The Gatekeeper
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Levels I & II
January 6, 2008 - Levels 1&2, Issue 5 |
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| Dear CGS Level I and/or II Parent |
Joyful Epiphany! January 6th is the official date of Epiphany, the feast of the Magi. The church commemorated Epiphany last Sunday, but today is the traditional date. Do you have any special traditions related to this feast? If you don't, perhaps you'd like to start a little something this year. Or think and plan for a little something next year. Remembering Epiphany in some simple way helps our children to experience Christmas as not just a day, but as a liturgical season.
This week again, both Level I and Level II will work in some way with the same infancy narrative - The Adoration of the Magi. So, again the Level I and II e-newsletter is being combined.
Joyfully,
Your catechists
and Lina Hilko (editor)
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| The Adoration of the Magi |
Level I and Level II will both present to the children the infancy narrative of the Adoration of the Magi, found in Matthew 2: 1-12. The joy of the Magi upon seeing the "light of Christ" is particularly apparent in Matthew 2: 9-11:
"And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother." The Magi studied and anticipated Jesus' star. They traveled a long distance to see Him. They brought Him gifts and knelt down to worship him. The Magi adored Jesus. We will show the children in the atrium the figures which represent the Adoration by the Magi. We will say to them, "We, too, are around the crib of Jesus. How will we respond to Him? What shall we do? What shall we say?"
In all Levels of CGS, we reflect on gifts and our personal response to the gifts from God. In this narrative, children can experience this back-and-forth, giving and responding to gifts. The Magi don't only offer gifts to Jesus. They also receive gifts from God.
It is interesting that Scripture says that the "the star preceded" the Magi. In all of our work in the Level II atrium, we present the importance of understanding Salvation History, the Plan of God throughout the ages - past, present, and future. This Plan has three great moments starting at Creation, continuing in Redemption (Jesus' birth, death and rising) and culminating in that time when Christ will come again in Parousia, when God will be all in all. God's Plan has been shown throughout all of history and the "light of Christ" is there in this Plan if we, as God's children, only choose to see it and follow it as the Magi did. The events and people of the past, which we can know through the Bible, illuminate the entire Plan of God, just as the star illuminated the journey of the Magi.
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Shepherd or Magi? |
Parents may desire to reflect particularly now on two infancy narratives - the Adoration of the Shepherds (Luke chapter 2) and the Adoration of the Magi (Matthew chapter 2). These two narratives can help us reflect on different ways that we meet God. The shepherds hear the announcement of angels and go with haste to meet the Lord. Just try to imagine that event. It seems far from rational - a jumble of fear, followed by joy; a mix of the extraordinary followed by a return to the ordinary; perhaps the epitome of faith. The Magi come about it in a more intellectual way. We get the sense that they have studied long and hard in search of this coming. We meet Jesus in different ways at different points in our life - from life-stage to life-stage, or even from day to day, moment to moment. Neither path is right or wrong. These are both valid ways we come to know God. We listen. We study. The most important and unifying aspect is that we respond and are overjoyed.
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| Commemorating Epiphany |
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Do you have a nativity scene (or scenes) in your home? You can use your nativities to help your children reflect on infancy narratives. Many families follow the tradition of "unveiling" the nativity characters at the appropriate times. So, the Magi can remain hidden or be placed far away until Epiphany, at which point the child has the honor of moving these characters into their place in the story. Baby Jesus, too, can remain hidden until right after Christmas mass. It's a joyful honor to be the child that places Jesus in the story after celebrating His birth at mass. Even if certain other Christmas decorations get put away or cleaned away in your household, consider keeping the nativity scene available from the very beginning of Advent through the end of the Christmas season, marked by the Baptism of Jesus (this coming Sunday).
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Feel free to ask questions or provide comments to Lina Hilko, the editor, at LHilko@aol.com and/or Sarah Coles, St. Teresa's Director of Religious Education, at SEColes@gmail.com. Thanks! |
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