The Maxims

One of our recent lessons in Atrium II was The Summary of the Law and the Maxims. This lesson focuses on the empathetic teachings of Jesus that help us live a fuller life by enriching our relationships with God and our neighbors.




Love one another as I have loved you. John 13:34


Always treat others the way you would have them treat you. Matthew 7:12

I do not say forgive seven times, but seventy times seven. Matthew 18:22
Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7

These teachings on love, prayer, social justice and forgiveness are so important as to be repeated throughout the Gospels. The Maxims inspire us to try and try again.

From Something Small Comes Something Big

This month, Atrium I is focusing on the Kingdom Parables and transformation. We started the month with the Growing Seed lesson. In this lesson we read Mark 4: 26-29 "The Kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the ground; and goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows - how, he himself does not know" In this lesson we pass around wheat berries and a shaft of wheat for each child to hold. The lesson's content focuses on the tranformation of how the seed to wheat yields God's higher purpose.

Our next parable was the parable of the Leaven. In this lesson, we read Matthew 13:33 "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened." In this lesson we mix, in 2 separate bowls, 3 measures of flour with water. Both bowls look the same. In one bowl we add yeast. We then cover both bowls and let them rest while we do other works in the Atrium. At the end of class we uncover the bowls and find that the bowl with the yeast has grown and is much different from the bowl without the yeast. We ask the children what they think Jesus was trying to tell us about the kingdom of heaven. This lesson's content focuses on God's powerful and living presence and how that, with grace, makes his kingdom grow and transform. The kingdom is inside of us, over the earth, and in the highest.

Happy New Year!

We welcome the children back to a new year. We are excited to back as well. Atrium I starts off with presentations on gestures launching into the Kingdom Parables. Atrium II mirrors Atrium I but goes deeper into the lessons on Holy Eucharist which will go through February.

We are quite excited to announce that we are presenting Catechesis of the Good Shepherd to the children of La Misa. We will have sessions for them on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month. (Below are some pictures taken this fall during Catechesis with La Misa.)

-Beth Armour

Wednesdays in Advent

This Advent during our Wednesday evening programming the children are taking a look at Mary's Journey, starting in Nazareth. This week we talked looked at geography and talked about the Annunciation to Mary. Below are a few pictures from the week. The older group (2nd-5th grade) started working their own model of Israel (the will continue working on this for the next two weeks.) Our youngest group (3yrs - K) made angels since we were talking about the Angel Gabriel.

Advent in the Atrium

Advent is a season of waiting. It is a season in which we prepare for birth of Jesus Christ. As we prepare with the children we often look at the prophecies that tell of Jesus' birth. We also explore the infancy narratives.

This year we will be taking a closer look into several of the Infancy Narratives during our Wednesday evening program. We will be following Mary throughout her journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem then to Jerusalem. We will get the opportunity to really look into the Annunciation to Mary, the Birth of Jesus, and the Presentation at the Temple. These are often times the stories the children don't have nearly enough time to explore with their sense of wonder.

Our hope is to introduce (or reintroduce) the mystery of the incarnation, to connect to the geography of Israel, to give them the language of prayer, to show the important role angels have as messengers of God and of course to show the importance of the Advent season.

In closing, here is one of the prophecies we meditate on as well as a prayer taken from Living in Joyful Hope: Advent and Christmas Meditations by Suzanne M. Lewis.

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light."
-Isaiah 9:2

When all around me is darkness, O Lord,
I turn to your word. I open
my heart to your ancient teaching,
to the sacred mystery of your scripture.
One verse from the Bible imparts
joy beyond all telling. I will turn
again and read of how you commanded
the light to be light.
I will arise;
my own light will shine
because your Word is within me.
One day your Word will overtake the world completely.
What light will it be
when all have arisen
and all shine with your glory!
Amen.

History of the Kingdom of God

For the last few weeks, the children in Atrium II (1st-3rd grade) have been exploring the history of the Kingdom of God. Some of the key points we focus on are

• God as Creator
• Since the beginning of time a plan has existed in the hart and mind of God for all the people of the Kingdom
• The history of God is a vast and united history
• God created humankind in God's likeness
• God's greatest gift to humankind is His own son, Jesus Christ
• There are three great moments in history: creation, redemption, and parousia

We start with the lesson called La Fettuccia (Italian for "the ribbon".) We begin in the Sanctuary with a single lit candle. As we roll out the ribbon and gently let it glide through our finger and lie on the floor, we talk about the three great moments of history. First we talk about the many wonderful things that God has created- the earth, plants, animals, humans. Next we talk about redemption- which is from the time Jesus was born to the present time. And finally, the third greatest moment is parousia- this is the time in which God will be all in all. As we walk through all of this, we read passages from the Bible to help tell us the history.

As a way to continue the work, the following week we used the Blue Unity Strip to go through the history of salvation. The Blue Unity Strip is located on the wall in Atrium II so that the children can look at it at any time. Like, La Fettuccia, the unity strip is slowly unrolled to give us a chance to see the different moments in history. This reinforces what they learned the week before because it uses the same scriptures and has the three great moments in history represented. However, more pictures and text as presented as we work our way through history.

Below you can see the children working with the Blue Unity Strip and the mute strip. The mute strip is shorter version that the children are able to work with. They place the words and pictures on the strip where they belong. This is something they are able to work with at any point once they have had this lesson.

Atrium I in September

We are off to a great start in Atrium I with a wonderful group of attentive, curious children.

This month, we have focused on the introduction to the atrium, practical life works, grace and courtesy, and the Good Shepherd.

Some of the practical life preliminary exercises we have worked on are rolling and unrolling a rug, spooning, pouring, and polishing. These activities are for acquiring mastery over basic movements. They have no purpose in themselves but form the basis for all other activities.

The grace and courtesy exercises have included how to sit in circle, how to interrupt, and how to walk around a work. These exercises involve other people and give the children the opportunity to exercise grace and courtesy to others.

Everything we do in the atrium helps the adult and child experience and express joy. Prayer is the aim of the atrium and our joy becomes a spiritual practice. Several children have made prayer cards for our prayer table which are laminated and used throughout the years.

In the atrium, adults are not traditional "teachers", but rather co-wonderers with the children. "I wonder who the sheep can be? They must be so precious to the Shepherd. We are so many yet he knows us all by name!"

The direct aim of the parable of the Good Shepherd work is to show the love of the Good Shepherd as one who calls, loves, protects us, the sheep, and we sheep respond by knowing, following, and loving him so that we might enjoy the fullness of life.

The handwashing work is a practical life work that we will later link to the liturgical act of lavabo. The children enjoy the basic acts of pouring and making bubbles and will later learn how the gesture of handwashing is a sign of our desire for a clean heart that might recognize and receive the presence of the Risen Christ in Eucharist.

Thank you for sharing your children with us!