Blest Are We

Is that a fact?: Saint Patrick has been credited with selecting the shamrock as the symbol for the Trinity. The three persons in one God are to be seen in the same way as the three leaves on the one shamrock stem.

Extend the activities for each concept presented in Blest Are We with the following Ideas.


		• Have children sit together in small groups. Provide each group with a Bible. • Help children find the Old Testament section. Have them put a bookmark at the end of that section. • Point out that the names of the books appear at the top of each page. • Ask for volunteers to give you the name of a book and the page number on which it appears to help others also find it. • Do the same for the New Testament. • Have children find and name the four gospels. • Direct them to find a specific passage, such as Luke Chapter 2, verses 1-5; or John 16:12.


		• Encourage children to suggest symbols that could be used to describe the Trinity, such as a three-leaf clover, a triangle, or interlocked circles. • Draw the symbols on the chalkboard as you discuss them. • Ask, How would you describe God the Father, the Creator? • How would you describe God the Son, the Redeemer? • How would you describe God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us?


		• Discuss with children the fact that we are Christians because we follow Jesus. We are Catholic Christians. • Point out that we belong to the Catholic Church. Our Church is one. That means Catholics all over the world are part of the same church under the leadership of the pope. Ask, Who can tell me the name of our pope? • Our Church is holy. Ask, Can you think of some people in our Church who are holy? We can all be holy when we do what is right. • The word “catholic” also means universal. We welcome all people into our church. They could be other Christians or non-Christians. • Our church is apostolic. We continue to follow the teachings of the first apostles. Ask, Can anyone name one of the apostles? Provide children with the apostles’ names: Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddeus, Simon, and Judas Iscariot. (Matthias later took the place of Judas.)