In Unit 2 the focus is on how God saved the Hebrew people from slavery.
		Slavery and Deliverance 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 about Moses' role in rescuing the Israelites from captivity in Egypt. • understand why the Exodus was so important to the Israelites. • realize that Jesus' death and Resurrection freed us from sin and gave us everlasting life. Background Many of us are spiritually enslaved by bad situations. We may be caught in the "quicksand" of poverty, prejudice, addiction, violence, or materialism. Such enslavements prevent people from living in peace, happiness, and love. This chapter recounts the story of how God worked through Moses to free the Israelites from their enslavement. According to Exodus 3, God appeared to Moses from a burning bush. God revealed God's sacred name and gave Moses the task of leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Jesus, Our Deliverer God continues to act in today's world to deliver us from enslavements. God sent Jesus Christ to deliver us from sin and set us free to live as God's own people. Through Jesus Christ, God offers us the greatest freedom of all–everlasting happiness. It is important to remember that there is no situation from which God cannot deliver us. No matter how impossible our situations in life seem, God's love is always more powerful. As Christians, we live each day with hope, truly believing that the new life God offers us is wonderful and everlasting.
		Passover and the Eucharist Celebration 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 the importance of the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. • understand connections between the Passover and Jesus' death, Resurrection, and Ascension. • understand how the Church celebrates the Paschal mystery. Background This chapter reinforces the popular adage "God never closes a door without opening a window." On the night they fled Egypt, the Israelites closed their doors and painted their doorposts, lintels, with the blood of a lamb. The angel of death passed over them, sparing their firstborns from death. Later that night, God enabled the Israelites to escape from Egypt and slavery. God "opened a window" and gave the Israelites a new life and hope. Celebrating God's Faithfulness Each spring, Jewish people celebrate the feast of Passover. They recount God's saving actions in the events of the Exodus. Our Holy Thursday evening liturgy recalls the saving meal Jesus shared with the Twelve Apostles on the night before he died. At that meal, Christ shared his Body and Blood. At each Eucharist, we remember the Last Supper and celebrate the Paschal mystery, the "passover" of Jesus from death to new life, which saved us from our own deaths. Throughout the liturgical year, we celebrate different aspects of that great mystery. We praise and thank God for Jesus, our Paschal Lamb, who saves us through his passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension.
		Commandment and Fulfillment 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 why God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. • understand why the Ten Commandments express the way we all want to live. • recognize that God fulfilled the covenant by sending Jesus Christ. Background When you were a child, you were probably asked to memorize the Ten Commandments. You learned that "being good" meant obeying these laws. This chapter presents the Ten Commandments as more than rules or laws. They are signs of God's covenant. When we observe the Ten Commandments, we live in freedom as God's children. We experience God's presence and love, just as the people of Israel did. Covenant Living Jesus fulfilled God's covenant by showing us how to live in a faithful and loving relationship with God and people. Jesus emphasized the Great Commandment: Love God with our whole heart and mind and soul. Jesus also gave us the New Commandment: Love one another as he loved us. From Jesus' words and actions we learn how to keep God's law in the spirit of love. For true disciples of Jesus, the commandments are not something external, written on tablets of stone. Instead, they are written in our hearts. They are part of our very identity as members of God's family.
		Our Journey and God's Presence 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 how the Israelites, under Joshua's leadership, arrived and settled in the promised land. • understand that the Israelites would not have been able to conquer the promised land without God's help. • learn that constant prayer is important and will help us discern God's will for our lives. Background The Israelites wandered for 40 years in the desert before God led them, under Joshua's leadership, into the Promised Land. That 40-year journey is a reminder of our own life's journey. Every day is both an opportunity and a challenge for us to experience God's presence and live as covenant people. We move closer to the Promised Land, or we take detours away from it. Today's Promised Land We can create our own "promised lands" by obeying God's law, doing good deeds, and praying. The journey of the Israelites reminds us that we don't travel as individuals. We travel with a community, with other members of the Church. We cannot bring about God's kingdom of love, justice, and peace solely on our own. We can help build that kingdom by praying with others and loving others as Jesus did. It isn't always easy to achieve harmony in parish life. Through constant prayer we can hear God's voice more clearly, open ourselves to his grace, and become the holy people God calls us to be.