Pentecost: the Gift of the Holy Spirit and a Link up

When Pentecost arrives on May 27^th, we will celebrate the end of the Easter season by commemorating the gift of the Holy Spirit given to Mary and the Apostles.  This event marked the start of the Church, as the Holy Spirit gave the Apostles the knowledge to consecrate bread and wine as priests and bishops, as well as the conviction to preach the gospel and teach converts.  It is important to remember that the Resurrection gives meaning to Pentecost; the Apostles were anointed so that they could teach Christianity to the world.

When Catholics receive the sacrament of Confirmation, we are anointed with the Holy Spirit by the bishop, affirming our role as God’s children.  Those who are raised Catholic typically study for and receive Confirmation as teenagers, and are thus educated and fortified to meet the challenges they will face as they discern their vocations and make their way in the world.  We are also given the task of teaching the faith through example, with the Holy Spirit working through us.

As a parent, I am tasked with teaching the faith directly to my children, in addition to serving as an example in behavior and action.  Last year, I taught my daughters about the Holy Spirit a couple of times, as we prepared to witness the Confirmation of their cousin, and again at Pentecost.  Part of my niece’s preparation for Confirmation included a weekend retreat, during which she read letters written by family members encouraging her in her religious study and her vocational search.  My husband and I each wrote letters, and my daughters made pictures using dove cutouts with the gifts of the Holy Spirit written on them.

I don’t have a picture of the “letters” my daughters created, but here is one my youngest made with some of the leftover doves.  FYI: the dove looks fuzzy because we reused paper and she glued it with the writing side up; I “erased” the writing so I could post the picture here.

I found the dove template through a link at Catholic Icing.  You can visit the template directly here.  I also found a list of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit through a link at Familia Católica.  Visit the link directly at Busy with Blessings.  Lori’s Busy with Blessings post also lists the Fruits of the Holy Spirit, which I will focus our lesson on this year.  We might make a chain of doves with the fruits written or drawn on them.

Whether you are preparing your children to witness a Confirmation, or teaching them about Pentecost, the dove craft is a fun way to teach children how the Holy Spirit works in our lives.

You will find many great ideas for celebrating Pentecost at all three of the blogs linked above.  The Familia Católica post also includes links to coloring pages and more images of doves.  At Pentecost last year, we used a couple of the coloring pages, including this one.

You can find more links to coloring pages at this Familia Católica post, which also lead me to another blog with an idea I plan to try this year.  See how to finger paint the flames of the descending Holy Spirit and other ideas for Pentecost at Family at the Foot of the Cross.  

I will post about our dove chains and finger paints soon.

In the meantime, this post is attached to the Pentecost Link up hosted by Mento at Ahora quedamos en el blog, the most recent event in the Liturgical Calendar Link up Party organized by Xhonané at FamiliaCatólica.

I am also attaching this post to a link up hosted by Monica at Equipping Catholic Families titled Cele-Linky thru the Sacraments.  There you will find many wonderful ideas for teaching the sacraments to your children.

Did you see my last post about my award from the Catholic Bloggers Network?  With the hope that I may receive another Big Clicks Award this month for the most clicks on my link, I have also added this post to the Catholic Bloggers Round Up.  Go visit the other links there and vote with your mouse for this month’s award.