Pentecost

By Casey Sprehe

Feasts and fasts. Purifications and celebrations. The church’s extremes throughout the year are chances for me to model for my kids what liturgical living looks like.

Pentecost – the birthday of the church – is a time we draw them into the celebration more than Sunday Mass.

My kids love to sing “Happy Birthday.” They know it is usually followed by cake, ice cream or some variation of a contraband not kept in our house. For Pentecost, we sing “Happy Birthday to the Church” and celebrate with some dessert.

We share with them the Pentecost story and unpack the biblical truths with them that if the Spirit hadn’t come and empowered the disciples, we wouldn’t have access to the fullness of the faith.  For Pentecost, we are grateful, and it is cause for a celebration!

By showing children the opportunities for feasting and fasting built within the liturgical year, it helps the faith have an “everydayness” to it that allows them to connect more deeply with our Catholic roots.

It’s important for us that our kids know that the faith isn’t isolated to Sunday mornings.  When the Mass and the church are connected to our living, the kids see it’s an important and integrated part of our life.