[/caption]Jesus said, "Remain in Me." It said many times within one sitting (the Parable of the True Vine), but He also said it with His actions and other teachings.
He gave us many ways to remain in Him - the most obvious being in the Sacraments, the prime sacrament being the Eucharist and also in Reconciliation.
But how does it work? Really?
In the level 1 Catechesis of the Good Shepherd atrium, for the 3-6 year old children, we focus on the Parable of the Good Shepherd - the Good Shepherd who knows our names, loves us - we are in relationship with Him. That is enough. That is more than we need.
In level 2, we work with the True Vine parable, and the history of the Kingdom of God materials. The children come to realize there is a response to this relationship: Remain in Me. And they explore the ways that we simply remain with Christ.
In level 3 the children are coming to awareness of their place in the Kingdom, not just as a gift to enjoy, but as something for which they are responsible. NOW we start asking, "How shall you remain in Him? And how shall you fill your blank page (the part of the story of the Kingdom of the God that is only just now being written in our lives and in our world right NOW)?"
Then they enter into adolescence with the tools they need to make confident choices in their lives.
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="182" caption="The Good Shepherd, c. 300, at the Pio Cristiano Museum, Rome (Photo credit: Wikipedia)"]
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