“The LORD God gave the man this order: You are free to eat from any of the trees in this garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die.” GENESIS, chapter 2:16-17
Source: USCCB.org
For Parents to Teach to Their Children
“Each one of us is heir to Adam and Eve. Their sin shattered God’s created harmony, not only for them but also for us. We experience the effects of Original Sin in our daily life. This explains why it is so difficult to do good or to do what we should.”
Source: USCCB.org “Men and Women in the Beginning”
Click Here for More Information on Original Sin and Adam and Eve
Message to Parents
This week we will learn about “The Fall from Grace” and the “Expulsion from the Garden” but focus of the gift of Baptism for redemption from sin. Talk to your children about free will and how God gave us the ability to make choices, both good and bad. Probably, your children have seen or been a part of a Baptism at church. Talk to them about the significance of having water from the font poured over the person’s (baby’s) head by the priest. The priest probably used a shell-shaped vessel to scoop and pour the water. Perhaps the Baptismal Font itself was shaped like a shell. It’s easy to visualize Saint John the Baptist, using a shell from the shore, to baptized Jesus and the other followers. Shells are beautiful, utilitarian, and we try to find them at the sea to collect them for our homes. The art project this week highlights the beauty of shells and the miracle of the spiral, found in many shell shapes. Spirals are another gift. They occur in nature, mathematics, science, botany, etc. Point them out when you see one–inside a shell, sunflower, baby’s hair pattern on top of the head, water spouts, radar storm photography, pictures of DNA “helix,” and seed pods from trees to mention a few.
Readings for Children
“Adam and Eve Disobey God” An Excerpt, Genesis 2-3
“Remember what day God created the first man and woman? It was on Day six.
Adam and Eve did everything together. They were very happy.
But Satan, God’s enemy, could not stand God’s perfect world.
‘I must do something!’ Satan decided.
So he made himself look like a snake and wrapped himself around the branch of the tree of wisdom.
Satan stuck out his forked tongue to smell the ripe fruit from the beautiful tree.
‘Simply scrumptious!’ the snake hissed.
Eve heard the snake and asked, ‘What is scrumptious?’
The snake answered, ‘This fruit.’
‘That is the fruit from the tree of wisdom,’ said Eve.
‘God has said we can’t eat from that tree. If we do we will die.’
‘No! You won’t die. God is afraid you will gain the knowledge of good and evil. You will be like God.’
Eve wanted to eat some, even though God had told her and Adam not to. So she took a bite.
‘Mmm,’ she said.”
“Faith to Grow”
Adam and Eve chose to disobey God.
And they no longer could live in
God’s beautiful garden. But God still
loved Adam and Eve even though
The disobeyed him”
Source: Catholic Book of Bible Stories, Pages 13-15
For Older Children and Adults Please Read “Genesis,” chapter 3 on USCCB.org
THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS
BAPTISM
CONFIRMATION
HOLY COMMUNION
CONFESSION
ANOINTING OF THE SICK
MARRIAGE
HOLY ORDERS
“A Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace.”
THE SACRAMENTS OF BAPTISM, CONFIRMATION AND THE EUCHARIST
“The sacraments of Christian initiation – Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist – lay the foundations of every Christian life.”
1275 “Christian initiation is accomplished by three sacraments together: Baptism which is the beginning of new life; Confirmation which is its strengthening; and the Eucharist which nourishes the disciple with Christ’s Body and Blood for his transformation in Christ.”
1213 “Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua),4 and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: ‘Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word.’5″
1266 “The Most Holy Trinity gives the baptized sanctifying grace, the grace of justification:
– enabling them to believe in God, to hope in him, and to love him through the theological virtues;
– giving them the power to live and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit through the gifts of the Holy Spirit;
– allowing them to grow in goodness through the moral virtues.
Thus the whole organism of the Christian’s supernatural life has its roots in Baptism.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Baptism–Scallop Shell–Symbol of Water and Life
Our Art Project–Baptismal Shell
Our art project this week celebrates the incredible intricacy of God’s creation of shells, and the symbol of the scallop shell in Baptism. My family has a collection of shells, which we have had for many years. They sit out for all to see, on tables, shelves and counter tops. I love the colors, shapes, and beauty of shells and decided to try to paint them. I used a fourth of a piece of full-size watercolor paper and lightly sketched the shell I was looking at. After erasing and trying again, I used a very fine point dark brown sharpie to trace the pencil marks before painting over the drawing, in watercolors. I used a white watercolor pastel on the paper, to make swirls, lines and squiggles, before painting. On a whim, I cut out spiral shapes from a “discarded” painting and glued them onto the scallop shell painting. The scallop shell painting is my first “pop-up” art!
Materials
Celebrating Through Song
Lyrics from Hymnary.org
“Songs of thankfulness and praise,
Jesus, Lord, to you we raise,
manifested by the star
to the sages from afar;
Branch of royal David’s stem,
in your birth at Bethlehem;
Refrain:
“You are Christ,” by us confessed,
God in flesh made manifest.
2 Manifest at Jordan’s stream,
Prophet, Priest, and King supreme;
and at Cana, wedding guest,
in your Godhead manifest,
you revealed your pow’r divine,
changing water into wine; [Refrain]
3 Manifest in making whole
palsied limbs and fainting soul;
manifest in valiant fight,
quelling all the devil’s might;
manifest in gracious will,
ever bringing good from ill; [Refrain]”
Source: “Trinity Psalter Hymnal #332″
Video of Hymn–“Songs of Thankfulness and Praise”