Vacation Bible School: A High Concentration of Catholicism

I spent all of last week at Vacation Bible School. That is an experience not to be missed. If ever you have wanted to see people living Catholicism in their day-to-day lives, this is the place to see it. Each person in the building, teachers and students alike, was witnessing their faith to the others. The teachers fell into three categories:

The Parent Teachers: These were the teachers that had all of their children enrolled in the program and were kind enough to lend their time and energy in spite of a clear opportunity to rest for 5 mornings in a row.

The Childless Teachers: These were the teachers that simply taught for the sake of teaching. These teachers were similar to the above category members in that they opted to help rather than not.

The Multi-Tasker: What a special group of people we had in this category. These teachers were parents of children who were in the program AND children who were too young to be in the program. Which means that, that’s right, they got to take care of their youngest child(ren) and several other people’s children at once.

Everyday these people went home exhausted and ready to collapse. But the next morning, they were up and doing it again. I think it’s mostly because they realized how important their work was. The importance of witnessing to the youngest disciples is something that cannot be forgotten. They are the future of our faith.

Speaking of the chilren, they also were excellent examples of Catholic charity and love. The older students and teen helpers were indispensable. They made up the grease that oiled the wheels that ran the Vacation Bible School session that St. Ben's built. The older siblings soothed the younger ones that were anxious about being in a new environment. The teen helpers led the children from class to class. Also we had a reward system of gold coins, and the winning groups of children consistenly shared their loot with the underdogs. Such charity!

I guess what really stands out to me about all of this is the high concentration of Catholic living that I experienced that week. It was an inspiration to me. Such an inspiration, in fact, that I'll be teaching the seventh and eighth grade Sunday schoolers (CCD classes) in the Fall with Bryan (I hope). I'm sure many posts will result from such a colorful endeavor.