The Gatekeeper
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Level I October 11, 2011 - Level 1, Issue 02 |
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| Dear CGS Level I Parent, |  We hope the first day of Atrium went smoothly for your young ones. If you didn't get to meet your catechist, please feel free to stop in and introduce yourself this week. Last week, we wrote of unfilled needs for catechist assistants. We're happy to write that all spots have now been filled. We're grateful to God's grace and people's courage for stepping into what can be a mysterious role. This week, Level I children will be introduced to, or will consider again, the deep love and care of the Good Shepherd found in John 10. They will also continue to discover the Atrium and the works that are available. Parents help to convey the importance of building a relationship with God through their support of consistent attendance. Young children especially benefit from consistency and repetition; so, breaks in the routine are disproportionately disruptive to the littlest. If you ever have a conflict with your assigned day, feel free to talk to Kate Lynch to see if you can come a different day that week. We want to offer our support. Of course, we understand that kids get sick, especially the youngest, and we want to keep our Atria as healthy as possible. So, be faithful and be wise, too. It is important to notify Kate Lynch in advance if your child will be absent. This is both a courtesy to your catechist for their day's planning and a means of ensuring safety within our program. Kate's e-mail address is kolynchdre@gmail.com.
Peace,
The Level I catechist team:
Betsy Peterson and Mairead Reidy on Tuesdays
Carol Cade, Geneva Gorgo, and Alyssa Hilko on Thursdays
Myrna Gomez and Gina Raffin on Sundays
and Lina Hilko (editor)
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Falling In Love
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The central aim that permeates all of the Level I presentations and experiences is to help the child fall in love with God. It's beautiful just to rest in that concept for a moment ....
Level I children, who are 3 to 6 years of age, are in a "sensitive period" (a Montessori term) for relationship. I really like the description in 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.
The 3-6 child isn't in a sensitive period for moral formation; that will start to emerge in Level II. But 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 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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Feed My Sheep
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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 in Level I 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.)
Consider taking time yourself to read and reflect on the parable of the Good Shepherd. When you nourish yourself spiritually, your child is nourished as if by osmosis.
Our text in Atrium is scripture, usually read directly from the Bible. Parents are always encouraged to read from the Bible at home. But you can also build wonderful bridges between Atrium and home by reading illustrated books with your children. There are various books that connect to the parable of the Good Shepherd, the parable of the lost (found!) sheep, and Psalm 23 (the Lord is my Shepherd). Look for something simple and beautifully illustrated which, ideally, uses scripture directly or stays very close to the original words of scripture. Also, there are some interesting books built around the Our Father prayer and beautiful books of Psalms. If you are interested in more specifics, consider asking your catechist or stop by Level III, which has a great library of beautiful books. Any Level III catechist (or the kids, for that matter) should be able to show you some of our favorites, especially our book of Psalms.
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Food for (Parental) Thought
| You might have noticed and wondered about the title of this newsletter: The Gatekeeper. There was no nationwide naming contest, but there was some tie to Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, at least in my mind. The "gatekeeper" is mentioned in John 10: 1 - 4.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber. But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and 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.
One of the harder things I have learned (and am still learning) as a catechist is to stop myself from interpreting, explaining, or defining - to simply present and facilitate the children's discovery of meaning and purpose. Parables can speak uniquely to each individual. The same parable can provide a different message at different points in one person's life. And the characters and objects in the parable can change in meaning.
Who is the Gatekeeper? I wonder.
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Feel free to comment on this information to Lina Hilko, LHilko@aol.com, the editor and/or Kate Lynch, kolynchdre@gmail.com, St. Teresa's Director of Religious Education. Thanks!
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