Petitions for Prayer

I took the kids to the Solemn Novena after school a few weeks ago.  In the shrine part, there are huge banks of candles along the walls.  They are lined with velvet kneelers.  The arm rests of the kneelers are sort of like desks.  And there are little notepads, they almost look like prescription pads my Mom used to have.  And then of course, the tiny pencils.

At first, zero out of four kids were into being there.  It was after school and if given their choice, they would be biking, skateboarding, writing in a lockable diary, and playing teenager, respectively.   I felt for them, going along with me on this impromptu field trip.  So I fed them tourist food from the vending machines-- party mix and Doritos.  Chernobyl cheese was a big hit.

While they sat there eating in the little lunch room, I ran and grabbed four petition sheets for them.  These are the things they filled out:

Manny checked: peace of mind, overcoming a bad habit-"being so sensitive", peace in the home, peace among nations

Benicio checked:overcoming a bad habit-"picking nose," peace in the home, financial aid, success in business and my favorite--better working conditions.

Clara checked: return to the faith, peace in the home, peace among nations, foreign missions

Calliope:  just wrote in the open space, "love calliope"

Bat Mitzvah-Farm Sanctuary-Leaf Peeping Weekend