Good News for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Zacchaeus in the sycamore tree—one of our favorite gospel stories in KidsRelig. A little guy with a bad reputation in town, Zacchaeus just wanted to see Jesus. And he had to try harder than everyone else in the crowd just to get a glimpse of the Lord. He does try harder, and he not only sees the Lord, but Zacchaeus gets to take him home—not at his invitation, but at the invitation of Jesus. It is that invitation that saves Zacchaeus and changes his life forever.

The Middlers first read the Gospel. Then, I reminded them that I was waiting for news from my daughter Catie that our second grandchild was born. (At this writing, no news yet!) I showed them that I had gone out and bought a new copy of “The Handbook for Grandparents,” just to brush up. I went down the checklist, and I figured I was OK with new DVDs, the rules for soccer and a good enough pitching arm for kiddie baseball. But then, I came to video games, and I was lost. A volunteer came to my rescue. He explained that these games were very expensive. The good thing, however, is that you don’t just play them once. In fact, you never do, because first chances always turn out to be losers. Video games always have second chances. In fact, you can try again and again and again.

When the Elementaries arrived, we chose players from each of the 2^nd Grades for a long-jump contest. The prize was a great big Halloween frosted cookie. Fourth Graders held the starting and finishing lines, and after each jump, the finishing line moved. The players had to try harder and harder if they really wanted that cookie. And try harder they did. They tried so hard that each was a winner.

The story of Zacchaeus is a story of second chances for all of us, who are freely invited to try our hardest always to see Jesus. And if we do, to let Jesus change our lives.

Winners!!!

Love,

Deacon Charlie

Good News for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Two guys go up to the temple to pray. One is a real big shot, who loves to brag about himself. He even brags to God. The other knows he can always use a little help, especially from God. And that’s how he prays.

No problem understanding this week’s gospel in KidsRelig. Both Middlers and Elementaries knew what a bragger was, and everyone seemed to know somebody who was always bragging. To understand the gospel even better, we built a pyramid of boxes with all different colors—reds, blues, greens and one box of gold. The kids told us that the gold goes on top like the big shot, who always brags that he/she is #1. They also told us that as much as the big shot brags his/her way to the top, the rest of us are made to feel real little at the bottom.

With one swift kick to the colors below, our pyramid came tumbling down—big shot gold and all. And we reminded ourselves of the gospel message. We are all in it together. And sometimes we’re up and sometimes we’re down. But no matter where we are on the pyramid, we all have to hold each other up. If we don’t, we all come tumbling down.

So, there really is no reason to brag. Top and bottom—a pyramid needs both, or it’s just not a pyramid. Humbling, isn’t it!

Love,

Deacon Charlie

Good News for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

A corrupt judge, an old lady, God the Father, Jesus and us—the characters in our Middle School mime about this week’s gospel. After doing nothing, the corrupt judge finally did something; he gave into the nagging, old lady and gave her what she wanted, but we never find out what that is. She could have been asking for injustice. But, without a thought about the old lady or anyone else, the judge only gave her what she wanted, and not what she needed. Problem: whether nothing or something, the judge never did justice. Because justice begins with listening to the needs of everyone and working hard to satisfy those needs with fairness and equity.

Jesus points to his Father, who listens to our needs. “Trust him,” he tells us, “and if you do, you will pray to him always, and the Father will give you what you need.” Sounds good! But why then is Jesus so sad at the end of the gospel? Because he looks around and doesn’t see us trusting in God enough to pray always.

Our Elementaries played a game that tested their trust. The two First Grade teams each received one ball, one throw and one basket in which to score. Fair, right? Not exactly: one team’s ball and basket were big, making it easy to score; the other’s were real small, making it almost impossible to win. The kids got the injustice right away and made their complaints heard. But I told them I didn’t care; then I asked if that were true would they ever trust me again. “NO!!!” Jesus tells that we can always trust God to do what is right for all of us—one at a time. And if we believe that and trust in God, we will always pray to God to do what is just right and give us what we need.

And that’s the Good News from KidsRelig.

Love,

Deacon Charlie

Good News for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

A tornado alert canceled KidsRelig on Tuesday, our first day. But it figures that it would take a tornado to shut us down. After all we're in the God-business, and we only obey acts of God.

When we finally got started on Wednesday, the first Elementaries arrived. We all went into church, led by our new First Graders. One of our Fourth Graders, Marc, told us all what a saint is--a holy person, who loves to know a lot about God. Matt from Third Grade explained what special friends are--people who trust and respect each other and like to hang out with each other. We figured that saints are God's special friends, and we looked around the church and saw that it was filled with saints--special friends of God, who came to KidsRelig because they love to know a lot about God; they trust and respect God, and they want to hang out together with God. With all these saints around us, it was natural that we pray their very own prayer--the Litany of Saints, and our newest saints helped us out. We called up each new First Grader to say his/her first name out loud. Right before each name we said, "Saint," and right after we said, "Pray for us." It was to the sounds of this litany that the First Graders were sent off with their teachers to class. Then, the other grades followed.

On Thursday, our second day Elementaries were just as saintly as the Wednesday crowd.

For the first Middlers, who arrived Thursday, it was all about spirits, as we gathered in church before class. We met one of those spirits we all all meet from time to time--a ghost--a spirit we dream up in our brains to scare us out of ourselves. Then, with the toss of a couple footballs, we met the spirit that fills our bones and makes us try as hard as we can to achieve what we think we must. And then some cheerleaders arrived with that spirit that stirs our feelings to cheer ourselves and others. Spirits all, but not the Spirit we really wanted to meet--the Spirit of God with us and us with God. Like someone special in our lives, whom we know so well and love so much that he/she is always with us no matter how far away (I gave my grandson Hudson as an example), the Spirit of God can always be present to us. And like that someone special, it is that Spirit who makes us think and say and do only what makes God proud of us and never ashamed.

Our teachers gathered around our kids and prayed that the Spirit fill them all with wisdom, understanding, right judgment and courage, with knowledge and reverence and wonder at God's presence.

And so KidsRelig began!