The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

 The Pharisee and the Tax Collector, a Level II material.  The wooden doors represent the Temple of Jerusalem and I painted the doors golden as they were the doors leading to the Holy of Holies, the Arc of the Covenant.  No one but the priests could enter this sacred place and so the Pharisee stands and prays close to the door while the humble Tax Collector stays far away.
It is an interesting scripture on humility and how we should pray and think of ourselves.

If I haven't already mentioned it, Level I in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is for 3 to 6 years olds.  Level II is for 6 to 9 year olds.  Sophia Cavelletti is the founder of this beautiful program.  She passed away in her eighties last year.  She studied Maria Montessori, who was a doctor and gave up that profession to study how children learn and at what ages and stages they understand and have knowledge.  Sophia Cavelletti was a Biblical Scholar and a scientist who studied children for twenty years as to how they learned the Bible based on Montessori's studies.  She found that three year olds, for example, loved the Good Shepherd because they wanted to feel safe.  She was also a writer for Vatican II.  So I am always confident when presenting these Bible Stories that the children will have understanding of what Jesus was saying and will really enjoy them.  In fact, they are so attentive and can hardly wait to get to work on their own with these materials.

It is wonderful to see one child reading the Scripture while another child works with the materials.  They get it.