The Gatekeeper
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, All Levels
October 12, 2010 - Levels 1,2,&3, Issue 01 |
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| Dear CGS Parent, | 
This week marks the beginning of the 2010/2011 catechetical year. It is a joy to welcome children back for the second year in St. Teresa's beautiful, dedicated space for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Please help support the catechist's efforts to convey to children that this is a special place and special time. This truly is holy ground!
This marks our third year of providing newsletters to CGS parents. Since Catechesis will now meet more frequently (3 times per month, except October which is twice), we will not provide newsletters every week we meet. We will try to cover two or three sessions per newsletter and try to stagger the newsletters for different Levels. This first newsletter is combined for all levels since many families are multi-level.
Since newsletters won't come out every time Catechesis meets, please do not count on newsletters as a reminder of scheduling. Please take time now to write each meeting date into your calendar (even buy your 2011 calendar now). The schedule does not follow a consistent pattern, but rather is designed around holiday and other logical breaks.
We hope these newsletters help parents to connect with their child's experience in the Atrium (the CGS term for our space). But more importantly, we hope the newsletters nourish parents' own spirituality so that the family as a whole can grow at home.
May your family be guided lovingly by the Good Shepherd this year!
Peace,
Sarah Coles (Director of Religious Education)
Lina Hilko (editor)
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The Good Shepherd
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I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd.
What joyful news!
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd initiates the child's relationship with the Father through his Son. We can read in John 14:6 Jesus' words, "No one can come to the Father except through me." Thus, the central proclamation CGS gives to the youngest children is the parable-allegory of the Good Shepherd found in John 10:1-18.
The complete parable is presented gradually over the course of Levels I and II, with specific portions being provided at appropriate times, based on the child's readiness. (Specifically, the hired hand and the wolf are presented in Level II but not in Level I.)
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Level I - Falling in Love
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The central aim that permeates Level I is to help the child fall in love with God. The time, space, and opportunity that Level I offers the child to fall in love with God through Jesus, the Good Shepherd, provides the solid foundation for the child's later moral formation because their whole life and all its moral choices can be built on the child's knowledge that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, loves them abundantly, completely, and perfectly. Their life becomes a joyful response to that gift of love.
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Level II - Remain in My Love
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I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.
In Level II, the image of the Good Shepherd is integrated with the image of Jesus as the True Vine. The complete text is John 15:1-10.
The word "remain" is repeated ten times in the first ten verses of John 15. It is a beautiful expression of both an announcement and an invitation. The invitation to remain is preceded by the reality (an announcement) that we are already in relationship; we are already in Christ. The 6-9 child is expanding from his original (3-6) supreme enjoyment of love and relationship to enjoyment combined with response (moral formation). The child's response to God's gift of love is compared to the fruit borne by the branches.
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Level III - Workers in the Vineyard
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Many Level III works revolve around the Plan of God strip. In Level II, children worked with various timelines tracing history from Creation through Redemption (the time initiated by Jesus' life, death, and resurrection) to Parousia (the time when God will be all in all). In Level III, the Plan of God strip focuses on a portion of this overall history - the part related to human beings. Two key messages are repeated throughout Plan of God presentations:
- A plan has existed all along in the mind of God to bring all people, all things, all of creation into the full enjoyment of God in a cosmic communion of love.
- The history of the Kingdom of God has been, and continues to be, written by people all over the world, of all types and all ages. We are each called to contribute to this history.
It is this final sentence that is foundational to Level III work. The 9-12 year-old child is called to write his or her "Blank Page," to actively collaborate with God, people and all of creation in building the Kingdom of God. We pray that this becomes a life-long dedication.
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Attendance
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Consistent attendance is very important to the flow of this program. Catechists have carefully planned the year's presentations, many building upon each other in series. Because we are meeting more frequently this year, we hope to create an environment where children, especially in upper levels, can work on more meaningful or longer-term projects. Parents help to convey the prioritization of building a relationship with God through their support of consistent attendance. If you ever have a conflict with your assigned day, please talk to Sarah Coles or your catechist to see if you can come a different day that week. We want to offer our support.
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Meet Level I
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The Level I catechists are:
Betsy Peterson, Martha Garcia Barragan, and Mairead Reidy on Tuesdays
Liza Bloomer and Anne Edwards on Thursdays
Kathy Murdock, Shannon Blaha, and Marilyn Slavin on Sundays
This week, Level I will hear the Parable of the Good Shepherd and will learn how we move and behave in this special place called Atrium. Next week, Level I will consider the Bible as the book through which people all over the world hear the voice of the Good Shepherd.
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Meet Level II
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The Level II catechists are:
Myrna Gomez and Audrey Cusack on Tuesdays
Barb McHugh and Erin Walsh on Thursdays
Jane Ott, Aimee Jaszczor, and Byrd Matejka on Sundays
This week, Level II will hear and reflect on the Parable of the Good Shepherd. In Level II, children compare the care provided by a hired-hand to that provided by the Good Shepherd who even lays down his life for the sheep. Next week, Level II will consider the Bible as one book made up of many books. The Bible is complex and rich.
Jane Ott will be absent from Catechesis at the beginning of the year as she awaits the birth of her child. However, we are scheduling substitutes, and we will pray for Jane and her baby, looking forward to the time she can rejoin Level II.
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Meet Level III
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The Level III catechists are:
Sarah Coles on Tuesdays
Lina Hilko on Thursdays
Paul Gilmet and Tom Kinsella on Sundays
Level III will begin the year discovering the Plan of God strip. In our second week, those children new to Level III will look more closely at the civilizations that were important to the Jewish people both before and after Christ, such as Sumerians, Egyptians, Babylonians, and Greeks, just to name a few. Children in their second year of this level will start a work on the Cardinal Virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance).
Please know that we are, even now, still looking for second catechists for Tuesday and Thursday in Level III. Perhaps you as a parent are not called to this ministry at this time. However, you may know someone for whom this would be a good and viable ministry. Being a catechist does require a decent amount of time and commitment, and so the "call" naturally depends on a personal invitation (and even a good dose of encouragement and prodding). Please help CGS by considering whether you know a potential catechist for our weekday meetings and invite that person to consider this gift to the children of St. Teresa. Anyone interested in even just exploring the opportunity further should talk to Sarah or Lina about possibilities.
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Please feel free to talk to Lina Hilko ( LHilko@aol.com) or Sarah Coles ( secoles@gmail.com) with your questions, comments or concerns about this e-newsletter. |
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