Shepherds - Advent Waiting Through Baking - Second Week of Advent

Just as the Old Testament is full of angels who are God's messengers to the human family, so is the Old Testament full of shepherds: Abraham, Jacob, Moses, to name a few.

One very famous shepherd was King David. David was the youngest of eight brothers. When he was a young boy he tended the family's sheep and killed a very threatening warrior named Goliath by using a slingshot. David had mastered the use of the slingshot by protecting the sheep from the wolves which terrorized them. David trusted that God would give him the courage to use this skill to defeat Goliath, an enemy of the Chosen People of God, and God did!

David had a heart that was like the heart of God. God loved David very much for this and chose David to become the king of the Israelites. David was now to shepherd a kingdom not simply a flock of sheep. He was not a perfect man, but he was a very good ruler, and God rewarded him with a very special promise. 

God promised King David that the Savior that the Chosen People of Israel were waiting for would be born from his family line. (2 Samuel 7:12 & 13) The young shepherd boy and now the triumphant king of Israel would be the favored ancestor of the Savior. Between the Shepherd/King's death, 970 B.C. and the birth of the Savior many shepherds waited for the fulfillment of God's promise. 

Just as the many shepherds waited for God's promise to be fulfilled, so we are waiting now for the celebration of the birth of Jesus. This is the second week of Advent. We have only two more weeks after this one before Christmas.

Shepherds use staffs to guide sheep when they are driving them from one location to another. The staff is a symbol of guidance and for a king or a bishop the staff also represents divine protection. This week we are going to make, bake, and decorate some staff cookies. We will retell the story of David the brave shepherd, born in Bethlehem, who slew Goliath, became king, and received God's promise that from his family line the long-awaited Savior would be born. At the end of this post, there will be a few books that you can share with  children. Most focus on the David/Goliath story and do not include God's great promise to David. You will have to tell them about it yourself.

Sugar Cookie Recipe for the Second Week of Advent

This recipe is taken from the sprinklebakes blog which I am linking here. https://www.sprinklebakes.com/2018/12/flowers-of-scotland-sugar-cookies.html The recipe has the measurements in the metric system, also, for those who use that system. The oven temperature would be 177 degrees celsius for the 350 degrees F. used in the U.S.  I have used this recipe many times and it makes an excellent sugar cookie. These cookies are frosted with ready-made frosting but I am linking a frosting that I often use when making my own.  https://www.hersheyland.com/recipes/perfectly-chocolate-chocolate-frosting.html All but one staff have sprinkles of one kind or another. Use a large candy cane cookie cutter for the staff. You can cut the shape out from the rolled dough if you don't have the candy cane cutter. Make it big for small children; otherwise the staff breaks in two quite easily while decorating. Even for Grandmother!

Shepherds' Staff Cookies w/out icing

Shepherds' Staff Cookies frosted and decorated

The Shepherd's Prayer composed by King David. I am sure you will recognize it.

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd;*

there is nothing I lack.a

2In green pastures he makes me lie down;

to still waters he leads me;

3bhe restores my soul.

He guides me along right paths*

for the sake of his name.

4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,c

I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

your rod and your staff comfort me.

II

5*You set a table before me

in front of my enemies;*

You anoint my head with oil;*d

my cup overflows.e

6Indeed, goodness and mercy* will pursue me

all the days of my life;

I will dwell in the house of the LORDf

for endless days.

From the USCCB.org

Or a very short prayer from one of King David's Psalms:

139  Search me God and know my heart. Amen

Books 

For younger children:

David and Goliath by Tomie dePaola - Leaflet Missal, Magnificat, Amazon, etc.

David and Goliath Little Golden Books - Amazon.com

David and Goliath Board Book, Amazon.com

For ages 8 and up - There are a number of books for this age, but I am only familiar with the following author whom I recommend. She does mention the promise God made to David in her retelling.

King David and His Songs: A Story of the Psalms by Mary Fabyan Windeatt

Angels - Advent Waiting through Baking, First Week of Advent

18p, Angel Gabriel, St James, Pangbourne, Christmas, 1992*

Here is a little background as you prepare to bake angel cookies with your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or students.

Angels are messengers from on high, from the divine realm. They are sent by God. We can read of their presence throughout the Old Testament, (Gen. 3:24, Gen. 22:11-15, etc.). We know of them in the New Testament beginning with the Archangel Gabriel's mission to the Virgin Mary. Mary was asked to be the mother of the Son of God. (Luke 1:26 - 37). 

We know that between Mary's acceptance of God's plan for her, "I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word," (Luke 2:38) and the birth of Jesus, there was a period of waiting. Joseph the husband of Mary was also visited by an angel in a dream, Matt. 1:20 - 21. Joseph and Mary waited together for the birth of Jesus.

We are waiting, too. It is the first week of Advent, 2024, and we are waiting for Christmas, the solemn feast of the birth of the Son of God. It is a time of excitement for children. and also a time to teach them the true meaning of Christmas. This period of waiting for adults is meant to be a time for spiritual renewal, a time to reflect, and recall the waiting of our spiritual ancestors, the Jews, and the fulfillment of the promise by God(Gen. 3:15) that a Savior would be born that would crush the head of the evil one. The birth of Jesus is the fulfillment of that age-old promise. For children it is a period of learning the true meaning of Christmas while experiencing many enjoyable activities.

Baking with angels is the perfect start to Advent 2024 with children. You may choose to share the story first of the Archangel Gabriel's mission to Mary by explaining it in your own words, or going directly to St. Luke's Gospel, or finding a children's book and reading the story to them. Or you might bake angel cookies first and then tell them the amazing story of Gabriel's mission to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Choose the way that suites the age(s) and backgrounds of the children.  At the end of this post are some suggestions for books you might find helpful. 

Here is a picture of an angel cookie cutter and the first recipe we are using. I recommend large cookie cutters for young children. It will be easier for them to try a cut-out and definitely a bigger cookie is easier for them to decorate. If you don't have time to make a recipe you can always use a sugar cookie mix. The most important part is to share the story of the Angel Gabriel's mission to the Blessed Virgin Mary telling her of God's plan for her.  

Have fun making the cookies. Eat a few. Share a few and save some for Christmas! You can put the cookies in the freezer, and looking forward to hearing more of the Christmas story while we wait for Christmas day.

 Here is the link to the recipe I used for the cookies  that I baked. Pictures are below. The recipe is easy, tasty, and the cookies hold their cookie cutter shape.

Sugar Cookie Recipe

I did not have a large cookie cutter like the one here. I used two different sizes. See below. The small angel cookies I sprinkled with decorating sugar. I knew they were too small for anyone to ice or frost. To frost you may use store-bought frosting. It is very easy with young children and then let them decorate with colored sugars, sprinkles, and different colored frostings. For older children, fondant is fun to use. You simply roll it out and then use your cookie cutter to cut out the fondant. With a tiny bit of milk, you put a drop or two on the backside of the fondant and then gently press it on the angel cookie. You can buy decorator tubes to make eyes and a smile like the angel above, even hair and a heart! The older the child the fancier the decorations. I love a simple lemon icing glaze on my sugar cookies. Here is a link for  Lemon Icing Glaze or if you like a butter cream frosting here is a recipe for Butter Cream Frosting

Sugar Cookies Sprinkled with Decorator's Sugars

Unfrosted and Yummy Sugar Cookies

Prayer to Saint Gabriel the Archangel

Blessed Saint Gabriel the Archangel, we

beseech you to intercede for us at the throne

of Divine Mercy:

As you announced the mystery of the

Incarnation to Mary, so through your prayers

may we receive strength of faith and courage

of spirit, and thus find favor with God and

redemption through Christ Our Lord.

May we sing the praise of God our Savior

with the angels and saints in heaven forever

and ever.

Amen

Books for Children 

Below are links that will take you to books that include the story of the Archangel Gabriel appearing to the Blessed Virgin Mary with God's plan for her. Click the link to take you to the website where you can order the books. Some of them may also be found on Amazon.

https://www.orderosv.com/product/children-s-mary-bundle

Children's Books

https://www.ignatius.com/The-Catholic-Bible-for-Children-P1594.aspx

*

Stained glass is often used in churches to illustrate biblical stories, where the natural light illuminates the characters and scenes. This design of the Angel Gabriel can be found in the church of St James in Pangbourne, Berkshire. It was produced by Karl Parsons, a member of the Arts and Crafts Movement which sought to raise the importance of craftsmanship.

HAPPY BAKING!

ReplyForward

Advent Begins November 30/December 1 - Advent Waiting through Baking

Advent Calendar by Vermont Christmas Company

What is Advent waiting? We hear many references to the Christmas story, and we know that means the story of the birth of  Jesus, the Son of God and the son of Mary. But what do I mean by Advent waiting? 

 During the Season of Advent the Church calls to mind the Chosen People of God in the Old Testament who were waiting for the birth of the Messiah. The Church reminds us of their waiting every year in her liturgical calendar. There are four weeks in Advent. The last week in Advent may be only a few days before Christmas. This year it is almost  a full week.

  During Advent there is the retelling of the the waiting by a people who Isaiah the prophet tells us, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light." (Isa. 9:2) The people were waiting for the fulfillment of the promise issued in Gen. 3:15 by God after the sin of Adam and Eve, " I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. They were waiting for the promised savior.

 As we recall week by week the waiting of the Chosen People for the Messiah, we wait. We wait in expectation of the celebration of the birth of the Messiah for He has come! Each week in Advent reminds us of those who waited and longed for Jesus. Each week the Christmas story unfolds as we near Christmas day. The Church reminds us in her liturgical readings during Advent that we are still waiting. We are waiting for Christ to come again at the end of time. Advent is a period of waiting.

In a simple and fun way, each week during Advent I am choosing a cookie cutter symbol of the Christmas story as we wait with our children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and students for the Christmas celebration. For week one it will be an angel. We will use angel cookie cutters to make sugar cookies and decorate them all the while learning the part angels played in the Christmas story. Week two we will use the candy cane cookie cutter for the shepherd's staff. We will use a different sugar cookie recipe and learn a bit about shepherds in the Christmas story. Week three will be a candle cookie cutter and we will see how the light was becoming brighter as the Messiah prepared to enter the world. Our last cookie cutter will be the star. The star guided the Magi to Jesus. Star cookies will be our last batch of cookies. They will signal the great solemn, feast of Christmas is about to arrive.

The cookie cutter, recipe, and story will post on the Friday before the weekend of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Sundays of Advent, so you can choose to try the recipe and share its story each week.

Here is the schedule:

November 30/December 1 First Sunday of Advent

Blog Post:

Friday, November 30            Symbol/Cookie Cutter: Angel                        Recipe: Sugar Cookie 1

December 7/ 8 Sunday of Advent

Blog Post:

Friday, December 6               Symbol/Cookie Cutter: Shepherd's Staff     Recipe: Sugar Cookie 2

December 14/15 Third Sunday of Advent

Blog Post:

Friday, December 13                Symbol/Cookie Cutter: Candle                    Recipe: Sugar Cookie 3

December 21/22 Fourth Sunday of Advent

Blog Post:

Friday, December 20                Symbol/Cookie Cutter: Star                        Recipe: Sugar Cookie 4

If you do not have the cookie cutters already, you can find them in many of your Catholic religious goods stores, Walmart, or Amazon. Below are pictures of cookie cutters from Amazon.

Wishing you a fun and joyous time of waiting with children!

A Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!

St. Josaphat, November 12, Patron of Reunion Between Orthodox and Roman Catholics, Persimmon Cookies

Persimmon Spice Raisin Cookies

Christian cooks from around the world have used the foods that were available to them when honoring the saints and celebrating the great and solemn feasts of the Christian calendar. We living in the 21st century in first world countries have at our fingertips almost any kind of ingredient that we wish to make a special dish or dessert out of.

Often I will write about and bake a traditional food associated with the feast day that is being featured on this blog. I do that because it is good to know and appreciate the culinary traditions of Catholic culture. Today, though, I am using persimmons, a fruit I only recently tasted and am experimenting with. It is not associated with the feast of the brave and inspiring martyr for the faith, St. Josaphat, as far as I know. It is, however, a fruit in season here in Florida, my new home, and one that my stepmother has given me in abundance. So I am following the tradition of using what is in season, as did our Christian bakers, to whip up a treat to honor the saint of the day! After telling you a bit about St. Josaphat, I will share the recipe and sing the praises of persimmons!

St. Josaphat was born John Kuncewicz (or Kuntsevych) in northwest Ukraine, 1580. His parents were members of the Eastern Rite Church of the Ukraine which was not united to Rome at that time. John received a special grace as a young boy. He felt a spark of fire leave the wound of the Crucified Lord and enter his heart. It inspired him to want to suffer poverty and martyrdom for Christ.

His father wished him to learn the family business. In 1595 the Ukrainian and Byelorussian bishops voted to reunite with Rome. In 1598

seven bishops signed the Union of Brest which allowed their followers to keep their Eastern Rites and be united fully with the Church of Rome. Soon after this John made a profession of faith and entered the Basilian Monastery of the Holy Trinity at Vilno taking the name of Josaphat.

Many of the Ukrainian Rite members refused to reunite with Rome and there was great hostilities towards those who did. In 1609 Josaphat was ordained to the priesthood and he began his life's work of preaching, spiritual direction, and working with the poor. His example of deep love of Christ and the poor inspired over sixty men to join the Basilian Order.

Josaphat worked tirelessly among his parishioners. He was consecrated bishop and among other things reinstituted devotion to the Mother of God, all the while, gathering texts on the unity of the Church from the writings of the Eastern Fathers and Doctors. The heart of his work was the reunification of the Eastern Orthodox Church with Rome. This work led to his martyrdom by those who violently opposed reunion, including Bishop Meletius Smotrysky. Bishop Smotrysky was joined by schismatic preachers from Constantinople who preached vigorously against reunion. They maligned Bishop Josaphat's good name by spreading lies about him. They sought his death.  He continued to prayer for them and for reunion. Eventually assassins seized him and slit his throat, decapitating him. They then shot him and dumped his body into a nearby river.  

Since a young boy, Josaphat had envisioned martyrdom. He prayed , "Grant that I be found worthy, Lord, to shed my blood for the union and obedience to the Apostolic See." Twenty years after his death, Pope Urban VIII declared him "Blessed." In 1867 Pope Pius IX declared him a "Saint."  His old rival, Bishop Meletius reunited with Rome as did numerous others.  "The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church."

                                                                         

St. Josaphat, Pray for Us!

Here is the link to the cookies pictured above. It is from the website Two Peas & Their Pod. The cookies are delicious and easy to make. Persimmon Cookies  The fruit itself is sweet and mild. There are numerous recipes online including persimmon bread and jam that you might like to try.

Enjoy!

I was not able to readily locate a children's book for St. Josaphat, but I found this prayer which Philip Kosloski posted in an article he wrote for Aletia, 11/12/2018.

Below is an excerpt from a prayer found in the Ukrainian Rite prayer book, My Divine Friend.

O Saint Josaphat, wonderful Saint and heroic martyr for the union of our Church with the Vicar of Christ, the Pope of Rome. Thou are glorious on account of thy zeal in the propagation of the true Catholic faith among our people. Thou art wonderful because of thy heroic martyrdom for the unity of faith of our people with the Holy See of Rome, the true center of orthodox Catholicism.Thou art admirable on account of thy sublime virtues with which thou has adorned thy soul. We admire thy ardent love for Jesus and Mary and thy allegiance to the Vicar of Christ. Thou art a sublime example of all virtues for the people of whom thou wert born. Since thou art so powerful with God as thy miracles prove, I ask thee to obtain for me from Jesus and Mary a strong attachment to the Catholic faith and my beautiful Eastern Rite which I shall never betray nor abandon. Obtain also the grace of indefatigable zeal that I may labor for the reunion of my separated Eastern Brethren. Amen.