Jesus is present with us in many ways; yet, the Mass is the place and time in which we meet Jesus in a particular way.  Jesus calls each of us by name.  We gather around his altar to be fed by Jesus' very self in a special way.  The presentation of the Eucharistic Presence of the Good Shepherd provides the child with a link between the Good Shepherd's presence in our lives, which they have already received through the parable of the Good Shepherd, and the special presence of the Good Shepherd in the Mass.
 
In this presentation, there will be a new sheepfold.  Rather than the little stone fence on a green, circular wooden base, the sheepfold will now be a green felt circle.  On the circle, we place a small model of an altar covered with a white cloth.  On the altar, we place a very small two-dimensional wooden model of the Good Shepherd.  From The Religious Potential of the Child (pg. 81) by Sofia Cavalletti, founder of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, we can read the types of words the catechist uses as they bring the wooden models of sheep around the altar:

"The Good Shepherd calls each of His sheep by name to come close to Him around His altar and one by one the sheep assemble around the altar.  Now they are near to Him once again, in another sheepfold which we call the 'church,' a fold where we too go when Mass is celebrated.  Here the Good Shepherd's presence has a totally special character.  He is really there for me, to give Himself completely to me.  The Shepherd's presence is not tied to the little wooden statue; this is only a way to help us think of Him.  At Mass the Good Shepherd is present in the signs of the bread and wine.  (At this point we place the models of the chalice and paten on the altar.)  We can even take away the statue (we remove the Good Shepherd figure from the altar); it does not change anything with regard to the life-giving presence of our Shepherd."

St. Teresa is hosting a Lenten Mission on three consecutive evenings:  Monday, March 28^th; Tuesday, March 29^th; and Wednesday, March 30^th.  We nourish ourselves spiritually in many ways - certainly through the Eucharist.  Time for reflection and prayer and time spent in community with fellow parishioners is another very important way to nourish ourselves.

One of the concluding prayers in the Rite of Baptism asks for special blessing on parents, who are the first and best teachers of the faith to their children.  When a woman is pregnant with a child, she takes care of her body in a special way because she knows that this new life is completely dependent on her.  She may eat better, start appropriate exercise, get more rest, perhaps even be a little more careful and cautious in her activities and habits.

Although there's a heightened awareness of this "mandate" for care when a woman is carrying a child within her, actually if you stop to think about it, the "mandate" doesn't go away when the umbilical cord is cut.  Loving, caring mothers and fathers must still take good care of themselves - body and spirit - because really children are so very dependent on adults.  Whether the cord is tangible or invisible, undeniably a cord continues to exist beyond birth.

Lent can be an especially good time to consider the ways in which you nourish yourself, certainly physically, but also mentally and spiritually.  Your children are nourished by you, almost as through osmosis.  Please consider joining in St. Teresa's Lenten Mission.