September 23rd, 2014
Here we go on this glorious day in September. Our Grade 5/6 class are looking and taking apart the great question of “Who Is God?” Of course there were two different approaches that we can use we can list the attributes of God — pure and simply God is love, God is all-powerful etc. but truly there are other ways than the tried and true rote memory. I have the students describe themselves firstly in a positive way and than in a negative way (or what they are and then what they are not) and afterwards have them tried describing God in the same way. If you were wondering if this could be the age old ‘Via Negativa’ and the ‘Via Positiva’, you would be a 100% correct. I want them to begin to look at God in interpersonal way, not just a thing that exists in books or a dusty Bible. I want to introduce role of Faith and Reason or as St Anselm would put it, “Faith Seeking Understanding” this I think out lines the job of a catechist. As we look towards God, we need to find God in His handiwork, so we use the famed, “Aquinas Five Proofs” and Creation story. What is funny is that the students try to understand and so they can master it – they will NEVER truly master it–. It is a life voyage, and only life’s experiences will guide them and help them towards understanding and truly finding God.
Each group of students are at very different points in their life voyage – rightly said, all in the beginning, the Grade 3 and 4 are reviewing the ‘Great Sin’ and our great sin. This class becomes a ‘great conversation’ and the points of sharing are amazing. How life is collection of choices, with our own snakes and our own fruit – forbidden fruit; what are our decisions? Do we bring in others? Do are parents speak to us in the same way as God speaks to Adam? “Where are you?” Gen 3:9
Our Grade 2s are getting excited about their next stop on their Journey of faith, their First Communion and First Confession. But their first journey is to how to know the person of Jesus, in that ‘trinity of need’, To Know, To Love And To Serve God our creator. We some times get it backwards; we try to serve the “Great unknown” and request others to love the “unknown”, let’s pray for these small children and see how bloom into the great Christians of tomorrow, lets watch how their journey unfolds.
-Br Justin
