In Unit I, the children will learn about the Church and how the Church is a community of Jesus’ followers. They will discover that a church building is a special place. It is a place where they gather to praise God and listen to his word.
		We Belong to Jesus' Church Prior to presenting each chapter, refer to the TAKE HOME FAMILY TIME pages in your child's book, or print out these pages from TAKE HOME FAMILY TIME. Learning Focus This chapter will help the children • identify the Church to which we belong as the Catholic Church. • explain how people can recognize Jesus' followers. • learn to pray the Sign of the Cross. Background Everyone belongs to some type of family, whether it is a nuclear family, an extended family, a foster family, or a single-parent family. Family members know one another by name. Hopefully, they treat each other with love and understanding. Family intimacy is similar to the way God knows us and calls us each by name. We believe that God loves us perfectly and unconditionally. God invites us to belong to him. We are his sons and daughters. Belonging to a family is like belonging to Jesus' Church. We belong to the Christian community known as the Catholic Church. Christians try to love and help one another grow in holiness. We are brothers and sisters to one another in Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who leads us and knows each of us by name. In God's Name Everything we do as Catholics reflects our relationship with the Holy Trinity. Just as God calls us by name, so we address God by his holy name. Whenever we make the Sign of the Cross, we identify ourselves as belonging to God through the Church. We recall our baptismal commitment. We bless ourselves by saying "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
		We Gather to Celebrate Mass Prior to presenting each chapter, refer to the TAKE HOME FAMILY TIME pages in your child's book, or print out these pages from TAKE HOME FAMILY TIME. Learning Focus This chapter will help the children • understand that a church is the building where Catholics gather to celebrate Mass • realize that Jesus is with us when we pray with our parish community. • name some of the objects we see in a Catholic church. Background The word church actually has two meanings. The Church (with a capital C) refers to the "gathering or assembly" of believers. The church (with a small c) refers to the "building or place" where the believers gather. The Catholic Church (the community of believers) is the same throughout the world. Catholic churches (the buildings) may reflect different styles of architecture. Although they may differ in appearance, all Catholic churches share certain things in common. Among these commonalities are the cross, the altar table, the tabernacle, and the ambo. We use these holy objects when we gather to celebrate Mass. The Local Parish The chapter reinforces the children's sense of belonging to the Catholic Church. More specifically, it helps the children identify with their local parish. The parish is the usual place for members of the Catholic Church to gather for prayer and worship. During Mass (a word itself that means "gathering"), we join with our parish community to thank and bless God for his wonderful gifts to us. We listen to God's word. We join in the perfect sacrifice of Jesus for the forgiveness of sin. We share the Bread of Life and deepen our bonds of love with God and other parishioners.
		God's Word Teaches Us Prior to presenting each chapter, refer to the TAKE HOME FAMILY TIME pages in your child's book, or print out these pages from TAKE HOME FAMILY TIME. Learning Focus This chapter will help the children • realize that the readings at Mass come from a special book called the Bible. • understand that the Word of God and the homily help us follow Jesus. • discover that God speaks to us when we listen to his word at Mass. Background We can learn to live as followers of Jesus by listening to God's word during the readings at Mass. We believe that the entire Bible is God's word of love to us. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament reveal how to live according to God's covenant. The Scripture readings at Mass are found in a special book called the Lectionary. The Lectionary for Sunday Mass is arranged according to a three-year cycle. Each cycle begins with the First Sunday of Advent and ends with the last Sunday of Ordinary Time. Listening to God's Word When we truly listen to the Scripture readings at Mass, we do more than hear spoken words. We also reflect on the meaning of these words. We take them to heart. We apply them to our own lives as Christians. Such listening, reflecting, and applying is called meditation. The story of Philip and the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26-40) teaches the importance of spending time with Scripture and praying with it. Just as the Word of God changed the Ethiopian man's life, so it can transform us into good and loving followers of Jesus.
		We Give Praise to God Prior to presenting each chapter, refer to the TAKE HOME FAMILY TIME pages in your child's book, or print out these pages from TAKE HOME FAMILY TIME. Learning Focus This chapter will help the children • realize that prayers of praise celebrate God's goodness. • understand that when we pray, we listen and talk to God. • learn how Catholics praise God at Mass. Background Praise is a basic form of Christian prayer. As the catechism explains, praise is a fitting response of creatures to the Creator. We applaud God for his own sake. We acknowledge God's unchanging goodness, mercy, and love. We rejoice because we are God's children. We give God honor above all other people or things. As the children will learn in this chapter, there are many ways we can praise God. We can say words of praise to God. We can express praise to God through gestures and signs. We can also sing our praise. Glory to God The Gloria during Mass is a hymn of praise sung by the early Christians during Morning Prayer. The hymn begins with the words the angels sang on the first Christmas, "Glory to God in the highest." The remainder of the song echoes various Scripture psalms and canticles. Some liturgical scholars believe that Pope Symmachus (A.D. 498-514) first used the Gloria during a Christmas Midnight Mass. Later, the pope extended its use to eucharistic celebrations on Sundays and feasts.