Preparing for the Faith Experience Scripture in This Chapter
Church Documents
Gather and Go Forth
Psalm 139:14 Psalm of Praise
Catechism of the Catholic Church. The themes of this chapter correspond to the following paragraphs: 299, 301, 355–358, 422.
Find catechist instruction for Gather and Go Forth student pages 9–10 on T246–T247.
National Directory for Catechesis #48. Children should learn to recognize their own dignity and their importance not only for what they will do in the future but for who they are now.
Enriching the Faith Experience
Mark 16:15 Share the Gospel
Catholic Social Teaching • Life and Dignity • God’s Creation
Sharing Catholic Social Teaching (USCCB). Our Catholic tradition teaches us that every person is precious and that people are more important than things.
Before You Begin 1. God reveals himself as a
loving Father who has given us everything in nature and even a chance to participate in divine life.
2. All creation speaks of the
wonders of our God, who calls us to an ever-closer intimacy.
3. God’s gifts are given for all
people and are to be shared by all. We are called to care for the rest of creation.
4. Our lives are precious gifts
from God our Father, who has formed all people in his image. God made us with the power to think, to choose, and to love.
5. God has set humankind over
the rest of the created world and calls us to cooperate in bringing it to perfection. The story of Creation in the Book of Genesis is placed at the very beginning of the Bible for a reason: to make the emphatic statement that all of creation comes from God, is directed toward God, and is good.
Use the activities at the end of the chapter to enrich a lesson or to replace an activity with one that better meets the needs of your class.
7. Presenting the religion book
in a prayerful ceremony encourages the children to regard it as a special book that can help them come closer to Jesus. If a priest cannot be present for this, perhaps he can bless the books beforehand. You may wish to ask the parents to cover the books with clear plastic.
6. A person whose vision of life
is shaped by the Christian faith sees God manifesting himself in all of creation, in the events of everyday life, and especially in the people who faithfully image God’s loving kindness.
God Is the Giver of Gifts CHAPTER 1 T3