Preparations

Advent is almost here and all around us the hustle and bustle of the holiday season abounds.  In our favorite stores Christmas carols are playing,  snowmen, reindeer and Santa himself lurk among the turkey fixings and electronics.  All are displayed to get us in a "Holly Jolly" mood, that we may buy enough gifts to secure a "Merry Little Christmas".  For busy parents, the secular world's version of the holidays is enough to make your heart race and your head spin!

Fortunately, the Church offers us a different picture.  It begins with a season devoted to the quiet preparation of our hearts and minds for the arrival of Love, the King of Kings, Jesus Christ. It requires no rushing, no crowds, no searching for the last pink ipad and it definitely does not require credit cards.  All the season of Advent requires, is for us to turn our eyes back to what matters, the story of Emmanuel, who came to save the world.

One tradition that helps us slow down and focus is the Advent wreath. The wreath is an ancient Church tradition that many Catholic families use to mark the passage of time as we wait for our Lord.  Lighting the wreath at dinner each night is one way to bring sacredness to the season.  There are so many beautiful advent wreaths and lots of fun ways to make them.   A quick online search, especially on Pinterest, turns up tons of great ideas! As an alternative to Black Friday shopping, why not create an Advent wreath with your child so you are ready on December 1st?  (I have noticed that sometimes it is hard to find the purple and pink candles needed for the wreath, but I have seen them at JoAnn's and Bobbies Hallmark.)  Click here for a short history of the Advent wreath.

Perhaps the tradition that has become the dearest to me over the Advent season is the Jesse Tree.  I only heard of the Jesse Tree a few years ago, but it turns out it is a long standing Catholic tradition.  The Jesse Tree is decorated with ornaments that trace the lineage of Jesus back to the creation of the world and culminates with his birth on Christmas Day. Every day we read a Bible story and then my boys make an ornament to symbolize what they have learned.  Over the years we have used felt, clay and paper to make the ornaments.   Some years we only get around to reading the stories and not making ornaments, and it is just as meaningful.  I love the fifteen minutes it takes to stop and reflect on Jesus' ancestors and  really wrap my mind around this great story of salvation.  

If you are interested in the Jesse Tree there are a million devotions that you can find to assist you in your planning, but my favorite is the book, The Jesse Tree, by Geraldine McCaughrean.  The author's retelling of the Bible stories is a delight, along with the beautiful illustrations.  This is a stand-alone activity, even if you can't find time to craft ornaments, just take a few minutes before bed to read one story.  Your Advent will be so much richer for it!

Here is our family's little Jesse Tree from a few years back!

Another exceptional Jesse Tree Devotional is written by Ann Voskamp.  It is rich with beauty and poetry and you can download it for free here.

Whatever you choose, I hope you make the time to slow down and wait; there is much to be gained as we wait on our Savior.  

First Reconciliation Service Song

Here are video links to help you learn the song for our First Reconciliation Service.  The first video has Megan Pruett teaching the children the hand movements to the song, but it is not great quality and cut off before the children actually sang the song.  The second video is of another parishes children singing "We Come to Ask Your Forgiveness", which I included simply so you can learn the tune.  The hand motions the children are using are very different from ours, so please refer to the first video to learn the hand motions.  Please let me know if you have any questions!

May I Recommend...

I highly encourage you to read the following series of articles published in Commonweal Magazine on Raising Kids Catholic.  Lots of great, practical advice for all of us trying to raise kids who stay Catholic!

Symposium: Raising Catholic Kids

The Challenge of Rooting Family in Faith

What are Catholic parents doing to raise their childrenCatholic, and what are some of the issues they're facing? Commonweal askedseven parents to contribute their reflections and recollections in this specialseries on rooting family in faith. From helping children discern theirvocations to finding grace in small moments, from worrying about the churchtheir children will inherit to learning humility through parental failure, ourcontributors recall the challenges they encountered, as well as what theyachieved, in their efforts to give their children roots in the Catholictradition.

November 24th, The Feast of Christ the King

"The King of Glory comes the nation rejoices,

 open the gates before him lift up your voices!"

Catholic Culture tells us that the The Feast of Christ the King was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as an antidote to secularism, a way of life which leaves God out of man's thinking and living and organizes his life as if God did not exist. The feast is intended to proclaim in a striking and effective manner Christ's royalty over individuals, families, society, governments, and nations.

To celebrate Christ's sovereignty with your children I suggest making the following crown cupcakes from Catholic Cuisine and praying the prayer to Christ the King:

 O Christ Jesus, I acknowledge Thee to be the King of the universe: all that has been made is created for Thee. Exercise over me all Thy sovereign rights. I hereby renew the promises of my Baptism, renouncing Satan and all his works and pomps, and I engage myself to lead henceforth a truly Christian life. And in an especial manner do I undertake to bring about the triumph of the rights of God and Thy Church, so far as in me lies. Divine Heart of Jesus, I offer Thee my poor actions to obtain the acknowledgment by every heart of Thy sacred Kingly power. In such wise may the kingdom of Thy peace be firmly established throughout all the earth.  Amen.

Catholics and Halloween

I highly encourage you to read this great article on Catholicism and Halloween, which appeared on Father Robert Barron's Word on Fire Blog.  Excellent food for thought and a good history lesson to boot!

All Saints Day Costumes

Friday, November 1st is our first annual All Saint's Day Party!!  My kid's and I are working on our costume ideas and I thought you might like some inspiration from around the web:

From Catholic Icing here is a great post on costume ideas for boys:

And a link to ideas for girls:

Catholic All Year has some absolutely fantastic ideas for making saint costumes that can double as Halloween costumes.  So clever!!

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There are so many saints to choose from, the ideas are endless.  I can't wait to see all our little saints November 1 at 7pm!!

Soul Cakes on Halloween

From Catholic Cuisine, here is a great new tradition to start on Halloween; serve your child a cupcake or a donut and tell the following story:

During the Middle Ages in England, on the night before All Saints Day, or Hallowmas, peasants and children called "soulers" would go about town singing and praying for the souls of the dead. They would stop at homes and beg for a "soul cake" and promise in return to pray for the household's deceased family members to be released from purgatory. If homeowners did not give out cakes it was believed their home would be cursed. And this my friends is thought to be the origination of trick or treating.

There are many recipes for soul cakes from a small round cake to a doughnut shaped treat. Some variations include cutting a cross on the top or adding rasins. It seems that the recipes developed over time and region. 

Enjoy your soul cake with the traditional Hallowmas, song:

Soul, Soul, a soul cake!
I pray thee, good missus, a soul cake!
One for Peter, two for Paul,
three for Him what made us all!
Soul Cake, soul cake, please good missus, a soul cake.
An apple, a pear, a plum, or a cherry, any good thing to make us all merry.
One for Peter, two for Paul, & three for Him who made us all.