“Wait!”

During her first year of profession, one of our sisters spent three months teaching 8th grade religion at one of our elementary schools. Delighted with the junior high students’ ability to grasp the content and enter into discussion, she had just finished a unit on the Eucharist when she moved on to her next three month assignment. She found herself at Little Flower Educational Child Care in the classroom with the four year olds doing “Jesus Time,” the preschool variation of religion class.

She quickly realized that preschool was a different world than junior high. “How am I going to teach them about the Eucharist? About the Creed?” Her little students did not seem able to sit still for a picture book much less for a religion lesson. Seeing how much the children enjoyed moving, she put their energy and enthusiasm to good use by acting out songs and stories with them. As Christmas drew near, she knew the children were going to really enjoy the story of Jesus’ birth.

During Jesus Time that day, she chose a Joseph and a Mary, two innkeepers, shepherds, angels, and wise men. Everyone had something to do. Even Sister. She was the donkey.

The whole class watched in interest as Joseph and Mary and the donkey traveled around the classroom to Bethlehem. Joseph knocked hopefully at the first innkeeper’s door but his request for lodging was met with an emphatic, “NO! I don’t have room for you.”

The rapt class sighed in sympathy…