The Gatekeeper
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Level I
March 3, 2009 - Level 1, Issue 9 |
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| Dear CGS Level I Parent, |
Well, Lent is just about a week old now. If your children were at the 9:00 AM mass last Sunday and participated in Children's Liturgy of the Word, they have already gotten a good start on their Lenten journey. See more on this in an article below.
This week the children will recognize the new liturgical season of Lent by changing the cloth on their prayer table to purple. Some groups may choose to do this through a small ceremony including a procession to re-se" the prayer table. The Level I children will reflect on Psalm 23. This helps bring focus again, but in a different way, to the central theme of Level I, the love and nurture and relationship of The Good Shepherd.
Peace,
The Level I catechist team:
Anne Edwards, Sylvia Pelini on Tuesdays
Betsy Peterson, Sarah Coles on Wednesday
Natalie Spadaccini Rosenberg,
Megan Wallenfang on Thursdays
and Lina Hilko (editor)
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| Psalm 23 |
This week the children will reflect the words of Psalm 23: 1-3:
The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. In green pastures you let me graze; to safe waters you lead me; you restore my strength. You guide me along the right path for the sake of your name. Sometimes the catechist chooses to present only the first verse, "The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack." And sometimes the translation says, "There is nothing I shall want."
You may recall from the very first newsletter (November 4, 2008) that the central aim that permeates all of the Level I presentations and experiences is to help the child fall in love with God. Level I children are in a "sensitive period" (a Montessori term) for relationship. Here (again) is a description from Mustard Seed Preaching by Ann M. Garrido:
Children have a deep desire and capacity to be in loving relationship. Relationship - children teach us - is the most essential, the most beautiful, and the most real thing in the universe. It is their deepest need and, when it is met, it is their greatest joy. Because their capacity for relationship is so large, it can be difficult to satiate. The children's great hunger to love and be loved offers perhaps the best testimony we have to the foundational principle of Christian anthropology that humans are ultimately "wired" to be in relationship with God. For, only in God, does the child's need and capacity fully meet its match. Listen to the words of Psalm 23 through the ears of a child who treasures loving relationship.
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Lent |
One Lenten tradition that began in St. Teresa's Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program, this year started a transition away from Atrium and into liturgy. At Children's Liturgy of the Word last Sunday, the children decorated flowers with the "A" word on them. When the children rejoined the congregation, they first processed to the altar and put away their "A" flowers in a special box. This box will remain in the church throughout Lent, and on Easter the "A" flowers will be revealed again. One Lenten tradition of the Catholic church is to stop saying and singing this word (it's the one right before the Gospel reading). This is a joyful word, and we put it away for a while so we can say it and sing it with much enthusiasm during the Easter season.
During Children's Liturgy of the Word, the children also reflected on three activities to which we are especially devoted during Lent: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. The catechist taught them gestures to remind them of each of these actions. For almsgiving, the children held up their two hands, palms out, sort of like they were going to wave with them both. For prayer, the children held their palms together in prayer. For fasting, the children rubbed their stomachs. Perhaps you want to incorporate these gesture into your Lenten prayers somehow. You could consider writing a prayer together to say at meal times during Lent, making sure that these three words and gestures are incorporated. Perhaps it seems daunting to write a prayer, but it really shouldn't be. It's great practice for a child to demonstrate that anyone can compose a prayer. It's just talking to a friend, after all.
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| Feed My Sheep |
Lent may be a time that your family chooses to raise up the parable-allegory of The Good Shepherd. If you pray with your child, such as at dinner or at bedtime, consider devoting this time (or some of it) to listening to words about The Good Shepherd. Remember that you don't actually have to do anything beyond reading scripture passages. Spoken reflection can, but needn't, occur. If you want to encourage spontaneous prayer after reading, you can ask something like, "Is there something you would like to say to Jesus?" Of course, you may have something you want to say to Jesus. And silence is good, too. Beside reading scripture, there are good children's books that use the exact words of Psalm 23 and have beautiful illustrations.
John 10: 3(b) - 5, 10(b) - 11, 14 - 16
The sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Luke 15: 4-6
"What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.' "
Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. In green pastures you let me graze; to safe waters you lead me; you restore my strength. You guide me along the right path for the sake of your name.
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Feel free to comment on this information to Lina Hilko, LHilko@aol.com, the editor and/or Sarah Coles, SEColes@gmail.com, St. Teresa's Director of Religious Education. Thanks! |
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