I found the following article on my jumpdrive, dated in 2014. The file has my name on it, but did I write this? The file name also has the name of our local diocesan newspaper. Was this published?I don't even know! I don't remember writing this, but it IS my style! I am happy to have someone else say "nope, that's mine!" ;)
I think I would like to add more about the long-term experience of the child who has been in the atrium.
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I have been
part of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for more than 10 years, in a variety of
roles. My participation began before I became a mother and has only become more
intense through experiencing the depths of our faith through my son’s deepening
relationship with the Good Shepherd.
Catechesis
of the Good Shepherd is typically a once-a-week 90-120 minute gift for the
children and the catechists to delve into the depths of the most essential
elements of our Faith. Level 1 is for ages 3-6; Level 2 is for ages 6-9; and
Level 3 is for ages 9-12+. A child who attends all three levels of the atrium
(the designated space for the CGS materials) will move through the stages of
recognizing their relationship with the Good Shepherd (level 1), recognizing
and desiring a response to this relationship – to remain with Him and follow
His teachings, His voice (Level 2), and finally actively seeking to serve Him
through the initial discernment of vocation, the child’s personal place in the
Plan of God (level 3). Ideally, these experiences can be followed up into
adolescence to further develop the history of the Kingdom of God through the
Church, through vocation studies, ever-preparing for the Parousia, when God
will be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28).
Indeed level
3, a space set aside for 9-12 year old children has so much for the adolescent
and the adult; a growing number of adults request to spend time in the level 3
atrium to expand and deepen their own faith.
The level 1 child focuses on Jesus – the visible, tangible reality
of the presence of God. We look to His life, His parables, His True Presence in
the Mass, the geography of Israel during His life on earth, always focusing on
the Church’s balance of Scripture and Liturgy, our primary sources for doctrine
in all the atrium levels; establishing the reality of
a current relationship with the Good Shepherd who knows me by name, loves me
and will do anything for me that is for my benefit of remaining with Him. This
is both enough and far more than enough.
God gave us His life, His Light, His joy in abundance.
The level 2
children expand this focus on the Good Shepherd into the reality that the Good
Shepherd came for all peoples of all times – those around the world, those who
came before us and those who will, God-willing, come after us. We explore all
the level 1 topics again, adding a few more parables, life events, moments of
the Mass, more geography, and now adding two key areas pertinent to this age:
Moral Formation (moral parables and Maxims – Jesus’ instructions for how to
live within the Kingdom of God) and finally, The History of the Kingdom of God
– several long timelines that show the expanse of this history, with the
particular moments of Creation, Redemption and Parousia, noting the Blank Page
of history being written right now, by people together with God, just as the
Bible came to us, work of human hands inspired by God.
We also
prepare for the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist, through
special times and retreats set aside for meditation on the True Vine parable,
the Loving Father (Prodigal Son), juxtaposing the Found Sheep and Found Coin
(Lost Sheep/Coin), and exploring the reality of the Healing of the Centurion’s
Servant. These are moments cherished by the children who have the opportunity
to delve into their faith with the responsibility of the choice they are making
to come to these sacred sacraments. Through these special sessions, tied
together with the atrium experience, the child’s sacramental preparation is
beyond all other programs I have experienced before I came to CGS or since.
In Level 3,
the children continue the same topics, but with fewer didactic materials and a
greater number of abstract materials. Now the child is being called, not just
to remain on the Vine, but to bear fruit – what is YOUR place in the Kingdom of
God? We explore all 7 sacraments in depth, deepen moral formation, study the
virtues, introduce the Liturgy of the Hours, explore each and every prayer of
the Mass, and begin a study of Typology – the Church’s practice of seeking
Jesus in the Old Testament and Jesus’ fulfillment of the Old Testament in the
New – and the as yet unfulfilled prophecies that will come at the end of time:
Parousia. Now we deepen our exploration of this
"response". It is more than a passive remaining now. It is an active
seeking. An active response in thanksgiving for the great gifts that God has
bestowed upon us, for the reasons He created us and loves us. What will fill my
blank page? How will I respond to the gifts of God? God has a Plan - how do I
fit in and how can I help it move along towards the final moment of the
Parousia? We explore the History even further: the Jewish
People, Typology of Creation, Sin, Flood, Abraham and Moses/Exodus; Parousia
when "God will be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28).
At each level, the child returns to the same themes, going ever deeper and truly
experiencing his identity in the Kingdom of God.
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