{"id":18191,"date":"2012-06-19T08:30:26","date_gmt":"2012-06-19T13:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=18191"},"modified":"2012-06-19T09:30:19","modified_gmt":"2012-06-19T14:30:19","slug":"vbs-is-for-catholics-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/06\/vbs-is-for-catholics-too\/","title":{"rendered":"VBS is for Catholics, Too"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>As a Protestant \u201cit\u201d was a must-do summer event.\u00a0 Every church I knew saw \u201cit\u201d as their greatest evangelizing week.\u00a0 Of course, I\u2019m talking about one of the greatest weeks of summer, Vacation Bible School, otherwise known as VBS.<\/p>\n

Growing up as an evangelical and mainstream Christian, some of my fondest \u201cJesus memories\u201d stem from that amazing week.\u00a0 We hit scripture hard.\u00a0 I\u2019m fairly certain I still have my Bible memory trophy as a testament to my stellar ability to recite every book of the Bible in under a minute.\u00a0 I can still sing the song, by the way.\u00a0 We enjoyed lots of singing, crafts, games and snacks.\u00a0 Of course, we ended the week with an altar call (Protestant-speak for inviting non-believers to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior by walking to the front of the congregation and declaring their belief).\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until I converted to Catholicism that I began to uncover why Catholics fear VBS, yet why they should embrace it, own it, love it and participate in it.<\/p>\n

The music brings them in.<\/strong>\u00a0 Without a doubt, the hand motions, the catchy tunes and the simple messages hit home and encourage the children to sing and dance, all in the name of God.\u00a0 It\u2019s often been said when we sing, we pray twice.\u00a0 There is something inspiring and motivating about seeing a roomful of children proclaiming their love for Jesus through song.\u00a0 It just might give you goose bumps.\u00a0 The music allows us to reach even the most difficult and stubborn child.<\/p>\n

VBS encourages a love of scripture.<\/strong> \u00a0Myth #586 about Catholicism?\u00a0 We don\u2019t understand and value scripture.\u00a0 I protest!\u00a0 Every Sunday, we proclaim the readings\u2014Old and New Testament and a Psalm.\u00a0 Scripture is interwoven into the entire liturgy.\u00a0 During VBS, the Our Sunday Visitor curriculum\u00a0<\/a>integrated a scripture reading that tied to that day\u2019s Bible story.\u00a0 The kids acted out the story and saw scripture come alive.\u00a0 Perhaps the next time they\u2019re at Mass and the priest proclaims the Gospel, they just might brighten up and say, \u201cHey, I\u2019ve heard that story!\u201d<\/p>\n

The saints become real people.<\/strong>\u00a0 Each day, during snack time, the children learned about a different saint.\u00a0 This year, we had the headliners:\u00a0 St. Mary Magdalene, St. John, St. Clare of Assisi, St. Dominic Savio and St. Augustine.\u00a0 We talk big about living a life of sainthood, yet we forget to share with our children the real struggles many saints had with living their faith.\u00a0 It was fantastic to hear my kids say at the end of the day, \u201cMom, did you know that St. Clare was rich but gave it all up to serve God?\u201d\u00a0 Yeah, that\u2019s awesome.<\/p>\n

The service component directly ties to Catholic social justice teachings.<\/strong>\u00a0 In our parish, we collected food for a local food bank.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t weigh all that food, but it was a monstrous amount.\u00a0 We integrated it into the concluding Mass by giving it as our offering. \u00a0Our middle schoolers even participated in a service project that benefited our confirmation candidates.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

photo courtesy of S. Schuetze<\/p><\/div>\n

The concluding Mass will bring you to your knees.<\/strong>\u00a0 Not every Catholic parish does this and to them I say: What are you waiting for?!<\/em>\u00a0 During his welcome at the beginning of the week, our priest told our children that they were entering into a retreat, of sorts, with God for the week.\u00a0 He reminded them that at some point during VBS they would experience \u201cthe miracle.\u201d\u00a0 While \u201cthe miracle\u201d was different for everyone, I couldn\u2019t help but tear up during communion as the children came forward, one by one, to receive a blessing or the Eucharist.\u00a0 Behold, the miracle.\u00a0 Through all those crafts, tasty snacks, fun games, great Bible stories, and awesome singing we experienced Jesus.\u00a0 At Mass, we dined at table with Him.\u00a0 It\u2019s my hope just one family was strengthened because of their child\u2019s experience at VBS.<\/p>\n

Fear not, I say.<\/strong>\u00a0 Embrace your parish\u2019s VBS program and make it as inspiring and faith-filled as possible. If you don\u2019t have one, do what I did<\/a>.\u00a0 Meet with the priest, call as many friends as you know to help, pray a mountain of Hail Mary’s and get it started.\u00a0 Take the leap.\u00a0 Your children are worth it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a Protestant \u201cit\u201d was a must-do summer event.\u00a0 Every church I knew saw \u201cit\u201d as their greatest evangelizing week.\u00a0 Of course, I\u2019m talking about one of the greatest weeks of summer, Vacation Bible School, otherwise known as VBS. Growing up as an evangelical and mainstream Christian, some of my fondest \u201cJesus memories\u201d stem from… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[90,89],"tags":[55,127,132,50,131,511,809,808,807],"class_list":{"0":"post-18191","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-faith-blog","7":"category-family","8":"tag-catholic-2","9":"tag-children","10":"tag-eucharist","11":"tag-faith","12":"tag-mass","13":"tag-protestant","14":"tag-service","15":"tag-summer","16":"tag-vbs","17":"entry","18":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":124040,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/06\/a-response-to-what-sucks-about-the-catholic-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":18191,"position":0},"title":"A Response to “What Sucks about the Catholic Church”","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"June 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Every spring brings the Church a batch of shiny new Catholics, and every year I see the same list of complaints. No, not the ones about people \"taking your pew.\" The ones about the niggling weaknesses in the Church. Many adults who enter the Catholic Church, especially those who were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Response to \"What Sucks about the Catholic Church,\" at AustinCNM.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/acnmreponsetowhatsucks-550x394.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/acnmreponsetowhatsucks-550x394.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/acnmreponsetowhatsucks-550x394.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":180704,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/review-new-testament-basics-for-catholics\/","url_meta":{"origin":18191,"position":1},"title":"The Story of the King and His Kingdom (Review: “New Testament Basics for Catholics”)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"December 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanks to a few years of Bible studies, I could easily tell you that the \"plot\" of the Bible is the fulfillment of the covenant between God and his people. Now I can tell you that the New Testament has its own \"subplot,\" so to speak. A few summers ago,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A review of \"New Testament Basics for Catholics\" at AustinCNM.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/acnm-newtestamentbasics-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/acnm-newtestamentbasics-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/acnm-newtestamentbasics-550x367.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":136347,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/08\/review-bible-basics-for-catholics\/","url_meta":{"origin":18191,"position":2},"title":"From Old Adam to New in 7 Easy Sketches (Review: “Bible Basics for Catholics”)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"August 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"You can learn the story of the Bible in seven easy stick figures. Several summers ago, I took a weekly crash course on salvation history. It absolutely changed the way I see the Bible. Have you ever heard the prophets or psalms talking about Israel and Judah as though they're\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"My bible with a \"walking\" globe toy on the story of Noah's covenant.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Bible_study_globe-550x550.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Bible_study_globe-550x550.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Bible_study_globe-550x550.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38873,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/03\/catholic-summer-camp-guide-2013\/","url_meta":{"origin":18191,"position":3},"title":"Catholic Summer Camp Guide: 2013","author":"Kathryn Whitaker","date":"March 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"There is one word that\u2019s keeping me going until June:\u00a0 summer. I can see sweet tea, swimming pools and no alarm clocks on the horizon. If you\u2019re a mom, you probably have summer camp on that list, as well. Perhaps you\u2019ve been wondering just where you can find great Catholic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"free_children_in_sneakers_at_the_skate_park_creative_commons","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/free_children_in_sneakers_at_the_skate_park_creative_commons-300x231.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":318172,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/sunday-says-podcast-november-6-2016-mass-readings-reflections\/","url_meta":{"origin":18191,"position":4},"title":"Sunday Says Podcast – November 6, 2016 Mass Readings and Reflections","author":"Steve Scott","date":"November 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time Sunday November 6, 2016 Lectionary: 156 (NAB Translation) Reading 1 2 Maccabees 7:1-2,9-14 This week\u2019s first reading is from the book of 2 Maccabees.\u00a0 This book covers the period of time between the 180 -161 BC, which was during the \"intertestamental\" period, and provides a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sunday Says","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/SundaySaysPodcast-logo1-300x231.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":306897,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/10\/weapons-scripture-tradition-review-dual-wielding\/","url_meta":{"origin":18191,"position":5},"title":"Your Weapons Are Scripture and Tradition (Review: “Dual Wielding”)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"October 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I've discovered a new kind of Catholic nerdery! I like books and learning and grammar and trivia, so I've long considered myself a nerd with personality. When I came back to the Church just over a decade ago, I found it only natural to become a Catholic nerd, too. There\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A review of Dual Wielding at ATX Catholic.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/atxcatholicdualwielding-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/atxcatholicdualwielding-550x367.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/atxcatholicdualwielding-550x367.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18191\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}