This Little Light of Mine: Living the Beatitudes is written not only for use with children, but to help form the faith of the adults who work with them. Today’s excerpt, from Chapter 7: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (Celebrating the Saints), comes from the section for children.
Even though our bodies die, our souls live forever. That means we can still pray for people after they’ve left the earth–and they can still pray for us. That’s what we mean when we talk about the “communion of saints.” (Do you remember that phrase from the Creed we pray on Sundays?)
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Different saints are known as “patrons” of certain things because of the way they lived their lives. St. Valentine, for instance, became patron of lovers because he helped Christian couples get married when they were being persecuted in ancient Rome. Learning about the saints helps us understand what other Christians did to stay faithful when they came up against the same kinds of problems we face.
Just Live It:
2. Choose a patron saint for your family–someone you admire, whose work you would like to continue. Keep in mind that whatever you do, it has to be able to weave into the fabric of ball practices, music lessons, and other commitments. Do some digging. Find out about the person–what he was known for; what her background was. Then think creatively about how to celebrate the feast day and–even more importantly–how to incorporate the saint’s example.
(From This Little Light of Mine, Chapter 7)
Because we’re all about building excitement, this week we have TWO reviews to post: one from Leanne of “Life Happens When” and the other by Dorian Speed of Scrutinies.
Kathleen M. Basi 