Sacramental Living

Celebrating New Life in Christ — Every Year

baptism

BY KENDRA TIERNEY

Birthday celebrations are a cultural standard in our part of the world, happy occasions for all. Each year on a child’s birthday, we remember with great joy in our hearts that this child was given to us — a blessing from God — and I’m happy I get to show my children that each year when the day comes around again.

But as Catholics, we know that the anniversary of our birth is not nearly as important — eternally speaking — as another anniversary, that of our baptism. In my home, with my 10 children, we make a point of celebrating that for kids, as well.

Children appreciate being singled out and celebrated; and, especially in a big family, it’s nice to have days set apart to make

sure we do so. Baptism anniversaries are a good opportunity to do that. But, more importantly, celebrating children’s baptismal anniversaries is a way to show them by our actions that we believe what we say we believe about the importance and efficacy of the sacrament of baptism.

Add all the dates to your family calen-

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‘Love Jesus Always’

Pope St. John Paul II Offers Advice to First Communicants

eucharist

“Dear friends, there is no doubt that an unforgettable meeting with Jesus is First Holy Communion, a day to be remembered as one of life’s most beautiful. … Children receive this sacrament solemnly a first time — in First Holy Communion — and are encouraged to receive it afterwards as often as possible in order to remain in close friendship with Jesus,” the Pope wrote to children in a letter dated Dec. 13, 1994.

He continued, “Every boy and every girl

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‘I

Am Heartily Sorry’

2 Holy Habits to Prepare Children for First (and Regular) Reconciliation

confession

BY SUSANNA SPENCER

The candles flicker on the living room

altar as my husband asks the children to quiet down from their chatter. The girls sit on the couch, while our 7-year-old son climbs on my lap for our bedtime prayer time. My husband leads us in prayer: “Let’s all take a moment to examine our consciences.” There is a moment of quiet as we all consider our day. What are the things we have done that have brought us closer to the Lord? What are the things that have brought us further away from Christ?

Normally, we proceed in prayer with the Confiteor, in Latin or in English, but since my son is going to make his first reconciliation soon, we pray an Act of Contrition together instead. We want to make sure that he has it memorized and is completely prepared to begin the reception of this healing sacrament, which we will encourage him to receive regularly for the rest of his life.

For parents, as the primary educators of our children, we need to help our children to know that the first reconciliation is just the beginning of a habit of receiving this sacrament regularly, so that our souls can be

UNSPLASH

filled with grace and formed in virtue in order to become more united to God.

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote about the sacrament of penance in Question 84 of the Third Part of the Summa Theologiae, explaining that it is a sacrament necessary for the salvation of those who have sinned. When we do not seek out this sacrament when we are in sin, even in venial sin, we act with ingratitude to Christ, who came to earth and died for us to restore us to union

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Happy in the Spirit

Follow in the Footsteps of St. Philip Neri

BY BRIDGET MCCARTNEY NOHARA

The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes how confirmation “gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action as true witnesses of Christ, to confess the name of Christ boldly, and never to be ashamed of the Cross” (1303). Looking at St. Philip Neri, we see the Spirit richly dwelling in him as he embodied these characteristics through his life. Let’s use St. Philip as a model as we strive to utilize the graces dispensed to us at confirmation, guided by these lines from the Catechism.

St. Philip made the idea of “living in the Spirit” deeply human. Witty in his encounters, devoted in hearing confessions, and beloved for his lightheartedness, Philip became known as the “Apostle of Rome.” He witnessed the fact that living in the Spirit doesn’t change who we are. Rather, it makes us become more of who we are.

Philip was magnetic. People were attracted to his pleasant personality and depth of character, and those of all walks of life found themselves enraptured by the way he spoke and lived his faith. Spending hours in the streets of Rome, Philip ached for its conversion and felt called to evangelize. Docile to the Spirit and keenly in tune with human nature, he invited Romans to gather every evening. His purpose was to offer them an alternative to the debaucherous activities they

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Holy Role Models: Saintly Friends and Heavenly Heroes

BY KATHERINE BOGNER

Friendships are a foundational part of every stage of life, but they have a particularly formative role during childhood. As we watch our children, grandchildren, students and godchildren grow up, we hope and pray that they develop good and holy friendships. Peers have a powerful influence on interests, hobbies and decision-making. Children’s role models form their value systems and viewpoints of the world. From toddlers to teens, we want to make sure our kids are surrounded by friends that challenge them to be the person God intends them to be, and in return, we hope that our kids model virtue and

inspire the best in others. How can we help young hearts cultivate friendships? Real-life relationships are crucial, but we also can cultivate friendships with the holy men and women who’ve gone before us: the saints. Through both their prayer and example, the saints are the heavenly heroes we want every kid to emulate.

While there are thousands of canonized saints recognized by the Church, begin by looking for just a few friends to help kids build connections with. One good place to start is finding a saint who shares a name with the child (first, middle or a similarly derived name). Check out the saints with a feast day on the child’s

birthday or baptismal anniversary. If they are confirmed, make note of the confirmation saint they chose. You also can look for saints whose patronage connects with one of the child’s interests: maybe a hobby, future career, or even a struggle or challenge they’ve endured. With that list of saints in mind, choose a few and mark their feast days on the calendar. When those dates come around each year, include a saintly celebration for that heavenly friend. Celebrating can be as simple as sharing a special meal or dessert that day, but could also include attending daily Mass, praying a novena, or doing a fun craft or activity. Just remember that it doesn’t have to be complicated to be memorable.

Good books create an accessible method for kids to get to know the saints. Start growing a collection of well-written and beautifully illustrated books about the saints. Gather them in a variety of styles, from picture books to graphic novels, chapterbook biographies and saint encyclopedias. Be sure to check out the selection at EWTNRC.com/Catholic-Childrens-Books. With those texts at their fingertips, kids have the opportunity to discover new friends on every page. Introducing students to saints that act as both “windows and mirrors” can stretch their knowledge and give them tools to make connections. Saints who are like “mirrors” have similarities to the child, helping them

EXCELLENT EXAMPLES: L to R:

Blessed Solanus Casey, Pope St. John Paul II (shown in his first Communion photo), St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Joseph, Jesus (shown with little children), and the Blessed Mother all offer lives worthy of imitation. Unsplash; Archdiocese of Cracow/CNA; Shutterstock

to see how to follow a similar path to holiness. Saints who are like “windows” open up the vast kaleidoscope of God’s creation, highlighting the varied ways that the Lord calls each and every one of us to himself.

Learning about saints doesn’t have to be limited to print. We have a

wealth of resources available, thanks to media and technology.

Videos featuring the stories of the saints can make for wholesome entertainment, and podcasts are perfect for car rides or to listen to during quiet play. EWTN offers an array on TV, online and on demand, including They Might Be Saints. Podcasts sharing stories of the saints with creativity include Saints Alive, Saints Stories for Kids by Shining Light Dolls, and Catholic Sprouts

Taking a pilgrimage is a guaranteed way to help kids establish core memories in correlation with the faith. There are holy sites all over the U.S. to visit. With a growing number

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dar (with a reminder ahead of time) so you can remember to commemorate them each year. In our home, on each person’s baptismal anniversary, he gets to choose a special meal and a dessert and hold a candle while the whole family renews their baptismal promises and gets sprinkled with holy water. Ideally, the child holds his own personal baptismal candle because I wrote his name on the box and put it somewhere I could find it again. But if that didn’t happen, any candle will do (perhaps from the Candlemas blessing).

We use the celebration as an opportunity to remember funny stories about what happened during their baptisms and who was there, and, of course, we look at photos.

We also talk about what baptism means, why it’s important, and what it demands of us. Since we get to do it again each year, kids get the opportunity to hear those truths over and over — and come to a deeper understanding of them as they grow. “Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit ... and the door which gives access to the other sacraments” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1213). It’s a big deal! The word “baptism” itself comes from the Greek baptizein, meaning to “plunge” or “immerse.” This immersion into water symbolizes a death, from which we rise up in Christ, born again as “a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Penitence

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with God. Regular reception of the sacrament of reconciliation is part of the path to heaven that Christ has given us through the Church.

In the book Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis de Sales explains why we should receive this sacrament regularly:

“Make your confession humbly and devoutly every week, and always, if you can, before communicating, even although your conscience is not burdened with mortal sin; for in confession you do not only receive absolution for your venial sins, but you also receive great strength to help you in avoiding them henceforth, clearer light to discover your failings, and abundant grace to make up whatever loss you have incurred through those faults. You exercise the graces of humility, obedience, simplicity and love, and by this one act of confession you practice more virtue than in any other” (Chapter XIX).

While we may not all be able to receive this sacrament weekly, any regular habit of it leads us closer to God. Here are a few ways to foster this habit in our children.

First, set an example. My husband and I, since the beginning of our relationship, are intentional about receiving the sacrament of reconciliation regularly, either at the same confession time offered at

Spirit

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might otherwise be engaged in. What started out small grew into such a large group that they needed to build a new meeting space. Eventually, they built a loft above a church that became known as the Oratory, the “place of prayer.”

This would become one of Philip’s great legacies. As we cultivate the gifts we are given at confirmation, we, like Philip, become true witnesses of Christ even on the most “normal” of days. These gifts naturally draw others to us and allow us to participate in the mission of evangelization. Philip said it with profound simplicity: “The name of Jesus, pronounced with reverence and affection, has a kind of power to soften the heart.” He knew this well and made sure to speak the name of Jesus often.

What people loved about Philip was that he wasn’t just speaking about Jesus. Rather, he proclaimed Jesus with his whole life. Wandering the city with his dog, pulling a practical joke and gathering friends around a table to pray and chat, St. Philip lived with the fullness of the Spirit. People were eager to know where his fervor came from and wanted it for themselves.

Philip had a zeal for Christ that

St. Paul reminds us, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4).

So not only is baptism a new birth, it’s a more important birth

Act of Contrition

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and fear the pains of hell, but most of all, because they offend thee, my God, who art all good and worthy of all my love. I firmly intend, with the help of thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and

a local church or within a day or so of each other.

When our children were little, we found confession times that worked for the whole family, often devoting an hour of a Saturday morning or afternoon to waiting in line and then taking turns watching our kids while each of us went into the confessional. It felt chaotic at times, but it was so worth it, to both be shriven and have the graces to go back to our life ready to make a fresh start. For us, it has worked to plan to go every two weeks. As our children reached the age of reason, they simply joined us in the confession line. Now that schedules are busier and our oldest has the opportunity to receive the sacrament during her day at school, we sometimes split up who goes when, but we always try to go within a few days of each other.

Perhaps this kind of schedule seems overwhelming, but we must consider the reason: We would not avoid bathing or brushing our teeth.

made holiness as attractive as it was attainable. His sainthood was, in many ways, simple. He gives us the rubric to proclaim Christ’s name boldly in our workplaces, our homes, our Church and beyond.

St. Philip wrote, “He who runs away from one cross will meet a bigger one on his road.” He understood that the cross was the surest way to sanctity, but he also knew living under the cross was no cakewalk. Though Philip would become the patron saint of laughter, he visited the topic of the cross frequently. He said, “Spiritual persons ought to be equally ready to experience sweetness and consolation in the things of God, or to suffer and keep their ground in drynesses of spirit and devotion, and for as long as God pleases, without their making any complaint about it.”

Seeking to live the sacrament of confirmation like St. Philip, let us recall the truth of his words and never be ashamed of the cross, our only hope. Seeking to embrace it rather than run, let us focus on our eternal goal, just as Philip did. And let’s do it with good spirits!

In a message delivered on the fifth centenary of St. Philip Neri’s birthday, Pope Francis spoke of this great saint, saying, “his mission as ‘chiseler of souls’ was certainly helped by the unique attractive force of his person, distinguished

than our first, since it’s the one that frees us from sin and makes us part of the community of the Catholic Church and “sharers in her mission” (Catechism, 1213). The Catechism not so gently reminds parents: “Through the grace of the sacrament of marriage, parents receive the responsibility and privilege of evangelizing their children. Parents should initiate their children at an early age into the mysteries of the faith of which they are the ‘first heralds’ for their children” (2225). Identifying and celebrating baptismal anniversaries for everyone in the family is a beautiful first step to build up a strong domestic church.

Kendra Tierney is a widowed mother of 10 living in the Los Angeles area and the author of The Catholic All Year Compendium and The Catholic All Year Prayer Companion. Watch Catholic All Year at Home on Formed.org and visit CatholicAllYear.com.

Our souls, which shall live for all eternity, are so much more important than our physical hygiene. The fact is that it is so easy to make excuses to not go to confession: a kid has a sporting event, the lines are too long there, etc. But if we do not make it a habit, we will miss out on the grace being offered: God came among us to make us one with him again.

Second, teach children to do a daily examination of conscience. We do this at our afternoon family quiet prayer time and again whenever we sit down to bedtime family prayer. In the afternoon, I tell my children to imagine themselves with Jesus, which is a way of placing themselves in the presence of God. This imagining has sometimes been being a lamb in the arms of the Good Shepherd or up on the mast of a ship in a storm that Jesus is about to calm. For me, it is often imagining myself in our local adoration chapel before the Eucharist. Then I prompt them to tell the Lord in their hearts something they are thankful for that day and something for which they are sorry.

As we prepare children for their first reconciliation, or encourage regular reception and regular examination, these holy habits will help all of us to grow in holiness — and increase the love of God in familial hearts.

Susanna Spencer, theological editor for Blessed is She, is a wife, and mother of four, from St. Paul, Minnesota.

by human warmth, joy, meekness and gentleness. These particular attributes of his originated in the ardent experience of Christ and in the action of the Divine Spirit who expanded his heart.”

As the Catholic Encyclopedia explains, “A few days before Pentecost in 1544, the well-known miracle of his heart took place. Bacci describes it thus: ‘While he was with the greatest earnestness asking of the Holy Ghost His gifts, there appeared to him a globe of fire, which entered into his mouth and lodged in his breast; and thereupon he was suddenly surprised with such a fire of love, that, unable to bear it, he threw himself on the ground ... and [w]hen he had remained so for some time, and was a little recovered, he rose up full of unwonted joy ... and putting his hand to his bosom, he felt by the side of his heart a swelling about as big as a man’s fist, but neither then nor afterwards was it attended with the slightest pain or wound.’”

Doctors discovered after Philip died, “The saint’s heart had been dilated under the sudden impulse of love.”

In the footsteps of St. Philip, may we become more full-hearted, Spirit-filled versions of ourselves as we proclaim Christ to the world.

Bridget McCartney Nohara writes from Ontario, Canada.

belonging to a Catholic family knows all about this custom: First Holy Communion is a great family celebration. … The day of First Holy Communion is also a great day of celebration in the parish. I remember as though it were yesterday when, together with the other boys and girls of my own age, I received the Eucharist for the first time in the parish church of my town. This event is usually commemorated in a family photo, so that it will not be forgotten. Photos like these generally remain with a person all through his or her life. As time goes by, people take out these pictures and experience once more the emotions of those moments; they return to the purity and joy experienced in that meeting with Jesus, the One who out of love became the Redeemer of man. For how many children in the history of the Church has the Eucharist been a source of spiritual strength.”

In a visit to his homeland of Poland in 1997, he addressed children in Zakopane who had received their first Communion.

Saints

of Americans on the path to canonization, it’s likely that there is a shrine, tomb or museum not too far from you. Add a stop during a family vacation or plan a special road trip to get to know these brothers and sisters in the faith who lived and walked here in our own land.

Go visit Servant of God Emil Kapaun in Kansas or one of the shrines of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (in New York, Chicago or Colorado).

Pray at the tomb of Venerable Fulton Sheen in Illinois or Blessed Solanus Casey in Michigan. These saints, from more recent eras and near our local areas, are easy to relate to and learn from, helping us see that we too are called

“Jesus loves you! A little while ago you experienced this in a special way — when Jesus came for the first time into your hearts. You received him under the appearance of bread in First Holy Communion. What does it mean that he came into your hearts? ... He is in you; his love fills you and makes you become always more like him, always more holy.

“This is a great grace, but also a great task. So that the Lord

to be saints. We also can surround ourselves with reminders of the saints, a “great cloud of witnesses,” as Hebrews Chapter 12 tells us.

Using sacramentals like holy cards and medals, as well as statues and art (a variety of which can be found at EWTNRC.com), can keep the saints at the forefront of our minds and help kids feel connected to their heavenly friends. Sacramentals will increase devotion and call them to prayer. You can incorporate an image of the child’s favorite saint in your home, even sharing a wish list of saints as gift ideas for birthdays, Christmas and sacrament celebrations. There are also a growing number of Catholic businesses creating wonderful saint toys and dolls, perfect for bringing our faith into everyday play.

Encouraging these saintly

Jesus can live in us we must make sure that our hearts are always open to him. And so this is what you must do: Love Jesus always; have a good and pure heart; and as often as possible, invite him in, so that through Holy Communion he can live in you. And never do anything that is bad. Sometimes this can be hard. But remember that Jesus loves you and wants you to love him with all your strength.”

friendships in our homes, classrooms and parishes will help build up connections in the Body of Christ, both here on earth and in heaven. The saints have finished the race and kept the faith; now, we can look to their example and ask for their intercession on our own heavenward journeys.

Katherine Bogner, a Catholic schoolteacher from Illinois, is the author of Through the Year With Jesus and Through the Year With Mary; she offers free resources at LooktoHimandBeRadiant.com.

WATCH They Might Be Saints can be purchased at EWTNRC.com/ they-might-be-saints or via (800) 854-6316; check EWTN.com/TV for airdates.