CATECHESIS OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD

"If we want to help the child draw nearer to God, we should with patience and courage...seek to go always closer to the vital nucleus of things. This requires study and prayer. The child himself will be our teacher if we know how to observe him."

Sofia Cavalletti

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Our Curriculum

History

Philosophy

The Atrium

Level 1-For the Young Child (ages 3-6)

Our Curriculum

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a curriculum new to St. Vincent de Paul  but has been used in parishes throughout the world for over 50 years. It is based on building a personal relationship with God through prayer, the Bible, and Liturgy. The Diocese of Orange has decided to join many of the other Diocese throughout the country who have already adopted this program into their faith formation curriculum. It involves a tremendous commitment for teacher formation (training), space and materials. We have been working on bringing this program to St. Vincent de Paul for over a year now, and we are delighted to announce we are now accepting registrations for classes which will begin in January 2010. We rejoice in the dedication, expertise, and ongoing training of our staff, the support of our priests and parish community, and most importantly, the growth that we anticipate seeing in our children’s spiritual development.

History

Since 1954, in Rome, Italy, Sofia Cavalletti  has pursued the revelation of the young child’s religious potential through fifty years of research and published material at both the preschool and elementary levels. With the “self-teaching” principles of Maria Montessori and the theological moorings of Hebrew scholarship,  Scripture studies and Roman Catholic liturgy and doctrine, Cavalletti and her co-worker, Gianna Gobbi, developed an approach which not only appealed to the profound religious intuition of younger and older children, but which evolved from the children themselves. Today the work (still active in Rome) has emerging centers all over the world.

Philosophy—God and Child with the Adult

An interpersonal relationship is always a mystery, all the more so when that relationship is between God and the child. We believe that there is a deep bond between God and the child which produces in the child the desire to draw near to God. The catechists’ role is to prepare the environment and to make presentations that “call forth” the child’s response rather than “pour in” information. They listen with the child and together ask, “God, who are you? How do you love us?” The adult is a co-wonderer with the child as they together enjoy meditating on the questions generated by the Scriptures with the prepared environment as a developmental aid.

The Atrium—The Prepared Environment

The atrium is one of the elements that helps the relationship between God and the child flourish. After a theme has been presented, the child is free to choose an activity that will make possible the inner dialogue with the “Interior Teacher.” The atrium helps to nourish this relationship in several ways: the atrium can be compared to a retreat house facilitating recollection and silence; the atrium is a place for religious life, for community and worship—not a classroom for instruction; the atrium is a place of work which becomes a conversation with God; the atrium was the place in the early church where the catechumens were prepared. For the child, too, the atrium is a place of preparation for involvement in the larger parish community.

Level 1—For the Young Child (Ages 3-6)

The 3-6-year-old child is particularly capable of receiving and enjoying the most essential elements of our faith—the announcement of God’s love, in the person of the Good Shepherd, who died and is risen.

Materials on the life of Christ and his teachings help make the mystery of God concrete for the child. The geography materials establish Jesus as a real person in the time and space and Israel as the land through which God realized salvation for all. Infancy narratives announce the       Incarnation with the words of Scripture, moving from the Annunciation, to the Birth of Christ, to the Flight into Egypt. The model of Jerusalem and the empty tomb are the starting point for the Paschal narratives which the child lives in a special way in celebrating the Liturgy of Light.

Selected parables serve as keys to unlock the mystery of the kingdom of God and to nurture the child’s natural sense of wonder. How beautiful and precious is the kingdom of God! How small it begins! How slowly it grows! How magnificent it becomes!

Through the arranging of the chalice, paten, altar cloth, candles, and crucifix, the child becomes familiar with the articles of the Eucharist. The child lives his relationship with God in a particular way in the liturgy—the child enters the mystery of the Eucharist through the most important gestures including the preparation of the chalice, the epiclesis and offering, and the gesture of peace. From these gestures the Eucharist emerges as the Sacrament of the Gift. The child becomes acquainted with the historical character of the liturgy through the events of the Last Supper, Christ’s death, and His resurrection.

The liturgical colors and calendar situate the child in the Church year, expressing the Paschal Mystery—Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again. Our prayer table reflects the liturgical cycle with appropriate colors, prayers, and songs.