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A Fifty-Day Festival: Come to the Water!
by Jacquie Jambor

In the early days of the RCIA process in our parish, we had a woman in her sixties who was to be baptized at the Easter Vigil. As fate would have it, during Holy Week she fell and broke her leg in two places. She was keenly disappointed because she was certain this would prohibit her from entering the baptismal waters at the Vigil. However, in the end, two men carried her into the water, and there she was baptized while the entire assembly held their breath. The call to "come to the water" is powerful, indeed, and everyone gathered at that Easter Vigil experienced it.

But, how do we bring that experience of being called to the waters into our catechesis? How can we help children connect more authentically to their baptismal call during this Easter season? Well, the good news is that children love water. The bad news is that it is untidy!

During the Easter season of 2004, the fifty days from Easter (April 11) to Pentecost (May 30), we need to make water and baptismal call integral to all our gatherings. Whether in a parish school or a parish religion program, water needs to be central to our prayer. Whether we minister to little children, to older youngsters, or to teenagers, let's invite them to "come to the water."

Place a large bowl of water at the center of your prayer space. On the first day, invite everyone to extend hands over the water to ask God's blessing in words such as these:
God of all creation,
maker of the lakes and the seas, the rains and the rivers,
we ask your blessing upon this water.

It is a reminder for us of the water
that gives life to your creation and to your children.
It reminds us of the gift of our baptism.

And so we ask your blessing on this water in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Every day that you gather for prayer, allow each child to put their right hand into the water as they make the sign of the cross.
Each time you pray the Sign of the Cross during these 50 days, always begin by saying, "Let us pray just as we have been baptized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
During prayer, invite participants to reflect on such questions as:
- What difference does it make that I have been baptized?
- How do people recognize that I have been baptized?
- What will I do today because I am a baptized child of God?
On the last day that you pray together before the feast of Pentecost, gather with other classes of youngsters, with each group bringing along their bowl of blessed water. As part of your water ritual, empty all of the bowls together into a container large enough to hold all the water. Then invite the children to come forward to bless themselves from the communal waters.