A big congratulations to younger religious education students who participated in our Lenten “Children Making Change” project, aimed at raising money to support neglected and abused Connecticut children through the good efforts of “Covenant to Care,” a Connecticut non-profit organization that helps children in need.
Some of our youngest religious education (RE) students recognized in an article recently in The Simsbury News (Wednesday, May 9, 2012, page A6) which highlighted their efforts raising more than $550 from their own money (lunch money, loose change from their backpacks, and from earning money by doing chores around their homes) to help other Connecticut children who have been abused and neglected by their families and communities. Our RE children participated in this Lenten Project thought up by Mrs. Sherry Cordani, Mrs. Tina Yablonski, and Mrs. Kathi Bonner, Director of Religious Education, as they listened to the Gospel account of the Widow’s Mite and the call by Christ to care for those less fortunate. In the account of the Widow’s Mite our children heard God’s desire that we give to those in need not just from our surplus but rather from our necessity, and so join in with them in their pain by using our lives to help ease their sufferings—the true meaning of Christian discipleship.
The article in The Simsbury News, complete with photo and headline “Smallest Parishioners are biggest givers in Lenten project” did more than simply report the fact of an act of charity, rather it illustrated that the goodness of this parish clearly begins at home—where lessons of their parents transcends age groups and begins the formation of corporeal works of mercy at a very early age. In this lesson learned from their homes, our parish continues to be blessed with Christ-like people who recognize their own blessings and then seeks to share them with those less fortunate. What a great lesson to learn…from such young teachers. Thanks to all involved in this wonderful Lenten project!