Family
Spirituality
Give your kids heavenly
vision
Those who have eyes
to see, let them see. When our kids are infants, we help them
focus their eyesight by waving rattles before them, hanging colorful
mobiles over the cribs, and moving our faces close to theirs, smiling,
cooing, and catching their gaze. The eyes of the flesh focus and see.
And what they see gives them information about the world. As kids
grow older, we help them to engage their minds by helping them learn
language, counting, memorizing, and music. Thus they learn to employ
the eye of the flesh and the eye of the mind.
But parents also need
to help their children focus the eye of the soul. This is the eye
that is capable of seeing a deeper purpose to life than personal comfort
or material gain. This is the eye that can look at a baby in a manger
and see not coarse poverty, but infinite possibility.
How can parents go
about what theologian John Shea calls "opening the eye of the
soul" with children? The routine is not much different from what
parents do to engage the eyes of the flesh or the eyes of the mind:
Give them something worthwhile to look at. Advent and Christmas offer
many opportunities to do just that. Here are 10 quick ideas. Use what
works for you:
1. An
Advent wreath. The
circle of green signifies life everlasting. The growing light of the
candles (first one, then two, etc.) shows light prevailing in the
darkest time of the year. Singing "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"
expresses human yearning for God’s presence in our lives.
2. An
Advent calendar
can help children
see the need to be open to the surprises God has in store for them
day by day.
3. The
Luminaria, night-lights
to guide the holy family, the shepherds, and the kings toward the
manger, reveal that we are all seekers.
4. A
nativity scene
focuses the whole
cosmos (animals, humans, angels, stars) on the newborn king.
5. Certain
TV Christmas specials
imaginatively capture the heart of the Christmas story. Watch them
with your kids. Have a hankie ready, and a bowl of popcorn.
6. The
feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
on December 12 marks a turning point in the life of the church
in the Americas. The conquering Europeans expected to introduce faith
to the pagan Indians. But Mary chose to reveal herself as one of those
indigenous people, pregnant with Jesus. Thus she also revealed God
and faith already present, converting the church.
7.
Charitable giving
is a spiritual discipline that can counter the "gimmes"
that arise at Christmas. Most parishes organize gift collection programs
that address real needs.
8.
Las Posadas, a tradition
of Mexican Catholics, enacts the story of Mary and Joseph searching
for a place to stay in Bethlehem. Many parishes are beginning to adopt
this lovely custom.
9.
Christmas hymns
use evocative imagery that helps your children see their world
in an expanded way (e.g., regal kings bowing down before a babe wrapped
in rags).
10.
Many people count Midnight Mass as one of their favorite formative
memories. If your children are old enough and can stay up late enough,
it’s a great way to awaken their spiritual awareness. TJM
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