This One Time...Holy Thursday Flashback

I know many of you have not experienced a Holy Thursday flashback.  I mean really, you probably haven't been to Church on Holy Thursday. I'm not judging.  We aren't all the same faith and this post isn't about a specific doctrine. It's a post about faith and joy in children/students.  These are my favorite stories to tell.  Basically, Holy Thursday is the day that Christians celebrate the Last Supper with Jesus and his followers. This blog is to celebrate my life as a Catholic School teacher and the wonderful children I met.

Once upon a time I taught fourth grade in a parochial school in Philadelphia.  It was a neighborhood school where all of the students walked or got dropped off.  Most lived less than two blocks away.  Yet, when it snowed, they did not come to school.  Philly winters are nothing like Upstate New York winters so this not going to school thing truly baffled me. 

One of these snowy days, I only had twelve students.  We played games, read books, learned some lessons.  Honestly, if the other  kids knew how awesome these days were, they'd get their butts to school.  That day, as in many others, we ate lunch in the classroom.  We put the desks together and to make one big table and I sat at the head.  One of the student's said, "It's like the Last Supper.  You can be Jesus and we'll be the 12 Apostles."  The Nun who ran the school would probably be appalled by the heresy and inaccuracy of this little activity, but I thought it was cute. And hey, I got to be Jesus!  So Alexandra took her sandwich raised it in the air and said, "This is my body which will be given up for you."  Joey passed around his Hawaiian punch as the blood of Christ.  I gave each student a piece of my California Sushi Roll that I had left over from my shift the night before at the sushi restaurant.  The symbolism of the fish was not lost on them.  The fabulous-ness of sushi, was. 

The rest of the time, we just talked.  We just laughed.  We celebrated the snow that fell and the children that they were.  It was one of my favorite meals.  I hope it was one of theirs too.