If you've been following along, you know my husband and I have 5 children. Our 3 school age children attend Catholic Schools here in Illinois. My oldest is in High School and the next 2 are at a local Catholic grade school. The students at the grade school attend a weekly school mass on Wednesday's.
A few week's back, the mass included the parable of the king who entrusted each of his servants with a gold coin (Luke 19:11-28). To summarize, the King gave each of them the same opportunity to show themselves trustworthy. Upon his return, the king entrusted more to the ones who used their gifts wisely, and he entrusted less to the one who used it foolishly.
The priest decided to show this parable in action, by choosing one 5th grader at random to entrust with $20. That 5th grader turned out to be my son, Hayden.
Hayden was very excited when I picked him up from school and had already managed to double his money via a donation from someone at the mass. However, he knew he was going to have to do something more then beg for donations to really grow this $20.00. His classmates made some suggestions and he and I brainstormed more at home.
Hayden ultimately decided to hold a raffle selling $1.00 tickets for something kids at the school would likely want to win. Hayden didn't even have to dip into his $20, the prize was graciously donated by Cepia, Llc. the makers of the most coveted toy of this holiday season, the Zhu Zhu pets. The prize offered was 1 Mr. Squiggles and a Zhu Zhu Pet ramp.
Raffle ticket sales poured in and Hayden (with the help of his 5th grade classmates) ultimately turned his $20 into $398.30! The money is all being donated to help a local needy family have a very Merry Christmas. (All the money, that is aside from the original $20.)
You see in a follow up mass, Hayden shared his accomplishment with the Priest and the the rest of the school. He was then entrusted with another task. Hayden was asked to choose a 4th grader to be given the Priest's original stake in Hayden, $20.00. Hayden was also asked to aid that 4th grader in growing her $20 gift much like Hayden did.
Our whole family is very proud of Hayden. Hayden tells me he learned a lot from this experience. He learned among other things that you can accomplish great things by simply believing in yourself and working together with others.
I am certain while we are busy packing for our trip and shopping for last minute gifts, we will not forget this $20 homily which proved to be a very Merry Christmas for both a needy family and my own. I sincerely hope all our readers have a Happy Holiday season as well.