes and the rest were out sick. The two girls and I made more Prayer Cards which also turned into a short, impromptu showing of how to use the Book of Common Prayer for daily use. One girl, I'll call her B, made several Prayer Cards but one prayer caught her attention and she kept reading it over and over again.

Finally she asked me what prayer it was, because it sounded familiar.

"Of course it sounds familiar," I replied, "we sang it every Sunday of Advent. It's called the Trisagion and it's an ancient prayer the Church has been praying since at least the 4th or 5th centuries."

"That's very old."

"Yes, it is."

She stared at the Trisagion prayer card she made.

"Miss Melza, is it alright if I keep this prayer card? I want to pray this at home."

Of course I said yes.

There's something really holy about prayer. Sometimes I think there's something even more holy (if that's possible) of a child's prayer. B tucked the small prayer card into her pocket and we finished Atrium III and went up for Eucharist.

It's the simple things that are the most powerful.

Happy 2019. May it be Blessed and may it be Holy. May it be wonderful.

Holy God

Holy and Mighty

Holy Immortal One

Have Mercy Upon Us.