Our team is working to bring new materials to this area to provide better assistance to our catechetics.

CATECHETICAL PROGRAMS

The following catechetical programs are authorized for use in the Diocese of Saskatoon:
Contact the Rural Catechetics coordinator assigned to your parish for ordering information.

Advent Overview for Born of the Spirit and We Are Strong Together

The liturgical year begins with the Advent season. The liturgical year is an integral part of Born of the Spirit (K-6) and We are Strong Together (7-10, 12).

Catechists are encouraged to stay with the focus of their particular year when experiencing the Advent-Christmas themes with the children. They are encouraged to come together with their parishes to discuss the flow of the season and organize the liturgical celebrations.
The theme of waiting is key to the season of Advent.

IN GOD'S IMAGE ( Early Childhood - Kindergarten)

A key Advent Activity:
With the song 'Walking Toward Christmas' as the common thread, the children meet the key persons and images involved in the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus - Tree, Mary and Joseph, Stable, Jesus, Star. It is suggested that the manger scene is set up gradually using the figures mentioned. The children are encouraged to make a little banner at home with their families. Jesus and the star are not put into the scene until Christmas

Year one: WE BELONG TO GOD (Unit 4)

More than just telling the story of the birth of Jesus, the children are invited to 'dwell' in the story. The come into touch with the meaning of the birth of Jesus through rituals and symbols - Advent Wreath, gift giving, Christmas tree, créche, Christmas family meal, Christmas carols, Christmas Eve Mass.
The children are presented the story of how God chooses Mary to be the mother of Jesus. After hearing the story of the Annunciation, the children are centered with the Hail Mary prayer and are invited to learn it by heart. The children are invited to a guided meditation of a visit with Mary. They share through conversation how they get ready for the feast of Christmas and explore new ways that it can be done in their families.
A key Advent Activity:
Advent - Advent-ure - links are made with the home to involve the family in the child's preparation for Christmas. As with the Early Childhood resource, the children are 'Walking Toward Christmas' and gradually as another part of the story is told, the manger scene is set up.

Year two: WE BELONG TO THE LORD JESUS (Unit 4)

The catechesis of this year centers on the Eucharist, with the focus throughout the year being on the four main parts of the Eucharistic celebration. Before Christmas children are looking at the main elements of the Liturgy of the Word. In the Advent preparation they use this terminology. Mary is the one who listened, responded, waited, and gave birth to God's Word. During Advent, like Mary, they are invited to listen, to treasure, and to respond to God's Word.
A key Advent activity:
The Advent Wreath is introduced as a symbol of waiting. The children are invited to make their own 'story' candle for their 'story' wreath, one for each week. The candles illustrate the Advent Scriptures with the fourth story candle illustrating the Epiphany story. Through ritual and story, the Advent wreath is transformed into a Christmas wreath of stars symbolizing the gift of Christ himself coming to light the darkness of our lives.

Year three: IN THE SPIRIT WE BELONG (Unit 4)

Catechesis in year 3 explores our belonging to the Church gathered in the Holy Spirit. Advent preparation focuses on how the Holy Spirit comes upon Advent people. Students meet Isaiah, the prophet who spoke about Emmanuel: God-with-us. They discover Mary and Joseph as persons upon whom the Spirit of God rests. They are guided to look at their own actions and move toward doing everyday things for others and to work together for others. They are asked to prepare a welcoming space for God.
A key Advent activity:
Through ritual activity and celebration around the Advent Wreath and the Christ Candle, the children enter into some of the Scriptural narratives of the season: the Annunciation, the story of Isaiah's call, the story of Joseph's call. A progressive activity flowing through the unit is a manger scene created by the children. Pictures of Isaiah and of the traditional crèche figures are provided to be colored and made into a stand-up crèche for the class and for the family. Alternatively the figures could be molded from clay. They are invited to mold clay figures of themselves to be placed around the Advent wreath and to talk about the way God gathers people to remember and celebrate Jesus' birth.

Year 4: COME AND SEE (Unit 4)

In Year 4 the children meet Jesus through the living experience of Gospel witnesses, persons who knew Jesus, and explore what it means to be a disciple and friend of Jesus today.
John the Baptist is introduced as the one who points the way to Jesus, bearing witness to the Light. They hear the passage from Isaiah 1:16, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.� The tree stump introduced in unit one becomes the Jesse Tree during Advent.
A key Advent Activity:
The children assemble an Advent Wreath and learn the meaning of its parts. They prepare symbols to represent Jesus' ancestors which become part of the Jesse Tree activity.

Year 5: MAY WE BE ONE (Unit 4)

In Year 5 the catechetical emphasis is on the community, focusing on how the Church is a gathering, a communion of people from all nations in and through the spirit of God. The focus is the spirit of hope we have that, in spite of obstacles, the promise of God's coming among us will become part of our lives. The children focus on our call to be people of hope. They look at Mary, the prophet Isaiah, John the Baptist as people of hope. The persons of the Jesse Tree and the saints of the Church are included in the discussion of those faithful to the Covenant.
A key Advent Activity:
The children make an Advent wreath and weave baskets of hope that speak of the spiritual hopes they have for themselves and for the world.

Year 6: YOU SHALL BE MY WITNESSES (Unit 4)

The Year 6 catechetical program focuses on our rootedness in Christian tradition. It explores how God's covenant with the peoples of the earth is reflected in moral existence by the witnesses of love, justice and compassion. During Advent students explore and acknowledge the infidelity of God's people to God's covenant with Moses. They meet the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah and encounter Mary and Joseph as incredible keepers of the covenant. During the Christmas season they see Jesus as the new covenant between God and his people.
A key Advent Activity:
Focus is on Advent rituals, Advent prayers and music, Advent people and Advent color. The lantern, the Grade 6 symbol is placed near the Advent wreath and becomes the source of light for the Advent candles. An Advent gift box is decorated for receiving donations of food/clothing, gifts for the needy.

Years 7(Appendix 4), 8 (Appendix 4), 9 (Appendix 6)

In these years Advent is not a separate unit. The theme of Advent is included in an appendix in the Catechist manuals. They include ideas for the Advent wreath, Jesse tree, bulletin board suggestions, gift drives, etc.
Years 7 and 8 have a section on the liturgical year in the Appendix which gives a background on the celebration of the different seasons of the Church Year. During these years it is suggested that the catechist present the regular unit themes and integrate ideas from the Advent section.