INTRODUCING. CATHOLICS. TO THE BIBLE. How to Host a Parent-Child
Session. This is a description of how you can host a hands-on, engaging session
to ...
INTRODUCING CATHOLICS TO THE BIBLE How to Host a Parent-Child Session
This is a description of how you can host a hands-on, engaging session to introduce children (5th grade or higher) and their parents to how the Bible is arranged. (Session length: 90 minutes) (Download a PDF of this poster presentation at www.catechistsjourney.com)
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THE SETTING:
Preliminaries ■ Prepare a space where parents and their children can be seated at tables. ■ You’ll need a Catholic Bible for each child/ family, and each table should have a pad of legal paper and several pens. ■ Finally, each child will need a set of eight Bible Blueprint bookmarks (see step five).
1 Revealing Yourself STEP ONE:
(10 min.)
■ As you briefly introduce yourself, reveal one bit of trivia that most people don’t know about you. ■ Invite families to do the same. ■ Write the word REVELATION on the board and explain that we reveal ourselves to others in order to enter into relationships. ■ Explain that the Bible is REVELATION—it is God revealing himself to us in order to enter into relationship with us.
2 Present the Bibles STEP TWO:
(10 min.)
■ Lead a brief prayer service in which you prayerfully present each child with his or her Catholic Bible.
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3 Do You Know Your Bible? STEP THREE:
(20 min.)
■ Invite each table to brainstorm a list of as many Bible characters as they can without looking in the Bible. Have one person record their list. Have each table report their list. If possible, record on the board. ■ Congratulate them on their Bible knowledge. ■ Challenge the children to find one of these stories in the Bible in under 60 seconds (no help from parents)! a. David and Goliath b. The Ten Commandments c. Joseph and the coat of many colors ■ Offer a reward ($1 or $5) to any child who can do so. Most will not be able to locate the passage in under 60 seconds. ■ Point out that we have a problem: We know Bible characters but don’t know where to locate them in the Bible!
4 The Bible in Bite-Sized Pieces STEP FOUR:
(5 min.)
■ Explain that we need to break down the Bible into smaller pieces to “digest” it. ■ Point out that the Bible is like a library—God’s Library—made up of 73 books and divided into eight sections. ■ Tell them that you are now going to break down the Bible into these eight sections using bookmarks.
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5 The Bible Bookmarks STEP FIVE:
(40 min.)
■ Introduce the Bible bookmarks (from The Bible Blueprint by Joe Paprocki, Loyola Press). ■ Introduce the bookmarks one section at a time, describing the gist of each section (described on the bookmarks) and pointing out the highlights that are bulleted on each bookmark. ■ For each section, challenge them to find a particular passage in under 60 seconds (Don’t offer any more monetary awards, or you’ll go broke since now they should find them quickly!) GosP els
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John New Testament
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Gos Pels
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You’ve Philipand Testament preva goo Yons, end of ugh hHere d and feateure u’rgeand il.Mal Saul(Paul),Barnabas,a andbaptism isd Ma now and exh evil ach the bo uplifting conlights:frightenOl om are theo ndothers . lac nversion i hi thelace ing this logy sec rea Saul’sco section of the Bible—the section orta History ok book ima d Bib clus justifi , tio dy teac tion Te gery mark ion ofOld Test sta , the visionsan goo miraclesper formedthro rkofPeter, nhin lenby to s con atofthe contai gs, ofcatio grac cern dme this booameme ugh sectio the endBib onarywo Sirac and alw lore d has seve ing of theexp records the story of people of Israel themissi nt nsre etheL h. faith that lace this You’ bookmark PeterandPa wisdo book k isntthat onas,ando the ays willssagesto thethe nchu awn col lec the last thers lac le. 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SamsonandDelilah dsa her tyo leved Go our h cal ts temp ragonwith Here are the highlights: ministr prayer Chris d,of les Israelthed y ugh thro theK are the tandehisc ngg theg le,s,and ma , the the lin to the calli ingo backkto t the suff fking the som to ntr seve ross po strug ny Jo their yGod ir past s y Exile e.higAmo RuthandNaomi erin hel past fidel the Chris lest Joshua(crossingthe ump b’ssu anec g dote fac d, ou hlighng ems, gling tianc thethous Jordan, ets and thewom fidelit ity t yhothey peo facee do ffe ts: the man they andsayin ctgs, 150 s,ondu om rin doom ple pe held y Samuel(requestforaking) Chr earr thewallsofJericho) ista g . Lik anaof y out hope for Jame song eignthe prayers, Like ndh Psalm ndt Isr s,iscr wise then here ew hed the exi ael rago poems, ewh peop Chr s: faith oss are sfo le. eave facednfor the fut le of good some futu King ure when ise,, KingSaul and SamsonandDelilah hundand Th istianco ra Israensan work ofk high is ho llo dnew direeart re wh l faced s, lights: red ings en the Anondu ccasio the then pe wa the and exile intin ct h James: Job’ an.ewJ ssuf gsooffp cons Thiserus seq ns thousan s the direcon DavidandGoliath;KingDavid RuthandNaomi the rovgSick ferin eve eque alem uennces fait wisesayi erbs rlahope was notio d-year stin 150P “Com and 1 Petehr:and ng the ass uraan good salm van nnofofa a ces inin g nkin the notio reig e,Lo everl nce rdJe Solomon(thetemple, Samuel(requestfor newhea wors,i nclud sfor astin prep gdom Anointibe itie s of mess sus!” me ks, aking) s!A allo ared g king iah ingccas ssiah ven to expla nghund llthin “Th . Ye dom a fut a cal “V ions the byassu ranc ofis . Yet, QueenofSheba) ere t, eve reds dne the essan your l for KingSaul ure ofpgsarein anityof even newJer 1 Peter: n the atSick thes arth “A wisehope pas futu aofretaurnwe vanit rbs ime rove usalem reareare t. H se e a call be fai thfsayi “Co by ElijahandElisha y!”an re ulfrie for a retur ompan ngs,fo DavidandGoliath;Ki to the accacco mpanied 1 Johnprep ared me,Lor ere are incluver ngDavid d dm yth :an“Belo ndis to vani ding ied Thepast. exp dJesus!some n to ore ingnity fid ties! “Va the you ved, Her lain as elit Allt fidel ”a manykings,battles, ma r let hig ar hop turdy of nd yity Solomon(thetemple, jor (me are” some high hligh lovesare eant reis ushing of of “The om thethe she one ts: s: ity!” light anot atimefor van andgenealogies 1 John: lte and The Isamajo eaning iclher QueenofSheba) oveso . . .” “Afaithfu length ever ythin r” r (meaning iah(Im “Belotho vedusa lfrieng g”an , letndus lengier) pro manu divisionofthekingdom ndisast wh sm ow ElijahandElisha Isaia love oresa ) prop more el,“th thier urdyshel d doand phets one wis alkh(Im m,pru hets man edind ano ter” agrea yin ep we Exileandreturn alt eopeo who “the ther arom arkuel, manykings,battles, pleple tliwalk .”dence,go gsabou h,h . .antic ne gh edin
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JudithandEsther andgenealogies
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thetemptationinthede (theMagi,the thebirthofJesus sertandthe baptismofJ esus s,etc.) shepherd Genesis through Deuteronomy theBeatitud aryandJoseph) esandtheO theHolyFamily(M urFather parables(theprodigalso sinthetemple Old Testament thefindingofJesu n,theGood Samaritan,t hesower,th tandthe Genesis emustard thedeser through seed,etc.) thetemptationin Deuteronomy fJesus lace this bookmark on the last page of baptismo theGoldenR ather uleandtheG Old Testament theOurF reat tudesand theent book of Deuteronomy. Welcome Commandm theBeati theGood igalson, (theprod the section called the “Pentateuch” or numerousm toparables er,themustard ingofthe lace this iracles(calm n,thesow bookmark on thefive lastbooks Samarita page ofof the storm,raisin “Torah,” meaning the gofLazarus ,changing .) Deuteronomy. the book seed,etc of waterintow Welcome ine,feeding Law. This section captures the beginnings ofthefive dtheGreat nRulean to thousand,w the called theGolde section theter,healing of “Pentateuch” or the the alkingonwa relationship between God and dment oftheblind, Comman “Torah,” deaf,andpa meaning ralyzed,etc. five of the being people of Israelthe with thebooks central )focus gofthe Law. smiracles(calmin theLastSup numerou per,Euchari This section captures st,andthe the hanging beginnings the Exodus isingofL event—the experience of being azarus,c washingoft storm,ra hefeet between of the relationship hefive God Here edingoft and the ledwaterint from slavery to freedom. are some owine,fe people theAgonyin healing theGarden Israel onwater, with the central ,walking focus being .) ofofthe highlights: thousand the lyzed,etc Peter’sdeni andpara alandJudas Exodus event—the nd,deaf, ’sbetrayal experience of being ofthebli theCreationstories led thewayoft charist,andthe hecrossand from slavery upper,Eu to freedom. Crucifixion Here are some theLastS AdamandEve of theResurrec fthefeet the highlights: tionandapp washingo earances CainandAbel dozensoffa arden yintheG scinatingch aracters: theCreationstories theAgon Zacchaeus, MaryMagda Noah’sark lene,Judas’sbetrayal AdamandEve Peter’sdenialand Nicodemus, cifixion theSamaritanwoman, theTowerofBabel fthecrossandCru thewayo CainandAbel Marthaand Mary,etc. SodomandGomorrah ndappearances rectiona powerfulim theResur Noah’sark cters: theBread agessuchas AbrahamandSarah ffascinatingchara ofLife,theL dozenso ightoftheW theTowerofBabel , orld,and Zacchaeu IsaacandRebekah s,MaryMagdalene theWay,Tru th,andtheL ifeh SodomandGomorra aritanwoman, s,theSam Nicodemu JacobandEsau etc. AbrahamandSarah MarthaandMary, Joseph(thecoatofmanycolors) uchastheBread IsaacandRebekah powerfulimagess Moses(inthereeds,theburning theWorld,and JacobandEsau ofLife,theLightof bush,thetenplagues,thecrossing dtheLife theWay,Truth,an Joseph(thecoatofm oftheRedSea,thePassover,the anycolors) TenCommandments,theArkof Moses(inthereeds, theburning theCovenant,thejourneythrough bush,thetenplague s,thecrossing thedesert,thedeathofMoses) oftheRedSea,theP assover,the TenCommandments thetwelvetribesofIsrael ,theArkof theCovenant,thejou rneythrough thelaws,traditions,andfeasts thedesert,thedeath ofMoses) ofIsrael thetwelvetribesofIsrael
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divisionofthekingdom Exileandreturn JudithandEsther
thelaws,traditions,andfeasts ofIsrael
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etc.)agre t,”“co darkss haves ness een ortmy have seen Je etc.) atlight,”mf “com fortpe remiah myp ople,” eople,” (callo andr Jere eturn fJere miah Eze ) (callofJ mia andretur h,Eiah, erem kie xileExile l(the n) dr yb mino Ezekiel(t r (mea es) hedon rybo Da nes) ning The niemino efe l(ther (meabri r) pro Mesha lion’s ning brief Dani phprop er) de ets hets ch,an el(thelio Ho dAbe n,S n’sdhadra sea(th Meshach, dneg en,S ch, hadr ach, eunfa andAbed o) Jo nego) the el( ithful Hosea(th wife) Dayo eun Am faith fulwife) (th os Joel(theftheL Day ord ec Jo Amo alltojus ofth)eLord) nah( s(thecaltice) swallo Jona wedbyaltojustice) h(swallowlar ge edb fish)rgefi yala sh) The
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Pentateuch (Noah’s Ark) History (any story of David) Wisdom (Psalm 100) Prophets (Jonah) Gospels (the Crucifixion) Acts of the Apostles (Pentecost) Letters (to the people of Ephesus) h. Revelation (last word of the Bible)
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a. b. c. d. e. f. g.
For owners of this book, Loyola Press grants permission to photocopy the bookmarks for use in this parent-child session.
6 Training Wheels STEP SIX:
(5 min.)
■ Explain that the bookmarks should be used like training wheels: get to know a section at a time, but eventually TAKE THEM OFF! ■ Concluding prayer: 2 Tim. 3:14-17
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