Unit 1: God Is Our Good Father

Goals

• The children will more deeply realize the great love God has for them.
• They will desire to pray to God.

Chapter 1: Jesus Is Our Friend
Jesus invites us to be his friends and to enjoy his presence just as he welcomed the little children of Galilee. The children are taught that Jesus and his friends love everyone. Jesus' death on the cross showed the depths of his love for us. The crucifix reminds us that Jesus died but is risen and is still with us. The children learn how we, God's people, sign ourselves with a cross to show that we are friends of Jesus who try to be like him.

Chapter 2: God Is Good
The goodness of creation leads us to give thanks and praise to our Father, the source of all life and goodness, who lets us share in bringing all creation to fulfillment. The children learn that God made everything and that living things grow best when they are given good care.

Chapter 3: God Is Our Father
God continually invites us to grow and deepen our relationship with him and others. God gives each of us unique gifts and calls us to use our gifts to give human expression to God's loving, forgiving care for every person. The children contrast human life with other forms of life and learn that they are made in God's own image and likeness.

Chapter 4: God Our Father Is Holy
God speaks to us and is available to us so that we can experience joy, support, and strength in God's friendship. The children enter the sacred space we call church, the place where God meets us and where we ponder God's ways. They learn how we, in word and gesture, acknowledge the presence of the all-holy One who remains with us as Christ our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

Chapter 5: God Shares His Life with Us
God, our good Father, shows the greatness of his love by giving us a share in his own life at Baptism. The children learn that our newness of life calls us to live by the Spirit we received when we were incorporated into the family of the Church.

Chapter 6: God Speaks to Us
God's Word enlightens and guides those who choose to follow his path of peace and love. The children learn how we can hear God's gentle voice in created wonders and providential care, in the Bible, in the teaching of the Church, in the directives of those God has chosen to care for us, and in the silence of our own hearts.

Chapter 7: We Pray to God Our Father
In prayer we consciously open ourselves to God's presence in our lives and come to recognize God's loving hand in all that happens to us. The children learn how to listen to God and talk to God by sharing their deepest thoughts and desires.

Chapter 8: Jesus Teaches Us to Pray to Our Father
Jesus taught us to call God “Our Father” and to acknowledge with confidence our dependence on God's faithful, forgiving care for us. The children learn about the solidarity of the human family and our relationship with God as they come to understand the meaning of the Lord's Prayer and learn how to make it their own prayer.