In Unit 4 children will learn that during the Mass, they remember that Jesus died and was raised from the dead, that Jesus is with them when they celebrate the Eucharist. They will identify ways to pray and show love for others.
		Jesus Saves Us from Sin 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 • know that Jesus is God's greatest gift to us. • understand that Jesus died to save us from sin and rose from the dead. • learn about Saint Elizabeth of Hungary who sacrificed for others. Background In the Eucharistic Liturgy, we give thanks for God's great goodness to us. We receive God's word in Scripture and in Christ Jesus, the Word made flesh. As we celebrate Eucharist, or give thanks, we witness and proclaim the great mystery of our faith in our memorial acclamation. For the Church, a memorial is an active recollection of Jesus' life, death, and Resurrection. Active here means that in the Eucharistic Celebration Jesus once again lives, dies, and rises in us. This is our belief. This is what we proclaim in the Mass following the consecration, or the institution narrative. The Four Memorial Acclamations Following the institution narrative, the priest says, "Let us proclaim the mystery of faith." The assembly may respond in one of four ways. "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again." "Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life. Lord Jesus, come in glory." "When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death, Lord Jesus, until you come in glory." "Lord, by your cross and Resurrection you have set us free. You are the Savior of the world." With these four acclamations, we express our active recollection of the mystery of God's great love for us.
		We Receive the Gift of Jesus 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 • recognize that at Mass we remember the events of the Last Supper. • discover that Jesus is truly present in the bread and wine. • learn how to receive Jesus in the Eucharist. Background In this chapter, you and your child read and discuss the Eucharistic Prayer for Masses with Children III. Here, as in the other Eucharistic Prayers, we remember the Last Supper. We memorialize this meal in which Jesus gave the disciples his Body and Blood to eat and drink. In the Eucharistic Prayer, we express our belief in a Trinitarian God. We praise and thank God, the Father. We celebrate our union in Christ Jesus. His Body and Blood form us into a sacrament of renewal for our world. We call on the Holy Spirit to be with us as we celebrate and as we take our celebration out into our daily world. Jesus Is Present in the Assembly of Believers Together, the eucharistic assembly praises and thanks God for his mighty deeds of creation and redemption. Joined as an assembly of believers, we celebrate Christ's Paschal Mystery. Together, we celebrate that God was made flesh through the Incarnation, and that he lived and died and rose to new life for us. We celebrate that Jesus continues to live and die and rise in us.
		We Carry on the Work of Jesus 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 • discover ways that Jesus showed his love for all people. • understand that when they show love for another person, they are showing love for God. • identify ways that they can show love for others. Background The Church ends its Eucharistic Prayer with an ancient doxology, or group of praise words. The priest says, "Through him [Christ Jesus], with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever. Amen." With this doxology, the Church teaches the assembly a great and abiding truth. It is in Christ Jesus and through Christ Jesus and with Christ Jesus that we do all things. We live in him. He is the head of the Body of Christ, which is the Church, God's People. Jesus Lives On in Us We do not so much follow Jesus as we allow his Spirit to work in us. We open ourselves to the Spirit of Jesus. In us, Jesus loves others. In us, Jesus speaks words of healing. In us, Jesus embraces the outcast, the disenfranchised, and the lonely. John Henry Cardinal Newman, a great Church leader in the nineteenth century, prayed, "Lord Jesus...shine through me, and be so in me that everyone with whom I come into contact may feel your presence within me. Let them look up and no longer see me, but only you, Jesus."
		We Pray Like Jesus 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 Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer to his followers. • learn to pray the Lord's Prayer with an understanding of its meaning. • recognize that they can pray at any time. Background When Jesus' followers asked him to teach them to pray, they thought of themselves as a community with Jesus as their leader. Jesus taught them to pray by saying "Our Father" and "forgive us." He did not encourage Peter or John or Judas or you or me to pray "My Father" or "forgive me." No, Jesus was emphasizing the good of the whole, the good of the community. As an assembly of believers, the Church uses the Lord's Prayer at the Eucharist. The Church also uses this prayer, a gift from Jesus, God's Son, in Baptism and Confirmation. It sums up our belief that we are all part of God's People. We pray in communion with others. "Abba" for Father When we pray the Lord's Prayer, we pray for everyone. That would not have been so revolutionary among the Jewish people who thought of themselves as a group that God has chosen. What was revolutionary about the prayer was that Jesus used the word Abba when addressing God. This Aramaic word means "daddy" or "papa." It is an informal and intimate way of addressing God. Jesus taught his followers that God is indeed a loving Father. The God that Jesus describes is a God who leans over the cradle and croons peace to us, who wipes away our tears when we fall, who rocks us when our plans go awry. God closes no door on us.