Impacting the life of a girl...

In my last blog I spoke of how men can have an immense impact on the boys around them. I want to speak about the impact of women on the lives of girls. Like boys, at as young as age 3, girls look to a female role model in their life. Usually, this is the mother, but it can also be another relative, close friend of the family or teacher. I do not to repeat my blog on the influence of men on young boys, but there are some elements that are the same and some that are very different.

In a similar way to boys, girls are impacted by women in their lives, especially from 4th grade through graduation from high school. Their impact, however, is often geared to how a woman should be and how they live their faith. This is the same for boys, but more focused on how they should act. I am not referring to how a woman should be a good mother and wife, although those are important - just as being a good father and husband should be something the boys see as well. I am referring more to how a woman is a vital and part of every element of life. When I was young, it was almost expected that the father would go out and work and the mother would stay home caring for the kids and being a homemaker. The role of women in the world, however, has been and most certainly is much more than that. I don't think girls see this as their 'place' in the world anymore, but I do think that girls, like boys, often question what is the place and impact women are to have in the world. Other women around girls can have an impact on them even if they are simply seen by the children. For example, if a young woman wears a very provocative or even immodest outfit to get the attention of young men, girls can think that this is how they should dress and how they should act.

Women can have in very positive impact on girls just as men can on boys. If a woman is a leader in a parish organization and becomes involved in guiding the church in growing as a faith community, girls see this. They want to get involved and they see how they can be involved in the future of the church. If a female parishioner exhibits a deep trust in God then this will influence the girls to develop a similar relationship with God. If a female teacher or close friend asks a girl if she ever thought of being a religious sister or nun then this opens up that possibility to the young girl. Again, just like the boys, women can impact the lives of girls without even knowing it. How they act, what they do and the way in which they live their life everyday is a witness to girls as to how to be good Catholics.

I will be on the Priest Convocation retreat at Conception Seminary from Monday afternoon through Thursday. It'll be interesting to return to my alma mater and see the monks. I'll give you the low down when I return. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 07:40 | link | comments (2) |
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Impacting the life of a boy...

Last Friday, I spoke in my blog about being a presence to the school children in hopes of sparking them to respond to the vocational call God gives to each and every person. I began thinking about how a child's life is often shaped by the events of their childhood and the influences others have on them.

Take young boys for example. From the age of 3 years old, boys look to a male person as a role model. Usually, this is the father but if he is not a part of the young life of the child, they seek others as their model. This might be another relative, close friend of the family or it might be a teacher. Regardless of who it is, the fact of the matters is that young boys are going to be influenced by the male persons in their life. As they enter school and especially from 4th grade until the end of high school, boys are impacted by how men act around them. This is SO important for men to remember. They don't have to necessarily be directly involved in a child's life to impact them. Someone at school who is not their teacher but who they see every day can impact them. A male parishioner who is involved in the parish and live his faith can impact them. Even the fathers of other children can have an impact on them.

The fact that men can have that impact is not necessarily a negative thing. A teacher, priest or even a person who is a extraordinary minister can spark a boy's vocation to priesthood simply by asking them if they have ever thought of being a priest. A parishioner or friend of the family can help a boy to develop a strong prayer life simply by seeing that person praying to God. My point is that men need to be cognizant of the fact that their words and actions impact the future of our children. What you do may not seem particularly important or of any significance to you at the time, but your actions may shape the future of some young boy who sees you acting as a good and faithful Catholic. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 09:06 | link | comments (3) |
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Priest serving God's Children

Yesterday, I went down to the cafeteria and help serve lunch to the school children. I had decided that I would do this a couple of weeks ago and to make it even more fun, my mom made me an apron with the logo you see to the right. I had a wonderful time serving lunch to the kids and also have a new respect for school cooks as my legs were very tired after serving the kids for over 2 hours.

It's fun to get the be around the students, but more importantly I hope they are able to see that a priest is someone that they can be comfortable around. I want the kids to see the priest as a person who wants to help them to grow in their knowledge of the faith. I want the boys to see how a priest is involved in the lives of others and hopefully that will spark them to respond to that call from God to the priesthood. I want the girls to see persons of faith impacting others and hopefully that will spark them to respond to the call to religious life.

The priest shouldn't be someone that people see once a week at the Sunday Mass and even then only from a distance. The priest should be someone who interacts in the lives of the faithful. He should be someone who they come in personal contact with and who inspires people to live their faith. It is not easy for Fr. Frank and I to be a personal presence to 10,000 Catholics, but we both see it as a part of God's call to us and God's plan for us as priests. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 10:35 | link | comments |
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Leading others to Christ

I celebrated the Mass for the 5th through 8th graders Thursday morning. They were a quieter bunch so I think I will challenge them next time by telling them that the 1st through 4th graders were much louder than they are today. That should up the volume for them.

One of the reasons they are quieter is because they don't have that same excitement about school as the younger ones do. So, I gave them a mission in my homily. I told them that they are the upper classmen of the school. Others look up to them. Even the eighth graders look to the fifth graders just like older siblings look to younger ones at times. They are to be followers of Christ, but they are also called to bring others to Christ. As upperclassmen, they have to lead the younger students to Christ.

Hopefully, this will give them a direction and call for this school year. I think when I visit their classrooms, I will remind them of their mission and see if they have been leading others to Christ. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 15:24 | link | comments |
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Mass with the students

Yesterday, I celebrated my first Mass for the 1st through 4th grade students. Each week they have Mass on Wednesday while the 5th through 8th graders have Mass on Thursday. It's very enjoyable having Mass with the children. The 1st through 4th graders are an exciting bunch. They are excited about learning, about Mass and about Jesus.

The students plan the whole Mass. Each week one of the classes plans the songs, theme, writes an introductory prayer and meditation prayer and they choose readers as well as students to read the petitions. It's really cool to see the work they put into preparing the Mass and I think it's a great ideal because the students truly participate in the Mass as we are called to do by the 2nd Vatican Council (Sacrosanctum Concilium, para. 14).

I spoke on prayer and used a coin as an example of our need for help in our lives and asking someone to give us what we need. Holding the coin in my hand, I told told them that whoever can get the coin without touching it could have it. I ask for ways in which they could get the coin. After a few suggestions, one student asked me if I would give it to him. Of course, the object of this was to help them realize that when we need something, we can ask God - pray to Him for what we need. We seek God's help by our prayer just like you asked me to help you get the coin.

I really enjoyed an interactive homily with the kids. I will probably have more of a question and answer type homily for the older students today, but I will enjoy it too. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 09:08 | link | comments |
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Back to school...

Last Wednesday, I spent the afternoon visiting classrooms in the school. It is a wonderful experience seeing the children as they begin a new school year. They are excited about learning (at least K - 6 is) and just full of energy. The 7 & 8th graders are excited as well, but it is more oriented toward seeing all their friends again and telling of their summer adventures.

I visited the three kindergarten classes and the 1st grade classes yesterday. We have 3 classes of each, although there are two all day kindergarten classes and one AM / PM kindergarten class so I was only able to visit the PM group of that class. Watching these young children in the classroom is so awesome. They are so excited about EVERYTHING. Each thing they do is a new experience. They approach every activity with such joy and wonder that it is refreshing to see. I watched one kindergarten class learn the basic colors and their numbers by grouping gummy bears by color and then counting the number of bears in each group. That's the kind of activities I'd like to be doing!

Well, being with the kindergarteners and 1st graders has reinvigorated me and makes me wish I was back in kindergarten. I think I will pretend I am back in kindergarten and go lay down on my blankie for an afternoon nap. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 07:54 | link | comments |
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