The Good Shepherd calls you by Name.
This is the sign that has greeted the 7-year olds when they’ve stepped into the farmhouse for Sacrament Prep every Thursday this month.
You see, I’m a catechist for Parable Pastures Atrium, our local Catechesis of the Good Shepherd group and for the past several years, I’ve had the privilege and responsibility of presenting 5 meditations in the spring to help the children and their parents in the work of preparing for their First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion.
Last week was an amazing example of how holding this preparation is extra special on the farm!
It was our third week of Sacrament Prep and we were going to focus on the Parable of the Found Coin. That is also the week that we discuss the Parable of the Found Sheep and its relation to the Found Coin as well as the Parable of the True Vine, which is the main framework for the Sacrament Prep meditations.
In the weekly catechesis time, we work with little wooden figures of sheep and a Good Shepherd to help the children understand and take part in the parable of the Found Sheep. But it adds a whole other layer to have the children actually get to see and experience real sheep when thinking about this parable.
So it was wonderful that we had just had so many baby lambs born!
We started the evening by visiting the sheep, giving the children the chance to pet and hold some of the lambs. Then we used that opportunity to discuss what it would be like for a sheep to be lost, taking a glance around the farm and seeing how easy it would be, but then also remembering how the Good Shepherd leaves the 99 to find the one lost sheep, refusing to give up until the lost sheep is found.
And then, what does the Good Shepherd do? He REJOICES!
We then went inside the house and continued our meditative discussion with the children. We read the Parable of the Found Coin from the Bible and talked what this tells us about God and about us.
Here are some of the things we concluded:
God values us.
It’s God’s special work to find us when we are lost, and he doesn’t give up.
God doesn’t mind doing this work.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation (also known as Confession) is one of the ways He restores the hurt on the True Vine, one of the ways He finds the Lost Sheep or the Lost Coin.
The moment of Reconciliation is a moment of GREAT JOY.
Those are some beautiful things to discuss with the children! I love how Catechesis of the Good Shepherd presents these Sacraments as times of great joy and great beauty. And I love having the farm be a part of bringing the children closer to the Good Shepherd.
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