Be of love a little more careful than of anything.

This is the message on an embroidered plaque Dave and I received as a wedding gift. The words are simple but so true and so important. They are particularly important to families because the key way we learn about relationship - ideally healthy, loving relationship - is through our experiences within family. Probably the second most influential way to learn is through the significant communities to which we belong. In this way, St. Teresa offers a great gift to parishioners because this is a very strong community.

In the Gospel last Sunday, from Matthew 22:34-40, Jesus speaks what can be called the "summary of the law," which is this:

The first and greatest commandment:

and with all your mind.

The second is like it:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a faith formation journey designed around the developmental stages of the child and founded on this Gospel message.

The youngest children (ages 3-6) are in a sensitive period for relationship. It is the perfect stage to offer the child time and opportunity to fall in love with God through Jesus, the Good Shepherd. All future moral formation is to grow from a foundation of a deep, secure, and loving relationship with the Good Shepherd. The first and greatest commandment is all about being in love.

The 6-9 year old child develops a strong sense of social justice and fairness and could be said to be in the springtime of moral action. During the Level II years, the image of the Good Shepherd is integrated with the image of Jesus as the True Vine (John 15:1-10). Jesus says, "I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit ...." 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 of the True Vine. The healthy moral life is not to be imposed from without, but kindled from within, arising from loving relationship with God.

Level II is also a time to consciously consider, not only God's gift of love, but also God's abundant gifts of Creation. We are amazed by the vastness and greatness of God's history and begin to contemplate the question, "Who did all this for me?" As the child matures further, from Level II to Level III, we contemplate further, "What is my response?"

The 9-12 year old child is ready and able to apply moral rules to the child's own actions and choices. But in order to do so in a morally mature manner, it is important for the child to have experienced the earlier periods of development. These earlier proclamations (Good Shepherd and True Vine) turn the child naturally toward God, like a sunflower turns naturally toward light. Thus, the initial love of God with all of one's being is ready to contemplate the key Level III messages centered on the Plan of God:

• A plan has always existed 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.

Indeed, we are each called to joyfully contribute to this awesome history by loving God and loving neighbor.

The greatest goal of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is to provide the time and space for the child to come into relationship with Jesus the Good Shepherd. One of the best ways that children learn how to be in good relationships is through the examples around them.

This coming Sunday, November 2nd at 9AM, St. Teresa holds its Children's Participation Mass. We invite all families to celebrate mass together as a community and within the greater community of St. Teresa of Avila. Join us for refreshments afterward and meet up with the families of your child's Atrium-mates. We invite the children to help in a variety of ways at the mass (greeters and ushers, reading the prayers of the faithful, bringing up the gifts). If your child can help, please email to Kate Lynch (kolynchdre@gmail.com).

Additionally, we will hold intimate family masses during the last 45 minutes of our Atrium sessions on Monday, November 17th and Tuesday, November 18th. (Sunday families are welcome to come to one of these masses. Otherwise, regular Sunday Atrium will still be held on Sunday, November 16th, even though it doesn't include a mass during Atrium.) All three levels have been receiving presentations over the past 2-3 weeks that help them connect better to the mass. At least once a year, we celebrate parent/child mass during Atrium in order to really notice the articles, gestures, vestments, and prayers to which children have been introduced in the Atrium.