Newsletter - 13th June 2021
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
“He would not speak to them except in parables.” (Mark 4:34)
Children are concrete thinkers. They don’t understand abstract concepts. To say “I am from Winnipeg, Canada” means nothing – I might come from the moon. But I can show a child a globe - here is England and across this ocean and halfway across Canada is Winnipeg.
What about spiritual concepts? Who is God? What is the kingdom of God? Children (and adults) need more than abstract formulas. Jesus knew this and taught in parables. Parables are comparisons. He can only show what the kingdom of God is like. We can tell children “God is love”, but we make it concrete by giving them the words of Jesus from John 10, “ I am the Good Shepherd.” And we can go even further by showing them a wooden model of a Good Shepherd and sheep and watch how the Shepherd calls their name and leads them out of the sheepfold. He protects them, knows everything they need and gives them all his love. Or we can reflect on the mystery of the kingdom of God by looking at a tiny mustard seed. What happens to that seed? What power could be hidden in it? Whose power? Could I make it grow? How does it happen? We wonder together, listening to God with the children.
I learned how to listen like this through a method called the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a formation for adults and children that I have worked in for 30 years. It was developed in Rome beginning in 1954 by two women, Sofia Cavalletti, a Scripture scholar, and Gianna Gobbi, a Montessori educator. For me it was like a treasure hidden in a field that once found, I wanted to do anything I could to learn it, beginning by reading Cavalletti’s book, The Religious Potential of the Child. She discovered that children can be given the deepest truths of our faith. She chose a “curriculum” of presentations from Scripture and Liturgy that fit the various developmental stages of childhood. She uses the Montessori method – creating an environment specially prepared by the catechist for the religious life of children. The children walk into the room and discover a place of quiet, beauty and order. It is filled with materials that the children can quietly explore with their hands.
Our parish would like to explore if there is interest in developing this program here at Christ the King. It would require a few people interested in receiving training in the method and finding a space that could be dedicated to it (it could be shared with other activities in the parish). See the news item below to find out how you can learn more.
Nancy Wood, ccn
Focus of the week
Net For God - DVD Broken Chains
Tuesday 15th June, 8pm
How to find freedom in detention? How can we let grace touch us in the depths of our hearts? This film introduces us to the little-known prison environment, but above all to the personal experience of inmates who live a spiritual journey of peace and inner freedom behind bars.
Check the event in the calendar.
Parish Summer BBQ - postponed
Early September
Due to government guidelines, we have decided to postpone the parish BBQ until early September.
Notices of the Week
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