Meditation with children in Houston, Texas, USA
In May 2011, Fr Laurence Freeman taught meditation to children of St. Theresa School in Houston, Texas, USA. Left, he speaks with a kindergarten class. Below, Third graders talk about their experience with the meditation.
1 - Zachary Hernandez
"I felt happy to see a monk in the church. It was so cool he was from London. It was awesome to see him and to meditate with him. When I meditated I felt like I was in Heaven. I did exactly what he said back up strait hands on lap say the word. I could start meditating more. I also felt God in my heart. It was amazing".
2 - Aleyna Dunn
"Today a different priest came. His name is Father Laurence and we meditated with him. He said a word that we put in our mind and thought about. I also thought it was really cool! He was ringing a bell that was pretty interesting. I think I will meditate every day. It is so peaceful. I never knew that being so silent could be so relaxing. I hope the whole school liked Father Laurence and I also hope we can do it again! I loved mass so much!"
3 - Alyssa White
"I felt God in my heart. I liked it. It felt good. It was so peaceful. We used Maranatha a word from a prayer to help us. Anyways it was really quiet. It took me to me to my heart. I haven’t really felt that way before".
4 - Anthony Carr
"I thought of God and some of my family. I also pray in my mind to God. I had a great time mediating and spinning some time with God. I am going to meditate with my whole family".
5 - Catalina Vasquez
"I saw something that looked very peaceful .I would like to do it every night before bed. I felt God in my heart. I felt so relaxed to just talk things out with God. I was thinking about when Alicia’s mom painted a picture with Jesus. That was a good lesson to learn so in the future we can meditate all the time".
6 - Enrique Roman
"I really felt God was in my heart. It felt like he was talking to me in my heart. I think people should meditate everyday. From now on I will meditate everyday. I really liked Father Laurence because he is a really nice guy. Meditating is a really fun thing to do. I hope people start meditating so they can talk to God I really like Meditating".
7 - Gabi Vaquez
"Today in mass we had visitor. He is from London and is a benedictan monk. He was pretty cool. Anyway, we got to meditate. It was so quiet and it felt so good. I was really still and what was weird is that I felt like I weighed 1,000 pounds. Besides my weight, I was really focusing on that word. I felt like God was in my heart. I also loved the sound of that bell. I thaught it would be the usual mass but it was pretty fun. The meditation thing made me feel really calm. It was awesome".
8 - Grant Brown
"Today I went to mass. We meditated. It was our first time. I liked meditating because we had a different priest. The priest was a Benedictine monk. When we were meditating we had to focus on the word Maranatha. That is what I did. His name was Father Laurence. When I was mediating it felt like God was in my heart. That was my favorite mass so far".
9 - Isaiah SolCruz
"I really like Father Laurence. I think Father Laurence is one of the coolest priests of all time. The way he taught us to meditate is awesome. I thought you just sit cris-cross and put two okay signs on your knees and say ummmm. Now, I love meditating. I love the silence, the stillness, and the faith. I hope Father Laurence teaches everyone how to meditate. I hope he meets you, too. Meditating is awesome".
10 - Maria Trostmann
"I think that Father Laurence is a really good meditater because he thought us how to meditate. I thought I was in Heaven with the three in one aka Jesus, Holy Spirit, and God. My heart was bursting with love with the three in one. I felt happy with God right beside me, so I was protected. And I can start meditating again".
11 - Michael Tomlinson
"On 5/19/2011 in mass we were meditating. The word we had to think of was Maranatha. While I was meditating I saw pictures. One of the pictures I saw was a white ninja that makes no sense. We also had a Benediction monk visiting church. I can’t wait until I meditate again. When I was meditating I felt God in my heart. The first time we meditated we did it for one minute. The second time we meditated we did it for 3 or 4 minutes. I think I might meditate every day".
12 - Richard Vera
"Today at mass was wonderful having one of the Benedictinen monks joining us. When I was meditating I felt team work, friend ship, sharing laughs with each other. I felt like a family with everybody and God too. Also I felt my heart glowing with love and God helping with everything. My grandpa helped because he was beside me to feel all of happiness. I was happy that Father Phil got Father Laurence to be at mass with us. He was a good visit because he was making everybody happy and not sad. He made me feel like everything was possible. When had that feeling it felt new because I hadn’t had that feeling in a while. It felt super wonderful to have that feeling. It was nice of Father Laurence to come. He even said if he can visit if he is in Houston it was super wonderful".
13 - Sebastian Needle
"My heart felt calm and my mouth was silent and I think that is a good thing. When Father Laurence told the us to meditate the moment he told the whole school to meditate I said to myself it must be really important to meditate. When he told us that he was a Benedictine monk for sure he loved to meditate. While I was meditating I thought there was no one in this world I felt like I was the only one in this world because it was so quiet".
