The Mystery of Life and Death (The Growing Seed)

The Grain of Wheat  and the Growing Seed

  In Level II, this has become my setup for the planting of the seeds after presenting "The Grain of Wheat" or as we also know it to be called, "The Mystery of Life and Death."

This was an extremely difficult parable for me to grasp each year comparing it to the Grain of Wheat."  So I studied it carefully and thoughtfully each year before I presented it.  What was difficult for me was the metaphor of the seed itself.  I've had to wrestle with this a lot.  So I've come up with this.  It is actually the entire plant that dies though the seeds, still living, fall to the earth and then create the new life of another new plant.  We are to compare that to ourselves, "dying to self," to mean we give up the material world and things that mean so much to us in life, so that we recreate ourselves to live only for God.  So perhaps we explain it just like that - that the plant in dying is like us dying (but to self and our material world) and in doing so spread our love (seeds) to all others in the world giving example and spreading the word of God verbally and by example and creating (new plants) i.e. new lives, living for God as Christians.  I like that explanation best.  If anyone has a better analogy to offer, please share.  I heard an interesting take in a homily at daily mass today.  Father said there are more storage sheds in the United States than homes.  People worship their belongings, their false Gods.  They should give these "things" to the poor.  How true.

Setup in the Atrium:  As you can see I spread plastic under and on the tables.  It is the messiest project of all and so in Level II I save this until the end of the year and have it spread out like this for the last four or five classes.  That way anyone who was absent will get to do it as well.  I do the same for "The Leaven," as this is another messy one and unlike the other work in the atrium, these two Parables every child will want to do that same day.  I set these two materials up for four children to work at the same time, so that's why you see four scoops.  There are 15 children in each of my Level II classes and I've found that doing it this way gives everyone in the atrium a chance to do it within the hour that we have left after the presentation.   We only have one and a half hours for our atrium.  It's actually two hours in many atria.  Smaller classes can do it

twice.

I usually do the  "Parable of the Growing Seed" also as this parable also compares the seed to us and how we grow in our faith, but you can't see us growing in God any more than we can see our bodies growing.  Almost all of our Level II students have never been to Level I.  Every class is different, so this should be what is best for the children and the catechist's discretion.  For example, you may only have this material set up for one person to work at a time just as we do the other materials.  Level I does not do group work like we do in Level II.   So it makes sense to set it up for one person in that context. 

The Empty Tomb

Kim Sisson, a Level I trainer made the tomb.  It was made during one of the Level I training sessions.  It can be made with Joint Compound or paper mache.  I've used both of these materials.  They both need a solid shape to apply these mediums.  Kim made a wood diorama and then used Styrofoam and casting material for the top.  This made it lighter and easier to carry, she said.  The base was pretty big and cumbersome for a child to carry, so I used the buzz saw to round the edges and then painted it.  You can make the texture with a trough or a sponge.  I've blown up a balloon and then applied paper mache to make giant Easter Eggs in the past. This is another method to make the tomb.  The next day it becomes solid.  Then you can break the balloon and the shape will be intact.  The rolled rock and base are made of a thin plywood.

 I did make the figures, however, out of Sculpy Clay.  I love working with it.  You make the shapes and then bake them at 275 degrees for 15 minutes per half inch.  So I usually bake them for a half an hour.  However, you should check on them at 15 minutes.  If you smell them, you know they're done.  I've had them look too dark but once I've painted them, you couldn't tell that I over baked them.

Below we put wooden separators in the box to hold them in place.  I just repainted the figures and made a new kneeling apostle as I didn't like the old one very much. 

 

There were questions about the people who saw Jesus after He left the women at the tomb and about the Ascension.  So I read from the Bible in Mark 16:19-20 - The Ascension of Jesus.