Kids will be kids at Bible school

By Tanya Connor |  The Catholic Free Press

At vacation Bible school at Holy Family of Nazareth Parish in Leominster, children not only learned about hope and trust – they inspired and modeled those virtues.
“It was great to see the children interacting with each other without fear of one another,” said the pastor, Father José A. Rodríguez. “I was afraid they’ve been taught for so long, ‘Stay away’” by social distancing, that they’d be afraid of each other. “A year for a 6-year-old – that’s a big chunk of time. I was glad to see the roots of fear had not settled in. That gave me hope.”
Jessica Smith, religious education director and youth minister, also marveled at this. Asked why the Bible school was considered especially successful this year, she said, “Just having the kids together again … and not being afraid.”
It was also successful in imparting lessons; the children’s responses showed that they remembered what they learned, she said.
For example, midweek Edwin Prieto, a seminarian serving at the parish, taught the students the song, “10,000 Reasons” (“Bless the Lord, oh my soul”). At adoration on Friday “they all were belting their hearts out,” singing without the words in front of them, “showing their trust and love for the Lord in that way,” Mrs. Smith said. “They had the right presence in the true presence of God.”
Last year the parish held a socially distanced Bible school, where children stayed with members of their own families outside, she said, “so this was like a huge upgrade.”
“For some of the kids it was their first time back with their peers” at church in a year, she said. “And some of them hadn’t been back to school” in person since March 2020.
“I didn’t see any inkling of nervousness, and I was ready for it,” she said. “They were still kids.”
There were 28 of them from pre-kindergarten through grade 5, and 26 junior helpers (students who had finished grade 5 up through high school), along with about 10 adult volunteers, Mrs. Smith said.
They borrowed the program “Rocky Railway” from St. Cecilia Parish, she said. The theme was “Jesus’ power pulls us through.” On the different days, from July 12 through 16, they learned how Jesus’ power helps us: to do hard things, be bold, be a good friend, have hope and live eternally.
“The kids would respond, ‘Trust Jesus,’” when the day’s theme was proclaimed, she said.
The themes were woven into the “stations,” she said. Everyone gathered together for the opening and closing each day, and in between mixed-age groups took turns stopping at indoor and outdoor stations. At the Imagination Station they conducted experiments; at the Game Station they played; at the Video Station they watched and discussed a movie. Especially popular was the Bible Adventure Station, where they got to act out a Bible story in a room decorated differently each day.
 Mrs. Smith said Father Rodríguez preached about trusting Jesus at weekend Masses after the Bible school, reinforcing the themes.