Children's Liturgy of the Word, Corpus Christi edition, a success

So yesterday I had what may be my last Children's Liturgy of the Word session, since I decided not to continue with the program next school year. It's a relief to think that I won't have to worry about it next year (I have such social anxiety :); I hate to admit it, but it's true) plus not having to worry about getting Anne to Mass when I want to take her. However, yesterday brought up some good points that I will sincerely miss. Read on, gentle reader...

I actually didn't have Henry with me at Mass yesterday (very unusual) because he had been invited to a conflicting birthday party. So I arrived solo, and set right off to the sacristy.

I have to say, I LOVE being back in the sacristy before Mass. I like the hustle and bustle of liturgy-readying activities, the warmth of the people that volunteer at the parish that gather back there. I really feel like a part of things. I got all my materials ready and headed out to the sanctuary. Without Henry in tow, I was even able to pray beforehand. :)

The call for kids just prior to the Liturgy of the Word brought out about 10 small souls. We headed back to the sacristy. I had a few saint stories to share with them after the readings, Blessed Imelda, and Saint Kateri Tekakwitha. When I let them know that our agenda included saint stories, there was a twitter of excitement. A few of the older girls even said how happy they were that I was the one leading Children's Liturgy for the day.

See, then I felt bad. :) I have gotten to know the regulars, and even the older boys that had been surly a few times and had gotten me discouraged have taken it down several notches and have been fine since then.

We had a great session. We went through the readings and talked about the Eucharist, particularly in the context of a few of them recently having made their First Holy Communion. I told them about the beauty of daily Mass, how it was this short little gem in your day and how receiving the Eucharist on a more frequent basis leads to *clear* differences in one's life. I told them that if they remembered nothing else that I've taught them to remember that one thing. They were pretty wide eyed about that. :)

Then I read them the saint stories, and they especially loved the Blessed Imelda story, that was a real crowd pleaser (despite it's sad ending). After that, it was time to head back out to the church, so I gave them their handouts and shepherded them back to their parents.

It was nice to have such a positive experience be the one that I'll take with me, and in fact the last handful of sessions have been quite good, especially May's edition with the rosary discussion, and the Divine Mercy back in April. It made me think that perhaps this isn't the last time I'll do Children's Liturgy of the Word, maybe I'll volunteer again the future. Stay tuned. :)

In the meantime, I'm jonesing for a new volunteer slot, one that will be a good fit for me, so I've been going through the bulletins every week with a fine tooth comb. A note about needing "some ladies to do light cleaning on the altar and in the sacristy" (lol) caught my eye, but they're looking for somebody during the day, which obviously doesn't work for me. We'll see, something will come up I'm sure.