This week in Level II, first year children were presented a "Archival" type book that was handcopied and adorned with special pictures to help them think about Where the Bible Came From. It was awesome to see the children so engaged with the story of this ancient book that really is the history of the Kingdom of God. In the Sunday class, we sat near the Blue Strip which also titled "The History of the Kingdom of God" and the children were drawn even deeper into this amazing plan that God had from the beginning of time.
Two boys from our 5:15 class (one 3rd grader and one 1st grader) have been working especially hard at recreating the Blue Unity Strip together. One child has busied himself at redrawing all of the pictures on a long piece of adding paper, "This is the best horse I ever made!" and the other has gotten a good deal of tape and copied down the many, many words that accompany the work to attach it to his friends' work. They hope to finish it this week.
The Wedding Feast material was presented to many 3rd graders this week, and can be a very intense work, since it involves the murder of the King's servants, the anger of the King, and the opening of the Feast to all people, good and bad. The children were asked to think about the man who came without a wedding garment. In those days, guests to weddings were actually given a wedding garment to wear. Why would this man refuse to wear the garment? Many of the children simply pondered this question, and will undoubtedly go deeper with this work over the next few years. For us, though, we know that this garment reminds us of the garment that we were given at Baptism, the garment of worship. We are all offered this gift, and it is important that we bring it unstained into the eternal banquet.
Two boys from our 5:15 class (one 3rd grader and one 1st grader) have been working especially hard at recreating the Blue Unity Strip together. One child has busied himself at redrawing all of the pictures on a long piece of adding paper, "This is the best horse I ever made!" and the other has gotten a good deal of tape and copied down the many, many words that accompany the work to attach it to his friends' work. They hope to finish it this week.
The Wedding Feast material was presented to many 3rd graders this week, and can be a very intense work, since it involves the murder of the King's servants, the anger of the King, and the opening of the Feast to all people, good and bad. The children were asked to think about the man who came without a wedding garment. In those days, guests to weddings were actually given a wedding garment to wear. Why would this man refuse to wear the garment? Many of the children simply pondered this question, and will undoubtedly go deeper with this work over the next few years. For us, though, we know that this garment reminds us of the garment that we were given at Baptism, the garment of worship. We are all offered this gift, and it is important that we bring it unstained into the eternal banquet.
The final story I have to share is from the 7pm atrium. All of our children who are planning to enroll in First Communion preparation have now signed their names in gold and placed their name cards on our special board. One 3rd grade girl chose to make a replica of this board, name for name, even to the point of outlining each card twice. She wanted to take her replica home and place it by her bed so that she could remember to pray for her classmates each night. The children were very taken with this, and all of the 2nd graders wanted to make sure that their names were on her paper. It is very sweet to see love for each other growing in their little hearts.
The atrium really is a different approach to faith formation. Nearly every week the children are presented with some new work (we usually call it a Presentation) which can take anywhere from 10-30 minutes, and either before or after this they are given an opportunity to do their "free work." This work will vary from child to child, but the environment is prepared for them so that they can work. Contemplation and understanding stem from 3 things: material-something to think about, silence-a chance to work without distraction, and time-that mysterious agent that causes growth, though we do not know how or why. It is when we offer these 3 things that we truly begin to see the depth of the Religious Potential of the Child.
God Bless,
Mandie DeVries,
Catechist & Director of Faith Formation
The atrium really is a different approach to faith formation. Nearly every week the children are presented with some new work (we usually call it a Presentation) which can take anywhere from 10-30 minutes, and either before or after this they are given an opportunity to do their "free work." This work will vary from child to child, but the environment is prepared for them so that they can work. Contemplation and understanding stem from 3 things: material-something to think about, silence-a chance to work without distraction, and time-that mysterious agent that causes growth, though we do not know how or why. It is when we offer these 3 things that we truly begin to see the depth of the Religious Potential of the Child.
God Bless,
Mandie DeVries,
Catechist & Director of Faith Formation
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