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Tyler is making his First Holy Communion in May and on Sunday it was “Jesus Day” from 9:30 to 2:00 where the kids attend a mass and then do an activity. Parents, relatives and Godparents are supposed to share by letters their First Communion memories, but all of my relatives are back east and Tyler doesn’t even remember them or his Godparents. Jacques is Catholic but he doesn’t remember his first communion, and the only thing I remember about it was loving my pretty white dress and excited to finally taste the communion wafers!

I had a hard time getting Tyler to go to Jesus Day. There are many things about the church that scare him including the big Jesus on the cross over the altar and the pictures in the stained glass windows. I tried to tell him that Jesus loves him and would never hurt him. I’m kind of out of ideas to relieve his anxiousness about the church and am open to suggestions!

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One day a month Jacques and I eat a meal at our local Presbyterian church. We also eat a meal every Wednesday at the Methodist church to save us a little bit of money. I am always worried that we will never have enough. My SSDI/disability gets us by but we have little in the way of savings. At the Presbyterian church as I parked my car I saw a mother and her two children parking their bicycles. What did they do during the winter? Did they need to skip meals? I was struck by how grateful to God I was and how I take what I DO have for granted. I own my car and home and we never go hungry. I need to trust that when I need money I will have it.

Hope you all are as well as can be!

Emily

The post Getting a Break and Other Stuff first appeared on Mama Sick.

After feeling guilty for many years, I had made my peace with it.  It wasn’t like I was spending Saturday nights out on the town or heading to the beach on Sunday mornings.  I was just…resting.

And then came Tyler.

I knew I wanted to raise him in the church and I figured I was somehow going to HAVE to find the will to get him there.

He is now six.  And really needs to start CCD next year.

I think I am feeling well enough to try to take him to church, only now, no real surprise here, he doesn’t want to go.

Lately he has been expressing interest in religions.  How does Orthodox Judaism differ from other Judaic religions?  What is the difference between being a Christian and being a Catholic?  (Yep, I’ve got a budding genius on my hands.)

It seems like the perfect time to start going to Mass on a regular basis but when I talk about trying out a service after our Saturday activities or attending a Sunday school class to learn more about God and Jesus, Tyler says, “Maybe next week, Mommy.”

It would have been so much easier to have just taken him to Mass from when he was a baby, when he had no choice in the matter, but I just wasn’t feeling well enough at the time.

Lots of Chronically Ill and Catholic Mom guilt here.

As a child I remember being at Mass with a bunch of little children’s religious books which I would read to pass away the hour that I did not understand.  Music was always the best part of the Mass for me and I started singing in the Children’s Choir when I was ten.  I did Folk Group in junior high and also sung in the Adult Choir.

At some point I guess I am just going to have to drag Tyler to church, and soon.

I just hope I have the energy.

Photo Courtesy of Living-The-Mission (Wiki)

The post Tuesdays With Tyler: Losing My Religion first appeared on Mama Sick.