2022-23 May #2: Summer Bonus

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Spending Time with Jesus:

When we teach our littles to pray, our end goal is for them to have a deep friendship with and love for Jesus.  We want them to call on Him when things go well and when things go badly in their lives.  In order to know Him, they have to love and talk (pray) with God. 

One way to ensure that our littles are learning to pray is to use their senses. 

Sight:

Make sure your little is being reminded of God.  You can do this by having religious art on the walls, Catholic movies on the TV, books about God in their bookcases, and statues of Jesus, Mary, and the Saints in your yard. 

Don’t forget the most important sight: seeing YOU pray.  Let them see you on your knees.

Hearing:

Surround your littles with religious sounds.  Having Christian music is great, but not everyone likes this genre.  Try a chant (Gregorian or something else) playing in the background of your daily tasks at home or in the car.

Be sure and pray as a family.  This is something they will always remember the sound of.

Taste:

Try new foods that are inspired by our faith.  We featured a recipe on one of our past blogs HERE. 

Touch:

Use fidget toys (like the pop-it rosary) or religious coloring pages to incorporate into prayer.  Create a cozy and special place to look at books like a makeshift tent in your little’s bedroom where you can bring blankets, books, and religious pictures to learn about God. 

With each of the senses, be sure to thank God for allowing you to see beautiful things, hear your family pray together, taste delicious food, and touch toys that make you think of God, and feel cozy things.

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Prayer

Cut out the prayers and hang them in your prayer corner or by your bed. Jesus wants to spend time with you this summer!

Use the book selections below in “Extras” to inspire prayer.

Make a little prayer book to take home for summer.

Adult Prayer time:

It’s vitally important to take time to pray as adults. We need to refresh, renew and reconnect with Our Loving Savior, Jesus Christ too. Here are some little ways to do this:

• Schedule a time every day to pray. No time? wake up 30 minutes earlier or take 5-minute breaks between your busy day to pray!
• Pray with gratitude. Thank God for your many gifts He has given you. This could be as simple as the coffee in your hands, the sun on your face, the car that starts, etc.
• Sit in silence. Prayer goes both ways! Asking, praising and thanking God is great, but we need to be silent to hear what He has to say. I find that one of the best times to be silent and listen to God is in the shower! 😉
• Listen to stories of the saints. Learn more about the ones that “speak” to you. Ask for their intercession in your everyday tasks and problems.
• Here are a few patron Saints for teachers/parents:
  • Mothers:
    • St. Monica
    • St. Zelie Martin
    • St. Gianna Beretta Molla
  • Fathers:
    • St. Joseph
    • Pope St. John Paul II
    • St. Maximilian Kolbe
  • Teachers:
    • St. John Baptist de la Salle
    • St. Thomas Aquinas
    • St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
• Read religious books. Pick topics that you want to learn more about.
  • Here’s one of my favorite books: The Way of Trust and Love: A Retreat Guided by St. Therese of Lisieux by Fr. Jacques Philippe
  • Fr. Jacques Philippe has many books that I highly recommend!  You can find them HERE.
  • Topics that you might like to learn more about:
    • Marian Apparitions
    • Sacred Heart of Jesus
    • Divine Mercy
    • Beatitudes
    • Parables and their meanings
    • Gifts of the Holy Spirit
    • Virtues and how to strengthen them
    • Meanings of the Church’s signs and symbols
• Read or listen to the Bible. A good place to start is the daily mass readings.
• Fr. Mike Schmitz has 2 great podcasts-Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year.
• Go to mass as often as you can.
• Receive the sacrament of reconciliation frequently.

Let the information you learn about the Catholic Church transform you and then become a missionary for Christ!

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Talk with your littles about how to share Jesus’ love with other people:  

• Bring in roses or flowers for the children to give to someone.
  • To the school principal at the end of the year
  • Parish priest or religious sister
  • Visit an assisted living center and give a rose to the residents
• Draw a picture or decorate cards for someone special.
  • A grandparent
  • The mail carrier
  • A clerk at the grocery store
  • An elderly person at church

St. Therese of Lisieux:

Erin and I (Jill) have a special devotion to St. Therese, one of our patron saints of His Little Way. She inspired us to teach in “little ways” with great love and create our His Little Way booklets.

St. Therese of Lisieux was born on January 2, 1873, in France.  She was the youngest of nine children to parents Louis and Zelie Martin, who are both saints as well.  St. Therese’s mother died from breast cancer when she was at the age of 4.  At the age of 14, she felt called to dedicate her life to prayer and after convincing the bishop, she entered the Carmelite convent at age 15 and took the name, “Sr. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face”.  She wrote a spiritual memoir entitled, Story of a Soul.  This memoir gives her account of her life and her relationship with God. She lived a simple, hidden life of prayer, marked by a spirituality of doing the ordinary with great love.  This is often referred to as “The Little Way”.  The power and universality of this spirituality led her to being declared a Doctor of the Church. 

She suffered from tuberculosis and died at the age of 24.  Her last words were, “My God, I love you.” She believed that with her death, her life was just beginning. She promised to spend her heaven doing good on earth. St. Therese’s promised “Shower of Roses” began at her death and has become a torrent in the Church ever since.

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Sacred Heart of Jesus:

Follow the directions to complete the craft.

If you would like a coloring sheet of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for your littles from Maryvale Press, click HERE!