Religious Education

Lent

Quentin Matsys, the Flemish master of the 16th century, was known for his caricature painting and satirical commentary. In his Jesus Chasing the Merchants from the Temple, we see his caricatural style shine. Each person in this image has a unique expression, even the lamb being carried away in the center of the scene. Matsys was not one for flattery—the faces of some of the merchants border on grotesque, though not all. He is careful to maintain these as human faces, ones we can identify with and see ourselves in.

The scene includes the range of characters noted in the Gospel story. Christ is in the center, driving out the merchants with his rope whip, three merchants receiving his blows. One of them, perhaps a money changer, lies on the ground, his table flipped, his coins scattered. Another merchant is just making his escape with a lamb on his back, while the most grotesque one on the left is trying to get away with his goods under his arms. In the back left, three distinguished-looking men observe—these are perhaps the Jewish leaders who debate with Christ about the Temple in John’s Gospel. To the right of the scene are three additional onlookers: one more merchant partially concealed by a sack, a seated figure, and a Temple-goer, whom we see in profile.

The setting evokes the idea of the Temple, but in fact it is a high-Gothic church contemporary to the artist’s time, perhaps the Cathedral of Antwerp, the town where the artist was most active. Likewise, the colorful clothes each character wears tell us that Matsys set this scene not in the Temple of first-century Jerusalem, but in his own 16th century. This is a not-so-subtle satirical commentary suggesting that perhaps the Church at his time needed Jesus’ cleansing. Yet, through the use of thoroughly human faces, it is not just the people of Matsys’s time that needed repentance and purification. The image invites us to see ourselves in it as well, to see and acknowledge honestly those areas of our lives needing a major cleaning. The variety of faces offer several entry points for us—the person on the ground, the one escaping, the one looking on, the one hiding, the one at a critical distance—where do we find ourselves in this image?

Commentary is by Daniella Zsupan-Jerome, assistant professor of liturgy, catechesis, and evangelization at Loyola University New Orleans.

SIMPLE LENT ACTIVITIES FOR ALL CHRISTIAN KIDS

Learn to pray. Let’s be honest. Most Christians do not have an active prayer life, and those that do often neglect to let their kids see and hear them pray.

Give up something as a family. Jesus fasted for 40 days. That is a very long time! It would be meaningful to teach your children about fasting by giving up something for the entire Lenten season or on Fridays during Lent. It could be giving up desserts, not going out to eat, or drinking only water. The key is that it has to be something you enjoy and want to do/eat/have. If you hate brussels sprouts and decide to give them up during Lent, you may need to reevaluate.

40 bags in 40 days. Instead of or in addition to giving up something for Lent, you could purge a bag’s worth of stuff every day during Lent. You choose the size of the bag, and you should definitely make it a family affair. (Unless, of course, you are purging toys or something, and then maybe you don’t want to get the kids involved. ha!) Just think of how clean your home will be by Easter!

Build a Lenten Cross. Similar to an Advent wreath, you light one or more candles each night during dinner for the entire Lenten season.

Read Easter books. Some of our favorites are The Parable of the Lily and The Jesus Calling Bible Storybook. One Spring Lamb is really precious for littler kids.

Read the Bible together every day. I think this is a given, but it’s worth mentioning. You need to be reading the Bible with your kids every day, and this would be a great opportunity to focus on the ministry of Jesus.

Make a Lamb of God craft. We made these mobiles last year as a way to talk about and remember that Jesus was the lamb of the sacrifice.

Study A Sense of the Resurrection. These sensory-based activities lead your kids through the crucifixion and resurrection. It is so meaningful for kids and adults alike. Definitely check it out.

Make and study as set of Resurrection Eggs. They are a set of 12 plastic Easter eggs, each containing a trinket related to the Easter story. Using the eggs, children can tell the whole story of the crucifixion and resurrection.

Make a prayer chain. Write a person or situation on each of 40 strips of paper. Assemble them into a paper chain. Remove one link per day, and pray for that thing with your kids.

Make empty tomb crafts. Here are some really cool ones: made from dough, made from paper, made from paper plates, and a really elaborate (and super cool) one you’d have to start 1-2 weeks before Easter.

Grow something. Make sure you get The Parable of the Lily which is a wonderful explanation of how something wonderful can grow from something dead and ugly. There are lots of spring bulbs and seeds in stores already, so you should be able to get some inexpensively.

Write a thank you note to your priest. Help your kids to thank him or her for teaching them about Jesus’s death and resurrection.

Bake pretzels. Pretzels were first baked during Lent because they can be made with only water, flour, and salt. The shape came from a posture of prayer, with arms crossed and hands on opposite shoulders. A monk made dough into this criss-cross shape, and the pretzel was born!

Sacramental Program

For the children who are currently enrolled in our Sacramental Program, the Sacraments are still postponed at this stage but we do endeavour to continue with them as soon as we can.

Sacramental enrollments will be rolled over to this year with more information to come in the future.

We have a date for Confirmation set , Sunday 22 August. The details of Confirmation will be guided by COVID regulations and families will be informed closer to the date.

Mass

We celebrated Mass with the 5/6 grades today - Thank you to Father Sam who so kindly celebrated with us.

Mass is celebrated at 9.15 each Friday and different grades will be attending see 'dates for the diary' for further information. Parents can attend and we'd love to see you at class Mass. Currently masks must be worn. All adults will need to sign in at the Church using the QR code or on the note pads provided.

Pope Francis Prayer focus for February

We pray for women who are victims of violence, that they may be protected by society and have their sufferings considered and heeded. Amen

5/6 Mass

Congratulations to Olivia and Oliver who are helping to lead Mass as the altar servers each week.