We're lucky at St. Raphaels because for so much of the year, our children have great opportunities for religious education. Mrs. Vassallo inspires them in preschool and then there's CCD and Children's Liturgy to fill in the blanks on Sundays. We're given a lot of extra help in bringing our kids up to be good Catholics. But then along comes summer vacation and we're on our own. So how do we keep the religious lessons going during the warm weather break?
I've been thinking about this a lot lately because my kids are really interested in Religion during the school year and I don't want that to lapse in the summer. We still go to Mass, of course, but they spend a lot of it doing things other than listening or praying. So how can I keep them thinking about and inspired by God?
My solution comes from a bumper sticker: What Would Jesus Do?
My family has turned this question into a game. When we're out somewhere having fun, I'll ask the kids "if Jesus were on vacation here what would he do? What would he like? What would he notice?" Their answers are great:
- At the beach, Mac thought Jesus would love making sand castles because "he loves children and his dad loves making things, you know, like the world".
- At the park, Charlie thought Jesus would like racing because "he would always win since he can fly and winning is fun."
- At 7/11, Mac thought Jesus would give the man sitting outside with a cup and a sign some money, so we did, even though it meant getting smaller slurpees.
It may not be traditional, scripture-based religious education but I think for a three and a five year old, a regular dialogue about God is a pretty good start to lifetime of Catholic faith. And I think Jesus would agree.
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