Lesson One

 How did my lesson plan go?  Well....I'm not sure.  I don't know whether to be disappointed or not.  I'm teaching my grandchildren their faith.  One is 10 the other 6.  

I started by explaining God.  He created everything.  He is great.  I was only talking for a couple of minutes and I could see that the youngest was bored.  So I started talking about their parish church.  I gave them each a picture of their church.  On the facade are six statues.  I told them what each one was and showed them other pictures of that statue that were clearer.  When I showed them St. Paul, I said that he is holding a sword because he was killed with a sword.  The older one said, "Grandma!!! She's only six."

If they are upset because Paul was beheaded, what can I say about Jesus' crucifixion!!!

So I changed the subject to explaining the Mass.  I told them the Mass is the reenactment of Jesus' Last Supper.  Then I showed them Da Vinci's Last Supper.

Next was prayer. We tried to teach the 6-year-old how to bless herself.  It wasn't easy.  She kept skipping "The Son."  I told the big sister to help her every night.  

We finished by singing "Down in the River."

It took 20 minutes.  I worked days--Days, on this lesson plan and we completed it in 20 minutes.  But I won't be able to judge how it went until next week when we meet again.  I'll see how much they retained.  

As I was leaving I heard big sister say, "See, there was nothing to be afraid of."  This sentence made me reflect on the six year old.  What did she learn?  I'm not sure. I think she was confused; she didn't know what to think.  And now I know that she was nervous and afraid.  Poor kid.  No wonder she had such a terrible time learning to bless herself. May the good Lord help her and me.