Of all the games our two younger sons Lucas, 7, and Atticus, 5, love to play at dinnertime, their favorite is religious trivia.

Here’s a random, annotated sampling of tonight’s questions:

1. What is the first book of the Bible? (They both know this one and what it means.)

2. What is the last book of the Bible? (They still can’t remember this one very quickly but as soon as they get a sense of it, they start chanting “Revolution” while pumping their arms in the air. What does it mean??)

3. Who was the first Pope? (They always know this.)

4. What are the five “joyful mysteries” of the rosary? (These are pretty new additions to our trivia, but they did pretty well. They know them all with a clue or two, but not in order.)

5. Who was the only one of Jesus’ original disciples to die a natural death? (They both got this and its follow-up, why? Plus, Lucas got bonus points for remembering that Peter had been crucified upside-down.)

6. What religious order was Blessed John Paul II a part of? (They both got this one immediately. We all have a special love for JP2. :))

7. What religious order is Pope Benedict XVI a part of? (Silence until Kevin prodded them. It’s his chosen title, after all. ;))

8. Where does the Pope live? (They know the city and country, but the country-within-a-country takes a minute.)

9. What is the rulebook of the Catholic Church? (They both got this immediately, and Atticus later coined a new word combining the rulebook with its geographical source from #8: “Vatechism.” Ha!)

10. What is the first book of the New Testament? (Lucas answered “Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.” Not bad!)

How many do you know??

photo credit: Kirchengemeinde St. Bonifatius Berlin