The Sacraments at all ages

This winter we'll be focusing on the sacraments. Our intention is to learn how to teach our children the faith.  Many of us are knowledgeable on all 7, while others only have the educational level of our CCD classes.  In thinking about our upcoming discussions I was struck with the need to be prepared based on age groups.  I'm quite certain I'll discuss these beautiful mysteries differently now for my little children than I will in 10 years from now.

Words or phrases I can remember as a kid are gifts, physical actions, representations. These were used to describe the sacraments in general.  I'm not sure how old I was when these were taught to me.   I remember images of grapes, bread, water, fire, doves and candles from my long ago CCD classes.  My hope is that by the time we're done with our study, each one of us will be better prepared to take our initial knowledge, the groups experiences and a spiritual connection to each sacrament and talk freely with our children about what we've know.

In prayer for this session, a word I've thought of (or been inspired with) in regards to the sacraments is Promises.  The sacraments serve as a promise, both from God and from us.  I'll explain further in a different post.  Take some time to think of ways you've had the sacraments described to you or that you've used to describe them.