In Unit 2 the focus is on Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead to save us from our sins and give us new life. Readings from some of Jesus’ teachings suggest ways to live and find real happiness.
		Jesus, the Image of 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 • understand Jesus is both human and divine. • identify Jesus as the role model for Christians. • explore ways in which, like Jesus, to be true to our principles. Background This chapter deals with two great mysteries of our faith, the Incarnation of Jesus and the Paschal mystery. The word incarnation means "to become flesh, to take on a human body." We believe that God became incarnated in Jesus. The term Paschal mystery refers to "passing over from death to new life." The ancient Israelites offered the paschal lamb and then were freed from slavery when the angel of death passed over Egypt. We believe that Jesus is our Paschal Lamb. Through his death, Resurrection, and Ascension, we are freed from sin and given new life. Being God's Image Today Many people celebrate the Incarnation of Jesus at Christmas and the Paschal mystery at Easter. These two great mysteries of our faith, however, are two sides of the same coin. The Incarnation does not make sense without the Paschal mystery, and vice versa. Jesus is truly human and truly divine. When we look at Jesus, we see God the Father; we also see our best selves. To follow Jesus means speaking and acting as he did–with compassion, forgiveness, and love. Like Jesus we, too, are called to give God flesh, to be God's image in today's world.
		Baptism in Christ 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 the significance of the gift of Baptism. • understand the call to live Christian lives. • renew the promises made at our Baptism. Background We enter into the Incarnation/Paschal mystery of Jesus through Baptism. We become God's own children, God's flesh and blood. We renounce all sin, and we rise to new life in the Spirit. The signs used in the sacrament of Baptism–white garment, water, oil, and light–point to the same spiritual reality: we have become a new creation and have clothed ourselves in Christ. United with Christ and the Church, we are now empowered to bring God's goodness and love to today's world. Living Our Baptism The Rite of Baptism takes place only once in life, but the reality of Baptism lives on each day we are alive. Baptism changes us for life. Its grace continually animates and renews us. We no longer walk alone; we walk with others as members of Christ's Body, the Church. Our challenge is to be Church and to continue the mission of Jesus in the twenty-first century. What exactly is the mission of Jesus? It is standing up against the power of evil and embracing virtue. It is trusting God and letting him make a difference in our lives. It is living each day with faith, hope, and love. It is sharing our gifts with others and giving our lives for them as Jesus did for us.
		The Commandments and the Beatitudes(Kingdom and Beatitudes) 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 why Jesus wants us to follow the Ten Commandments • learn the Beatitudes from Matthew's Gospel. • discuss ways to live out the Beatitudes. Background The word beatitude means "blessed, happy, or joyous." Throughout the Scriptures, people are known to be blessed or happy when they trust in the Lord and live in the fullness of God. During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave his followers guidelines for achieving true happiness–the Beatitudes. The central message of the Beatitudes is that people who live justly will receive the promise of a future reward: fullness of happiness in the kingdom of God. There are two renditions of the Beatitudes in the Gospels: Luke 6:20-26 and Matthew 5:3-10. This chapter focuses on Matthew's version. The Law and the Beatitudes The Gospel of Matthew was written to show Jesus' Jewish followers that Jesus was the Messiah, the one who fulfilled the promise of the Hebrew Scriptures. Matthew links Jesus to Moses, who was the great mediator between God and the Jewish people about 1,200 years before Christ. Moses went up the mountain and returned with the Law of God, the Ten Commandments. Jesus went up the mountain to teach taking the Ten Commandments further. He taught us that if we really want to be his disciples, to be happy, and to be a blessing to others, we need not only follow the Ten Commandments, but also live the Beatitudes.
		The Commandments and the Kingdom (Thy Kingdom Come) 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 • explore how worldly justice and Godly justice differ. • identify ways to grow closer to God by obeying the Ten Commandments and living the Beatitudes. • pray for the coming of God's kingdom. Background Most people want to be treated fairly. We want to receive what we deserve. It particularly upsets us when life does not seem to be fair. Indeed, at first glance, the unfairness of life seems to be the message of Jesus' parable of the workers in the vineyard. They do different amounts of work but are not paid according to the amount of time worked. Repeatedly, throughout life, we learn that God's justice can be quite different from our own. God forgives those we don't necessarily want to forgive. God is merciful toward those who we don't think deserve a second chance. Of course, we see ourselves as righteous and deserving of God's love. Other people, in our way of thinking, deserve less if they don't live up to these standards. Spiritual "Justice" The real meaning of the vineyard workers has nothing to do with human justice. Instead, it deals with divine justice. The truth is that when it comes to the spiritual life, we deserve nothing. We don't "earn" God's love; God gives us love freely and generously despite the fact that we are sinners. We don't "work" our way into God's kingdom. Again, God's kingdom is an eternal gift, something we could never obtain simply by our own efforts. As God is generous with us, so we should help make God's kingdom a reality by being generous and compassionate toward others.