![](\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_dmDaLWNETzg\/S2Ix6bpvLMI\/AAAAAAAAA90\/fpZsao-gbIc\/s1600-h\/guardian-angel.jpg\")
<\/a>One of my sisters\u2019 children saw an angel in his backyard a dozen years ago, when he was five or six. I lived a thousand miles away and seldom saw my nephew, but I fully believed my sister\u2019s account. I hadn\u2019t thought of this for years\u2014until yesterday afternoon in my religious education class. For the third time in two months, I was confronted with the spirituality of children. If one of my fourth-graders had begun describing an angel in his or her backyard, I would have stopped everything to listen.<\/a>
I have been living under a complete misconception about these kids. I have imagined that they are all but unruly, that I have to muster up every ounce of energy and vocal authority just to keep them quiet. It\u2019s a defensive reaction, I know, and comes with a sense of powerlessness. It turns out that all the power is the Lord\u2019s; all I have to do is ask the kids to bring a rosary to class.<\/p>\n
I should have learned my lesson when I took these sixteen ten-year-olds to\u00a0confession<\/a> in early December. Or when, with the help of my pal Ferde, I took them to Eucharistic Adoration<\/a> a week later. On both occasions, as you can read in the linked posts, a deep silence and an openness settled over the group.<\/p>\n For yesterday\u2019s class, I asked them to bring rosaries. All but three remembered, and one boy, M., my little seminarian in training, brought extras without being asked. For 30 minutes I set the table, talking on about the Blessed Mother, while the kids commoted. Then I asked them to get out their rosaries. Instantly, their fingers found the beads and their lips went silent.<\/p>\n A reader of this blog suggested that I read The Spiritual Life of Children<\/i> by Robert Coles. I bought it in early January; last night, I got it out and began reading in earnest.<\/p>\n I would like each of my fourth-graders to see a video recently posted by The Clay Rosary Girl<\/a>, and I may show it to them next week. Meanwhile, you can view the video here<\/a>.<\/p>\n One of my sisters\u2019 children saw an angel in his backyard a dozen years ago, when he was five or six. I lived a thousand miles away and seldom saw my nephew, but I fully believed my sister\u2019s account. I hadn\u2019t thought of this for years\u2014until yesterday afternoon in my religious education class. For the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/6738513599344023043-6919368691471495911?l=yimcatholic.blogspot.com\")