We had a very busy and packed class session last night.
Father John visited to hear the class’s individual confessions. He brought along some chrism oil. The chrism is not associated with reconciliation, but our main lesson last night was about the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. Over the past few months, we had talked about chrism several times and I could tell the students just weren’t getting the concept. I thought if they could see it, they would understand. Father John went around and put a “dab” on the back of each of the students’ hands.
Before Father John began hearing confessions, he led the group in the Act of Contrition. I didn’t know he was going to do this, so I had not given the class any advance notice. The problem is that the students don’t know the Act by heart, so Father John was pretty much on his own.
After that, Father John went across the hall to an empty classroom and the students shuttled over, one at a time for their confessions. I was a little surprised how well it went from an organizational standpoint. I was able to continue teaching the lesson while the students came and went. Parents – You may wish to ask your child about the experience and encourage them to receive Reconciliation more often.
Our main lesson was on Anointing of the Sick.
–We talked about the modern concept of the sacrament and how it differs from the old “last rites” that was usually administered only to someone about to die.
–We spent some time talking about the connection between spiritual/mental well being and physical health.
–We discussed how the sacrament is frequently combined with the Eucharist and Reconciliation. We introduced the concept of “viatecum”, where a dying person is given a tiny piece of the Eucharist to “take along with way” on their journey to Heaven.
–We had a group of volunteers read aloud the steps of the Anointing while two other students acted it out, one as the recipient and one as the priest.
We have just a few class sessions left before we call it quits for the year. Over the next few weeks, we’ll cover the Sacraments of Holy Orders and Matrimony. If we have time, we will also discuss the Ten Commandments. The chapter on Holy Orders does not usually generate a lot of excitement among 5th graders, but in past years, the discussions of Matrimony and the Ten Commandments have been very lively and interesting. As always, parents are welcome to sit in. Also, especially as it relates to Matrimony, if there are any issues in your child’s life that I should know about so I don’t just stick my foot in it, please let me know.
I am really glad it went well!
Patty was there to help, but she really didn’t have to do anything. It went OK.