Week 13: Passages 624-667

We are up to passages 624-667. These readings cover the death and Resurrection of Jesus.

Paragraph 3. Jesus Christ was Buried
Before his Easter Resurrection Christ actually experienced death, his soul was separated from his body so that he “might be, in his person the meeting point for death and life.” (CCC 625)
Jesus’ body was kept free from corruption, because his divine person was still present in his body and soul even though they were separated from each other. This is evidenced in his Resurrection on the third day as the fourth day was the day it was traditionally believed that decay began. Baptism (which was originally immersion) signifies our descent in to the tomb with Christ so that we may also experience being raised up with him.

Article 5 “He Descended Into Hell On the Third Day He Rose Again”
Paragraph 1. Christ Descended into Hell

Jesus experienced death as all men do, but when he descended into Hell it was “as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there.” (CCC 632)
“Hell” refers to the dwelling place of all souls who died awaiting the Redeemer, because they are deprived of the vision of God. Jesus delivers the righteous, but not the damned. The descent into Hell brings the Gospel message to fulfillment, spreading it to all people of all times. This brief event of Jesus’ descent is vastly significant.

“Jesus, ‘the Author of life,’ by dying destroyed ‘him who has the power of
death, that is, the devil, and [delivered] all those who through fear of death
were subject to lifelong bondage.’ Henceforth the risen Christ holds ‘the keys
of Death and Hades,’ so that ‘at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in
heaven and on earth and under the earth.’” (CCC 635)

Paragraph 2. On the Third Day He Rose from the Dead

“The Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of our faith in Christ, a faith
believed and lived as the central truth by the first Christian community; handed
on as fundamental by Tradition; established by the documents of the New
Testament; and preached as an essential part of the Paschal mystery along with
the cross.” (CCC 638)

I. The Historical and Transcendent Event
The Resurrection of Christ was a real event that is historically verified. When the disciples enter the empty tomb they find evidence that the absence of Jesus’ body is not of human doing and that Jesus has not simply returned to earthly life as Lazarus did. This is suggested in the Gospel when John enters the tomb, “he saw and believed.” (CCC 640)
Mary Magdalene and the holy women were the first to encounter the Risen Christ, and they became the first messengers of Christ’s Resurrection for the apostles. Next Jesus appeared to Peter, then the other apostles and many more disciples.
All these testimonies provide evidence of the Resurrection as a historical fact. The apostles faith was put to the test by Jesus’ death on the cross, many were demoralized and had a hard time believing the tales of the Resurrection. Even when Jesus appeared to them directly they wondered if he was a ghost.
The Resurrection did not spring from the faith of the apostles, but rather their faith in the Resurrection came from divine grace and their direct experience with the reality of the risen Jesus.
Jesus’ risen body bears the marks of the passion, but it is a glorified body with new properties. Christ is now outside of time and space and belongs to his Father’s divine realm. His body is filled with the Holy Spirit so that he can share his divine life with us.
The Resurrection is a mystery that was not witnessed by anyone. It is a transcendent event, while historically verifiable surpasses history. That is why Christ appeared not to everyone but to his disciples so that they might be his witnesses to the people.
II. The Resurrection – A Work of the Holy Trinity
In the work of the Resurrection the three divine persons act together as one while manifesting their own characteristics.
III. The Meaning and Saving Significance of the Resurrection
Christ’s Resurrection is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. It is also proof of Jesus’ divinity. Christ’s death liberates us from sin, and his Resurrection opens the way to new life. The new life is the justification that reinstates God’s grace, and allows us to become adopted children of God. Finally, Christ’s Resurrection is the source of our future resurrection.

“In Christ, Christians ‘have tasted…the powers of the age to come’ and their
lives are swept up by Christ into the heart of divine life, so that they may
‘live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was
raised.’” (CCC 655)

Article 6 “He Ascended Into Heaven and is Seated at the Right Hand of the Father”
Christ’s body is glorified at the Resurrection, but that glory is veiled until the event of the Ascension when he takes his place at the right hand of the Father to remain there for all time.
The Ascension is linked to the Incarnation, only one who came from the Father can return to the Father. Jesus is our high priest who enters the greatest sanctuary of all, heaven itself, to permanently make intercession for all who draw near to God through him.
Being seated at the right hand of the Father signifies the beginning of the Messiah’s kingdom and the fulfillment of the prophecy:

“To him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and
languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall
not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” (CCC 664)

Questions for Reflection:

• CCC 641 describes the role of women in passing on the Gospel message. What does that mean for us? How can we be witnesses to the men around us?


• CCC 644 states that the apostle's faith was born from divine grace and direct experience of the reality of the risen Jesus. How can we nourish our faith by more fully experiencing Jesus?

Week 12: Passages 583- 623

This week our readings will cover passages 583-623. I'm sorry I don't have any notes yet, last week I helped run a Vacation Bible School (very fun!) and I just returned from a weekend of camping. I had optimistic thoughts of getting in the door and typing up some Catechism notes, but baseball games, piles of camping equipment and VBS supplies, and tired and dirty children in need of baths and bedtimes intervened. So maybe I'll get a chance to add some notes, but if I don't I am depending on YOU my loyal Catechism reading buddies! Let me know what part of these readings struck you!

Week 11: Passages 541-582

Our readings for today cover passages 541-582.

We continue with the mysteries of Jesus’ public life:

The Kingdom of God is at hand
After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee and preached the Gospel. He gathered men into the family of God, the Church, the seed of the kingdom. By his death and Resurrection he would accomplish the coming of the kingdom and draw all men to himself.

The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God
Everyone is called to enter the kingdom by accepting Jesus’ word. The kingdom belongs to the poor and the lowly. To them the Father reveals what is hidden from the wise. Sinners are invited to conversion. The invitation comes in the form of parables.

“Through his parables he invites people to the feast of the kingdom, but he also
asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything.
Words are not enough; deeds are required. The parables are like mirrors for man:
will he be hard soil or good earth for the word? What use has he made of the
talents he has received? Jesus and the presence of the kingdom in this world are
secretly at the heart of the parables. One must enter the kingdom, that is,
become a disciple of Christ, in order to ‘know the secrets of the kingdom of
heaven.’ For those who stay ‘outside,’ everything remains enigmatic.” (CCC
546)

The signs of the Kingdom of God
Jesus performed miracles to show that he is the Son of God. Some accused him of acting by the power of demons. Jesus freed some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness, and death, but he came not eliminate these evils but rather the greatest evil: sin. The coming of God’s kingdom means the defeat of Satan’s.

The keys of the kingdom
Jesus chose twelve men to be with him and assist him in his mission. Peter holds a special place, because of his faith he became the rock on which Jesus built his church. Jesus gave the authority of the church to the apostles and in particular Peter, to whom he gave “the keys of the kingdom.”

“’I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven.’ The power of the keys designates authority to
govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd,
confirmed this mandate after his Resurrection: ‘Feed my sheep.’ The power to
‘bind and loose’ connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal
judgments, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church.” (CCC 553)

A foretaste of the Kingdom: the Transfiguration
Jesus reveals his divine glory on the mountain, and also that in obedience to the Father he must suffer and die to enter into his glory. At Jesus’ baptism he revealed the mystery of our first regeneration (baptism) and at the Transfiguration he reveals our second regeneration: our own Resurrection when our bodies will be like his glorious body. It is also a reminder that we enter the kingdom of God through persecution.

Jesus’ ascent to Jerusalem
Jesus attempts to gather the people of Jerusalem around him, but he weeps when they reject him.

Jesus’ messianic entrance into Jerusalem
Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem manifested the coming of the kingdom and the Messiah. Jesus comes with humility, riding on a donkey, and is welcomed by the poor and by children. Their acclamation of “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” is repeated in the Sanctus of the Eucharistic Liturgy.

Article 4 “Jesus Christ Suffered Under Pontius Pilot, Was Crucified, Died, And Was Buried”
The Paschal mystery is the center of the Good News.

“Faith can therefore try to examine the circumstances of Jesus’ death,
faithfully handed on by the Gospels and illuminated by other historical sources,
the better to understand the meaning of the Redemption.” (CCC 573)

Paragraph 1. Jesus and Israel
In many ways Jesus’ words and deed were a “sign of contradiction” for the Jews, particularly the Pharisees. Jesus seems to be acting against the following essential institutions:

• submission to the whole of the Law in its written commandments and, for the Pharisees, in the interpretation of Oral tradition;



• the centrality of the Temple at Jerusalem as the holy place where God’s presence dwells in a special way;



• faith in the one God whose glory no man can share.

I. Jesus and the Law
Jesus came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. Only he could keep the whole Law perfectly, he came to redeem all those who could not. In Jesus, the Law is no longer written in stone but “upon the heart”.
Jesus taught with divine authority, he clarified and perfected certain aspects of the Law, which did not make him popular with Jewish leaders. I found this detail interesting:

“Going even further, Jesus perfects the dietary law, so important in Jewish
daily life, by revealing its pedagogical meaning through a divine
interpretation: ’Whatever goes into a man from the outside cannot defile
him…(Thus he declared all foods clean.). What comes out of a man is what defiles
a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts…’”
(CCC 582)

Questions for Reflection:

• What jumped out at you from these readings? Is anyone still with me?



• CCC 559 describes Jesus’ messianic entrance into Jerusalem and states that the “subjects of God’s kingdom on that day are children and God’s poor”. In our own faith how can we be more like children and God’s poor?



• St. James says, “Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.” (CCC 578) Yikes, what a kick in the pants, eh? That’s a wake-up call for me, as I know I have the tendency to get complacent about my sinfulness since I don’t commit any of the biggies: adultery, murder, etc.

Weeks 9 and 10: Catechism for Kids!

My kids and I recently did a project that would be a great tie-in to the past few weeks readings on the Blessed Mother and the mysteries of Jesus. You can see pictures of our Rosary box here. And here are the directions. Also check out the First Heralds blog, there are some great ideas for introducing the faith to little ones there.
Another fun idea would be to have your kids make Rosary books with a page for each mystery, or a book or timeline of Christ's life.

I was excited to read passages 531-534 on the mysteries of Jesus' hidden life because I just heard a talk at a Homeschool Conference on the same topic!
Fr. Pablo Straub discussed Pope Paul VI homily on the life of the Holy Family as characterized by three things:

• work
• silence
• prayer

I'm sure there are lots of things one could take away from his talk, but my personal resolution was to attempt to bring these three elements into my family by getting my kids on a schedule (including prayer times), getting them involved in more chores, and increase the silence in our home by turning off the tv more (since the toddler does not come with a volume dial).

I knew from experience that implementing all these changes all at once would be a recipe for crash and burn, so I resolved to introduce things gradually. I started with a schedule for meals, and added a prayer (in addition to Grace) to each meal. So at breakfast we pray a decade of the Rosary and a Morning Offering and at lunch the Angelus. We also have a snack at 10am and 3pm and I'd like to add the Chaplet of Divine Mercy along with 3pm snack. Its been a few weeks and I have to say this simple schedule is the best thing ever, our days have been much smoother since I implemented it.

Next I'd like to add chore times, currently I have the children take turns clearing the dishes after meals, and clean-up there toys before bed. Occasionally they clean their rooms or do other chores, mostly as consequences for bad behavior. I'd like to try to implement some FlyLady routines and zone with them. These chore flip charts look interesting too.

And as far as the tv, my husband helped out with that one- he decided we would go tv free and he unplugged it and carried it to the basement! I was so relieved, it took a lot of pressure off me to enforce limits. We have a lot more time now for reading and just spending time together as a family not glued to the tube!

Week 10: Passages 496 - 540

We are now on week 10. This week we are reading passages 496 – 540.

We continue our journey through the Creed with Roman Numeral II. Born of the Virgin Mary.
The Church confesses Mary’s perpetual virginity. Some people claim that Jesus had brothers, as mentioned in the Bible, but this term actually referred to close relatives.
There are several reasons that God chose to have his Son be born of a virgin (CCC 503-507):

• Mary’s virginity manifests God’s absolute initiative in the Incarnation, Jesus had only God as Father.




• Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit because he is the New Adam, head of the redeemed humanity. Adam was of the earth (made from dust), Jesus is from Heaven.




• Jesus ushers in the new birth of children adopted by the Holy Spirit through faith. Participation in the divine life is the gift of God to man. The spousal character of the human relation to God is fulfilled perfectly in Mary’s virginal motherhood.




• Mary’s virginity is a sign of her faith unadulterated by doubt, and her undivided gift of herself to God’s will.




• Mary is a symbol of the Church:

“the Church indeed…by receiving the word of God in faith becomes herself a
mother. By preaching and Baptism she brings forth sons, who are conceived
by the Holy Spirit and born of God, to a new and immortal life. She
herself is a virgin, who keeps in its entirety and purity the faith she pledged
to her spouse.” (CCC 507)

Paragraph 3. The Mysteries of Christ’s Life



When I first glanced through this section, to prepare to take more detailed notes, I wasn’t too excited. After all, I know about the details of Jesus’ life (he was born in a manger, died on the cross etc. etc.), so I figured these reading would be mostly review. However, when I actually read through the passages this quote jumped out at me and shed a new light on the import of what I was reading:

“We must continue to accomplish in ourselves the stages of Jesus’ life and his
mysteries and often to beg him to perfect and realize them in us and in his
whole Church…For it is the plan of the Son of God to make us and the whole
Church partake in his mysteries and to extend them to and continue them in us
and in his whole Church. This is his plan for fulfilling his mysteries in
us.” (CCC 521)

I. Christ's Whole Life is Mystery


We can see the mystery of who Jesus was in the events of his earthly life, in his deeds, words and miracles. His earthly life is a sacrament (a tangible sign) of his divinity and the salvation he brings.

“Christ’s whole earthly life – his words and deeds, his silences and sufferings,
indeed his manner of being and speaking – is Revelation of the Father.
Jesus can say: ‘Whoever has seen me has seen the Father,’ and the Father can
say: ‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’” (CCC 516)

Christ’s whole life is a mystery of redemption. Not only does his death on the cross reveal this mystery, but also:
“-already in his Incarnation through which by becoming poor he enriches us with poverty;
-in his hidden life which by his submission atones for our disobedience;
-in his healing and exorcisms by which ‘he took our infirmities and bore our diseases’;
-and in his Resurrection by which he justifies us.” (CCC 517)

Christ is our model, he wants us to follow him. He wants to live in him and he in us. His riches are for everyone.

II. The Mysteries of Jesus’ Infancy and Hidden Life

The Preparations
God prepared for the coming of his Son to earth over the course of centuries.

“He makes everything converge on Christ: all the rituals and sacrifices, figures
and symbols of the ‘First Covenant.’ He announces him through the mouths
of prophets who succeeded one another in Israel. Moreover, he awakens in
the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of this coming.” (CCC 522)

St. John the Baptist is the Lord’s forerunner, sent to prepare the way. This expectancy and preparation is made present by the Church in the Liturgy of Advent.





The Christmas Mystery
Christ was born in a stable to a humble family and visited by shepherds. We must become like children in relation to God, Christ must be born in us.

The Mysteries of Jesus’ Infancy
Jesus is circumcised on the eight day, this is a sign of his relationship to Abraham, the people of the covenant and his submission to the Law of Israel. It is a sign of the “circumcision of Christ”, Baptism.
At the Epiphany the Magi visit Jesus to show us that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and that the good news of salvation is also for the pagans.
The presentation in the temple shows that Jesus is the firstborn Son who belongs to the Lord. Jesus is revealed by Anna and Simeon as the “light of the nations”, “glory of Israel” and “a sign that is spoken against.”
The flight into Egypt recalls the Exodus and presents him as the liberator of God’s people. It also shows the opposition of darkness to light, as Christ’s whole life was lived under persecution.

The Mysteries of Jesus’ Hidden life
Jesus spent most of his life as the majority of human beings do, a daily life without greatness full of manual labor. We know that Jesus was obedient to his parents, a perfect fulfillment of the fourth commandment and a reparation for the disobedience of Adam.

“The hidden life of Nazareth allows everyone to enter into fellowship with Jesus
by the most ordinary events of daily life.” (CCC 533)

The finding of Jesus in the temple is the only break in the silence of the hidden years. Here we get a glimpse of the mystery of Jesus’ mission.





III. The Mysteries of Jesus’ Public Life
The Baptism of Jesus
When Jesus is baptized in the Jordan he is allowing himself to be numbered among the sinners and displaying his obedience to the Father’s will. The Holy Spirit comes to rest on him and the heavens (that Adam had closed) are opened. Through Baptism we are able to participate in Jesus’ death and Resurrection.
“The Christian must enter into the mystery of humble self-abasement and repentance, go down into the water with Jesus in order to rise with him, be reborn of water and the Spirit so as to become the Father’s beloved son in the Son and ‘walk in newness of life.’” (CCC 537)

Jesus’ Temptations
After his Baptism Jesus goes into the desert for forty days, at the end of this time Satan tempts him three times, just as Adam was tempted and the Israelites were tempted in the desert. Jesus remains faithful where Adam gives in to temptation and remains obedient to the Father where the Israelites strayed. Jesus’ victory in the desert foreshadows his victory at the Passion. Jesus’ temptation reveals the way that he is the Messiah, contrary to the vision of an earthly leader that men were expecting and Satan tempts him with. Jesus conquered Satan for us, so that he could be like us in all but sin. The Church unites us to this mystery during the forty days of Lent.


Questions for Reflection:

• The readings about the mysteries of Jesus' life (CCC 512-570) can be applied to the Mysteries of the Rosary. Do you pray the Rosary daily, and reflect on the mysteries of Jesus' life? I know I am often very sloppy about this!
• CCC 521 tells us that we must beg Jesus to perfect his mysteries in us and in the whole Church. Choose one mystery (or two!) from our readings (CCC 522-540) to work on accomplishing in yourself.

Week 9: Passages 446-495

Our assignment this week: read passages 446-495.
We finish our look at the titles of Jesus with:

IV. Lord
In the Greek translation of the Old Testament YHWH is translated as “Lord”. In the New Testament this becomes a title for Jesus. The title “Lord” indicates his divine sovereignity. To invoke Jesus as Lord is to believe in his divinity. Christian prayer is full of the title Lord:
“The Lord be with you”
“Through Christ our Lord”
“Amen, Come, Lord Jesus!”

Article 3 –“He Was Conceived By The Power of the Holy Spirit, And Was Born of the Virgin Mary”
I. Why Did the Word Become Flesh?

1. In order to save us by reconciling us with God.



2. So that we might know God’s love.



3. To be our model of holiness.



4. To make us partakers of the divine nature.

II. The Incarnation

“Belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of the
Christian faith: ‘By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which
confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.’ Such is the
joyous conviction of the Church from her beginning whenever she sings ‘the
mystery of our religion’: ‘He was manifested in the flesh’”. (CCC 463)

III. True God and True Man
Jesus is not part God and part man, or some strange mixture of the two. He became true man while remaining true God. During the first centuries the Church had to defend this truth against numerous heresies:

• Gnostic Docetism- denied Christ’s humanity.



• Nestorian heresy – regarded Christ as a human person joined to the divine person of God’s son.



• Mononphysite heresy – believed that the human nature of Christ ceased to exist when the divine person of God’s Son assumed it.

And after the Council of Chalcedon the Church needed to affirm (and here I am quoting because I’m not sure I understand what the CCC is talking about!) that:

“’there is but one hypostasis [or person], which is our Lord Jesus Christ, one
of the Trinity.’ Thus everything n Christ’s human nature is to be attributed to
his divine person as its proper subject, not only his miracles but also his
suffering and death: ‘He who was crucified in the flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ,
is true God, Lord of glory, and one of the Holy Trinity.’” (CCC 468)

IV. How is the Son of God Man?
Christ’s human nature was “assumed” not absorbed. He had a human soul with a human intellect and will, and this human nature belongs to the divine person of the Son of God.

“In his soul as in his body, Christ thus expresses humanly the divine ways of
the Trinity:
The Son of God…worked with human hands; he thought with a human
mind. He acted with a human will, and with a human heart he loved.
Born of the Virgin Mary, he has truly been made one of us, like to us in all
things except sin.” (CCC 470)

Christ’s human soul was endowed with human knowledge, he had to find out about things and learn all that one in the human condition can learn only from experience.
This human nature, not by itself but by union with the Word, showed forth all that pertains to God. Thus Jesus understood with his human understanding (through his divine nature) the eternal plans he had come to reveal.
This section is getting complicated- I’m having flashbacks of the passages on the Trinity!
Christ also had two wills: divine and human. They worked together, his human will was obedient to the plans his divine will had made with the Father.
Christ also had a human body, and therefore the human face of Jesus can be portrayed. It was decided at the Council of Nicaea II in 787 that its representation in holy images is legitimate. Isn’t that fun to know? Bring on the big plastic Jesus statues!
The individual characteristics of Christ’s body express his divine person, thus we can venerate is image.

Jesus loved us with a human heart and gave himself up for us. His Sacred Heart which was pierced by our sins and for our salvation is considered a chief sign and symbol of that “love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings without exception”(CCC 478).

Paragraph 2 Conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit and Born of the Virgin Mary

I.Conceived by the Power of the Holy Spirit
At the Annunciation God’s promises and preparations are fulfilled, in “the fullness of time.” Mary was told that “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.” The mission of the Holy Spirit is joined with that of the Son. The Spirit is sent to sanctify the womb of the Virgin Mary and conceive the Son of the Father in a humanity drawn from her own. Thus the “Christ” is anointed by the Holy Spirit from the beginning, though this is revealed to men gradually.

II. …Born of the Virgin Mary

“What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about
Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.”
(CCC 487)

Mary was predestined to be Jesus’s mother. Many women of the Old Covenant prepared for Mary’s mission: Eve, Sarah, Hannah, Deborah, Ruth, Judith and Esther. God chooses those who appear powerless and weak to show his faithfulness to his promises.
To become mother of the Savior, Mary “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role” (CCC 490).

“The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a
singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of
Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of
original sin.” (CCC 491)

At the Annunciation Mary responded with the obedience of faith. Free from original sin, she was able to give herself entirely to the divine work of her divine son.

“As St. Irenaeus says, ‘Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for
herself and for the whole human race.’ Hence not a few of the early Fathers
gladly assert…: ‘The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience:
what the virgin Eve bound through disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.’
Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary ‘the Mother of the living’ and frequently
claim: ‘Death through Eve, life through Mary.’” (CCC 494)

Elizabeth calls Mary, “the mother of my Lord” (CCC 495). The Church confesses that Mary is truly the Mother of God.

Questions for reflection:

• Is Jesus the Lord of our lives? How can we show our children Jesus' love for them?
• Do you honor Mary as Mother of God? How can we instill this devotion in our children?
• CCC 494 discusses Mary's obedience. Is this virtue we possess? How can we work on obedience in ourselves and in our children?

Week 8: Catechism- for Kids!

Here are some ideas for introducing passages 422-451 (And in Jesus Christ His Only Son, Our Lord) to children:

100 Activities Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church has some related worksheets including one on the name of Jesus on page 11.

My kids have enjoyed an art project where I give them a large piece of paper or posterboard with the name "Jesus" outlined on it. They decorate the letters with markers, crayons, glitter glue, foamies, and craft jewels, and sequins. We usually do this to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, Catholic Culture has some great info on that here!