In Unit 3, the children will learn that the Bible teaches about God’s creation and God’s love for all people. They will read stories that help them understand the importance of love and prayer.
		We Learn About God's Love 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 • come to know and love God as the Creator. • recognize our belief that, from the Bible, we can learn about God and creation. • realize that Jesus is the Son of God. Background Both Jews and Christians believe that God speaks to them in the Old Testament of the Bible. God speaks through the mighty deeds of creation and the Exodus. God speaks through prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. God even speaks through wind and fire, thunder and rain. When Christians read the Old Testament, they see God's mighty acts as leading up to the great act of the Incarnation, when God becomes human and takes on flesh. This is God's new creation and fulfillment of Old Testament promises. The New Testament The Christian Bible contains the Old Testament and the New Testament. Testament is a Greek word meaning "covenant." Thus, the Old Testament is about the covenant made with God's people at Sinai. The New Testament is about the new covenant sealed in Jesus' death and Resurrection. At the Last Supper, Jesus said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you" (Luke 22:20). In the New Testament God speaks to us through Jesus. Here, too, we witness God's mighty deeds. In the Old Testament God speaks through creation; in the New Testament, God speaks through a new creation–Jesus Christ.
		We Listen to God's Word 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 we listen to God's Word in the Scripture readings. • learn the responses to the Liturgy of the Word. • recognize that the Nicene Creed is a prayer about what Catholics believe. Background Jesus frequently used parables to answer a question put to him by a believer or a doubter. His stories then broadened the whole scope of the question. They went beyond the simple answer that the questioner thought Jesus' response would be. On the outside, a parable seems a simple thing. But when we look deeper into Jesus' parables, we find food that nourishes our spirit. Joachim Jeremias, a world-famous Bible scholar, says that Jesus' parables have eight major themes. Among these are the following: to assure us that God's reign is near, to announce the coming of a new age, to proclaim God's mercy for sinners, to invite people to respond to Jesus' Good News, and to detail the conditions for following Jesus. The Parable of the Seed and the Sower In the parable featured in Chapter 10, Jesus tells about God's Word and the coming of the Kingdom. By talking about farming, Jesus helped his rural audience understand his message. But his listeners still had to discover its meaning.
		We Act on God's Word 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 • learn that Jesus gave us many examples of service. • understand the various ways we respond to the needs of others through the works of mercy. • identify the ways in which holy people such as Saint Martin de Porres follow Jesus. Background The Church celebrates Matthew's Gospel story of the last judgment and the corporal works of mercy on the Last Sunday in Ordinary Time of Year A. The First Reading for that Sunday is from Ezekiel 34:11-12 and 15-17. In this reading, we hear of God's care for people as a shepherd cares for sheep. God will search out the lost, will bind up wounds, and heal the sick. In the Preface of the Last Sunday in Ordinary Time, God's people tell the Father that Jesus will present to God a Kingdom of "truth and life...holiness and grace...justice, love, and peace." Finally, in the Prayer after Communion, we ask God to help us live by Jesus' Gospel and to "bring us to the joy of this Kingdom." The Corporal Works of Mercy The Shepherd God in Ezekiel binds up wounds, seeks out the lost and lonely, and heals the sick. In the Gospel of John, Jesus calls himself the "Good Shepherd." This "Good Shepherd" lays down his life for his people. Through each merciful act, we give away part of ourselves. The seed that falls onto good ground will bear good fruit. Jesus is telling us in the Gospel for this session that his followers bear good fruit when they give of themselves to others.
		We Pray for Others 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 • become aware of the needs of others. • realize that we can trust in God's help. • know that the Prayer of the Faithful is part of the Liturgy of the Word. Background At least twice in the New Testament, women model for us how to pray. At the wedding feast in Cana, Mary, the mother of Jesus, saw that the groom's family was running out of wine. She said to her son, "They have no wine." She did not tell him what to do. She simply stated the problem. Later, Martha, the sister of Lazarus who was near death, sent a message to Jesus. She did not ask him to come to Bethany and heal her brother. Instead, she simply stated the problem by saying, "Master, the one you love is ill." The Power of Prayer These two women in the Bible teach us to trust in God unconditionally. We do not tell God what to do. We must simply surrender the problem to God's will. Prayer helps us do that. Prayer helps us strip away all the whys and wherefores. With the Holy Spirit's help, we address our concerns. Then, we pray for God's help to let go and trust God to know what is best. In the book Granddad's Prayers of the Earth (Candlewick Press, 1999), a loving grandfather explains prayer to his grandson. The granddad says, "we pray because we are here...not to change the world, but to change ourselves." He explains that when we change ourselves, we do change the world. Thus, we become God's answer to our prayer.