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Catechesis of the Good Shepherd – Lenten Sessions
March and April 2023
Photos of children working in the Level 2 Atrium – The season of Lent began for the Level 1 children in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd with the careful placing of the purple cloth on the prayer table, followed by special prayers and songs. The following week the children listened to the story of The Cenacle, where Jesus had a last meal with his friends. The next week the children took the roles of the disciples at that dinner during the Last Supper Reenactment.
In Level 2 the children began the month in The City of Jerusalem. On a raised-surface map of the city they followed the journey of Jesus from dinner with his friends, to his arrest, trials, crucifixion, death and Resurrection. The following week focused more deeply on the event that took place at the dinner in The Cenacle. The children heard how Jesus recited the well-known Passover prayers but added new words: “Take and eat, this is My Body. Take and drink, this is My Blood.” They pondered the gift that Jesus gave to the disciples, and to all people, for all times. In the last presentation of the month the children portrayed the disciples in The Last Supper Reenactment. They heard Jesus’ words again and responded as the questioning disciples, listening again to the promise of Jesus to be with them always in the Bread and in the Wine.
The moral parable of The Ten Bridesmaids began the month for the Level 3 children. In the next two sessions the children meditated on the last days of Jesus’ earthly life as they also traveled to Jerusalem to walk the city streets and ponder the events of The Passion. While contemplating The Last Supper they wondered how the disciples must have felt at this last gathering with Jesus, when the bread and wine of the Passover meal took on a different meaning for all time.