To Know, Worship and Love: Book 3

This level marks the transition from the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd to more formal instruction guided by the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This has been based on selecting and integrating what is best in the three predominant methods that have shaped Catholic religious education over the past fifty years: doctrinal, kerygmatic and existential.

The first chapters are on God, Creation, the Human Person and the Family, leading into chapter 4, Jesus Teaches Us How Much He Loves Us. Chapter 5 presents the celebration of the Paschal Mystery, Lent, Holy Week and Easter. Chapter 6 provides the ecclesial context for the Scriptures, The Church Lives the Word of God. The child learns that the Church and the Scriptures are inseparable.

In many dioceses this is the age level when most children make their First Confession and First Holy Communion, hence the clearer catechesis on the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. In chapter 12, Penance and Reconciliation comes under the heading, Forgiveness and Strength Are Gifts of the Lord and, that oft neglected essential, grace is presented in chapter 14, Living in the Life of the Holy Spirit. The Eucharistic liturgy is the theme of chapter 7, with attention to the structure of the Mass, and chapter 11 focuses on the Eucharist, particularly on the Real Presence, transubstantiation and what is required to receive Communion. The way we live the Eucharist is developed in chapters 13-15, with an emphasis on personal prayer in chapter 16, Listening and Responding to God.

In chapter 17, Everlasting Life, the sacraments are presented as preparing the dying for eternal life in God. Prayer for the dead is set out simply. The final chapter, devoted to Advent and Christmas concludes the book, but would need to be used at an earlier stage in the academic year in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Shape of a Chapter

In Books 3 to 6 the Chapters are written to help each child “to know, worship and love”. To Remember sets out doctrinal points taken from the Doctrinal Overview that covers the seven primary/elementary school levels. This should be learnt by heart. An essay sums up the content of the chapter. This is followed by The Word of God, both in Scripture and in Tradition, according to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum 10. Our Prayer is the heart of the chapter. Living the Gospel applies the theme to the daily experiences of children. Did You Know? cultivates cognitive skills and Reflecting Together At Home and At School relates parents as the first teachers in the domestic church to the learning process at school or CCD class.

Our Prayers, pp. 148-153, builds on the basic Catholic prayers the child should learn by heart, adding more prayers appropriate to the age group.

Summaries of Christian Teaching, pp. 154-157 is particularly useful for memory work, including the Creeds, the Ten Commandment and Precepts of the Church, the Beatitudes, Virtues and Vices, Church seasons etc.