“…unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:3-4).
In the beginning were desires…
… desire to take care of children while their parents attend workshops
… desire to integrate children into national and regional CLC assemblies
… desire to encourage children to live lives to the fullest while playing, reflecting, doing arts and crafts
… desire to simplify Ignatian spirituality to child level
… desire to help children taste the sweetness of prayers and encounter God in simple ways
… desire to foster Catholic faith in children’s everyday life
… desire to introduce children to the CLC way of life early on…
Out of those desires, a children program focusing on Ignatian themes such as God’s creation, I am special in God’s eyes, The call of the King, and Bear Fruit, was first developed for the 2008 Dong Hanh National Assembly in Southern California. During the Christmas week of 2008, the couple Duc Le and Thy Nguyen from Boston, MA with the help of other Dong Hanh members put together a simple children program which consisted of games, songs with movements, arts and crafts projects, and reflection activities. The program was well received by the children and their parents.
After the Dong Hanh National assembly, our president Liem Le expressed the desire for having a children program at the 2009 CLC USA National Assembly. Around May 2009 Mong Hang Nguyen (Houston, TX), Kim Anh Vu (Phoenix, AZ) and I had several telephone conversations to work on the daily themes for the children program. With joyful hearts, we agreed on expanding the structure of the existing children program to cover the four weeks of the Spiritual Exercises. We were convinced that children were capable of doing the Spiritual Exercises while having fun at the same time. We named the four sessions according to the four weeks of the exercises: 1) God creates the world out of love, 2) God creates me and He loves me the way I am, 3) God chooses me and calls me to follow Him, 4) I labor with God and bear fruits.
We gave the program the title “Called to be God’s beloved children” to parallel the central theme of the CLC-USA National Assembly “Called to be a prophetic community.”
With great enthusiasm, Christine Chau Hoan Tran and Thy Nguyen (both from Boston, MA) and I worked out the daily details for two months. We filled out the four sessions with ice breaking and team bonding games, hiking trip, reflecting activities, arts and crafts projects, movie, and a skit called “St. Alice” for the “CLC USA by night” entertainment program.
Prior to the National Assembly, we contacted the children’s parents to conduct ‘teleconference-training-sessions’ so that parents could journey with their children and help out at the same time.
On July 10, 2009, about sixteen children aged 6 through 13 arrived at the CLC-USA National Assembly, not knowing that they were to embark on an Ignatian Spiritual Exercise trip. During the hiking trip around the Trinity facility, the children formed groups of five and were asked to play the roles of God the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, an angel and a human being. The Trinity God, the angel and the human discussed about what to create, why creating it, and where to let it live. Together the divine-human team co-created the world. The children were also given Ziploc bags to collect what they had created. Using the collected materials (sands, rocks, leaves, grass, flowers, etc.), the children made “creation posters, ” shared their experience of discovering God’s creation, and offered the fruit of their labor (the posters) during Mass.
With colorful clay in their hands, the children were asked to go back to that very moment when God created them. They were reflecting on the thoughts, the dreams, the feelings that God had for them while He was forming them. Like the potter whose efforts were to make master pieces of art, the children were asked to use the clays to build themselves, expressing the dreams that God had for them.
One of the highlights of the “CLC USA by Night” entertainment program was the beautiful and lively performance of the children. On stage, they relived the life of St. Alice. The children’s enthusiasm and joyful play surprised the audience.
The daily sending and blessing of the children to their program prior to the daily workshop and the re-union of children and parents at Mass gave a promising picture of a community built on hope, love, and integration…
Reflecting on my journey with the children program, the joys and the friendships that I have experienced as a result of this journey, I feel very grateful. I know that I am ‘called to be a prophetic community,’ especially ‘called to be God’s beloved child.’
06/27/10
Sophie Nguyen
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