The Gatekeeper
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Level II 
February 16, 2010 - Level 2, Issue 10
In This Issue
The Ten Bridesmaids
Lenten Opportunities
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Dear CGS Level II Parent  
The Good Shepherd

The Level II children will listen to and reflect on the parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, which is a good follow-up to last session's work with The True Vine.  Maybe not today or tomorrow, but one day, as your child matures, he or she will be able to ask themselves how a wise person remains on the vine and, thus, bears great fruit.

 

Lent begins on Wednesday, February 17th.  Please remember the beginning of this special time of preparation by joining as a family in the celebration of Ash Wednesday mass (7:30 AM and 7:00 PM at St. Teresa).  Notice with your child the change in liturgical colors from green for growing in Ordinary Time to purple for preparation.  Notice the other things that change in mass.  We give up and put away certain prayers (such as an opening song or the proclamation of the Alleluia) in order to pick them up with renewed joy on Easter Sunday.


Peace,
The Level II catechist team:
   Jane Ott and Liza Bloomer on Tuesdays
   Megan Wallenfang, Vanessa Hernandez, and
      AmyMcCue on Wednesday
   Barb McHugh and Myrna Gomez on Thursdays
and Jane Ott (writer) and Lina Hilko (editor)
The Ten Bridesmaids 

This week the children will hear another parable, or story, told by Jesus called the Ten Bridesmaids from Matthew 25:10in

 

"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten bridesmaids, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Five of them were foolish and five were wise.  The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.   Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.   At midnight, there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom!  Come out to meet him!'  Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps.   The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'  But the wise ones replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you.  Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.'  While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.   Then the door was locked.  Afterwards the other bridesmaids came and said, 'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!'  But he said in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'"

 

We present this parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, as with all parables from the Gospel, to begin to understand with the children the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.  For the children who have been in Level I, they have already begun working with parables that have revealed something about the Kingdom of God.  For example, the parable of the Mustard Seed ( Matthew 13:31-32), the Leaven (Matthew 13:33), the Pearl of Great Price (Matthew 13:45-46), and the Hidden Treasure (Matthew 13:44) have laid the groundwork for further work.  Through these parables, children learn of the joy and preciousness of the Kingdom of God and how God uses the small to create the great.

 

In Level II, we continue to work with these Kingdom parables, and we introduce the moral parables.  Moral parables open the door for moral reasoning in which we evaluate the behavior of the parable's human characters and "exercise the gift of 'right judgment'." (The Religious Potential of the Child 6 to 12 Years Old, pg. 92)  The parable of the Ten Bridesmaids in particular renders two types of behavior:  the preparedness of the five bridesmaids who brought flasks of oil for their lamps and the foolishness of the other five bridesmaids that are not prepared by having extra oil for their lamps.  The children at this age have a strong sense of "right" and "wrong" behavior, often seen in a black-and-white manner, and have the capacity to explore the bridesmaids' actions in the parable.  Also at this age, children feel comfortable applying rules externally onto others, although they may not be as quick to turn rules on themselves.  However, this parable will continue to be presented in Level III at a time when the child perceives shades of gray in moral questions and can start to turn the parable on themselves, like a mirror.

 

As always, it is important for catechists (and parents) to read the parable and ask reflective questions without giving children an interpretation or explanation.  The child will continue to work with this parable and discover ever-deeper meaning as they mature.

 
Lenten Opportunities 

This week marks the beginning of Lent.  Ash Wednesday masses will be held at St. Teresa at 7:30 AM and 7:00 PM.  Please celebrate this time of preparation by joining the St. Teresa community at mass.

 

If you are still looking for ways that your family can observe Lent, consider doing something to combine your fasting with giving to one of the following organizations:  Operation Rice Bowl (http://orb.crs.org/), Living Water International (http://www.water.cc/), or Heifer International (http://www.heifer.org/).  For more on each, read below or visit their web sites.

 

All of these organizations offer a chance to learn about the world.  Remember during Lent to give thanks with your child for the gift of learning or reading.  Our children may take it for granted, and even wish for snow days off of school.  There are so many children who yearn to read and learn but instead do tasks just to stay alive.  So, if your Lenten observation includes reading or learning, give yourself credit for making good use of this gift!

 

Operation Rice Bowl

This year as in the past, St. Teresa offers families the opportunity to become more aware of global hunger and thirst while helping to support Catholic Relief Services through Operation Rice Bowl.  The program comes with a calendar to help guide a family through Lent.  This is a great opportunity for you and your child to learn about other countries; for your child to use math to figure out the amount saved by certain fasting choices; or for your child to learn to cook basic foods, such as rice or noodles.  Make choices which get your child involved hands-on.

 

Living Water International

You may recall from our CGS newsletters during Advent that we provided a link to "Advent Conspiracy."  Living Water International is the organization supported by Advent Conspiracy.  This organization addresses the "most basic of needs by helping deprived communities acquire safe, clean water."  You can learn a lot from their web site, such as this fact:

"A child dies every 15 seconds because of the lack of clean water.  It costs us an average of $0.98 to provide clean, safe water to one person for one year:  every dollar makes a difference."

There are many creative ways that a family can contribute to a solution to this global crisis.  There's also a lot of great opportunity to exercise math skills.  For example, does your child drink juice from time to time?  Can you calculate the cost of one serving of juice or one juice box (about 15-40 cents)?  Stick two containers on your refrigerator, one full of dimes (labeled something like "Fast") and the other empty (labeled something like "Give").  Each time a family member opts for tap water instead of juice (or soda), they can move the right amount of dimes (whatever you decided, such as two dimes) from the "Fast" bucket to the "Give" bucket.  On Fridays your child can count by tens to calculate the dollars in the "Give" bucket.  (Then move all the dimes back to "Fast" and start over.)  Each dollar can be represented by one paper person (cut out simple paper dolls from some sort of catalog you would have recycled anyway).  Make a chain of paper people representing every dollar you have fasted in order to give to Living Water International.  Visually delight in how many people can receive the gift of clean water for one year due to your Lenten efforts.

 

For even more math and more water-awareness, credit yourself with savings for taking shorter showers or for turning off water while you soap and shampoo.  You can work with your child to estimate the cost of tap water and estimated savings from using less water.  However, since water is relatively inexpensive, you might want to attribute some other monetary crediting to this good environmental behavior in order to save more dimes and add more paper people to your Living Water people chain.

 

Did you know that "Clean water combined with hand washing can eliminate 70% of disease?" (http://www.water.cc/schools/)  How about crediting yourself with one dime before every time you wash your hands during Lent.  Your Living Water people chain will grow a lot!  And every time you wash your hands (something you may take for granted), you'll remember how something so basic can make a huge difference.

 

Heifer International

Could your family save up enough to give chickens, rabbits, or a sheep to a family in need?  Through Heifer International, you can do just that:

"With gifts of livestock and training, we help families improve their nutrition and generate income in sustainable ways. We refer to the animals as "living loans" because in exchange for their livestock and training, families agree to give one of its animal's offspring to another family in need. It's called Passing on the Gift - a cornerstone of our mission that creates an ever-expanding network of hope and peace." (citation)

You can watch a short video about Heifer.  Consider whether this Easter the baskets you give contain a Heifer chick or bunny.  Maybe your child can save toward this cause by taking on a pet-care chore and receiving a dollar each time they do it.  Think about animal-related works that can lead to savings toward Heifer livestock.

 
 
Please provide comments about this newsletter to Lina Hilko, the editor, at LHilko@aol.com and/or Sarah Coles, St. Teresa's Director of Religious Education, at SEColes@gmail.com.