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The Insistent Friend (The Sacrament Retreat presentation) As we begin our discussion, I first ask, "Do you know what Insistent means?" It's the same as being persistent. You are being persistent when you keep asking your mother over and over for something you want. "Mom, I want to go to the movies, please?" She may say you are being a pest. That's what persistent means. Well, God wants us to be persistent in our prayer always. He doesn't mind but he might take time to answer and we have to be patient. So keep this in mind as we listen to the story. The background information I review with the children once again on how the people traveled at night back 2,000 years ago and so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for a person to knock on your door to ask for food or shelter. So this traveler knocks on the door but the man invites him in but has no food. He goes to his neighbor's house to ask him for food and the man says his family is sleeping and doesn't want to be disturbed. (Now I light the candle and read the Scripture.) "Who knows the story of the Good Shepherd?" My children always do because I refer to this story all year by asking, "Who is Jesus in this story?" "Who are the Sheep?" "What is the Sheepfold?" It's the first Bible Story I read so I can have this advantage to explain parables. I refresh their memory and it helps the others to understand. I tell them that I'm going to ask the same question for this story and there are no wrong answers because every time you read a Bible Story something new is learned that you never thought of before. That is the beauty of the Bible. No wonder these stories are so wonderful after thousands of years. So when I ask, "Who is Jesus in this story?" I never know what they are going to say. This year most thought it was the stranger. So when they choose him, I show them a picture I have of Jesus knocking on the door. I tell them that this shows Jesus knocking on the door of our hearts wanting us to love Him and pray to Him. So that could very well be Jesus, I tell them. Then another child says it's the man who opens the door and goes to the neighbor to ask him for food. Then I tell them about something only Catholics do, which is "Intercessory Prayer." That is when we pray to Mary or the Saints to go to Jesus and ask Him for help. So this gives an opportunity to discuss prayer at length. Finally someone chooses the neighbor who didn't want to be disturbed and seemed annoyed. Well, I tell them that this is truly Jesus in the story because Jesus tells us in His parable that "Truly I tell you, that if the person doesn't answer him because of their friendship, he will certainly answer because of his persistence." So the lesson here is that God will eventually answer your prayers if you just keep praying. Never give up He's telling us. Now I ask them who has the Maxim which applies to this story? There are two maxims which apply perfectly and they are: "Ask and you will receive; Seek and you will find; Knock and the door will be opened unto you." The second Maxim which applies is: "When you pray, go to your inner room, shut the door, and pray to your Father in Secret." However, if any other children volunteer their Maxim I still accept it and explain it so that they understand the meaning. The Materials: My husband made the buildings on all of these parables and I stained them, also painting the figures and I made the Scripture booklets. He made a decision on his own to open the door to the outside when it is actually supposed be like the door on the left, however now I can't use the rug in that room as the door won't open with the rug in the way. So we may have to change that later. The small rugs are actually small pouches from Indonesia which I cut in half. The parable speaks to being "insistent" in prayer. It also addresses "intercessory prayer" - praying for others or through others, such as the Blessed Mother and the saints. I am always in awe along with the children at these messages coming directly from Jesus, himself, in such a personal way. The Ten Bridesmaids, or "The Wise and Foolish Virgins." The manual suggested painting an oil lamp on the top of the box. I suppose this is to distinguish it from The Wedding Feast. I also followed directions on what colors to use. The same wedding banquet hall is used for both parables. I tell the children how the bridegroom would be walking most of the night to come to the wedding and it was the tradition that the bridesmaids would wait for him at night until he got there. They feel asleep and half of them had their oil lamps go out and had to go to the store to get more oil. But when got back the Bridegroom barred the door and only the bridesmaids that planned ahead with their extra oil pouches got into the wedding feast. This parable is beautiful and hence makes it very clear that we need to be prepared and alert for His coming. Don't wait until the last minute it teaches. When my class heard this parable, one boy started squirming in his seat and his face was contorted in misery. I asked him what was wrong. He said, "Oh no, I do this all the time. I always wait until the last minute for everything!" So funny how these Bible stories really do speak to the children.

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