Cultivating a Living Faith through Family Pilgrimages with Katie Bogner

This week, we welcome Katie Bogner, a Catholic school teacher and author who is passionate about religious education and catechesis, both in the classroom and in the home. Through her website, social media, and written books, she makes cultivating a Catholic culture in the home attainable and accessible. Katie has also developed resources for the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and the Eucharistic Revival.

This episode isn't just a conversation; it's an invitation to weave pilgrimage into the fabric of everyday life and to instill in our children a living, breathing faith that grows right alongside them.  Katie's insights serve as a reminder that introducing the customs and traditions of faith need not be daunting or perfect, but rather embraced with authenticity and love. This episode is your call to action, to take the steps, no matter how small, towards creating a home where faith is not just learned but lived, leaving you inspired to start your own pilgrimage, right where you are.

Resources & Links:
https://www.looktohimandberadiant.com/
Resources for how to teach Pilgrimage
American Eucharistic Witnesses for Children

Books by Katie
We Have a Pope
Through the Year with Jesus
Through the Year with Mary
All About Advent and Christmas

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to In Via the podcast where we're navigating the pilgrimage of life. We are all in via on the way and we are learning a lot as we go. I'm your host, joan Watson. Join me as we listen to stories, discover travel tips and learn more about our Catholic faith. Along the way, we'll see that if God seeks to meet us in Jerusalem, rome or Santiago, he also wants to encounter you right there in your car, on your run or in the middle of your workday. Do kids belong on pilgrimage? In today's episode, I speak with Catholic school teacher and author, katie Bogner, all about how to introduce the idea of pilgrimage to children and how to incorporate pilgrimages into your everyday family life. Katie, I'd love to find out more about you and some of the work you do. Traditionally, I've been limiting people to three sentences, but nobody really is limited to three sentences, so I just love to find out kind of who Katie is and what gives you passion for the Lord. What do you do for him in his vineyard?

Speaker 2: 1:04

The question is these sentences can they be like St Paul-length sentences?

Speaker 1: 1:08

Or are they like just kidding? Okay so.

Speaker 2: 1:11

I am a Catholic school teacher and then also very involved in my parish formerly a DRE, but we've kind of combined programs so that's changed over the years but very involved in Catholic education and ministry both on the school and parish end of things. As kind of an outpouring of that ministry, I have a really active website where I share Catholic education resources for parents and teachers and volunteer catechists, and so there's literally like hundreds of free resources for them to use with kids to help share the beauty of our faith. And then I'm also an author. I've written four soon to be five books for Catholic kids and their families. Just like I said, I love sharing the truth, the goodness and the beauty of what the church offers us and trying to find ways to get those resources in people's hands. So everything from free resources online to helping create, like what I hope are beautiful, timeless Catholic children's books.

Speaker 1: 2:08

I love it, and we will, of course, put everything in the show notes, so we'll have a link to your website and then also to the various books, because I think it's so important to form our young, and not every parent has the background in like early childhood education, and so I think sometimes for Catholic parents we can be worried that we don't even know where to start in educating our kids in this Catholic culture. What I love about your resources is it's about living the faith, not just teaching doctrine but really living and breathing the Catholic faith, and you do such a beautiful job with your resources in helping everybody, especially those parents who might not have a background in early childhood education know how to introduce that to the family.

Speaker 2: 2:46

Yeah, I hope so. I mean, that's a goal. My background is in elementary education and I was a cradle Catholic but didn't go to Catholic school. Honestly, had our little tiny parish that did the best that they could with CCD, but it wasn't like I had this, you know, like wow, I had this absolutely amazing Catholic education. But what I did have was a beautiful kind of reversion experience in college. There were focused missionaries on my campus that really ignited a fire underneath of me and helped me take kind of take ownership of my own formation.

Speaker 2: 3:15

And so when I then went back to that little tiny community and started teaching public school I was first teaching public school and volunteering in my parish I was just on fire and I wanted to share all of these amazing ideas that I had.

Speaker 2: 3:28

And then I did have this background in education and so I was kind of able to marry the two things, if that makes sense, like passion, this, like newfound passion for my faith, and then the formation I had received in my teacher education.

Speaker 2: 3:40

And as I started like sharing some of those ideas with my fellow DREs or other catechists, they were like Katie, you've got to, like like, can you get me a copy of that I really want to try that at my parish and to me it was just like it was just a gift that was kind of flowing out of me, and so it was then a gift in return to be able to just share it openly with people, if that makes sense.

Speaker 2: 3:57

So I want parents to feel equipped to share their faith with their kids because they're their first catechist, their most important catechist. But I understand at the same time that sometimes it's hard to know how to say things, or when to say and how much to say, and so it's a privilege to be able to help be like creating resources that help those conversations hopefully come more naturally, just kind of become of the culture of a family. And then same thing, like our teachers, whether you're a volunteer catechist in a parish or you're in a Catholic school classroom, there's a lot I mean, like you know, we have 2000 years plus, of course, of history right to share with our kids, and so we're always all looking for resources to help do that in the best way we possibly can. So it's a privilege to be a tiny little drop in that bucket of what's going on currently in Catholic education.

Speaker 1: 4:46

Well, I've seen your resources, I've seen your website. I think you're bigger than a tiny drop, because just the amount of resources and that generosity of spirit to give those and to just that charity and that generosity, just thank you for giving of yourself. You could tell it's a passion, and my mom was an elementary school teacher and she always talks about making her bulletin boards and your bulletin boards are just stunning. I'm like you're putting everybody else like if everyone just copies Katie, but it's just beautiful. And I want to talk a little bit more about that Catholic culture and that living the faith, because some people are getting it.

Speaker 1: 5:23

If your kids are in public schools, you have a big burden to then raise those kids Catholic. But even if your kids are in Catholic schools, that's not enough. I mean, I like to say I went to Catholic schools from pre-K to master's and I'm not Catholic because of my Catholic schools, I'm Catholic because of my family and to bring that Catholic culture and to live that faith. And so what I'm really excited is that you've made resources for the Eucharistic pilgrimage. We talked to Will Peterson a few episodes ago about this National Eucharistic pilgrimage. It may be going through people's front yards but it might not, and I think as a church we have a responsibility to bring this Catholic culture, to bring this aspect of Catholic culture back into the United States culture. And so you did that by providing resources, by creating resources for families and for schools. So could you talk a little bit about how you got involved and what those resources look like?

Speaker 2: 6:17

Yeah, sure. So, gosh, I would have to think back. It would have been a couple of years ago when we were first kind of hearing about the National Eucharistic Revival. And you know, like our diocese, you know, had like a meeting where we're supposed to send parish leaders to be trained and things like that. So I remember going to one of those first meetings and they said you know, does anyone have any questions? Et cetera. So I, you know, stood up and asked I said this is amazing, like the, you know, the graphics are incredible, the plan looks solid. I said are you? Do you know, are there any plans to create resources for kids? Because if not, that's a, that's a missed opportunity.

Speaker 2: 6:52

And one, one of the Eucharist, one of the national Eucharistic preachers, happens to be a priest in our diocese. So he was the one who was fielding questions and he said that that's a really great question and he's like I don't have anything right now. You know, I don't know of anything right now, but I'm definitely going to take that back to them. And then, about a month later, I got a call from the editor of the Heart of the Revival newsletter and said, hey, so your name got given to me and so one. You know, as we all know, sometimes when you ask a question you end up being part of the solution and so, but it was a great honor, so I was invited to help create resources to be part of that. If you have, whether you're subscribing to the Heart of the Revival newsletter or you go check out the blog portion of the National Eucharistic Revival website, they have this wonderful blog where people are writing. You know, different priests are writing reflections on very specific minute parts of the mass, and then people are writing in personal reflections about experiences they've had with the Eucharist.

Speaker 2: 7:49

And then I have also been able to create books, children's content. So right now we're doing a big push on Eucharistic saints, so men and women who lived in the United States of America, who had a Eucharistic lifestyle and breaking down. There's been a guest who has written a biography about each of those people, who's kind of an expert, and then I'm taking that biography and distilling it down into like two different reading levels, so like a, like you know, maybe like a middle school and down to a lower elementary, and creating activities to go along with it. So when all of the plans started to come out about the pilgrimage. I'm like, well, same thing, we got to take advantage of this, like we got to teach kids about what's going on.

Speaker 2: 8:26

Like you said, joan, some of these paths are going to go right through their cities and they should know about it, and so I made some resources to help kids learn about the like. What is pilgrimage about? Specifically the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, and then hoping, like kind of, to invite families to join in in whatever way that may be, whether it's like physically going to one of those locations and joining in or making a more personal pilgrimage, local to them.

Speaker 1: 8:57

That's what I loved. There were a few resources that really hit close to home for me. One of them was the passport, the stamp, where you actually make your own little passport book and you can stamp your child's passport. You know, depending on different stages, that's something that can be done anywhere. You don't have to do it on the national pilgrimage, and I was actually on a walking pilgrimage a few weeks ago and the kids were getting their passport stamped and I was like I want a passport, I want to get my passport stamped. There's something about that.

Speaker 1: 9:20

But just your encouragement in those resources that this can be something very local and very ordinary and very family-centered. Maybe it's going to your own parish, maybe it's going to a different parish you've never been to, but how to bring that idea of pilgrimage very close to home and very intimate to the children? And I think that's something that even adults need to learn that pilgrimage doesn't need to be overseas. Can you talk a little bit about the idea of a local pilgrimage rather than this big international pilgrimage? Yeah, I think sometimes you're right.

Speaker 2: 9:52

We hear like, oh, I'm going on a pilgrimage, and you say, oh, my goodness, are you going to Europe? What are you doing? But really, I mean a pilgrimage is, it's a, it's like a foundation of our heart, right, we're all on pilgrimage to heaven in this, you know, huge way. But also, like, pilgrimage can be very small and very personal and it doesn't have to involve long distances. It really is more of a disposition where, if you have an intention, where, if you have an intention, you know and you purposely travel like and you know there's a great way to like incorporate different aspects of pilgrimage, like trying to work in some walking, trying to work in a specific, you know, going to a different location. But it really could be like you can go on pilgrimage to your own parish. You can go on. Maybe your parish has an outdoor set of stations of the cross, for example, or a rosary garden. You can go on pilgrimage to that location. So, for families, I think that it's really good to remember that this does not have to be anything grand, it does not need to require a lot of planning, it doesn't need to be time consuming or cover great costs. It really could be. Hey, we usually go to Saturday night mass. One day this week we're going to go to the Wednesday night mass and we usually go to Saturday night mass. One day this week we're gonna go to the Wednesday night mass and we're gonna all set a specific prayer intention and go together as a family. I mean, it could be that it also could be. There are so many beautiful churches in our country and, in addition to that, so many beautiful shrines, places of prayer like beautiful statues that have different, that sometimes we don't associate with, like places of prayer, like beautiful, you know, statues that have different. You know that that sometimes we don't associate with, like, oh, that's like a trip, so like, for example, like in my town there's a, there's a church that is no longer in regular use, but it's in this beautiful, quiet cemetery. So like you could, you know, you could make a plan to go there and pray there. So I think it's good for families to know that it doesn't have to be something big grand, take a lot of time, but if you, you know, can set an intention, go there with your family, whether you're walking or driving or biking or whatever it may be to go and visit. But you also, you know we plan vacations right, and so you also can incorporate some of that aspect of pilgrimage into your family culture.

Speaker 2: 11:55

Maybe you really do plan a trip around one of those places and it might be in conjunction with another trip. You know, maybe you're going to a national park or you're going to, you know, whatever it might be. But you check out along the route and find out, hey, are there any cool shrines, are there any basilicas in that area? Are there any? You know any? You know whatever it might be, and maybe you do really make a trip specifically to see one of those sites, and what a memorable thing that will be for the kids that you know. Oh yeah, on our family vacation when I was in fourth grade, we went to, we went to Wisconsin and saw the place where there's the only approved Marian apparition in the whole United States. Like you can do something big and memorable as well. So make it small, make it big, but I think it's important to know that it's totally something a family can do.

Speaker 1: 12:36

Yeah, just thinking about what that tells a child if you do incorporate it into your regular family vacation, how children learn so much more from the things that aren't spoken sometimes. And if you incorporate something like that into your family vacation, you're teaching your child that this is important. You're teaching your child that the Catholic culture is everywhere, that Catholics are in Wisconsin just as much as they are in our own hometown. And just what you teach your children through making, yes, sunday Mass a priority, but then also teaching them about the church in America. In this way, you don't have to sit down with a lesson plan for them, but you're teaching through your normal everyday family life. I love that.

Speaker 2: 13:17

Yeah, and also just to take advantage of when you do visit those new churches, whether you're on vacation and, like you said, you prioritize Sunday mass, or one time I have it's not a bad habit, but a bad habit of like, if I'm traveling, I love road tripping. I'm from the Midwest, we drive everywhere and if I see a steeple I'm like and I have time, I'm going to stop and I'm going to see if that church is unlocked. And one time a friend and I we were younger back then and we were driving from Colorado back to Illinois and we stopped at every steeple we saw on I-70.

Speaker 2: 13:48

And let's just say we didn't actually end up sleeping that night because it took it added quite a bit of time, but it was beautiful because almost every church was unlocked and so we were able to go in and pray at each place.

Speaker 2: 13:59

So it also could just be that like driving past a beautiful church and taking the opportunity, like hey, we're going to, we're going to get out of the van for a minute, like let's just go see, and then doing the good old Catholic trick of checking the side doors right To see if those are the onesernacle you know, say a quick prayer and then take, I mean even five minutes to look about, look around the beautiful architecture and statues and stained glass windows.

Speaker 2: 14:24

So sometimes too, the pilgrimage itself might just be time within the church. Maybe it's at your own parish you stay after for five or 10 minutes and let your kids actually get up you know now that mass is over and go walk up close to the sanctuary. Or or go actually walk around and get really close to the statues and let them look and and and ask questions. And so I think, using some of the beauty that we have present in our, in our churches, and allowing them to catechize because that's what they're for, right, like that's why our churches are designed the way they are. That can also be a way of doing pilgrimage as a family. That is very attainable, but also very memorable, very, very memorable.

Speaker 1: 15:07

We talk on this podcast and we talk at Verso about the difference between a vacation and a pilgrimage and I wondered if you could talk a little bit about field trip versus pilgrimage, because I know you've taken pilgrimages as a school teacher and what does that look like and how is that different than just taking a field trip somewhere?

Speaker 2: 15:28

Yeah, so I happen to. I teach in Peoria and I've taught in the Peoria Diocese my whole career and so we have taken like I think I would have to go back and have to somewhere around the past 10 or 12 years I've taken my students on pilgrimage to our local cathedral, which every Catholic teacher, catechist or honestly anyone I highly recommend you take a pilgrimage to your cathedral because it's your home church of your diocese, like your children should visit there, whether it's really nearby or maybe you have to drive a little ways to get there. Like that would be a worthwhile trip to take. So we did that and it was all connected. So about 12 years ago I started teaching my students about Venerable Fulton Sheen, who I'm sure most people are at least familiar with by name. So he is local to our diocese, grew up here and was ordained a priest in our diocese before he went on to his you know, national TV fame and so I started teaching them about his life and as we were studying I'm like, well, we, we should like go, we should go hop around all the sites locally. This is, you know, this is kind of a once in a lifetime thing to have a maybe future saint right in our backyard. And so the very first year I was younger and crazierzier and we just like, we just made a plan and we drove. So we drove to El Paso, illinois, which is where his baptismal church of register, and we went there and the priest was so excited to have us so we had like a holy half hour and got to go in and visit where you know, see the font where he was baptized. And then we drove into Peoria and got to see the museum where they have many, many artifacts from his life, and learn more about him there, and then went to the cathedral and prayed where he was an altar server and was ordained a priest. And then now, years later, his body has now been moved back and is in tomb there, so we can actually pray at his tomb.

Speaker 2: 17:10

And it was really cool to prepare my students for that trip, because those were fifth graders, they were, you know, 11. And to talk about how I mean we still had fun. Trust me, we had a lot of fun. I actually set it up like a scavenger hunt and so everywhere, every stop we went to, they got a clue and they had to figure out where we were going next. And they were, oh my gosh, as soon as they like unscrambled the clue or solved it or whatever they like would run for the bus like ready to go to the next place. So it didn't have to be. It wasn't like somber and serious the whole time. It was still fun and joyful and kid centered.

Speaker 2: 17:44

But it was all completely based around his life and they I when they, some of those kids are now in college and so, like when I, like you know, saw them at their graduation parties in high school, or when they like wrote me notes afterwards, they're like that Fulton Sheen pilgrimage or that Fulton Fulton Sheen field trip was the best field trip we ever went on, because it was, it was different, it was unique and they knew that there was something important about it. So we, you know, we also got in some prayer time in both of the churches. They got a, you know, a a really like up close and personal tour of the cathedral and got to pray there. So yeah, so that's kind of the summary. So I've done a lot of things like that with my students and a couple of things I try to do to sort of set the tone is remind them like we're still going to have fun and we're still going to do all of these other things. But we do need to enter into this, like we're not going to Six Flags, we are going to these beautiful holy places, and so we often try to come up with an intention ahead of time, so something that they want to pray for either throughout the whole day, ideally, or at least an intention to take when we get to that final place, when we get to the cathedral and they have some time to pray.

Speaker 2: 18:50

We often would also try to work in some type of prayer and that looks different based on your schedule. So for some that might that might be like mass in one of the locations. We, like I said, we often would get to do like a little holy half hour or holy 20 minutes in some of the churches. Sometimes we would arrive and then we would pray a rosary together. So it kind of depended on the schedule, of course, but we always try to work, incorporate prayer into it and then also just this and this is something that takes time in like whether it's family culture or classroom culture but sort of fostering that like air of reverence in these places that you're going to, that we're not, we're not just touring a historic building like we're going into the house of God, and so we would always preface with some of the just general reverence and respect guidelines that kids sometimes need reminded of, but, honestly, it didn't usually take much coaching.

Speaker 2: 19:38

Usually, once we were there, they understood that this place is different. This isn't just a building we're going to walk in, it's not a museum, it's like the living, breathing house of God and so, yeah, so those are some of the big things that I think can take something from feeling like a tour to actually feeling like a pilgrimage. Is that intentionality of prayer, encouraging them to have something specific that they're praying for the whole day, like whether it's you know, my grandma is sick, or I'm worried about changing schools next year, or you know things like that to have something specific to pray for, and then also trying to help cultivate that, that culture of reverence, which I think is really important and kids are completely capable of.

Speaker 1: 20:18

So often we yeah, we don't give kids enough credit and I think, on all of this, we, we think you know they're they're not capable of understanding this, that they're not capable of of of, you know, behaving correctly, or they're not capable of understanding this, that they're not capable of behaving correctly, or they're not capable of wrapping their minds around this concept. And I had a Nashville Dominican friend who used to say if kids can memorize every dinosaur's name, they can memorize the things that we use at mass, right, the names of the items at mass. And we just don't give kids enough credit sometimes and we forget that actually they haven't been as tainted by the world as we have. They probably maybe have better attention spans than we do now, right, possibly. And so just allowing yourself to give your kids a chance to enter into this and see how they do.

Speaker 2: 21:03

Yeah, I mean also, like the church is for everyone.

Speaker 2: 21:05

There isn't like a you don't have to pass a, you know like a test or an age limit or whatever it might be, and I think just the um, the ID to, and you, you really hit on that well, joan, and that like we're kind of we're walking alongside, whether it's your children or your students, or walking alongside them in this journey of faith, this pilgrimage to heaven.

Speaker 2: 21:24

We're not, like you know, bringing them along, or we're not like you know bringing them along or we're not coaching them.

Speaker 2: 21:28

I don't know, I'm not wording that quite right, just to just a reminder that like they have deeply unique spiritual lives and prayer lives and and they are so close to the Lord and sometimes it just doesn't look the same as it does in an adult's life, and so we often think like, oh well, they're not, you know they can't do X, y or Z, but really they maybe should be the ones who are teaching us sometimes. And so never, ever, ever be afraid to, you know, to take your young ones on a trip like that, or to bring them to Mass at a cathedral or and you know we need to be have age appropriate expectations, you know, like whatever that may be, like a, but we also don't need to water down the faith, like we need to bring it to them in a way that is digestible and understandable for them and appropriate for their age and abilities. But we also don't need to weaken it or make it something it's not because they're perfectly capable of participating in the fullness of the. You know the life of the church.

Speaker 1: 22:24

Yeah, yeah, they're just. They're on this pilgrimage with us, they're not just along for the ride. I like when John Paul II used to say the youth aren't the future of the church, because they are the church now and this idea that they can have deep spiritual lives I mean, jesus told us to be like children for a reason, and just on this pilgrimage journey, actually maybe we're learning from them sometimes. To tell you the truth, katie, what you said about pilgrimage is what we tell our adults it's not just going to be somber, we're going to have fun and bring an intention. And so we tell the same things at Verso, when we go to Fatima, right, we tell our adults, don't worry, we're going to have fun and bring an intention, but be reverent. So it's not that different, just as we kind of finish up.

Speaker 1: 23:16

I kind of want to return and you've spoken about this, but I also want to return to this idea that pilgrimage is for everyone, because I think a lot of times, especially working for a pilgrimage company where maybe a lot of our pilgrims are older and retired and now they have the chance to travel internationally I think sometimes pilgrimage can get chalked up to something retired people do and something crazy adventurous people do that are going to go walk the Camino. But we see that pilgrimage is for everyone, and we've seen that pilgrimages are for families, and so can you talk a little bit about what, and maybe in developing your resources for the Eucharistic pilgrimage as well? How do we bring children to pilgrimage and why is pilgrimage so important? To teach even young children.

Speaker 2: 23:55

Well, I think that kind of like to summarize some of the things we've already said in our conversation and that, like this, is just kind of a way of life for us as Catholics, and it doesn't have to be big and it doesn't have to be time consuming, it doesn't have to be international, it doesn't have to be big and it doesn't have to be time consuming, it doesn't have to be international. Some of it is just the intentionality and explaining to kids ahead of time, like why you know why you're going to go to a mass in a different location this week, instead of just loading them up and, you know, strapping them into the van and going be. Like hey, actually you know, we heard that there's going to be this cool relic that's visiting this neighboring parish and so we're going to go to that mass so we can go and pray with the relic of this saint and then on your on the way, maybe you turn on a podcast and learn a little bit about that saint. So the kids are ready to go, um, and you go and you pray there. So sometimes I think that it is um like inviting them along for the journey in that way, if that makes sense. Um, I also think that it's good to remember that you can do this in like small ways.

Speaker 2: 24:45

So let's let's just say, for instance, that the, the national Eucharistic pilgrimage is going to be somewhere near you and you decide as a family that you're going to. You know you are, you're not going to be able to go and walk for the days and weeks that the actual, you know the pilgrims are going to take as they begin their routes and and and in Indianapolis. But maybe you go and you you walk for 15 minutes with them, or you find out one of the parishes that they'll be, you know that they'll be going to, and you and you join, you know, towards the end of that procession. Speaking of that, I think that Eucharistic processions I hope anyway it seems to me have been on the rise since the beginning of the National Eucharistic Revival. And so Eucharistic procession, you know, if you're not familiar with those, a priest will take the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance and will be walked. It might be just around the property of a parish, it might be through a whole neighborhood, it might be from town to town, and so that's all connected with this whole Eucharistic pilgrimage.

Speaker 2: 25:41

But maybe keep an eye out, especially with Corpus Christi Sunday coming up or over the summer, it seems to be a little more of a popular time for Eucharistic processions, to join a procession and do that with your kids, like, oh, like it's. I mean it's like it's a parade for Jesus. There's incense and there's bells and they're singing and there's people. I mean like there is nothing more kid friendly in the world. It's like perfect for them.

Speaker 2: 26:04

So finding things that you feel you know ready to do as a family, like pop pop. So finding things that you feel you know ready to do as a any shrines or maybe there's even, even if it's not a particularly, you know remarkable or well-known church, maybe there's a church along the way that has is named after a saint that is important to your family. You know a name saint of one of your children, or you know just one of their favorites, or the saint that one of your children is choosing as their confirmation saint, for example, and make an intentional trip to go and stop at that church and pray and ask for the intercession of those saints. There's so many little ways. We have like infinite possibilities to work that pilgrimage into our lives as families and I really think that it can make all the difference for kids when they start to see that Catholicism is like living and breathing, and all around them, not just something that they do for an hour on Sunday morning.

Speaker 1: 27:13

Yes, and I think that's the key right, that it's a way of life and it should touch all aspects of our lives, and that I know that you had resources as well on May processions and May crownings, and like I thought of that when you were talking about the Eucharistic procession, some of my fondest memories growing up are of our May procession and what girl got to crown the Blessed Mother, and just that experience, that tangible experience. Like you said, there's nothing better for kids than, okay, we're going to walk, we're going to get out of the pew and walk right, you get to sing, you get to throw flowers, you know, like all the senses that are engaged. And so I think that's why it appeals to us as adults, because it's kind of that inner child who doesn't want to parade for Jesus right, or parade for his mother. So I love this kind of reclaiming this Catholic culture for our kids.

Speaker 2: 28:05

Yeah, absolutely, and that made me think of one other thing with that.

Speaker 2: 28:07

If you are listening to this and you're someone maybe on the parish end of things, maybe make an intentional invite, even though you know you maybe have you know you do a Eucharistic procession every summer or maybe you, you know you always do a May crowning this time of year.

Speaker 2: 28:21

Maybe make an like, an intentional push or an intentional invite to your families. Make it well known that those events are family friendly and you want babies in strollers being pushed in the Eucharistic procession, just to make sure that sometimes it can be hard for families with young kids to feel welcome, whether that is a perception they have of something that's happened in the past in the parish. Or maybe they just say like, oh, there's no way we could handle that. It's an hour long, are you kidding me? But if they find out, like, actually, really, this is what's going to happen. You know we're going to walk and we're going to sing and you can come for this much and go. If you need to Make it well known and if you can make those things as family friendly as possible, get kids involved, make it possible for your often, you know make different accommodations for the elderly in our parishes to be able to still participate in things. Let's also do the same thing with our families with young kids too.

Speaker 1: 29:16

I love that. I love that, and if you are in the parish side, you know, provide these resources, free resources. Maybe have a link in your, your e, -newsletter, or like print out some for your bulletin so that families can prepare their kids ahead of time and that we can really enter into this as the whole body of Christ. I love, I love that. Yep, you got it, I'm here for it.

Speaker 1: 29:37

Well, thank you, Katie. We will put all a bunch of links in the show notes so you can find Katie, you can find her work, you can benefit from her work. Do you have any closing thoughts or any last things you want to say as we wrap up? Oh gosh, we talked about.

Speaker 2: 29:49

We hit a lot on a lot of things. I think, just yeah, just to reiterate, to like bring your kids along on the journey of your faith, like it's not something that you need to wait for, like they will. They will catch the fire of Catholicism by living it together as a family. So bring them along with anything that is new and exciting, like they're going to love it. So just don't be afraid to try new things with them.

Speaker 1: 30:10

Yeah, I love it. It doesn't have to be perfect, it doesn't have to be Instagrammable. Just do it and do your best and they'll love it. They'll love it. Well, thank you, katie. Thanks for joining us. Thank you, listeners. Share this episode with someone you or maybe you have, you know, a grandmother who watches her grandkids. Share this with someone who needs this, who would benefit from this, so that they know how to kind of begin to bring that Catholic culture back into our families, into our schools and into our parishes. God bless.