Item #1: The Circle of Light

Submitted by: Tony McCaffrey on Tuesday, April 30, 2002

Occupation: Children's Author

Here is a childhood experience of the sacred that shaped my adult spirituality.

Between the ages of three and six, I had a periodic nighttime visitor to my bedroom—a mysterious circle of light on the wall that moved slowly back and forth just a few inches below the ceiling. I knew it had something to do with God and I felt safe and special in its presence. I knew it was odd, but I didn't tell my parents. This was my own special time with God.

The last time I saw the light I was eight years old. I awoke to find it on the wall. Overcome with fear, I looked away to search for its cause for I thought it was a flashlight shining into the room. When I looked back, it was gone never to return.

As an adult, I long for the light to return. I wish to be childlike enough again to be able to accept the light on its own terms. But the moment I reached the age of reason, whereby I distrusted it and my rational mind searched for the cause to its effect, it stopped appearing to me.

I still do see it, in a way. Every time the priest raises the large host for consecration during Mass, there is that circle of just the right size. I know there is a deep connection between the light and the consecrated host. My rational mind doesn't know it, but another part of me knows it all too well. This is why I love to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle. I get the same feeling as being in front of the circle of light in my childhood bedroom.

Item #1: NDC

Submitted by: Joyce M. Kelleher on Thursday, May 2, 2002

Occupation: Director, Office of Catechetical Services

The first draft of the forthcoming National Directory for Catechesis has this to say in the section on Elements of Human Methodology (paragraph 26): "Here it is important to note that, while children do not have the same capacity to understand the content of the faith as do adults, they nevertheless need to be formed as disciples of the Lord from an early age. Their formation, which includes learning the basic truths of the Christian faith which they cannot fully understand, increases their capacity to understand those truths more deeply later in life and disposes them to live Christ's message more fully."

Please, everyone who works with children -- send your comments on this statement to the Editorial Oversight Board for the NDC at mshaughnessy@usccb.org. Thanks! We need to have our national directory reflect our actual experiences with children and serve as advocate for them.

Submitted by: Bernardine Hess

Occupation: DRE, St. Patrick Church

TOPIC: Faith in action

COMMENTS: Last week my 3rd grade class shared "What faith means to me"
as our faith sharing exercise. First, we made some word pictures to
describe faith. (Faith is like a rope. If we hold on, it will pull us
through the problem. Faith is like a blankee. It brings comfort.
Faith
is like an umbrella. It protects us from bad weather. Faith is like a
shade tree. It gives us somewhere to go to get relief from the heat.
Faith is like a compass. It shows us the direction in which to go.
Faith is like a large rock. It gives us a firm place to stand.)

Then the students each wrote a "faith paper". They gave specific
examples of how they put their faith to work through prayer. They
prayed... and faith came. They gave many examples such as their faith
in action while in the hospital; faith helped during family problems;
faith took away fear while in a storm; faith brought about thoughts of
eternal life when Grandma died; faith helps find lost items; faith
helps to stay away from fighting; faith helps to believe in ones
ability given by God; etc. All their faith experiences were very
enriching. By sharing with the full class, everyone benefited by the
examples of exercised faith. Their faith in God grew by the end of the
week.

I plan to copy their "faith papers" before returning them to the
children. I am sharing them with adult friends that they may grow in
faith also. We need to have faith as children.

I purchased the book "To Walk With a Child" and it is helping me to
draw out experiential faith in the children and for them to apply the
scriptures in a way that they can relate and bring conversion of
heart.

God bless you in your ministry and for helping me in my ministry.
Bernardine Hess

ADDENDUM BY TONY McCAFFREY

Bernadine has found a simple but profound method that basically
creates a ‘word picture’ and then creates a personal story
that fleshes out the word picture in one’s life.

This is a wonderful approach because the word picture grounds an
abstract concept, faith, in a tangible micro-world, the world of a
blanket, for example, that children can almost touch and see. These
word pictures build the bridge between the tangible and the
intangible, the immanent and the transcendent.

Further, embedded in each word picture is a pattern for how faith can
play out in the story of our lives.

Example:
1) "Faith is like a rope. If we hold on, it will pull us
through the problem." Embedded in this image is the following
narrative pattern of beginning (once I had a problem), middle (faith
entered my life like a rope), and end (I hung on and faith pulled me
through). I can tell a story from my own life about a time that I had
a problem and faith pulled me through like a rope. The word picture
structures how I imagine and tell my story.

Once I find my word picture for faith, then I can tell my faith story
by using the word picture and the story pattern contained in it. This
technique will help both children and adults tell stories about how
their faith acted in their lives.

Here are some more examples of word pictures and their embedded story
patterns.

2) "Faith is like a blankee. It brings comfort." Embedded
in this image is the following narrative pattern: beginning (once
something entered my life that brought me great discomfort), middle
(faith was like a blanket to me), and end (it brought comfort and
security to my life).

3) "Faith is like an umbrella. It protects us from bad
weather." Narrative pattern: beginning (once bad weather entered
my life), middle (I used my faith like an umbrella), and end (faith
kept me dry and safe).

4) "Faith is like a shade tree. It gives us somewhere to go to
get relief from the heat." Narrative pattern: beginning (once
tormenting heat overwhelmed my life), middle (faith was a shade tree I
ran to), and end (faith gave me relief from the excessive heat of my
life).

5) "Faith is like a compass. It shows us the direction in which
to go." Narrative pattern: beginning (once I was lost in my
life), middle (someone gave me a compass), and end (now I am no longer
lost).

6) "Faith is like a large rock. It gives us a firm place to
stand." Narrative pattern: beginning (once I began to sink in
the quicksand of my life OR once my life was shook by an earthquake),
middle (I made it to a large rock), and end (the rock gave me a firm
and steady place to stand).