Monday, February 2, 2009

Catholic Mosaic-The Most Beautiful Thing in the World

I was browsing through my copy of Catholic Mosaic, written by Cay, and came across the book, The Most Beautiful Thing in the World.
I have just begun teaching Grace the Act of Contrition in preparation for her First Communion next year, and this book was the perfect addition to her lessons.

The Amazon review of this book says, "The youngest angel in Heaven is sent on a quest to find the most beautiful thing on earth. A red rose? Birds and butterflies? Puppies and kittens? A beautiful baby?
No, each time the other angels send him back to earth to keep looking. Finally the angel visits the church and finds a surprising answer.
Illustrated with full-page colorful pictures, this simple story shows the importance of the true love of God. An endearing, delightful tale also suitable for small children."
This book is not just suitable for small children, it is suitable for anyone learning about sorrow for sins and the beauty God finds in this sorrow.
For a project to go along with this story, we searched, as the youngest angel in the story did, for beautiful things that God created. (If you only give your children Ranger Rick magazines to cut up, expect to only find pictures of animals on the poster.) We found many beautiful things that God made, but on a seperate paper we wrote the following.....I attached the Act of Contrition prayer, and a happy picture of Mark and Grace) to this sheet of paper. It is by our dining room table for frequent discussion and review. (We seem to learn the best in "the little house" when the walls do the teaching.)

2 comments:

Rhonda said...

I still remember my mom practicing the "Act Of Contrition" with me when I was a child. It is something that I will never forget and I am sure that Grace will never forget it and will always have memories of her First Communion. I hope that we get to see the photos when the time comes.

naomi said...

Wow what a beautiful family experience. My grandma used to sometimes teach communion to children who had mild learning difficulties and needed more time - your post really reminded me of her work and made smile. I am not a practising Christian but this is very special.