advent

The Mass and the manger: my interactive Christmas story

~ Betty Vertin ~ Leave a comment

The Mass and the Manger: My Interactive Christmas Story is a fun and meaningful new children’s book the whole family can enjoy. It tells the story of the first Christmas and then, using interactive full-page flaps, reveals the story of two young children, a brother and sister, who receive Jesus through the Eucharist at midnight Mass. The young siblings discover connections between the birth of Jesus and Mass that the young readers in your life will surely make as well.

As a mother to seven, I first read the book by myself and immediately knew kids would like it. This book is geared towards children ages six to 10. However, when I read it out loud to my youngest, 22 months, pointing out the things she would recognize in the illustrations and showed her the baby, Jesus, I noticed that several of my other children in the room were listening and were drawn into the remarkable story. Their ages ranged from 22 months to 18 years old.  Just as the book proclaims, “That first Christmas, long ago, not so different from, now, you know! Jesus comes to us still now! “The book has a message for all ages.

It will hold a special place for children who have recently or will soon receive their first communion. Several times in the book, we are reminded that we get to hold Jesus in our hearts through the Eucharist just as Mary and Joseph held him close on that first Christmas.

My nine-year-old daughter, Mary, who had her first communion a few months ago, loved the simple, rhyming language used by author Jennifer Sharpe and said she learned things about the Mass she didn’t know or remember.  The Christmas story is already one of her favorites because of her name, but she especially liked the illustrations. 

I have to agree; the illustrations by Gina Capaldi look like beautiful paintings that could be framed and hung in your home, especially those of the first Christmas.  In a world where children are saturated with toy commercials and Santa Claus, it is refreshing to see beautiful pictures of the holy family, the nativity, and the Mass intended for them.

The Mass and the Manger: My Interactive Christmas Story belongs in every Christmas library.  This book will find a place in our family Christmas Eve tradition as well.  We will read it each Christmas Eve before Mass, and my younger children can bring it to Mass and follow along.

I highly recommend this book for the children in your lives. You can order a copy from Ascension Press.

A Christmas reset

~ Betty Vertin ~ 2 Comments

Check. The last gift is ordered. Check. The uniform is clean for the basketball tournament. Check. The baseball-playing son is registered for camp. Check. The laundry is done, and I am ready to pack for a clinical trial. Check. The Christmas menu is planned. 

Check. Check. Check. I’ve been treating this Christmas season like a checklist. Items that need to be completed are not like the holy season it truly is. 

The first days of Advent flew by. I went to Saturday Mass with some of my family for the first Sunday of Advent. A telling sign is that I don’t remember the homily or even which of my kids were with me. I do remember the bulletin and seeing Mass Times for Immaculate Conception Holy Day Mass. I knew it would be easy to forget as I was going to be traveling out of state with my three sons with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).  

My sons had an opportunity to screen for a new clinical trial for a medicine that has the potential to help them by slowing down the progression of the muscle deterioration caused by their disease.  We would get home the day before the holy day, but I knew that my boys would be exhausted and potentially me. So, I made sure to remember the date and times. 

We traveled the five-hour drive to and from our appointments in Denver.  We stayed for three days, and I was right; we got home exhausted late after a full day of appointments, three cardiac MRIs, three physical therapy appointments, and so much paperwork my head was mush.  In fact, I left our suitcase in the parking lot of the hotel right next to our parking spot and didn’t realize it for hours until one of my sons asked for a water bottle, and I realized the case of water bottles was sitting on top of the said suite case in the parking lot. 

I again attended a Saturday evening mass, and when I was in the church, I realized I had missed the holy day.  I was upset. I felt terrible. And then I realized I forgot my holy hour of perpetual adoration as well.  I was rough on myself for not making Advent the focus of Christmas.  

I knew I would be distracted with the clinical trial (we made it in the trial and will travel back to Denver next week for all three boys to have an infusion). So, I made a list of gifts, menus, dates of travel, etc. And I checked everything off that list and thought I was ready for Christmas.  But my heart was not prepared.  I had not given Jesus any time in my schedule. 

On Monday, I went to confession before my next scheduled hour of adoration. And it was divine. Father told me it was good of me to be in confession during Christmas time, that it would help fill my heart with the right things, and that those things would overflow into my family for the rest of Christmas.  

My eyes filled with tears.  The grace and forgiveness I received in the confessional that day touched my heart.  I had been so harsh on myself for all that I wasn’t doing well. 

 Forgiveness was a reset. I believe in what the priest said, that what is in my heart will flow into my family.  That gives me the courage to keep trying, the motivation to do better, and the peace that I am doing my best.