“That his creatures should share
in his truth, goodness, and beauty --
this is the glory for which God created them.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 319
On cultivating truth, goodness, and beauty in our home
one week at a time.
one week at a time.
The True: Feeding the Intellect
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas
Tomorrow is the feast of St. Nicholas. Every year the kids get some great chocolate coins and a new book. I found four great books this year on the real Saint Nicholas, including a board book for The Baby. I was so excited! Unfortunately, not one of the books was delivered on time for tomorrow. (I'm guessing they will arrive tomorrow afternoon! Ugh!) So I had to run to Barnes and Noble this evening for Plan B -- four different non-St. Nicholas books. Again, ugh! These books are all good stories, but really I was quite upset about not getting the first set. See, this year is a special year for Miss Rose and Miss Sunshine. This is the year we tell them the truth about Saint Nicholas and allow them to share in the joy of being Santa Claus for their younger brother and sister (hopefully). I remember the year my mom told me ... I was in third grade ... I cried. hard. I am a little apprehensive about how it will go with the girls tomorrow. I have a feeling Miss Rose is going to respond as I did. And I have a feeling Miss Sunshine is going to say, "I thought so." I'm not quite sure how to approach the whole thing. Truthfully, I was hoping one of the books that was supposed to arrive would help me out. Say a little prayer for us, please. And, if you have any helpful hints .... We got a babysitter for the two younger ones and we plan on taking the girls out for a talk and a special treat after dinner tomorrow night.
(As a side, I have mixed feelings about the whole Santa Claus thing. Sometimes I wish we wouldn't have made it such a big deal. But I wasn't where I am now nine years ago when we starting celebrating Christmas with our own children.)
(As a side, I have mixed feelings about the whole Santa Claus thing. Sometimes I wish we wouldn't have made it such a big deal. But I wasn't where I am now nine years ago when we starting celebrating Christmas with our own children.)
The Good: Forming the Will
Serving our Parish Community
This Sunday was our family's first time serving as hospitality ministers at our parish. It is a great way for the kids to get involved. They passed out hymnals before Mass to people entering the church and they collected hymnals after Mass and handed out the weekly bulletin. There were many opportunities for good lessons: lessons in serving, lessons in greeting people -- "Good morning!" before Mass and "Have a good day!" after -- lessons in making eye contact and having conversations with strangers. And the kids loved being involved (and having special name tags to wear!). The girls also stayed after morning Mass on Friday to help clean the church -- another great lesson in service to our parish community.
The Beautiful: Inspiring the Affections
A Christmas Concert and Opera
This afternoon we attended Christmas at Mary -- the University of Mary's annual Christmas concert. The concert included performances by the concert choir and a brass ensemble, and a performance of Gian-Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors. Amahl and the Night Visitors is an opera in one act. It is about an impoverished woman and her crippled son, Amahl, at whose home the three kings stop to rest on their journey following the star to find the Christ Child.
(Link up in the comments if you'd like to share what you're doing to bring the true, the good, and the beautiful to your home.)
I'm curious to hear how the Santa bit went. I was quite old (relatively) when I finally, completely stopped believing. It was only because I was being mocked by my peers and my mom didn't really put up a fight on his behalf when I talked to her about it. I was at least 12, if not 13. I had long before ditched the tooth fairy and the easter bunny. Santa was different, and special, and I just cried and cried and cried. My parents always stressed the religious part of Christmas over Santa, but Santa was still really magical to me.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't said anything about him to Finnian. He hasn't "gone to see Santa", and although he knows Santa says 'Ho Ho Ho", I don't think he gets the gifts connection. I've just been not saying anything. I don't know what we'll do about that - I suppose we should figure it out though before next year rolls around.