Another Cenacle

(sara): As a follow-up to the Seder Meal, we got out the Cenacle presentation from last year, brushed off the dust, and touched up the paint. I haven't made darling figures as some of you other moms have done - our 12 Apostles are wooden spools with wooden spheres glued on top! (I borrowed your idea for writing the name of each Apostle on the bottom. I didn't add the symbols, but might use those for another activity. I did include Judas, for historical purposes, rather than Mathias.) Jesus is a Sacred Heart statue Father Andrew gave me. I do like the cardboard building, however, because it clearly shows the Cenacle having an "upper room", and if you turn it around, there's a convenient place for storage on the first floor! Our "table" turned upside down is a storage container, and the Holy Grail and unleavened bread were cut out of a religious-goods catalog. Finally, I printed out the main Scripture phrase, as I do with each presentation, for the sake of my son who knows how to read.

Seder Meal

Matzoh

(sara): We've already had our Seder Meal. Hubby is having a second eye surgery on Holy Thursday, so we had our meal early this year. We were joined by our 5yo. For the second year in a row, we used this script. The dinner seemed much "easier" to prepare this year, since I sort-of knew what I was doing!

Above is last year's meal, ready to begin. This year I added a beautiful table cloth and 2 tapers in crystal candle holders. The boys oohed and ahhed over the table!

And here is the matzoh (unleavened bread) wrapped in cloth.

Imagine your family sitting down to dinner one night, and being served only crackers and wine. We teach our children about the Eucharist being a "meal", but without an image of the Passover Meal in their heads, I think their comprehension is impoverished. (Speaking from experience! I didn't know anything about the Passover until high school, and not in much depth until I took an OT class from Steubenville.) Yet this weekend, my sleepy son watched with great interest as 3 times during the meal, his father took a piece of unleavened bread, broke it, and distributed a piece to each of us. That's an image that I hope to give him each year during our Seder meal. The first piece was eaten with bitter herb and haroseth. The second piece with the meal of lamb. And the third, with only the Cup of Blessing (the 3rd cup of red wine.) I know that a Seder meal is not a common tradition in many families, but it will be in ours!

wheat

(sara): I just searched for "wheat" and "wheat field" on Google images and found this darling picture!



Also a diagram of wheat growth here and a coloring page here. My seedlings are 1-2 inches tall now, and I'm going to present this Gospel passage today.

Stations of the Cross Mobile

My four-year old and I made this mobile for the Stations of the Cross. She has been able to name all 14 stations by looking at the symbol or picture and can narrate what happened during each station. It has just been a really good visual cue. I did most of the prep work of cutting, copying, gluing, etc and she punched all the holes in the symbols and helped me string them on the hanger.
Shannon

Cenacle Presentation

(Anne:) Last night, Amy and I made a LOT of little men......for the Cenacle presentation of course. We made the twelve apostles and then glued their symbols on the bottom. Maybe Amy could post the link for the symbols in the comments.

We made Jesus wearing a white tunic with a red sash to make Him look very different from an apostle so He was easily recognizable.

The candlesticks are upside down golf tees painted black on the bottom, left white in the middle, and yellow at the tips.

The white pitcher and bowl is from the dollhouse section at Hobby Lobby.

The chalice and paten are from the small wood section at Michael's. ("Finial dowel cap with 1/4 in hole" and "3/4 in circle" are what the packages call them.)

good shepherd

(Sara): As you probably all know, the Good Shepherd presentation is the main one in this catechesis, hence the title of the program!! The whole aim of catechesis is to teach young children about God, and when the original catechists began exploring how to do this, they tried presenting God from a variety of true approaches: God as Father, Creator, Saviour, friend, and so on. The one image that all the children seemed very much attracted to, however, was the idea of God as our Good Shepherd. Children 3-6 understand well their need for protection and are fascinated by the idea that the Shepherd calls each of the sheep by name...

I highly recommend reading the 4Real thread Amy linked to in the previous post after reading your presentation in Moira's album.

I'll attach an old photo of our sheep fold; last year I added a gate made from sticks also. I have read that CGS materials may vary by culture, and most of the fences where I grew up are made from limbs. The base spins; it was an old, wooden cake server I found in my mom's basement! My mother-in-law made us a shepherd figure out of Sculpey. Although 2D figures are standard for this presentation, I have not asked dh to make them for me. Yet.

Good Shepherd

(Amy:) My materials for this presentation are ALMOST ready...pictures to come. We have a busy weekend with ds's birthday but I'm hoping to present soon.

With all of the previous presentations I've done so far, I've pretty much used Moira's script almost word for word. I noticed that her Good Shepherd presentation varies considerably from what I read in The Good Shepherd and the Child by Cavaletti/Coulter/Gobbi/Montanaro, so I've been working on writing my own as a combination of (mostly) the book, Moira's album, and a post on 4Real by someone who went through training.

(Specifically, Moira combines the Good Shepherd with the Found Sheep. I didn’t include the Found Sheep in this presentation. I also didn’t do the wolf, the dangerous place, the green pasture, or the blue water. Also, I followed the format in the Good Shepherd and the Child, which narrates the parable, then guides reflection, then reads the parable from the Bible, then introduces the materials.)

I know I'm causing a looooong post here - I'd love to just link to a file if I had the capabilities rather than subject you to the whole thing if you aren't interested. But if you do read through it I would definitely appreciate feedback (remember... I haven't presented this yet). Thanks!

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Beforehand, talk about what a shepherd is (watches over sheep and takes care of them each day), what a sheepfold is, and how the sheep are safe and protected in the sheepfold.

I. Introduce and narrate the parable.

Remember how we waited during Advent, for Jesus to come to Earth? He came as a tiny baby, and when He grew up He began to teach the people. They were very attracted by what He said. They wondered, “Who is He?” because he was like everybody else, but he spoke in such a special way. When they asked him, “Jesus, who are you?”, he told them, “I am the Good Shepherd.” He was not just any shepherd, but the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd knows all his sheep by their names. Even though he has many, many sheep, he still knows each one by its name.

The sheep begin to recognize his voice and to listen to him. A bond is created between the shepherd who knows them by their name and the sheep who listen to his voice. He guides them to good pastures. He walks ahead of them, to protect and defend them if there is any danger. They follow him because they know his voice. They would not follow a stranger.

The Good Shepherd gives his life for his sheep. He defends his sheep, even with his life.

The voice of the Good Shepherd reaches very, very far. There are so many sheep. There are also some sheep who do not yet belong to his sheepfold. But the Shepherd knows every one by name. Little by little all these other sheep will turn towards him too, and little by little all the sheep will come to him. Then there will be only one flock and only one shepherd.

II. Invite reflections and prayerful responses

Who can the sheep be…?

They must be so precious to the shepherd…

He gives his own life for them…

He looks for them…

He knows each by its name…

Do you think these are the same type of sheep as we see in the fields…?

(If yes):

Do you think so…?

I am not so sure…

They are so precious to the shepherd…

Maybe they are something or someone more important…?

(IF and only if they understand that we are the sheep):

So you think we are the sheep…?

We are so many, yet he knows each of us by our name…?

Then we are so loved…?

We are cared for in that way…!

III. Light candle and read from Bible

John 10: 3b-5, 10b-11, 14-16

See wording p. 49 of The Good Shepherd and the Child

IV. Introduce material and make simple movements while re-reading text

(Do not speak and move the figures at the same time.)

(take out sheepfold)

This is a sheepfold.

The Shepherd calls the sheep by their name and the sheep come into the sheepfold.

(put out the shepherd figure, then place the sheep one at a time into the sheepfold)

The sheep are safe and happy in the sheepfold with their Shepherd. The Shepherd guides them out and walks ahead of them.

(move the shepherd a few steps forward, then move the sheep out of the fold slowly, putting them one after another behind the shepherd)

The sheep listen to the Shepherd’s voice and follow him.

He shows them the path.

He walks ahead of them and guides them to the good pasture.

At the end of each day, the Shepherd calls His sheep home. He calls each one by their name.

The Shepherd sees each sheep safely home.

(shepherd figure leads around the sheepfold, with sheep following…and back into the sheepfold. The shepherd stands at gate until all sheep are in fold, then he goes in too. Shut the gate.)