Stage 3 Module
Module Focus
God is in a sense unknowable and infinite, but is revealed to us in finite ways, the only ways that we understand. It is through the finite experience of creation and of human relationships that we come to know our gracious God. In this module, students will be inspired to experience creation as a primary revelation of God (or way we come to know God), considering how we participate in the act of creation every day. They will explore how we come to know God by experiencing the gracious gift of creation and how we are called to co-operate by allowing this wonderful gift to renew itself continually.
Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life and have it to the full”, giving his life so that we may have life. In many ways, like the self-giving of Jesus, there is self-giving in the universe. The sun gives its life so that we may live and like all stars, one day it will die. Plants and animals give their lives so that we may eat. We are called to participate with God in the self-sharing that happens in the symbiosis that is the universe.
This module aims to create a more mature understanding of our place in creation. It moves beyond the simple concept of caring for creation, which does not truly capture our intimate relationship with God, with each other and with all of creation. Students will explore how we belong to God’s community of interactive members united by self-sharing and thus are called to participate in an active renewal of creation every day. In this process, children will be experiencing a Trinitarian understanding of God i.e. that God is one; God is many; God is community and God is one that is made of many.
Outcomes
GRHD S3.1b: Describes how Christian life, nurtured by the Holy Spirit, is a response to God’s love for creationJS3.2b identifies those for whom Jesus shows particular concern.
S S3.5b: Demonstrate how the message of Scripture can be applied to contemporary life.
Learn About
/Learn To
GRHD S3.1b:- The responsibilities of co-creators
- Ways to fulfil the role of co-creator
- Ways the Holy Spirit is active in renewing creation
- Sacred stories of indigenous people
- The marginalised in Jesus’ time and today
- Sharing the gifts of creation with all, so that all may have life to the full.
- The relationship between humans and the world
- Name and describe the responsibilities of Christians as co-creators
- Formulate plans of commitment and action
- Identify the Holy Spirit as active in a Christian response
- Recall Aboriginal creation stories
- Identify and describe Aboriginal ways of viewing and caring for the environment
- Identify the meaning and significance of Aboriginal creation stories
- Care for the gift of creation with the understanding that our actions will help those on the margins to have life to the full.
Identify opportunities for the application of messages from Scripture
DISCIPLESHIP CHALLENGE
- Students are challenged to care for God’s creation
- Students are challenged to reach out to others in live as Jesus did
- Students are challenged to relate messages from the Sacred Scriptures to daily life
Catholic Discipleship
In John’s version of the Good Shepherd story, Jesus says “I am come that you may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10).This doesn’t mean~ that some may have it all whilst others have nothing; or that we may have life at the expense of the gift of creation; or that having life to the full means having every material possession we desire.
To be a disciple of Jesus therefore, we should live our lives to the full in that we should experience every gift of people and creation that God has given us in the same gracious spirit in which we were given these gifts. We should also live so that others, especially those who are marginalised should be able to live life to the full as well. To do this, we must understand that our impact upon creation affects people in developing countries as well as ourselves. As we participate in creation by allowing it to re-create itself as it has been designed to do, understanding that we do so for others not just ourselves, we will be bringing about the Kingdom of God in our world and universe.
Prayer Focus: Planting a Prayer Garden
The prayer focus of this unit is creating a prayer space in the environment. As children plan and prepare a prayer garden they will be invited to find ways of praying in this space.
Core Scripture
John 10:10: I have come that you may have life and have it to the full
Matthew 6:28 Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil, nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.
Psalm 8: The magnificence of the creator (Good News version most suitable for this age)
Scripture In Context
John 10:10: I have come that you may have life and have it to the full
This significant phrase precedes John’s version of “Jesus the Good Shepherd”. In these simple words, John’s Gospel states the purpose of God’s creative acts and the work life of Jesus. The word “life” is used significantly in the Gospel of John, appearing 36 times in the book.
The image of shepherds in a way reflects the kind of life that Jesus lived for and with us. Shepherds often lived on the outside of society. Jesus travels in life with the most marginalised and most vulnerable and desires that everyone, even the most needy may live life to the full. Being called to a full and abundant life does not mean having a life full of material possessions, a life in which we use the gifts of creation only for our own personal benefits. It should be a life full of experience and learnings that we share with others in our blessedness and brokenness. In John’s metaphor of the Good Shepherd, we come to realise that Jesus knows of our life’s hardships and struggles, and the cost of living in his way. Our lives should never be at the cost of God’s gifts of the created world and of humanity. Jesus, the Good Shepherd however, is always there for our support.
When Jesus, according to the Gospel of John said: “I have come that you may have life and have it to the full”, he did not mean:
- you may have life but only marginally OR
- some may have life to the full whilst many others don’t OR
- you may have the life you want at the expense of creation.
Matthew 6:28
This line comes from Jesus’ exhortation not to worry about the things of life, but to strive firstly for the Kingdom of God. Too many people spend their time working for material gain and in doing so miss the beauty and challenges that the kingdom of God provides.
In this simple line, Jesus draws a lesson from God’s care of creation illustrating that wealth and pride do not matter . The flowers of the field are beautiful and yet they live and recreate themselves in God’s natural pattern of life. Jesus’ statement is significant in post modern times as human greed has led to so many problems. If we concentrate on what we need, not on what we want then we may lesson the impact we are having on the environment.
Psalm 8
The psalms (or Psalter) are really the hymn book of ancient Israel. They were often composed as part of Temple worship. They cover about a thousand years of literary activity. Many of them would have been written by anonymous poets. Seventy three psalms are attributed to King David and whilst he was a gifted musician and poet, he did not compose all of them. Some he would have collected from other poets.
Psalms have been classified in different ways, one is by their literary type:
- Hymns: They praise God and God’s work
- Supplications: These psalms address God directly, asking for deliverance from things like ~sickness; false accusations; national crisis or any type of suffering
- Thanksgiving: Gratitude to God
- Others: Include individual songs or words of prophets and reflection on human life
Psalm 8 is classified as a hymn praising God for the wonder of creation and in particular the creation of humankind. Human glory is expressed as a manifestation of God’s glory. This psalm expresses the dominion of humankind over all other creation, as “God has put all things under their feet”. That phrase from Psalm 8 raises the question about whether we should understand dominion to mean to trample over or to care for. As human beings, we are the only members of God’s created world that have the intelligence to reflect back on ourselves and our actions. Our call because we are at the top of the created world is therefore to discover how we live in harmony with the rest of creation.
Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
nn. 290-292, 316 The creator
Compendium # 52. Who created the world?
nn.293-294, 319 The reasons for creation
Compendium # 53. Why was the world created?
nn. 295-301 The mystery of creation
Compendium #54. How did God create the universe?
nn. 302-327 God carries out his plan: Divine providence
Compendium #55. What is divine providence?
Compendium # 56. How do we collaborate with divine providence?
nn.343-344,353The world and its creatures
Compendium #63. What is the place of the human person in creation?
Background for the Teacher
Introduction
God has been described as the author of life, artist, life -giver and creator. One of God's most significant gifts is the world we live in. The world reveals God's creative power.
The religious belief about creation is that God is the origin, sustainer and hope of the world and everything in it. This belief is the foundation of what Christians believe about God, about the cosmos we inhabit and about our destiny and hope. For Christians, creation is the self-revelation of God. The Catholic Church's belief in God as creator of all things emerges from Biblical revelation.
'Nothing exists that does not owe its existence to God the Creator. The world began when God's word drew it out of nothingness; all existent beings, all of nature, and all human history are rooted in this primordial event, the very genesis by which the world was constituted and time begun' (CCC 338) God is present in the world and the world is present to God. This is a mystery, which fills us with a sense of wonder and awe. For students to experience this sense of mystery they need to be actively involved in a number and variety of sensory experiences. Mystery continually calls us to transcend the everyday and enter into a deepening understanding of ourselves and our existence, thereby finding meaning and purpose in our lives.
Called to be one with Creation
We recognise God as creator of all and see ourselves as co-operators in God's creative activity. With this in mind, we as the created gift of God have a responsibility towards the created world in which we live, both now and in the future. The Universe is a remarkable gift which works most amazingly in symbiosis, thereby naturally renewing itself through its life-giving, life-sharing cycles. As Jesus gave his life for us, so this self-sharing happens in the universe. Stars give their lives so that there may be life on planets. Plants and animals give their lives so that others may live. God has placed people in a privileged position in this symbiotic world, because we have the intelligence to make decisions that impact on the rest of creation. This is a position we cannot abuse because of our own greed through which we can ignore the needs of the rest of the created world.
A Call from Our Catholic Beliefs
The Trinitarian God
Catholics view God as a God of many natures. A Trinitarian view of God sees God as an interdependent community of persons ~God active as Creator and re-creator, God as active in Jesus and God as active in the world continually through the Holy Spirit.
“Some of the greatest theologians of the church have meditated on the diversity of creatures and have seen this as expressing the abundance of the Trinitarian God...God’s creatures express and represent the Trinity. They are not simply there for human use, but have their own dignity, value and integrity. Such a view challenges the destruction of species and habitats in the modern era.” As we ponder this, we see plants and animals “sustained by God’s ongoing creation…They are part of a story of ongoing creation that take place over millions of years.”(Catholic Earthcare Australia, “On Holy Ground”, p.12)
Creation as Sacrament
St Augustine said that sacrament is a visible presence of the invisible reality that is God. Creation in therefore a primary revelation of God, because when we ponder of the amazing symbiosis that is the universe, when we ponder of the beauty of a sunset or the wonder of birth we are experiencing God. This understanding of sacramentality connects strongly to Aboriginal spirituality, because to Aboriginal people land is their god.
A Eucharistic Call
When we enter into communion with Christ through Eucharist, we also enter into communion with the whole earth, including the weak and suffering. The moment of transformation at Eucharist is “at the same time an intense moment of our communion with the earth” (Fr Tony Kelly).
In the words of Fr Denis Edwards, “knowingly destroying the living systems of our planet amounts to a denial of what we celebrate when we gather for Eucharist. Eucharist is a sacrament of the Risen Christ transforming creation. ‘the Christ we encounter in the Eucharist is the risen one in whom all things were created and are reconciled’ (Col 1:15-20)”
*Quotes from Catholic Earthcare Australia, “On Holy Ground”, p. 13*
Catholic Social Teaching
Catholic Social teaching has provided us with guidelines to live in a catholic ethical way. There are ecological aspects to all the principles. However, one principle focuses on our care for God’s gracious gift of creation:
We show our respect for the Creator by the way that we care for God’s creation. Care for the earth is a duty of our faith and a sign of our concern for all people. We should strive to live simply to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. We have a moral obligation to protect the planet on which we live—to respect God’s creation and to ensure a safe and hospitable environment for human beings, especially children at their most vulnerable stages of development. As people called by God to share the responsibility for the future of the earth, we should work for a world in which people respect and protect all of creation and seek to live simply in harmony with it for the sake of future generations.
How Tradition Call us to be One with Creation
The Judeo- Christian Tradition
Throughout time and across the world, peoples of all cultures have sought through myth and legend to explain creation and the beginnings of human life. Within the Judaeo-Christian tradition, the creation accounts of Gen 1-2 are foundational texts for beliefs about God, creation and humanity. There is a difference between the creation stories in Genesis however, and creation stories of many other traditions. The Torah (the first five books of the bible, focusing on the Law and teaching, a revelation that shows the way) assumes the existence and overwhelming power of God. There is no myth about the birth of God, only a description of God’s actions. God created the world, blessed it with the capacity to renew and reproduce itself and deemed it to be good.
The biblical creation stories (Genesis 12) were never meant to explain the beginning of the world (although there are consistencies in the order of development) but written by people questioning the reason for their existence as we continue to do today. As you read this story be aware that the author had a very different understanding of the world from today’s reader. Scientists can prove how the world was formed but we use the stories from Genesis for questions and answers to who is the God of our world and faith. Faith is not in opposition to scientific statements, it merely asks different types of questions. . “Both the oral stories and the written text are coming from a tradition that looks at life and the whole of creation from a religious point of view. Consequently, they have been composed to proclaim a religious message and in achieving this do not pretend to be ‘objective history.’ What we have in reality is history interpreted in the light of Israel’s faith.” (Woods, L. The Christian Story. 1995. ACU. North Sydney)