Parish and School News

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd

Monday 4 June 2012

SENIOR lecturer in religious education and family ministry at the John Paul II Institute, East Melbourne, Dr Gerard O’Shea shares the experience of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at Good Shepherd Parish, Wheelers Hill.

Walking into an Atrium of the Good Shepherd for the first time is an intriguing experience, especially if a group of pre-school children is working in the space.

The first thing that hits you is the silence, the deep meditative quiet that is hard to find in our busy world. This is not what you normally expect when you come across a large group of pre-school children. It is enthralling to see each of them working intently with a set of materials designed to draw them into the life of Jesus, the liturgy, the sacraments and the Scriptures. Yet this is the common experience at Good Shepherd Parish and School in Wheelers Hill, where an Atrium using the method of Sofia Cavalletti began just over seven years ago.

The parish-based catechetical program is supervised by pastoral worker Kath Andraczke, who has been assisted by a committed band of helpers, both trained catechists and ordinary members of the parish who make the materials needed.

One of the most gratifying aspects of the support for the program has been the involvement from the beginning of teenaged members of the parish, who helped in preparing the materials and working with the children. These young people would also be the first to admit that they were the ones who gained most out of this.

Kath speaks enthusiastically about the catechesis: “I really believe that it is the very best thing we can do to help our young people come into their own relationship with God. When we started this program, I thought we’d never be able to do it—it seemed like just so much work—but help came from everywhere and everything came together very quickly.”

The Religious Education Coordinator of Good Shepherd School, Joan McGrath, has been delighted with the way in which the children have taken to the program. “Once you see it working, you just know that it’s exactly what the children need, and they take to it immediately. It completely satisfies them and they can’t wait to go into the Atrium. The teachers have been very positive about it as well, because they can see the effect it has on the children.”

Teacher Mel Hammerstein agrees. “For me, the most amazing thing is the way the children are able to put together for themselves the meaning of what we are trying to teach them in their religious education once you give them the chance to do this for themselves. I’m just as moved as they are, watching them become so totally absorbed in what they are doing.”

The underlying principle of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is simple: identify the specific needs and interests of the child and provide materials which allow them to develop at their own pace. It is based on the foundational ideas of Maria Montessori and the experimental work of Dr Sofia Cavalletti and Professor Gianna Gobbi. The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is quintessentially Catholic—it comprehensively integrates all the major areas of the faith—the Scriptures, the liturgy, moral formation, the sacraments, salvation history and an appreciation for the goodness of the material universe and the harmonious beauty that God has put there.
Many of these ideas and practices are now being presented to teachers as part of their studies for accreditation to teach religious education in a Catholic school at the John Paul II Institute in East Melbourne.

Sofia Cavalletti died last year but those who knew her were always struck by her deep calm and her capacity to be enchanted and delighted by the ‘discoveries’ being made by the children in her care. During a celebrated visit to her Atrium, Pope John Paul II confessed that he was ‘simply amazed’ at what she had been able to achieve with small children, and asked that parishes all over the world consider introducing an Atrium of the Good Shepherd if they wanted to see children similarly enchanted with the beauty of the faith.

Like the mustard seed—one of Cavalletti’s favourite biblical parables—her vision has spread slowly but solidly throughout the world, now to 38 countries, and to seven parishes and three schools in Melbourne.

The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a Christian formation process for children aged three to 12 years, in which they experience and form an authentic, faithful relationship with God. The catechesis is grounded in scriptural and liturgical study. This allows children to hear the Gospel through the use of sensorially-rich materials.

An Atrium is a sacred space where children can respond to this holy relationship, first proclaimed to them through Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

Photos: Children work with materials as part of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program at Good Shepherd Parish, Wheelers Hill. Photos courtesy of Good Shepherd Parish, Wheelers Hill.