Engaging children in the Nativity story enriches their faith and ours
December 15, 2024 at 9:00 a.m.
If nothing else, my life as a grandparent is filled with memorable moments.
Today my newly five-year-old grandson regaled us with the Christmas song he learned in school. His sweet voice, complete with lisps and mispronunciations typical of his age, sang the beautiful lyrics and we smiled proudly: “Away in a manger no crib for a bed, the wittle Ward Jesus, way down his sweet head. The stars in the sky, wooked down where he way, the wittle Ward Jesus asweep on the hay.” His angelic singing stopped and suddenly we heard, “And the stars fell out of the sky and squished Jesus wike a pancake.”
What’s a grandmother to do?
Be shocked, express exasperation, and, out of sight of the youngster, laugh until my sides hurt. And then, when I saw the words on paper, laugh again until I had to stop writing.
Instinctively, I knew it was the perfect time for a lesson, one that would engage my grandson in the faith he still knew so little about, during a season when the focus was on gifts and decorations, Advent calendars with chocolate treats and, did I say gifts?
Christmas is full of lessons, bits and pieces that take the holiday to the level of holy day and make the giving of a Gift a divine expression of love. Throughout the many years of working in religious education with children, and raising my own children, I’ve learned that the most intimate lesson for gaining this understanding is the story of the Nativity.
Young children do not yet understand the significance of the Nativity scene, the reason, the place, the people, or the virtues of faith, hope and love found there. Like many adults, children are not ready to understand the Christian call to surrender to God’s will, to the sacrificial love of Mary and Joseph, or the social implications of the poor and lowly being the first to meet the Son of God – all of which are part of the manger scene.
But St. Francis of Assisi, who is said to have created the first manager scene in 1223 in the little Italian town of Greccio, understood that immersing the people in an experience of the Nativity would, most importantly, impress the image of the birth of Christ into their hearts, especially those who could not read and would have no opportunity to study the Bible.
But – wait – didn’t we have an outside manger scene waiting to be put up on the lawn? This would be the perfect opportunity to engage my grandson and help him learn the reason why we sing “Away in a manger,” with love – and respect.
And so, he joined my husband in filling the homemade Nativity scene with pine boughs to keep Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus warm and arranged the animals in just the right places so they could all see the Baby Jesus when he arrived. They strung lights on the roof of the plywood stable that would house them all during the next month or so. When they were done, they came in for hot chocolate and conversations about why the camel had to be outside the stable when the pelican, geese and frog got to stay inside; why only the shepherds noticed the star, and why we were keeping Baby Jesus in the box when everyone else was together “like a family” in the stable.
He couldn’t let it go. As I tried to wax eloquent, he kept saying, “But Nanny, wait. Nanny wait. Nanny, I need to tell you something.”
“What??”
“Baby Jesus NEEDS to be with his mommy and daddy. If you don’t put Jesus with his mommy and daddy I can’t go on!”
“You can’t go on?” Sometimes you just need to pick your battles.
When it got dark, and the star over the stable shone brightly, my grandson and husband went back outside to take a photo of their work. As I looked at the photo, I asked my husband when he got the extra figure to add to the scene, since the only big people we had were Mary and Joseph, and there clearly was a third figure.
“I didn’t add a third figure,” he said, “What are you talking about?”
Turns out the stable is a perfect fit for a five-year old shepherd wannabe, who has made it his job to check on the Baby Jesus each day.
My job is done – for today. If we are blest, tomorrow will happily bring another opportunity for hot chocolate, conversations and lessons.
Mary Morrell is editor-in-chief of The Catholic Spirit, the Metuchen Diocesan newspaper.
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If nothing else, my life as a grandparent is filled with memorable moments.
Today my newly five-year-old grandson regaled us with the Christmas song he learned in school. His sweet voice, complete with lisps and mispronunciations typical of his age, sang the beautiful lyrics and we smiled proudly: “Away in a manger no crib for a bed, the wittle Ward Jesus, way down his sweet head. The stars in the sky, wooked down where he way, the wittle Ward Jesus asweep on the hay.” His angelic singing stopped and suddenly we heard, “And the stars fell out of the sky and squished Jesus wike a pancake.”
What’s a grandmother to do?
Be shocked, express exasperation, and, out of sight of the youngster, laugh until my sides hurt. And then, when I saw the words on paper, laugh again until I had to stop writing.
Instinctively, I knew it was the perfect time for a lesson, one that would engage my grandson in the faith he still knew so little about, during a season when the focus was on gifts and decorations, Advent calendars with chocolate treats and, did I say gifts?
Christmas is full of lessons, bits and pieces that take the holiday to the level of holy day and make the giving of a Gift a divine expression of love. Throughout the many years of working in religious education with children, and raising my own children, I’ve learned that the most intimate lesson for gaining this understanding is the story of the Nativity.
Young children do not yet understand the significance of the Nativity scene, the reason, the place, the people, or the virtues of faith, hope and love found there. Like many adults, children are not ready to understand the Christian call to surrender to God’s will, to the sacrificial love of Mary and Joseph, or the social implications of the poor and lowly being the first to meet the Son of God – all of which are part of the manger scene.
But St. Francis of Assisi, who is said to have created the first manager scene in 1223 in the little Italian town of Greccio, understood that immersing the people in an experience of the Nativity would, most importantly, impress the image of the birth of Christ into their hearts, especially those who could not read and would have no opportunity to study the Bible.
But – wait – didn’t we have an outside manger scene waiting to be put up on the lawn? This would be the perfect opportunity to engage my grandson and help him learn the reason why we sing “Away in a manger,” with love – and respect.
And so, he joined my husband in filling the homemade Nativity scene with pine boughs to keep Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus warm and arranged the animals in just the right places so they could all see the Baby Jesus when he arrived. They strung lights on the roof of the plywood stable that would house them all during the next month or so. When they were done, they came in for hot chocolate and conversations about why the camel had to be outside the stable when the pelican, geese and frog got to stay inside; why only the shepherds noticed the star, and why we were keeping Baby Jesus in the box when everyone else was together “like a family” in the stable.
He couldn’t let it go. As I tried to wax eloquent, he kept saying, “But Nanny, wait. Nanny wait. Nanny, I need to tell you something.”
“What??”
“Baby Jesus NEEDS to be with his mommy and daddy. If you don’t put Jesus with his mommy and daddy I can’t go on!”
“You can’t go on?” Sometimes you just need to pick your battles.
When it got dark, and the star over the stable shone brightly, my grandson and husband went back outside to take a photo of their work. As I looked at the photo, I asked my husband when he got the extra figure to add to the scene, since the only big people we had were Mary and Joseph, and there clearly was a third figure.
“I didn’t add a third figure,” he said, “What are you talking about?”
Turns out the stable is a perfect fit for a five-year old shepherd wannabe, who has made it his job to check on the Baby Jesus each day.
My job is done – for today. If we are blest, tomorrow will happily bring another opportunity for hot chocolate, conversations and lessons.
Mary Morrell is editor-in-chief of The Catholic Spirit, the Metuchen Diocesan newspaper.