Last Atrium class of this year!

All the RE classes along with the parish members who attended the special skit "Our Lady of Guadalupe," Performed by the Atrium 3 class, were transformed back into time.

Our Lady, appearing to Juan Diego

Juan, waiting for the Bishop

The miraculous tilma unfurled

Bishop and guard with Juan

Atrium news and events updates for December 10.2013

 It is the second week of Advent. The kids in Atrium 1 and Atrium 2 did the Visitation in preparing us for the coming of our Lord. They prepared their Advent Wreaths and altar tables in the color Purple.
  In Atrium 3 we worked on finishing our work with the Prophets. We looked back on the four prophets: Isaiah,Jeremiah,Amos and Ezekiel. We reflected on how God prepared them to prepare the people of God for the coming of our Lord. How their lives were so vastly different yet each were significantly important in sharing God's messages and words. They also prepared their Advent Wreath and altar table.
  All three classes had a surprised visit by the teenagers in confirmation classes. They all stopped by and wanted to introduce themselves to each student. It was very thoughtful and enlightening. we have such amazing kids. you the parents have done a wonderful job in raising such fine and faithful kids.
  The kids in Atrium 3 are putting on a skit of  "Our Lady Of Guadalupe."  We rehearsed before class and during class as well. Please make sure your able to attend. It is this Sunday between the two masses. The time is set for 9:45 am til 10:15 am. We do have one more rehearsal on this Saturday at 1:00 pm.
  Also we still need sheep and shepherds for the Annual Sattler Christmas Parade. We need to have the kids there by no later than 10:00 am.  The Knights of Columbus are providing a float for the kids. Father really wants a good turnout for this.
  Pope Francis states "The time of Advent that the Church celebrates in preparation for Christmas is a new journey of the people of God with Jesus Christ. our Shepherd, who guides us in history towards the completion of the Kingdom of God(Parousia). Let us rediscover the beauty of being together along the way: the Church, with her vocation and mission, and the whole of humanity, the people, the civilizations, the cultures, all together on the paths of time." 
  If you have not heard by now Chris Hanly is stepping down as our DRE. She has served us so well and we were Blessed to have her for as long as we did. She is pursuing her Masters Degree in Theology. She will still be around helping Sabine in the Atrium 2 class. Please pray for her continued success in growing in her knowledge and devotion of our faith and to our Lord....
  Your Brother in Christ,
       Anthony Colyer

The end of the liturgical year...

Just a short (or not so short) note to offer a peak into the atria:

The youngest children have spent time in the atrium this month hearing the Parable of the Mustard seed. This meditation has 3 'moments' which get visited in consecutive years.  In the first moment we ponder the mystery of God being like the mystery of life itself, moving from less to more through the process of growth and transformation. The following year, we wonder at the mystery of God permeating all of creation - even ourselves! Yet this power does not belong to us, but to God. During the final moment, we ponder if this mystery has an end? Once again, wondering with the children allows us to slow down and enjoy the theology that our scripure offers in such a beautiful way!

The children also spent some time practicing gestures (prayers that don't require words) such as bowing, genuflecting and making the sign of the cross.

They also explored the geography of Israel, learning about the major regions by working on a puzzle map. Some of them learned the names of the 3 most important cities in the life of Christ - Nazareth, Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

The Level 2 children have also worked on geography, spiralling outward from the Level 1 presentations to encompass more of the geography. I did not appreciate the importance of this factor until I was an adult - now it allows me to listen with a deeper understanding when the scripture is proclaimed.

Some of the children have continued to work with the parts of the Mass and are busy making their first missal.

Last Sunday, they heard the parable of the Good Shepherd, prompting one child to write a beautiful prayer asking the Good Shepherd's help in following Him forever. - AMEN!

In Level 3, we began our study of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and Ezekiel. This year our focus is on how they were called.

• Isaiah 6:1-8
• Jeremiah 1:4-10
• Amos 7:14-15
• Ezekiel 2:8-3:4 & 12a

Next year we will look at the struggles they faced. This age child often longs for heroes, and the prophets fit the bill nicely :-) Of course, we will never look at a burning ember the same way again!

The children also continued to look at the individual prayers that compose the one big prayer of the Mass. This work is a lovely way to hold our attention at Holy Mass! Last week we focused in on the Preparation of the Gifts. It was a great reminder that all that we offer God was given to us first. My hope is that some of the children will start working on their second missal in the upcoming weeks.

A few of the children have taken the time to work with the Plan of God - but it is a huge work and all too often they don't have a chance to finish. This age child is welcome to come at 8:30 or stay until noon - just let me know if you are interested in those times.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving! I give thanks for Sofia Cavalletti who allowed herself to be inspired to bring this lovely way of learning the Faith into our lives.

~ Beate

"Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, not even if your whole world seems upset. If you find that you have wandered away from the shelter of God, lead your heart back to Him quietly and simply."
~ St. Francis de Sales

NOVEMBER'S UPDATES

The last few weeks have been pretty special. Some of our atrium students went to Sattler and enjoyed tricker treating on Halloween night. All Soul's Day Mass was pretty special as Father Alberic blessed all of our deceased loved ones and prayed for those in purgatory.  He talked of the saints and asked who is ours?  Do you know the feast day of your saint? What are they the patron saint of?  Questions to ponder and to research if you do not know!
Then on November 3rd, Father asked the children to dress up as their favorite saint. It was also the World Youth Day Mass and Festival. The children were flawless in their presentations, choir singing (some of us tried) ushering, presenting the gifts and of course altar serving. Father asked the children who did dress up as saints, who are you? What is your feast day? What are you the Patron Saint of? The children surprised us, as well as impressed us with their answers.  Father has been doing great things at our St. Thomas Parish. We are fortunate to have someone who loves our children and likes getting them involved.
After the Mass was our World Youth Day celebration festival. The kids did bobbing for apples (a classic sight to see), fishing, the infamous and all time favorite cake walk, ring toss, face painting and Karaoke singing. It was run by the older youth for our younger ones. The knights served us great food as always. It was fun and had unforgettable moments. Some older bald guy tried to sing at karaoke and had the whole place in hysteria.

Well we are past the half way mark in November and there is more things coming. Advent starts December 1st. December 14 is the annual Sattler Christmas Day Parade and children are invited to participate as sheep and shepherds on a float provided by the Knight's of Columbus.

Father has asked the catechesists to have the children prepare a skit of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The children will have a month to learn their parts and on December 15th will present a skit honoring the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Also the annual Christmas Pageant and Choir is Saturday December 24th on Christmas eve!

As you can see the children are busy. We do ask that they participate and engage in these events of special meaning to our Church throughout the year. As they go through all the levels of Atrium learning they realize the significance that God and our Church play in their lives. Not just now but as they grow older  and get confirmed. They will enter this game we call Life and become the next soldiers of Christ in the World. 

I have been Catholic my whole life. I heard of Homeschooling in North Carolina when I was eleven. It stuck with me and as I got married asked my wife if she would be interested. We learned all we could about it and decided that the church wants us to be our children's teachers and instruct them on their faith. I never knew or once even heard of Atrium. Sofia Cavalletti (God rest her Soul) created the Catechesis of The Good Shepherd. My wife Joyce (my better half) along with Beate, Ginger, Chris etc. brought it into reality to our parish. It is a hands on approach where the children use everything the priest uses in Mass. They learn that God is present with them and that they just need to listen. They live the experiences of the Mass every weekend in class. They also learn about God's plan from Creation to our present time of Redemption until The Parousia when our Lord will be All in All.

I wish we had this when I was growing up. This is the most amazing religious training I have ever seen. I see why my wife, Beate, Chris, JoAnn, Blanca, Sabine etc. have been loving this for as long as they have. As a new catechist, Iwatch how these ladies interact with the kids. They do it with love, softness and respect. The children in return show respect and listen and speak softly and love. They treat each other kindly and are helpful. They get the materials, work alone or with some other children and when done they put away the materials where they found them. They are a joy to watch and and we thank you for letting us have the opportunity to teach them. I will spend the rest of my life learning all that there is to learn about this wonderful way to teach our Faith to the children of our parish and beyond...

Sorry for this long blog. It will be shorter next time. I am new to this new age wonderment of technology and how to converse without talking.:)

  Your Brother in Christ

      Anthony Colyer

  

October Notes!

Life has been busy, busy, busy up in the Atria! The youngest children have found a rythm and come into the room ready to choose a work. Aside from practical life lessons of pouring, spooning, sorting, etc, they've spent some time learning the names of the articles of the Mass and have shared the Parable of the Leaven (Mat. 13:33) together. As an adult, it always amazes me that the young children can ponder for such a long time on a very short parable. It has certainly taught me to slow down and savor the word of God!
If you're wondering what to do with the little cups of dough that come home from the atrium, you can scrape the dough onto a cookie sheet and bake it at 375 for about 15 minutes. I might not serve it for a company dinner, but the kids usually like it ;-)

The Level 2 children have worked on the gestures of the Mass, the articles of the Mass and will study the structure of the Mass next week. That's a rather involved work, teaching the children about the main parts of the Mass and how they follow a set order. This allows the children to again visit gestures and prayers that they learned in the Level 1 atrium, contemplating with a deeper understanding.
They've also looked at the plan of God throughout time, and marvelled at all the gifts we've been given. This is great preparation for the moral parables and maxims they will delve into this year.




In Level 3, the children have been working on the Plan of God material, and 'telescoping' in on various areas. We've been rotating work with the sacraments, saints, and prayer services.

This past week, we looked at the structure of the Mass from Level 2, and then focused into more detail. We talked about the Mass being one prayer made of many prayers, just like the Bible is one book made of many books. It was interesting to watch the children work with this material and recall the gestures some of them had first learned 8 years ago!

Next week, some children will have the opportunity to look at the individual prayers and as a whole group we will revisit the liturgical calendar.

May the Peace of the Good Shepherd be with you all ~
Beate

"The Montessori method is based on love, and the genius of the great educator lies in the fact that she made love the foundation for man's dealing with himself, his fellow men and with God." Sofia Cavalletti

Week 2!

(I found this tucked away on my phone, and thought I'd publish it even though it's a month old!)

 In this photo, the boys are working on the individual gift strip - the original work was introduced in Level 2 as a way to focus on the gifts God has given humanity and the great care He took to prepare an environment with not just the things we need, but so much beauty to enjoy before finally creating mankind - who arrived like "guests at a banquet." It was interesting to watch the children work - they seemed to gravitate naturally towards a typological view of history quite on their own. Seeing the old foreshadowing the new and looking forward to the future. These boys ended up moving the candles which are next to the cross at redemption to both ends of the strip - in the beginning God created light, and at Parousia there will be no more darkness. 




Hopefully you received the parent/catechist note that went out to everyone but I wanted to quickly update what our focus is in the atrium right now.

Level 1 is continuing those crucial lessons of grace and courtesy that make life in the atrium so pleasant and working on practical life lessons such as pouring, hand-washing, and tracing. These simple lessons will meld into liturgical lessons as time goes on and in the meantime they help with both fine and gross motor skills. Some of the children listened to the parable of the Good Shepherd, a parable with a meaning that continues to grow and deepen with every telling.

Level 2 and 3 will spend two weeks intensely focusing on the Plan of God, lifting out the moments of creation, redemption and parousia, we ponder on His great love for us.

This young man is working on an extension of the Plan of God work titled the People and the Peoples of God. It is one way to look at the invidual bridges that form between us and the people who walked before us through the works that we still use today.













May the peace of the Good Shepherd be with you all ~

Beate

"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 will be our teacher if we know how to observe."
-- Sofia Cavalletti

A great beginning!

Sunday was the first day of classes and it was admittedly a bit on the hectic side! However, all of us are happy to be back with the children and are looking forward to another fabulous year of unpacking the wonders our faith.

Level One had 18 bright and energetic little ones, all ready to listen to the Good Shepherd. The catechists spent the morning doing lessons in grace and courtesy and giving some practical life demonstrations. Hand washing is always a favorite - my own nine year old will often wash her hands in the contemplative manner she learned in the Level One atrium six years ago.

Level 2  spent the morning reaquainting themselves with the atrium and learning about their new rooms. I will miss being with the six to nine year olds but will still spend time with those preparing for their first holy communion. They will start the year pondering the theology of God's Grace and Love as He prepared our world for us. They will also revisit the gestures of the Mass they learned in Level One, contemplating them on a deeper level.

Level 3 spent the morning reading and discussing Ephesians 3:14-21 and the children are to read and this scripture at least two more times this week. I highly recommend a giant print edition of the New American bible for the children to have at home. This version is easier to read for the younger readers.
Six of the children worked together to conduct a prayer service for the whole group at the end of our class time. I know some parents were waiting, but hopefully you understand how special this was for the group.

Class times:

Our classes meet from 9:30 until 10:50 even if the morning Mass hasn't finished. If you attend the 8:30 Mass, just have your child come in quietly, as we will already be working. For those of you who attend the 11:00 Mass, feel free to bring your children at 9:15 so they will have a bit of time to settle before we get started.

If you need to contact a catechist, email me and I will put you in touch.

Wishlist:

I'm looking for a nice sized area rug for our Level 3 atrium - if anyone has one they are looking to re-home, think of us :-)

May the peace of the Good Shepherd be with all of you ~ Beate

“Dear brothers and sisters, God calls us, by name and surname, each one of us, to proclaim the Gospel and to promote the culture of encounter with joy.”

~ Pope Francis

September is Here!

All the catechists have been busily working upstairs in the atria preparing for our 8th year of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd! This year marks the beginning of the Level 3 atrium - a journey the began 5 years ago with just a dream and came into fruition the past three years as we made materials and completed the formation.  A big thanks to Msgr. Doerfler for his blessing and Father Sam, who allowed us to move forward. Thanks also to Father Alberic for his trust in us!

Archbishop Gustavo has some familiarity with CGS and shared that "it is a beautiful catechesis!" All of us agree, and ask for your prayers as we start our year.

By the way, isn't Pope Francis's general prayer intention for this month perfect for the atrium? I feel his blessing as we strive to create an environment of stillness which enables us to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd.

Value of Silence. That people today, often overwhelmed by noise, may rediscover the value of silence and listen to the voice of God and their brothers and sisters.

Beate