Esau, Jacob & sibling rivalry

Esau and Jacob are twins who have fighting since in the womb of their mother Rebekah, the wife of Isaac. Esau was born first but Jacob came out gripping Esau's heel, not wanting to let go. As the firstborn son Esau was to receive the family's birthright. This was the oldest son's right to the greatest part of the inheritance and to a special blessing from the father. Jacob did not think he had a chance for this blessing unless he took matters into his own hands. One day Esau found Jacob cooking. Esau was hungry and asked for some of the soup. Jacob knew that this was his chance. He said, "First, give me your birthright." Esau was so hungry that he agreed and even made an oath. So my treat for tonight is chili soup. Jacob will also cheat Esau out of the special blessing from his father. Fearful for his life Jacob flees from Esau, goes back to Haran where he will reap what he has sown.

Abraham

Abraham is our father in faith and a man of great faith. When God called Abraham to leave his homeland, Abraham responded with a generous and obedient heart. God had promised Abraham many descendants, all nations would be blessed by him, he would be given land, and God would always be with him. Abraham did not understand how all of God's promises could happen since he and his wife Sarah were very old. God took Abraham outside and said; "Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so shall your descendants be." So my treat tonight is jiggler stars. It was actually daylight when God had Abraham look into the sky, so I made light colored stars.

The Presentation of Jesus

Today is the feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. It is written in the law of the Lord; "Every first-born male is to be dedicated to the Lord," and since Joseph and Mary were obedient to the law that is what they did. They also went to offer a sacrifice of a pair of doves or two young pigeons, as required by the law of the Lord. For dinner tonight my husband and I are having chicken drumettes to represent the pigeons that were offered.

In Luke's account, Jesus was welcomed in the temple by two elderly people, Simeon and the widow Anna. They embody Israel in their patient expectation; they acknowledge the infant Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah.

Another name for this feast day is: Candlemas, Christ himself says, "I am the light of the world.' And we are the light, we ourselves, if we receive it from him. How are we making it shine?

Jonah and the whale

I am on vacation enjoying the marvelous handiwork of God and Jill is filling in for me. I decided a movie would be good for class and I chose a movie about Jonah, since that story is not covered in class.


Jonah had an attitude problem. God had a job for him; to go to Nineveh and tell the people to change their ways. Jonah didn't want to go so he ran away. God had another plan for Jonah, he ended up in the belly of a whale. When he finally got to Nineveh he never expected that the people would listen to him, but amazingly they did! Instead of being happy Jonah was mad. He didn't want to share God's love with the Ninevites. He didn't think they deserved it. The story of Jonah is full of lessons about respecting others, listening to God, understanding God's love, and believing that God knows best, even when we don't understand God's plan.


For my treat I have whale crackers (generic for goldfish) and a blue drink to represent the ocean. I hope the students enjoy the movie and the snack.

Jesus begins His mission at home

In the gospel for this Sunday, Jesus calls His disciples. He doesn't choose the wise and the learned he chooses fishermen, tax collectors, simple people just like you and I. So for my treat I put swedish fish in nets and tied them together with fishing line. For the nets I used a lingerie laundry bag. Jesus told the fishermen, "Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men."

Vocations

A vocation is a call from God and our call is a gift from God. We have all been called to serve God in someway, whether it is to the religious life, the married life or the single life. We talk about vocations in CCD because it is never to early to think about how God is calling you. Our class was cancelled due to the snow, but for my treat I was going to make a Body of Christ fruit bowl. Each of our gifts makes up the body of Christ here on Earth. I was going to use berries to represent the Religious life since there are many different types of berries and many different types of Religious and Consecrated calls. I was going to use pineapple for married life and oranges for the single life, again many types of oranges and many types of vocations to the single life. The fruit would have been delicious just like this, but I wanted to make it even better so I used Agave nectar, which represents the Holy Spirit, who helps us with our vocation, to make the fruit sweeter and holds it all together. What gifts has God given you to help spread His good news?

The Baptism of Jesus

Since the topic for my class tonight is abortion, I thought I would focus my treat on the Baptism of Jesus which will be celebrated this Sunday. I made shortbread cookies in the shape of a shell, a symbol that is used to represent baptism. Sunday is the feast of the Baptism of Jesus, the scene of the baptism of Jesus is the first appearance of the adult Jesus in Matthew's Gospel (and, by the way, the first time Jesus speaks). Matthew's primary interest is not the baptism as such, but the voice from the heavens revealing that Jesus is the Son of God. The voice from heaven isn't directed to those present, but but to those who read this passage. Through the sacrament of baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit and are made sons and daughters of God. Now that is something to think about this year.