Teaching the Gifts of the Holy Spirt

This past week, I was privileged to be a part of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Pentecost ceremony for 6 to 9 year olds.  I wanted to share what I saw and found beautiful.  The children were gathered around the prayer table.  The table held a long candle holder that held 7 red tapers of equal height and the Bible.  The catechist solemnly proclaimed the reading from the Bible (Isaiah 11:2).

And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, 
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and strength,
the spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord.

After a short pause, she handed out small paper cards each containing a gift of the spirit with it's corresponding meaning to seven children.  They were short and simple.

Wisdom  To value what is important
Understanding To see clearly what is stated
Counsel To understand God's way
Strength To go on even when it's hard
Piety To humbly delight in the Lord
Knowledge  To learn more deeply about God
Awe of God To recognize God's greatness

Each child with the card were invited to come up front one at a time and read the name of the gift and it's meaning to the group.  The catechist pondered with the children what each of them meant.  The catechist lit one of the candles and invited the child to place his/her gift of the spirit card under the lit candle.  It was so beautiful to see the all 7 candles lighting with their corresponding gift cards underneath.  After a moment of pause, every child was called by name to come up one at a time and choose a gift they would like to pray for.  They each received a candle that was lit from the candle with the corresponding gift they chose and placed in front of it.

I enjoyed watching the children as they chose the gift they wanted to receive and ponder on the meaning of each gift.  What a beautiful way to teach the children about the gifts of the spirit and to desire them.  This would be easy to use/adopt in the family especially this week while we are praying to the Holy Spirit for his seven gifts.

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