“Jesus, I trust in you!”
-Signature of the Divine Mercy image, painted by Eugeniusz Kazimirowski under the direction of Saint Faustina Kowalska

I think it can be safely said that at some point in our lives, every one of us participates in a trust building exercise. For anyone who has been robbed of this team building experience a trust building exercise is defined by Google as “a typical process in group psychotherapy and development groups aimed at assisting members of the group learn to trust others. This might consist of placing a member in a vulnerable position so that they must rely on the other people in the group for support.” 

For the most part I have neither loved nor hated doing trust building exercises as a member of a group. I think it has something to do with the fact that I know the likelihood of anything truly bad happening in a controlled environment is very low. There is very little on the line, so trust is easy. 

However, I have found since adopting our son Andrew six years ago, parenting is a trust building exercise with a whole lot on the line. This has been particularly true for the past year with Andrew starting school. For the first five years of his life Andrew spent most of his time at home with us, and this was especially true over the past two years during the pandemic, and although I did not really enjoy the lock down experience, the one upside was I always knew what he was doing and who he was interacting with. 

Sending him to school means a large portion out of his day is out of my sight and out of my control. I have found this very difficult over the past few months because he has had some struggles with friendships. I'm not going to get into the details because they're private to him, but let's just say that as a teacher I have placed hundreds of phone calls home to parents to voice concerns when a child is struggling either socially, emotionally, behaviorally, or academically, and for the the first time ever I was on the other side of the phone call, and that is a whole different story. As a mom there have been so many times over the past three months that I’ve wished I could take his place so he would not have to experience the growing pains that accompany us all as we learn how to make friends and be part of a society that becomes more complex with greater challenges in building relationships with peers and the community as we age. Watching him walk into school each day has been a source of constant anxiety for me as I feverishly pray that I will pick him up and be greeted with a smile, not tears, and that I would not receive any unexpected phone calls that things had gone awry. 

It was with this on my mind and in my heart that Andrew and I prepared to attend Easter Vigil Mass. Andrew is not quite 6 years old and Easter Vigil Mass is almost three hours long, so I knew it was unlikely he would make it through the whole Mass, but I still wanted him to have the experience of the beauty that is the liturgical high point of the year. For those of you who have never attended this vigil, it begins with a fire called the paschal fire. The paschal fire is typically lit outside and is used to light the paschal or Easter candle that is utilized throughout the year for baptisms and funerals.

 The paschal candle symbolizes the light of Christ. During the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night, the priest or deacon carries the candle in procession into the dark church. Everyone who attends the vigil receives a small candle that is lit with a flame that originated with the paschal candle. The result is that the darkened church is set ablaze by individual lights. The church is no longer dark, but filled with the light of Christ within us. 

It was in this moment that God revealed Himself to me. I realized that we are surrounded by so many people who support and love Andrew. Looking at all the lit candles around us, I did not need to be afraid for my son. Yes, there would be hard times, and I could not prevent those, but there were two things I knew for certain:

  1. We are never alone: At his baptism Andrew became part of a loving faith community, so if anything ever happens to me there would be many people there to take care of him, as evidenced by those who kindly moved aside to let Andrew stand close to the paschal fire and patiently shared in his excitement about “his candle” prior to the Mass. (He told EVERYONE seated near us all about it, some people several times.) 
  2. Jesus, I trust in You: God’s love for Andrew is everlasting and unconditional. My job as a parent is to trust in the Lord and to do my part to help him grow into the person God made him to be. As long as I keep my eyes on Jesus (this part is hard) and trust him, God will take care of the rest. This is a lesson God is constantly teaching me, but luckily, He is patient with me. 

If you, like me, are looking to help your child continue to walk with Jesus as we head into the warmer days of summer and spring, here are two simple ideas:
 
  1. Keep on Praying: Our focus this year with weekly class sessions has been family prayer simply because it is the most powerful way to continue to grow as a domestic church. If you are looking for another form of prayer to try, click here to learn more about the Divine Mercy prayer/chaplet and how to pray it together as a family. (Its tagline is “Jesus, I trust in You,” so it is perfect for us as parents!)
  2. Stay Connected: The RE school year comes to a close at the end of April, but there are many opportunities for children, youth, and families to continue to grow in faith as part of our parish community. Here are just a few of the opportunities taking place this summer:
  • Vacation Bible School: St. Raphael offers VBS every summer for children ages 4k–5th grade. This year it will be the week of July 18–22. It is a great way for your kids to enjoy games, songs, bible stories, and crafts that will help them learn more about their faith while having fun! For more details check the bulletin or parish website.
  • LOVE BEGINS HERE (Service Retreats): 
  • Grades 6–8: July 10–13 in Oshkosh
  • Grades 9–12: We will be taking a group of high schoolers to Antigo June 26–30 
  • Contact Michael Wilms ([email protected]) for more information or click here to register your child.
  • Summer Aftershock (Grades 9-12): Starting in June Aftershock High School Youth Ministry will meet Wednesday evenings from 6–8 pm for faith, fellowship, and fun!

On behalf of the entire RE team, I want to thank you for trusting us to journey with you and your family this past school year. Online registration for faith formation for grades 4K–Confirmation will be available online mid–late May, so be on the lookout for an email from me regarding registration for 2022/2023. However you and your family decide to grow closer to Christ this summer, know that Josh, Andrew and I are praying for you. Please pray for us!