In Atrium just before the Easter break, we celebrated a ritual Passover Seder, and I think it was an enriching experience for everyone - children, as well as the adults who could attend. This is an opportune time to remember the gift of space that enables such meaningful experiences. It is natural to take space for granted. We assume it's a given in providing education services. But Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at St. Teresa's has worked through many years of challenge, often tied to space and sometimes to staffing, to reach its current level of stability and success in our parish. Space and staff are a gift from the parish community which demonstrates tangibly the community's baptismal commitments to its children to raise them in the faith which we profess together.

I hope some of you had a chance to glimpse the sunny Atrium with the spacious Seder table set beautifully with real dishes and glassware from St. Teresa's kitchen. Let us not take for granted such wonders as our large, welcoming rooms; the very practical new door connecting Parish Center to Religious Education Center; and all the conveniences of a well-equipped kitchen for food preparation and dish clean-up.

Not least on our list of gratitude should be the staff at St. Teresa's who make the work of volunteer catechists feasible and easy. Kate Lynch, Tom Micinski, and Sergio Mora all helped set up and clean up for this occasion, as they do all the time in order to keep our space serving multiple important ministries.

The Seder is a new addition to the Level III curriculum which is, in part, made possible through the stability afforded to CGS through beautiful space and wonderful staff. We should look forward to continued enriching ideas and experiences, especially as we all prepare for the dual anniversaries in 2015 of 125 years as a parish and 500 years since the birth of our patron, St. Teresa of Avila, an inspiring woman, scholar, and leader. It is meaningful that our patron and our catechesis program share in their dedication to prayer and in their desire to foster ever deeper personal relationship with God.

The complete Bible study of Moses and the Exodus covered

• "Birth and Vocation of Moses;"
• "Passover, Exodus and crossing the Red Sea;"
• "Sojourn in the Desert;" and
• "Gift of the Law."

Our study of "Sojourn in the Desert" helped us learn of the earliest stages of God's solidification of the relationship with Israel called "covenant." God provides the necessities of the body - water, food, safe shelter - as the most basic foundation for covenant. The people are still very reticent to trust in God and be obedient to Him. Their relationship to God is peppered with frequent complaint and disobedience, even defiance.

In "Gift of the Law," we see the blossoming of communal worship and experience how this process helps solidify the covenant relationship. The articles of worship that the people build (for example, the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant) are physical signs of the deepening covenant relationship within the people's hearts. By the end of this study, we see a very different people: faithful, strong, organized, unified under God with shared purpose. Once this transformation occurs, they are ready to enter, through the waters of the Jordan, into the land of Canaan, the land promised by God to Abraham.

This has also been a time to reflect on the value of freedom. We have talked at various times in the studies about how freedom is desired and essentially "good," but at the same time requires change and effort on the part of the free human being. Freedom may be good, but it isn't easy. We see this every day in the world around us, in all kinds of governance structures. So, our studies of the Exodus and the journey of Israel as they become the people of God are relevant to us today and throughout our lives as we, too, strive for constant transformation to work toward God's greatest vision of one, global People of God.