Volume 1, Issue 1 March 1

Family Catechism Days

for children in grade K-4 and their families
Dear Families, Welcome to the first Family Catechism Day! We have prepared these sessions at the request of Bishop Ricken to invite you to share in the mission entrusted first to Sister Adele and now to all who come to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help to pray for conversion of heart and to teach the faith to our children. The goal for these Family Catechism days is to help each family to encounter Christ through the riches of our faith: first, through the offering of First Saturday Mass, the Rosary and Confession; and also, in a fun and dynamic way through the lessons and activities of the Catechism sessions. The sessions are on the first Saturdays of each month in keeping with the First Saturday Devotion Our Lady entrusted to the children in Fatima. See page three for more information on this important devotion. We hope you have enjoyed your time here today and will come again and invite your friends!

I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners, and I wish you to do the same... Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation

-Our Lady to Sr. Adele

Meet Todays Saint: St. Francis of Assisi

As a young man, St. Francis encountered Christ: One day, after his return from Rome, as he prayed in the humble little church of St. Damian outside the walls of Assisi, he felt the eyes of the Christ on the crucifix gazing at him and heard a voice saying three times, "Francis, go and repair My house, which you see is falling down.* Christ made it clear to St. Francis that he was not only speaking of a physical dwelling place but rather Jesus was calling St. Francis to help the People of God repent and turn to God: "And going, preach, saying The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.... Freely have you received, freely give. Take neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses These words suddenly became Christ's direct charge to him...with a moving warmth and sincerity, [St. Francis] began to speak to the people he met on the shortness of life, the need of repentance, and the love of God.* It was through serving Christ in the poor that St. Francis was able to answer this call for when one serves the poor, he serves Christ Himself.* St. Francis is the patron saint Sister Adele called upon in her mission; she referred to her sisters as the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi. Pope Francis also chose St. Francis as his Patron. He explains: Francis is also the man of peace. That is how the name came into my heart: Francis of Assisi. For me, he is the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who Family Catechism Days: loves and protects creation; How I would like the 1st Saturday of Every month a Church which is poor and for the poor!** from March to September Pope Francis is also calling us - everyone who 2014 Dates is baptized to be missionary disciples and March 1st to bring the Gospel to others while learning July 5th April 5th more about our faith just as Jesus called St. August 2nd May 3rd Francis to rebuild His Church. September 6th
June 7th

*Quotes from: http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/francis.htm (read the full story at this site! **source: www.vatican.va (Pope Francis in his March 16 Address)

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Today in Class we read the stories of Creation, Adam and Eve, the Fall and the Promise of Salvation. These stories come from the Old Testament book of Genesis Chapters 1-3. Dig deeper: Look at Gen. 1-3 and answer these questions: What did God see on each day of Creation? What was different about the 6th day of Creation? Did you notice there are actually two separate accounts of Creation put side by side from two different traditions? The second account begins in Genesis 2:4. How did the serpent tempt Eve? What were the lies he told her and why were they convincing to her? How are we also led astray when we dont trust God but rely on our own reasoning? Can you think of ways this first sin of disobedience and a lack of trust in God effect us today?

From the Catechism: Among all the Scriptural texts about creation, the first three chapters of
Genesis occupy a unique place. From a literary standpoint these texts may have had diverse sources. The inspired authors have placed them at the beginning of Scripture to express in their solemn language the truths of creation - its origin and its end in God, its order and goodness, the vocation of man, and finally the drama of sin and the hope of salvation. Read in the light of Christ, within the unity of Sacred Scripture and in the living Tradition of the Church, these texts remain the principal source for catechesis on the mysteries of the "beginning": creation, fall, and promise of salvation. CCC, 289

From the Catechism:

During todays Catechism Day session we learned about and acted out the Sacrament of Baptism. It is through this sacrament that we become Christian and it is always the first sacrament every Catholic receives. Can you answer the following questions from todays lesson: 1. Baptism washes away the effects of ? 2. What two types of oil are used to anoint the person during a Baptism? 3. What are the words of Baptism? 4. With what is a person baptized? 5. After a person is baptized, what do they wear? 6. What is used to light the baptismal candle? Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit (vitae spiritualis ianua), 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." (CCC, 1213)

Baptism is the first of the three Sacraments of Initiation and one of the seven Sacraments we were given by Christ. To learn more about this great sacrament, you can read Chapter 15 in the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults. Well be learning about a Sacrament in each session of the Family Catechism Days. Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.

Answers 1. Original Sin; 2. Oil of Catechumens & Chrism; 3. I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.; 4. Water; 5. A white garment ; 6. The Paschal (Easter) Candle.

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Prayer
Our Prayers for this month are the Hail Mary and The Fatima Prayer
Here are some fun facts about these prayers:

The Five First Saturdays Devotion A request of Our Lady at Fatima

Did you know? Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee is a direct quote from the Angel Gabriel? Check out Luke 1:28 to find out the rest of the story. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb are the words St. Elizabeth greeted Mary with when Mary went to visit her cousin. You can read Marys response beginning in Luke 1:46. When Our Lady appeared to Sister Adele, she introduced herself as the one who prays for sinners just as we ask her to do when we pray the second half of the Hail Mary. When Mary appeared to the three children in Fatima, she asked them to pray a special prayer with each decade of the rosary which we now pray as well: O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.

During her July apparition at Fatima, Our Lady said to Lucia, I shall come to ask... that on the First Saturday of every month, Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world. Although she made no further mention of this devotion at Fatima, on December 10, 1925, our Blessed Mother again appeared to Lucia at Pentevedra, Spain, where the seer had been sent to the Dorothean Sisters to learn to read and write. It was there Our Lady completed her request for the Five First Saturdays and gave her great promise. Appearing with the Queen of Heaven in that apparition was the Infant Jesus, Who said to Lucia: Have pity on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother. It is covered with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to remove them with an act of reparation. Our Lady then spoke: See, my daughter, my Heart encircled by thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. Do you, at least, strive to console me. Tell them that I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all those who, in order to make reparation to me, on the First Saturday of five successive months, go to confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour, meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary. To those who faithfully follow Our Ladys requests for the Five First Saturdays, she has made a wonderful promise which she, as Mediatrix of All Graces, will certainly fulfill: I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation. This means that our Blessed Mother will be present at the hour of death with the actual grace of final perseverance, (which after the gift/grace of Faith), is the most important grace.
Excerpted from: www.themostholyrosary.com/appendix2.htm

Life in Christ
The beatitudes depict the countenance of Christ and portray his charity. CCC, 1717 Today we learned a bit about the beatitude Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Mt. 5) We saw that St. Francis truly lived this beatitude by putting all of his trust in God and seeking to always live according to Gods will for him. What are some ways you entrust yourself to God? Is there something you can freely give up or give to someone in need and so store up treasure in heaven? Each family is given a mission as they leave the Catechism day session to bring the faith to another and share what they have learned through the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. These works of mercy are one way we can bring Christ to others.

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Baptism Word Search

white Holy water Baptism Font Priest Oil Celebrate Cross sign bible Candle Welcome light

w e l c o m e h d w

h b i b l e x o e a

i q o u a z c l t t

t p w i s m c y a e

e r e s d s a z r r

s i r s f i n x b f

i e f o n t d x e g

g s t r g p l c l h

n t y c h a e v e j

l i g h t b v b c k

Help the Angel Gabriel get to Mary.

Baptism washes away the Original Sin of Adam and Eve. Can you tell the story of what happened in the Garden of Eden using the pictures above?

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