Catechist: God’s Beautiful World

This Sunday, we will facilitate our first 3^rd Grade Faith Formation lesson. The theme of the lesson is “God’s Beautiful World”. This is a preview of the lesson.

God’s Beautiful World

We'll encourage our parents and children to bless themselves with the holy water as they enter the classroom to sign in. There will be an activity sheet for the children to work on once they have found their place to sit.

We will begin with a prayer, get to know each other, and set some classroom rules. Some of those basics are:

                                               i.     Raise hand to speak

1.     Only 1 person speaking at a time

                                              ii.     Hands and feet to ourselves

                                             iii.     Respect others and property

                                             iv.     Please pay attention at all times

                                              v.     Mistakes are okay

1.     It’s always best to try and make a mistake than not to try

a.     NEVER laugh at anyone else’s mistakes

2.     Sometimes, we will have tests at the end of class or for homework

a.     Do not be afraid of the word “test”

                                                                                                     i.     These are to help remember what we learn

                                             vi.     If you do not understand something, please raise your hand before we move on to the next topic

We will also allow the children to set additional appropriate rules.

We'll discover that we can learn about others by observing things that they have made; by the time and effort and love put into their work. We can also learn more about God by observing His creation. Everything that humans “create” are made from things that God has already created. Only God can create something out of nothing.

We’ll look at both of the creation accounts in the Bible (Genesis 1: 1-23 and Genesis 2: 4-24) and discuss how both accounts show the beauty of God’s creation, with the second account emphasizing that people are God’s greatest and most cherished creation.

Next, we’ll learn that a responsibility is a duty or job that you are trusted to do; we are responsible to take care of God’s creation. Beauty and diversity are important parts of creation; humans are special and deserve respect because they are created in God’s image.

Time permitting, we will have our first written review, and close with a prayer.

Catechist: New Year, Here We Come!

Yesterday, Kendra and I received our class list for the new Faith Formation year. That's CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) for some of you.

Wow! We have 19 students (so far). It is a little sad though to know that approximately half of the students who received their First Communion last year will NOT be returning this year. And they probably won't be back until it's time for Confirmation.

Hey, if you're one of those parents, shame on you! If you're one whose child is returning, thanks for caring enough about their Faith.

Alrighty, moving on. This week we will meet the parents, have the opening meeting and watch a Safe Environment video.

This will be my 11th year teaching the Faith (at various levels from K-11) and the 2nd consecutive year that my wife Kendra and I will be a team. Looking forward to it.

Catechist: A New Year Begins

This will be my 10th year as a Catechist, although not consecutively. Previously, I have taught 9th, 10th, and 11th Grade youth in Louisiana. At the time, Catholic youth prepared to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in their Junior year of high school, and we referred to the 3 year program as the "High School of Religion". On a larger scale, religious education in Louisiana was (and I believe still is) referred to as CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine).

In North Texas, we refer to such religious education as "Faith Formation". I like this term better. This will be my 4th year teaching Faith Formation in my parish, and the second that I teach the 2nd Grade, preparing them for the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion.

A Year of "Firsts"

There are 2 very important "firsts" for me though. It will be the first year that my youngest son Brandon is in my class. It will also be the first year that my wife Kendra assists me. We teach on Sunday mornings at 10am.

Two weeks ago, we met our class and our parents. This past Sunday, we had our first full-length class. The lesson was "Who is God?" and covered the story of creation along with a "nature walk", Jesus as God's greatest gift to us, the Holy Trinity, and practicing the Sign of the Cross!

Seriously, that's a lot to cover, but I am thankful that having a little experience has taught me that at this age, keeping it simple is most effective. I am very pleased with the response from the children and especially considering this is all such a new experience for them.

Please keep us all in prayer as we continue through the year.