The Gatekeeper
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Level III February 1, 2011 - Level 3, Issue 4
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| Dear CGS Level III Parent, | 
Children in their first year of Level III this week begin a series of three presentations on Creation. These presentations are part of the Level III category called Typology. The 12/1/2010 e-newsletter contained an article explaining typology (click here for the archived copy). Did you know that the Bible has preserved for us two accounts of Creation? We will read and discuss the first account this week (2/1, 3, or 6) and the second account next week 2/8, 10, or 13). The last week of February (2/22, 24, or 27) we will work with materials which help children experience the typological method of reading the Bible. This material helps the children apply the typological method to the unity of the entire Plan of God - past, present, and future. This material helps us see how Jesus' life connects with Creation and how our liturgy and sacraments today also connect us to Creation. How will such connections continue and increase all the way until Parousia, when God is all in all? Please make every effort toward good attendance in these three sessions. These studies benefit from engaged discussion from the entire group, and there is no ability to make-up a lost Bible study in Atrium (limited time; limited catechists). You can coordinate with Sarah Coles if you need to switch Atrium days one week. If missing a Bible study is unavoidable, but you would be willing to read and discuss the missed Creation account with your child at home, please e-mail Lina Hilko for support. Thanks for your efforts. Children in their second or third year of Level III will likely work on something else in the Atrium while the first-year group studies Creation. However, all parents are invited to read about Creation below because you never know when and how you will be invited to connect with your child on this rich topic. As always, do feel free to ask any catechist questions if we can help support your work with your children. Thanks. Peace,The Level III catechist team: Sarah Coles on Tuesdays Lina Hilko on Thursdays Tom Kinsella and Paul Gilmet on Sundays |
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| Eyewitness News? | From History's Golden Thread: The History of Salvation by Sofia Cavalletti, page 25:
What is contained in the first and second chapters of Genesis is obviously not a chronicle of the events of creation as recorded by eyewitnesses. In these chapters we find the response Israel has given to the basic questions, "Where did the world come from? Where did humankind come from?" But Israel has answered this question as ... a people who find themselves in a special relationship with God. Therefore, the creation accounts in Genesis are the product of God's work within a human author, a process called inspiration. This means that the text has been written with particular guidance from God, such that God is in some way its author.
In our Bible studies during the first two weeks of February, we will primarily ask ourselves, "Who is the God we meet in these pages of Genesis?" At some point - maybe right now, maybe years from now - each of us hopefully extends the questioning further to ask, "Who is God? Who are we? What is our relationship?"
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| Creation - The First Account | The first account of Creation is recorded in Genesis 1:1 - 2:3. In this account, God creates the earth from nothingness. The account employs the terms "day" and "week" as basic divisions of time which are not to be taken literally.
God's creative process is planned, structured, ordered, rhythmic. The repetition of certain phrases (e.g., "and there was evening and there was morning") underscores this rhythm and lends a poetic beauty to the intentional unfolding of God's work.
God's creative acts are accomplished by His word, and the creative word produces results immediately, without delay ("And it was so"). This is a very powerful God. The children will learn the word "transcendent" for this quality of God. In Isaiah 55:1-11, we can hear stated of God, "As high as the heavens are above the earth so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts."
After each creative act, we hear, "God saw that it was good." These words underscore the positive nature of creation. So, with God, goodness accompanies power.
We will consider the order of creation, particularly when human beings are created relative to all else. What does the order tell us about God? About us? About our relationship? We will consider what it means for humankind to be made in the image and likeness of God.
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Creation - The Second Account
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In the second week of February, we will continue to ask ourselves, "Who is the God we meet in these pages of Genesis?" And we ask, "Who are we? What is our relationship?" The second account of Creation is recorded in Genesis 2:4-25. In this account, God begins His work by creating man. Everything else is created for man's sake. We'll read, "the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life." These words remind me of a song we sometimes (not often) sing at mass that says, "Abba, abba Father, you are the potter; we are the clay, the work of your hands." This God appears as an artist, and He is very intimate with us. He holds us quite close and breaths life into us. In the first account of Creation, we meet a very powerful God, "transcendent." In the second account, we meet a God that is very near, inextricably related to us. In theology, this quality is termed "immanent." It means "existing or remaining within, indwelling." Perhaps a good scriptural reference is found in 1st Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20 (which also forms the basis for one of the Maxims in our Maxim cabinet), which states, "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? ... Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?" This account in Hebrew uses some play on words to convey the connection of humanity to earth and of man and woman. The Hebrew word for the created man is "adam," and he is created from the earth or ground, "adamah." What does this word play tell us about the thoughts of the people who wrote this account? Perhaps we are reminded of the words we sometimes hear on Ash Wednesday, "Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return." The Hebrew word for woman is "isha," and the woman is created from the man, "ish." Here we can see an example whereby a religious institution, in this case marriage, is reflected in the Creation account. In the study of the first account, we saw a reflection of the institution of a holy day of rest devoted to God, the Sabbath for the Jewish people. We will compare and contrast the two Creation accounts, which are really so very different from each other. How can God be both transcendent and immanent? Why were these two accounts preserved in the Bible? If they are so different, one from the other, can we be learning about the same God? The same humanity? |
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Please feel free to talk to me or email me ( LHilko@aol.com) if you have questions or comments about this information.
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