Jesus Teaches

This week we discussed how Jesus teaches us. I wanted the students to realize that their primary morals teachers are their parents. We get our morals from God and his communication to us through the Bible. We also learn from Jesus' example as he lived. They can also learn from the clergy of course.
Before class we learned about the parable of the talents. In class we talked about our special gifts that God gives us. Just students came up with a list skills, the Earth and nature, loved ones, The Word, and health. When the body came up, one of the gifts that I made a point of including besides those is the gift of sexuality. I wanted to make a point of bringing modesty into the discussion. It was very brief. I suggested to the girls and the guys that they dress and act modestly.
Our Catechism says this:
2523 There is a modesty of the feelings as well as of the body. It protests, for example, against the voyeuristic explorations of the human body in certain advertisements, or against the solicitations of certain media that go too far in the exhibition of intimate things. Modesty inspires a way of life which makes it possible to resist the allurements of fashion and the pressures of prevailing ideologies.
2524 The forms taken by modesty vary from one culture to another. Everywhere, however, modesty exists as an intuition of the spiritual dignity proper to man. It is born with the awakening consciousness of being a subject. Teaching modesty to children and adolescents means awakening in them respect for the human person.

Celebrating Ordinary Time

In today's session children learn about Ordinary Time. Children learn how we strengthen our relationship with Jesus through the sacraments during Ordinary Time. Imagine that you are hiking through a forest. A guide is leading the way, protecting you and sharing all you need to know to get through the forest safely. We call Jesus the Good Shepherd because he guides our steps every day. He leads us to follow the right path. In this session we learn about Ordinary Time -- the part of the year when we strive to understand Jesus better and think about how to follow his ways.

God Directs Our Lives

Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like little children. I asked the children to list words that describe "like little children". We depend on many people to help us do all kinds of things. The children made a list of those on which they depend. They reviewed the list and acknowledged that each person on the list also depends upon the children. Next, the students next listed ways to "be" whenever someone depends on you. The traits were very similar to the earlier list. Then we walked to the church to read the Beattitudes, which are inlayed in the aisle of the church. Finally, we took the opportunity to join the final hours of the Adoration for the Eucharist in the chapel. I'm so proud of the children's behavior and reverence during those final moments. First read the Session Study Guide. Then try the Session Online Quiz.

God Saves Us

Our second session today was so pleasant. Still we spent some more time getting to know each other. We discussed things going on in our lives - the good and the bad. Together we created a little pocket notebook and filled up one page with prayer requests right away. I'm encouraging the students to think and serve others. One way to do that is through prayer time. In our faith discussions we discussed the nature of sin as a rejection of or opposition to God's plan. I asked the students to recall what they've seen in the news headlines lately. We discussed those problems, but I tried to point out that even though there are some "bad people" trying to harm others, there are also "good people" trying to help solve problems. Even young people can do their part to solve problems and help others. Such is the human condition. The study guide for our session can be found online here . These can help prepare students for the online review quiz. First read the Session Study Guide Then try the Session Online Quiz

God's Revelation

Can you tell the story of Abraham and God's covenant with him, and his importance to other faiths? That is one of the objectives for students to take away from today's session. We also want them to be able to explain why The Old Testament is considered God's Revelation. They should be able to tell what the Ten Commandments are and why God gave them to us. Along the way they'll be exposed to new vocabulary words like Hebrew, Islam, Jews, Judaism, Muslims, and Revelation. Students may use the Session 3 Study Guide to prepare them for the online session review quiz.

Welcome

Welcome! I am so excited to begin a new year of teaching and learning about our faith. As we begin our journey together I want to get to know each student better. I would also like to meet parents also. So when you bring them on the first day, will you please come in and introduce yourself? Then parents will gather in the parish hall for a brief orientation. We will have a good year, and I'm looking forward to working with you as your child grows in fellowship with Christ.