The Lost Sheep

In today's Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the Lost Sheep.

What's a parable again Cloë?

A parable is a type of story that Jesus would tell his followers to teach them a lesson, especially about how great God's love is.

Oh like the parable of the Prodigal Son.

Exactly. Today's parable is about a shepherd who goes looking for a stray sheep.

I would be very good at looking for lost sheep. Did you know Cloë that the Belgian Malinois, which is what I am, is often used for search and rescue. See I think I hear a lost squirrel (hee!hee!)

Tallulah are you sure you would not just chase the poor sheep if you saw it?!

O.K. maybe you are right, but then I'd go find him again.

Getting back to our parable, here is a very good video that tells the whole story of how the sheep was lost and then found.

(youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=094upaf4BME)

So Tallulah, what is the lesson today?

Well Cloë I think it is that Jesus loves each person so much that He will not stop hoping that everyone will accept Him as their friend. And that even if someone has made a mistake, Jesus just wants them to be sorry and to come and be His friend again.

Very good Tallulah, obviously you were listening at Mass today.

Thank you Cloë, that is why God gave me such big ears!! Notice how big they are!

Woof!

Cloë and Tallulah

P.S. All the great clipart comes from Phillip Martin. Be sure to check out his website.

Jesus' Cross

Today we celebrate what is called the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
 
That sounds pretty complicated Cloë!
 
It's really not Tallulah, although we do remember quite a few things today.
 
#1: Saint Helena finding the Cross that Jesus died on. This is a painting of St. Helena finding the Cross.
 

 
 

 
This is believed to be a piece of Jesus' cross. If you ever go to Vienna in Austria you can go to see it at the Imperial Treasury Museum.
 
That is amazing Cloë that this is really a piece of THAT cross.
 
It certainly is Tallulah.

#2  The second thing this feast remembers is the dedication of churches built by Constantine, St. Helena's son, on the site of the Holy Sepulchre and Mount Calvary in Israel.
 
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is believed to be built over the birthplace of Jesus. Click here to visit the church.
 

 
 
If you really want to know a lot more about these very special places, click here.
 
You know Cloë, I think the most important thing we celebrate today is that by Jesus dying on the cross, He saved us!
 
You are right Tallulah. God took something terrible, His son being nailed to a cross as if he was a criminal and made it beautiful because it is how we are all saved so that someday we will meet God in Heaven.
 
Here is an idea from Sandra Chakeres to celebrate this feast.
 
Decorate a cross. You could get a plain wooden cross and decorate it with ribbon, flowers, beads, and herbs such as basil. Prominently display your cross at your home, school, or parish church.

Hey Cloë I found pictures of the crosses I think we should decorate!!

You and your stomach!! It's amazing that you don't way 300 pounds.

Click here to see some of her other neat ideas.

Or why not send a card to someone special. Go to Catholic Greetings to find all kinds of nice ecards.

Well that's it for today! Woof!

Cloë and Tallulah
 

Happy Birthday Mary!

Hey Everybody!

Are you glad to be back at school? We are certainly happy to see all the kids out walking to school in the morning, we love saying hi to everyone.

Well today is a most special of days! Any ideas Tallulah?

I sure do Cloë, it's Mary's birthday!

Here we are with Mary.

She sure is small Cloë, we look like giants beside her.

Don't be silly Tallulah, this is just a statue of Mary. The real Mary is in Heaven.

Why not make a birthday cake as a way to mark this important day. (Lacy at Catholic Icing has all kinds of good ideas.) Or if you don't have time, buy a cake at the store.

Yummy! I definitely like this idea Cloë.

You and your stomach! Don't forget to sing Mary Happy Birthday.

So how old is she Cloë? If she is Jesus' mom and he was born almost 2,000 years ago - that will take one big cake to hold all those candles.

Well Tallulah, Mary is in Heaven, where age really doesn't mean anything anymore since you are with God forever and ever. Hopefully everybody will some day be able to join her in Heaven.

Click here to download the story of Mary's Life. You can learn about the important events while colouring the pictures.

Finally, here is a video of a beautiful song about Mary. And you should know some of the words!

The last thing we want to talk about today is our friend Alex. We heard at Mass this morning that he is feeling kind of lonely since he is stuck up in Ottawa! If you are in Ottawa, maybe you could drop by Ronald McDonald House and say hi to him.

Well that's if for today - Woof! Woof! Mary!

Cloë and Tallulah

Back to School

Today on our way to Mass we saw something we have not seen in 2 months - kids going to school!

Wow! time sure flies Cloë.

We want to wish all the kids out there good luck at school and don't forget to study.

Here is a special saint just for students. Her name is St. Gemma.

Gemma started going to school when she was just 2 years old!

That is pretty young Cloë. I'm 3 and I still don't go to school.

If you are finding school a bit hard, pray to St. Gemma to ask her for help. If you want to know more about Gemma, click here.

If you are just learning to write or you want to learn to draw, Catholic Icing's Lacy has a neat tool. Click here to find it.

A few jokes to finish off today's blog.

Q. What did the glue say to the teacher?
A. "I'm stuck on you."

Q. Why did the jelly bean go to school?

 A. To become a smartie!

Woof!

Tallulah and Cloë

Part 4 of the Mass: He Who Sings Prays Twice!

Do you like to sing Cloë? Because I sure do. In fact, I think that is one of my favourite things about going to Mass.

I agree with you Tallulah, I really enjoy the music too. And this brings us to the next part of the Mass.

After everyone has arrived at the church, has blessed themselves with the Holy Water, has said hello to Jesus by genuflecting and then had a little chat with God, it's finally time to start the Mass! Mass always starts with the Entrance Antiphon or with a song.

The Entrance what?!

The Entrance Antiphon! It is the very first thing that is said as Mass begins. They are often a line taken from the Bible that gives you a bit of an idea about the readings for the day. It can also be a short line about the Saint of the day.

On Sundays the Entrance Antiphon is often replaced by a song.

Just like a concert!

Actually Tallulah, this is not a concert, at least not for the people in the church. But I guess you could say it's like a concert for God.

So that means everybody should be singing right Cloë, even if you don't have the best singing voice.

Exactly Tallulah! In fact it is often said that "he who sings prays twice". Remember most churches have a hymnal, a book that has all the songs in it, in case you don't know the words. Here is a song from the folks at CatChat that you can practice singing along to!

(youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fykKL_yzkgI)

So make sure to sing your heart out at Mass on Sunday and if you hear something that sounds like howling it's the two of us joining in with the singing.

That last thing we want to mention today is about our friend Alex. Alex is having some tough times these days because the medicine he has to take is making him feel quite sick.

So we want to keep sending him lots of positive good thoughts and prayers.

Also we want to make sure he knows about St. Peregrine. Peregrine had a terrible time with cancer and the doctors thought he would not get better. But he prayed to Jesus and he also asked Mary to pray for him and he got better. So he has become known as the saint for those who have cancer. So Alex you've got someone up there in Heaven!

This nice picture of St. Peregine was painted by Sallie Thayer. You can see more saints on her blog.

And the rest of us can also pray to St. Peregrine to ask him to help Alex (and anyone else who has cancer).

St Peregrine -- Prayer for A Cancer Patient

O great St. Peregrine, you have been called "The Mighty", "The Wonder Worker" because of the numerous miracles which you obtained from God for those who have turned to you in their need. For so many years, you bore in your own flesh this cancerous disease that destroys the very fibre of our being. You turned to God when the power of human beings could do no more, and you were favoured with the vision of Jesus coming down from His cross to heal your affliction. I now ask God to heal this sick person whom I entrust to you. (NAME) Aided by your powerful intercession, I shall sing with Mary a hymn of gratitude to God for His great goodness and mercy. Amen.

Bye for now! Woof

Cloë and Tallulah

Part 3 of the Mass: Talking to God

So we've talked about why we go to Mass and we've talked about what we do when we actually arrive in the church. Today we want to talk about what you do once you are in the pew.

Pew, I can't get over what a funny word that is, ha!ha!ha!

Ok Tallulah can we be serious?!

Sure Cloë, but you gotta admit it's funny. So what do the humans do next?

Well, Tallulah I'll help you tell them by asking you a question. When we go to Grandma's after we say hi what do we do?

Beg for a treat of course.

Well I guess you are right about that, even I love those treats. But what then?

Well we talk to Grandma and ask her how she has been and what she has been up to and we tell her about what we have been doing.

 

 

Exactly! And God loves when the people chat with him. He wants to know what has been happening in their lives. That is why the people kneel before Mass, they are chatting with God.

I always wondered about that, now I know! Do we have anything to help people with this whole prayer thing?

Mais oui! The first thing we have is a list of the 6 prayers every Catholic kid should know. They are:

The Sign of the Cross
Our Father
Hail Mary
The Glory Be
Grace Before Meals
Guardian Angel Prayer

(Hint: The prayers are at the bottom of this blog!)

 

Parents here is a link to know more information about how to teach these prayers.

 

Lacy over at Catholic Icing has all kinds of neat ideas for keeping track of your prayers as well as who you are praying for. Here are just a few.

 

 

 

And here is a fun game to help you learn the Our Father and the Hail Mary.

 

 

Remember you would never go and visit a friend or your family and not talk to them and God is definitely your friend and your family! And don't forget to listen sometimes, because God also has lots He wants to share with you.

 

Woof!

 

Tallulah and Cloë

 

(youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6bL83U_AZc)

 

So much happening today!

Wow Cloë I can't believe how much we learned today at Mass!

You've got that right Tallulah.

Feast Day
First off was the feast day of St. Pius X. Pius X was the Pope from 1903 to 1914. So that's more than a 100 years ago, but certainly not as long ago as St. Bernard, whose feast day was yesterday.

Pius was born in Italy to a poor family. He had 9 brothers and sisters. He was the second oldest. His name was actually Giuseppe Sarto. Pius was the name he chose when he became pope.

He became a priest when he was 23 and pope when he was 68.

I read Cloë that he was best known for encouraging people, especially children, to receive Holy Communion as regularly as possible.

To read more about St. Pius X, click here.

Did you know Tallulah that we have a church in our diocese named after St. Pius X. It's in Long Sault. Here are a few photos.

The Gospel
Another thing we learned today at Mass was just how generous God is, right Tallulah!

Well Cloë I did not think it was very fair that everyone got paid the same even though some did not work as long.

Tallulah you must not have listened to the whole parable.

What is a parable anyway?

A parable is a story with a lesson. Jesus often taught his apostles and the people using parables. It helped them understand the lesson he wanted them (and us) to learn.

Today's parable is called the Workers in the Vineyard. The gist of the story is that the owner of the vineyard came out three times during the day to get workers. This meant that some worked for 8 hours, some for 4 and some for just 1 hour, but they were all paid the same amount of money! Click here to read the full story and to find out why everyone got paid the same.

I'm still having some trouble with this Cloë, but I guess it's pretty cool that God never gives up on anyone and that He is always ready and waiting with His love for everyone, no matter how long it takes.

Now you've got the idea Tallulah!

Our Friend Alex
Finally, the third thing that we found out was about our friend Alex. Remember we told you that he was very sick. Well he is doing better and the two big tumors are gone. But Alex starts new treatments this week and they are going to be very tough.

So please remember to keep Alex in your prayers. We miss seeing him after Mass on Sundays.

Well that's lots for today - Woof!

Hey Cloë, since Jesus said in today's Gospel that the last shall be first, I think my name should go first for a change, especially since you always get to go first.

Ok Tallulah!

Tallulah and Cloë