Baptism
Penance/Reconciliation
Eucharist
Confirmation
Matrimony
Holy Orders
Anointing of the Sick

As we prepare for the celebration of the sacrament of First Holy Communion, we expect the children to participate in the Mass. It is essential for a child who is preparing to receive this most Blessed Sacrament.  We are learning about what Father is wearing, what we see in the church and the structure of the Mass.  This is a lot of information to digest and the children will not remember everything, obviously.   The prayers of the Mass should be familiar to the children and they will need to learn them by heart.  They can and should be following along.  However, they should not flip aimlessly through the Missal pages the entire time.  It is our responsibility to see that they begin to behave and participate during the Mass to a much fuller extent than you may have previously expected. During Advent, with the arrival of the changes in the Mass and responses of the people, the children will be preparing a booklet to use at Mass.  You may also find this helpful when at Mass, to follow along with the liturgy and learn the new wordings.

Your child may bring home his/her religion text at any time.  Just remind him/her to pack it before coming home and remember to send it back the next day for our work in class. Visit the Prayers section to view the prayers we are learning here in school.  We say almost all prayers listed there on a daily/weekly basis and will explore the meanings of the prayers as the year progresses and students begin to memorize them.

Please examine the chapter when the book is sent home.  You can read it together with your child or your entire family.  The main function is to involve you in the faith formation of your child and keep you informed of what we are learning in class. This serves as a great review for the chapter tests.  

Our A.N.G.E.L. Way virtue for the second grading period is compassion and generosity.  We will be sending home more information on how we will practice/demonstrate this virtue soon!

We will be discussing the Ten Commandments. 

The students will begin to form a greater understanding of the Ten

Commandments.  Please see the explanations of the commandments

that we will use with the students.

 

First Commandment: 

"I am the Lord your God.  You shall not have strange gods before me."

Explain that we try to put God first in our life.

 

Second Commandment: 

"You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain."

Emphasize that God's name is holy and we must respect it and not use

it thoughtlessly.

 

Third Commandment: 

"Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day."

Teach that Catholics have the duty of participating in Mass on Sundays

and holy days of obligation.

 

Fourth Commandment: 

"Honor your father and mother."

Explain that children must obey their parents or guardians.

 

Fifth Commandment: 

"You shall not kill."

Stress that as Catholics, we are called to be peacemakers in our

homes and schools.

 

Sixth Commandment: 

"You shall not commit adultery."

Help the children to understand that the sacrament of marriage makes

holy the promise of a man and woman to love each other as husband

and wife.

 

Seventh Commandment: 

"You shall not steal."

Teach that stealing is taking the property of another person without

permission.

 

Eighth Commandment: 

"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

Emphasize that lying deliberately is saying what is untrue.

 

Ninth Commandment: 

"You shall not covet your neighbor's wife."

Guide the students to see that we must be faithful to those we love.

 

Tenth Commandment: 

"You shall not covet your neighbor's goods."

Help people to have what they need to live.

 

This year, your child will be preparing for the celebrations of First Reconciliation/Penance/Confession and First  Eucharist.  These are very special sacraments.   The most important way to prepare your child to celebrate the sacraments is to bring your child to Mass every weekend. Quite often we will discuss the readings or the Gospel for the week.

 It is important that the children go to Mass to learn the parts of the Mass and most importantly, how to behave during the special celebration.  We do go to church as a school once a month, but as the students will learn, this does not fulfill their Sunday Mass obligation, nor teach them that the Lord's Supper is a special time each week to be with God, especially as a family.

Holy Heroes Advent Adventure Lessons