This year allows one of the few opportunities to celebrate Pentecost in the Atrium after having celebrated it as a Church community and the children certainly enjoyed this opportunity to celebrate! The L1 children each chose one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, asking God to stir up that gift within them. The L2 and L3 children did the same, but only after looking at the many ways the Holy Spirit's presence, actions, and gifts are seen and experienced through multiple materials in the Atrium. May the Holy Spirit fill and guide each of them and each of us as we head into the summer months!! During a L3 discussion about the Resurrection the children came up with a list of what they knew about this moment from the Scriptures (see below on the whiteboard). Then, in groups of two or three, they each chose a Gospel, found the Resurrection account, and read, looking to see which of the whiteboard notes were in their Gospel passage. Finally, we gathered again and recorded the following information from each Gospel (see the chart below):
It was really quite fascinating to see the similarities and differences in the accounts. One girl, afterwards, went on to "check" the others' work, reading each Gospel account and even editing the chart where we had recorded our notes. The only common threads which were found were:
Perhaps during this season of Easter you would like to do the same work, pondering what God is saying through these four different Scripture passages. As always when encountering differing versions of one moment we can ask, "What is the deep truth which is being revealed through all of these passages of God's Word?" So many Atrium children have received their First Communion in the past few weeks and months! It is truly such a gift to walk with these children in both preparing and celebrating this great gift of being invited to the feast in a new, most intimate, way. May we each approach the Table of the Lord every week or day as if it were our First Communion.
In the Atrium I was looking at a picture of the Good Shepherd with a sheep on His shoulders with a 4.5 year old girl:
This same child had a conversation with her mom, also a catechist, during the following week:
After sharing the L1 children's thoughts on Psalm 23 last week, I thought share the extended pondering of some 1st grade L2 children:
Psalm 23:1-3a
Psalm 23:1-3
Psalm 23:1-4
|
Carolyn Kohlhaas
CGS Catechist and Formation Leader (Levels I, II, and III) Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|