The Holy Bible

 Introducing the Books of the Bible to the children is challenging at best.   I tell them that Bible means "book of many books" and that there are 73 books in the Bible.  I ask them, "What do you notice about these books?"  They usually respond that they are all different sizes.  Which I then explain means the length of the book.  If it's tall that means there are more pages in the book.  If it is short this means that it's a very small book with fewer pages.  Then someone notices the colors.  I explain that the red books are all the Old Testament which tells the history of the Jews and begins with creation until the Parousia which is when we will see God in heaven in his radiant beauty or as the Bible says, "in His all and all." There are 46 books in the Old Testament.  The green books represent the New Testament and there are only 27 and these tell of Jesus when he lived on earth.

I begin by telling the children about the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.   That the Jewish people call this The Torah and it is the Jewish Law that they believe Moses handed down to them.  Genesis is the first book which tells of creation.  Exodus is a book that tells how the people escaped the Egyptians after 400 years in slavery.  I tell them about the parting of the Red Sea and give them the background.  Leviticus, the third book, I tell them, teach the Levite priests how to take care of the temple and set everything up according to their laws.  They needed new laws for everything as they had never been free men before.  Numbers, the fourth book, was a census of all the Jewish people who had spread out in many different places.  Deuteronomy, the fifth book, tells them the "Second Law," as Deutero means second.  They needed laws on how to live as good neighbors just as we do.

I then tell them that the next group of books are The Historical Books, which tell the history of the Jewish people when they get out of slavery and how they live their lives back then.  I pick up the smallest book in the group and I tell them that this is the Book of Ruth.  It may be very small but it is very important in this history.  She was the great grandmother of the greatest King of Israel - King David, an ancestor of Jesus Christ.  Then I tell the entire story of Ruth.

Afterward, I give out a Bible to each child and show how Bibles come in all shapes and sizes.  We read the story of Creation as the children take turns.  This will conclude their introduction to the Bible.  On another week I'll talk to them about the History Books and the following week the Wisdom Books.

I usually save the bottom shelf to discuss right before Christmas as we do some of the prophecies right before Christmas and we do all the Nativity Narratives from the New Testament.

In the photo below the boys are doing the Giant Bible Puzzle.  There is one for the Old Testament and a separate one for the New Testament.  These boys have worked on this for three weeks. 

Feast of Pentecost - Last Class of the year

 As this is the last class and Pentecost is still four weeks away, I explain this using the Liturgical Calendar so we get plenty of practice with it.   Since the first Sunday of June will be Ascension Sunday, I read to them from Acts about the Ascension.  Afterwards we begin discussing the Trinity, as the second Sunday of June is Trinity Sunday.  Before they go for the summer I want to be sure that all questions are answered regarding these feasts.  Finally we begin with the Bible story of Pentecost and I tell them what it was like back then for the Apostles.  They were so frightened and locked the doors until a driving loud wind came thru the room and tongues of fire appeared over their heads.  Then I light the candle and begin reading the Scripture.  We discuss how the Apostles received all those gifts that day and they gained great courage and were no longer afraid to go outdoors and teach the people about Jesus.  In fact, they could speak in many languages.  Then I light the Paschal Candle and tell them to listen carefully as I describe each gift because I will ask them to choose which gift they would like to have for themselves if they could have just one. 

  As I light the first candle from the Paschal Candle, I name a gift and ask a child to read the meaning of the gift from the poster.  Then I talk about it more while placing a small card naming the gift in front of the candle.  I light each candle from the Paschal Candle and do the same until all seven gifts are explained.  I just noticed that while taking this photo I left out the 7th Gift - Fear of the Lord "Awe"  (Will correct at a later date).

  Now I ask each child which gift they have chosen.  When they choose their gift, I give them their own red votive candle to hold during the ceremony which is lit from the specific gift candle.  They love this ceremony and take it very seriously when choosing.

    I always give them a little foldout booklet of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit which I order from Autom every year.  It also gives the definition of each.  This year we made a mobile of a dove out of a paper plate with the 7 Gifts hanging from it to take home.  I also have the Venn Diagram of the Trinity pictured above the prayer table which I give them to color every year.   Another diagram I give out is of a tree showing the roots of the tree as the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, while the Fruits of the Holy Spirit are named on all the branches. 

The Fettuccia - the Story of Creation, the Parable of the Leaven and Calligraphy

The Parable of the Leaven I save until the very end of the year.  We have one more class after this which will be the Pentecost Celebration, a candle ceremony.  The children love making the Leaven Bread and I tell them to take their biscuit home and bake it at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.   Then they can put butter, jelly or icing on it.  When the class is as big as this one is they can only make one biscuit so that everyone has a chance to do this work.  I am so thankful to have a wonderful aide who is supervising the children do this while I take care of the rest of the class.  There are 15 in the class.  Today I let four of the boys go outside and do The Fettuccia - a big favorite while waiting their turn to do The Leaven.  The Fettucia is one of the first presentations I give in Level II.  In Arizona it's too cold and windy in the winter and now that it's Spring, the weather is perfect for it,   Next week it will be the girl's turn.  These are some of the photos I took from today's class and the different work they chose to do. 

 The above photo shows how I set the materials up before the children get to the atrium.  I keep warm water in the coffee pot.  Two buckets of soapy water and clear water with towels are for clean up after each child's work.  We write their names on the plastic cups in felt tip to take home.

I first review the Kingdom of God and the Mustard Seed, The Pearl of Great Price and the Hidden Treasure.  And tell them that this is another way Jesus told the people what the Kingdom of God was like.  I explain to them what yeast really is - a living organism!  This really gains their attention.  I make one batch without the yeast and one with.  I cover it and at the end of the class they will discover how the yeast actually raises the dough double the size. 

 

 The Fettuccia

        Sometimes the children come late in the year and have missed this work.  So I make sure they come outside with this group and explain the Fettuccia - The Story of Creation to  these latecomers.  (Fettuccia is Italian for ribbon.)

        This boy is placing the symbol which represents the explosion scientists call "The Big Bang" and the Bible verse that goes with creation, "God created the heavens and earth and all things" - Creation.  

        In the photo below the boys have placed the "gaseous globe" which represents earth and the other planets millions of years after creation.  This is when the planets were so hot and there were explosions everywhere.  But then it rains for millions and millions of years, and finally the earth symbol is placed on the blue ribbon representing the earth and other planets cooling down as now the waters recede from the land and there are distinct continents on earth.

       The boy in the photo below is reading aloud the Story of Creation as the others participate by adding the wooden materials which tell the story.

       The blue ribbon then becomes brown, representing earth.  The first plant cell symbol is placed and tens of thousands of years later there are trees, plants and flowers all over the world and those symbols are placed.  We always discuss how we need oxygen from the plants to breath and our symbiotic relationship with growing things.  We discuss how everything has a purpose under heaven.  Finally there are animals - fish, birds and horses.  (All the symbols are cutout and made from wood.)

     Below the boys are now placing the first man and now it is time for Jesus to be born and die on the cross for our Salvation - Redemption.  The two Bible verses are also placed about God creating man in his own image and later when God felt the time was right for man to be born.  Finally Jesus' birth and death on the cross - our Redemption!  A Star, a Risen Christ is placed along with the Bible verse.




Finally, there is a white ribbon which represents present time.  The boys place the white pages which are blank.  This represents our personal history on earth and how we will live out our lives.

Finally the symbol for the Parousia is placed along with the Bible verse where we will see "God in His All and All."  (photo below)

This boy is reeling in the ribbon after everyone is finished.  They all help putting materials away.







We use a small plastic container placed in a wooden cart with wheels.  (shown below)  So it can be dragged along as the children place the materials and put them away.  It's easily stored under one of our tables in the atrium.

There is also art work that goes along with this work on Creation as there is for every Bible Story in the atrium.  Two of the boys decided to make the Creation Book as they came later in the year and didn't know this work.  So here is one of the boys working on it below.

                                         Calligraphy

Four of the children spent their time tracing calligraphy letters from the calligraphy books.  These are presented as the way the Bible was made in ancient times by hand.  

The Seven Sacraments - and The Easter Prayer Table

 The Seven Sacraments - a Level III material (ages 9 - 12)

I had wanted to do this material for a few years now because it bothered me that the children were receiving two sacraments and had no idea that there were others.  I needed to introduce them I felt.  So as I've caught up on making all Level I and II materials, I was very interested in creating this work.  I followed the directions from a CD given to me from our former DRE who had taken Level III training.  I used foam board to make these symbol cards.  I asked my husband to make the stand for me to display them.  Then there are the puzzle pieces you see in the box.  The children need to match the symbol of the sacrament to the words and they fit perfectly in the empty squares naming the sacrament at the top.  (top left)  Notice there are little nobs at the bottom of the symbol pieces to pull them out of the empty square pieces.  Since we had a 1 hour rehearsal for First Communion today, I used the 10 minutes before we started practice in the church to introduce the new material and the last half hour of class when we returned to the atrium to show them how the material works.  The children seem anxious to do this puzzle work.  It's important they understand that in addition to their Baptism, they will be receiving two more sacraments before the end of the year.  It's important that they understand what a sacrament is and that there are seven.

The Easter Prayer Table 

This small Entrance Table, which holds the holy water font, is decorated for each season.  To the left of the Entrance Table we have paper cups that we fill with fresh water for each class as we don't have a water fountain.  The children bless themselves when entering and leaving.  We also have a pitcher and bowl for washing hands in the atrium. All the religious pictures and plaques have been given to us as gifts.

Reenactment of The Last Supper 2019 and 2020

I made the changes to the script as I mentioned I would last year in "The Reenactment of the Last Supper" by simplifying the words.  It went perfectly and no one stumbled or needed help in reading.  I also lengthened the play to add the scenes of the arrest in the Garden and the Crucifixion.  It now takes an hour.
It appeared to be the perfect amount of time for the play as the children weren't begging to stay in their costumes as they usually are.  I am thinking of perhaps adding the Resurrection but doing that in another session.   That's something for me to consider in the future.  My schedule is full for Lent.  This week we have our First Reconciliation during class time.  That has worked out so much better for us than doing it on a Saturday.  The week after that we will do the "Meditations of the Passion," and the next week, the "Liturgy of the Light Ceremony." 

This is how I dressed the prayer table for Lent.  I've kept the True Vine cross with grapes on the prayer table and have made two posters.  One is "What is Lent?" and on the back, "When is Lent?"  On the right is a poster of the Paschal Candle.  I've included the question on the bottom of the Lent poster, "Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?"  Then I asked, "Why did the Jewish leaders want Jesus crucified?"  I wanted to make sure they understood these difficult responses before doing the Reenactment of the Last Supper.  I was happy in that at least three could answer each of these questions.  I've found that even though I can't always elicit answers from the others, they are thinking hard but just can't form the words.  Also, I have all 2nd graders this year.  In the past I've had 3rd graders as well and they ask very deep and thought provoking questions.

I set up the low tables before the children come in with the script booklets and names of the apostles, Mary and Mary Magdalene.  I've always included these women and it was especially appropriate this time because we did the crucifixion and I wanted them to be at the foot of the cross.

On the small table above is the wine chalice and the plate we will use.  I bring in Strawberry Lemonade for the wine and two bags of 20 tortillas for my two classes on Wednesday and Thursday.  I have 9 children in the Wednesday class and 15 in the Thursday class.  I lay one tortilla on the plate and a little lemonade in the chalice, telling the children that this is a play and they can pretend to break a piece off and take a sip.  They usually don't want to pretend with the tortillas.

They take the play very seriously and I stand on the side directing the scenes for those who didn't know it was their turn to speak.   I forgot to mention that I also lengthened the play by adding many narrations so that everyone would have a part.  So now they can't loose their place.  Children with reading and learning disabilities will need the extra help, of course.  I also added under their Apostle name on the name tags, the number of their narration part and the two who are soldiers who arrest Jesus.

When the Reenactment is over they ask if they can have a tortilla and they also get to enjoy the Strawberry Lemonade in paper cups - a little celebration for getting through the play and a job well done.

Reenactment of the Last Supper  -   2020

My aide and I getting the children ready to begin.  As there are no parts for the Apostles except John and Peter, the other children have 

a few narrations each.  We're showing them how to look for them.

The Wedding Feast (The Sacrament Retreat)

   The Wedding Feast 

   At the Sacrament Retreat, this is the third and last Parable that is presented.  The reason is because this is the hardest parable to analyze and teach to the children.  When I introduced parables I had told the children that Jesus had three purposes to teach using these parables.  The first was to teach how to treat your neighbor and that was discovered in the Good Samaritan.  The second was to teach how to pray and that was captured in the Insistent Friend parable.  The third reason Jesus taught these parables was to teach us how to get to heaven and how some people reject the call.  

When I start this presentation, I always ask, "How many of you have been to a wedding?"  Most often they have and I say, "Then you wore your very best clothes.  You would never have gone there dirty or with holes in your clothes as that would be an insult to the Bride and Groom's family who worked so hard to make the preparations and get the food ready so that it would be beautiful for everyone.  I show them the King and explain that he is giving a wedding to his son.  I place the other figures in the white robes for the children to see.  These other people have come to the wedding and as they have traveled so far by foot or donkey, it was customary for them to bath in a communal bath and dress in the beautiful robes provided by the King.  (The figure in the green robe I keep in the basket until he is introduced in the Bible Story.)

I take the children back to the Good Shepherd parable when I ask them, "Who is Jesus in this story and who are the sheep?"  "What is the Sheepfold?"  They know these answers and so I tell them I'm going to give them a clue because they already understand that the Sheepfold is either Heaven or the Church.  So the clue is that the Wedding Banquet Hall represents "Heaven."   I ask them to think about this carefully as I read the parable to them.

After reading the scripture I tell them that there are some different groups in this story who make very different choices.  So I ask, "Who are the people in the robes who have come to the wedding?"  I get some interesting answers, like "Angels and Saints."  Then I ask "Who are the people who refuse to come?"  One answer was, "They are sheep outside the sheepfold."  I was pleased with that answer as they refer back to the "Good Shepherd" parable to understand.  So "Yes," I say, "They are maybe people who don't believe in God (atheists) and no one has ever told them about Jesus. They could be people who just don't want to go to mass because their faith isn't very strong.  They could also be people of other faiths who go to other churches.  But then the King says, 'Go out into the byroads and invite the good as well as the bad.'  Do you remember in the Good Samaritan that he had compassion?   Jesus has compassion and he forgives all who come and ask forgiveness.  So if the bad come and put on the new garment, then they are ready to take the next step and begin to follow their faith.  They are ready to shed their old life of sin.  Then who is the person in the green garment who will not speak to the King or change into the new garment. But why then has he come?"  One answer surprised me, a boy said that this was the devil.

I tell the children that this man isn't ready to follow the Ten Commandments or the Maxims, words of Jesus on how to live his life. He is not ready to give up his old ways.  All he has to do is say, "Dear God, I'm sorry for my sins," and he will be welcomed.  But he is not ready.  When he is, the Lord will receive him with great rejoicing.

I say to the children that this is a special year for you all because you will be putting on a new garment and after saying that you are sorry for your sins in the sacrament of Reconciliation.  When you girls wear your beautiful white dresses and the boys wear their white shirts, ties, pressed pants and polished shoes, you are making a big change in your faith and now belong to the church family.  I also tell them how happy the people in the church are to see them receive the Blessed Sacrament.  They will watch them grow up by being altar servers, receiving Confirmation, joining choir or becoming a lector.  You will join the teen group and later graduate from high school and the parish will celebrate with you.  So the church family celebrates you and they will be watching and appreciating with joy.

This is my favorite parable and I always save it to last at the Sacrament Retreat because it is so rich in spiritual meaning.  

The Sacrament Retreat

  The Sacrament Retreat

Once a year we have a Sacrament Retreat at St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church to prepare our children for First Reconciliation and First Holy Eucharist.  We begin with the 9 a.m. Mass then go to our big gathering room, Madonna Hall, to split up into random groups by colors.  So there are four color groups and four rotations every 45 minutes.   Each of the three catechists do three Moral Parables which take about 15 minutes each.  Each of the four groups at some point during the day rotate to the church where there are two catechists who practice with them: one group go in the actual Confessional to learn how to go to Confession while the other group practice how to receive the host on their tongue and the wine.  We always have a wonderful hot dog luncheon for them with veges and dip, fruit cup and lots of homemade cookies and cupcakes.  They love this day!

Two weeks before this retreat, I have gone over the Ten Commandments and an examination of conscience which is a booklet I've made for all the students.  The next week we go over at least six of the Maxims with an examination of conscience in another booklet I've made for them.  In the inside cover of each of these booklets I've put the steps to go to Confession along with the Act of Contrition.   Our pastor has a specific version of this prayer that he wants the children to memorize.  I only mention this because each year we are joined by the local All Saints Catholic School for this retreat and they learn the old version.  (If anyone should want these booklets you can write to me and I will email them to you.)

In the above photo I show our prayer table and how I set it for this special day.  One of the parables of the day will be "The True Vine" given by one of the other catechists and so it is fitting to have the grapes on the vine as we refer back to this parable for the remainder of the year.  Actually the wrought iron cross that the grapes hang from was given to me by a very special friend,  Nellie Renterio, who I went through Level I and Level II training with in Phoenix. During my Level II training she let me stay with her every weekend.   I had to travel three hours to Phoenix and afterward three hours home, so she was a Godsend.  Those were long hard trips and I will never forget her hospitality and generosity to me.  So the cross has a special place in my home but I bring it into the atrium for the remainder of the year.  As you can see, "The Summary of the Law" sits at the left and "The Maxims" are to the right.  So I begin my lesson at the retreat with the "The Summary of the Law" and explain the Maxims as Jesus' own words in the Bible, as I really don't know if the other children have been taught them yet.

For the retreat I selected what I consider the most difficult of all the Moral Parables:  "The Good Samaritan," "The Insistent Friend," and "The Wedding Feast."  They tax my brain every year but  hopefully I've become better at teaching these difficult parables.   That being said, it's been seven years now that we've been preparing our children for the Sacraments and started Level II at our parish.  They become new again every year.

I begin the presentations as I said with "The Greatest of all Commandments."  I talk to them about how they are beautiful creations of God and that he loves us so much that he puts us on a pedestal and wants us to show our love to Him by loving each other.  Then I talk to them about Parables.  Some of these children may have never heard that word before and so I ask if anyone can tell me.  Then I explain what it was like 2,000 years ago when people had nothing like we do today.  We live like Kings and Queens with electricity and cars, etc.  So Jesus had to teach them by using Parables,  talking to them about what they knew so well, such as sheep herding and farming vegetables; the roads they traveled; and even about wedding celebrations, just to explain what he wanted them to learn and understand.  There were three important things he wanted the people to understand when telling a Parable:  First, He wanted them to learn how to treat their other people.  Secondly, He wanted them to learn how to pray.  Third and most of all, He wanted them to learn what they had to do to get into heaven and also what might keep them from getting to heaven.  So these three Moral Parables that I read and discussed at the Retreat teach these very three topics.   I suggest doing them in this order.

Go to "The Good Samaritan" link where I will go into the discussion on this parable that I used at the Retreat.  This parable covers "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Go to "The Insistent Friend" link for the discussion to this parable.  This parable covers "Be persistent in prayer."

Go to "The Wedding Feast" link for the last parable to discuss in depth.   This parable covers "How to get to Heaven."