CATECHISM LESSON THREE: THE ETERNAL GOD

Our Father God is the Supreme Being Who created all things. He is self-existing. This means that no-one made God. God does not owe His Life to anyone. But the joyous thing is, we all owe our lives to God!

God is our Father in Heaven. He made us, and so we will never be lonely or alone.
We will always have His Love.

God is love. He loves you with a love that is bigger than the whole sea. He loves you so much that He sent His only Son Jesus Christ from Heaven.
Jesus came to open the way for us to enter Heaven, so we can live with God forever.

Because Adam and Eve had not listened to God and disobeyed God,  they could not stay in Paradise with God anymore. Because of the big trouble which had been caused when Adam and Eve no longer listened to Father God, this meant trouble for us too.

We are all descendants of Adam and Eve, and so we could not stay in Paradise either, which is quite a shame because Paradise is a wonderful place to live. But anyhow, earth is very beautiful too. God made earth too, as well as Paradise. The only problem is that earth, though wonderful, has some problems.
Sometimes the weather can be a little too hot or too cold, or we have earthquakes and volcanoes, and difficult times. But God sees all of this, and wants us to have a forever home - an eternal home - with Him which is even better than beautiful Paradise. This is God's own home, heaven. 
O wow.

Heaven is home with God, talking to Him, seeing Him, the company of friendly angels, beloved Jesus and wonderful Our Lady and enjoying the beautiful things there.
We will also be with all our beloved family who have died on this earth and now live in heaven. We will also see our animals we loved.

Now there is a little problem.Some people do not behave nicely to God, and don't do the things they should to get to heaven. If we want to get to heaven we must obey the Ten Commandments, be kind and not do naughty things. 
The people who don't do good things can very possibly be told they can't come into heaven when they die. This is a very sad thing. 
So God, Who is so great, has organized that we can pray for naughty people so they can enter heaven. This is called prayer of reparation. 
Why don't you pray so that people who have been naughty or bad realize their mistake, say sorry to God, and get into heaven after all.
This is why Jesus came to earth and and suffered and died for us, so that we could all realise our mistakes and come to heaven.

How great is our Father God!

With thanks to Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyKIKZzZ1DE

THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS

God had a great plan for the world. He wanted us to be made clean from sin, and help us to enter heaven.  Heaven is a wonderful place where God lives. There is only happiness in heaven. It would be difficult for us to live in God's all bright light of holiness if we are not holy ourselves. So God made a plan to help us to become holy. This plan includes the seven great sacraments - or helps. These are the sacraments of Baptism, Confession. Holy Communion, Confirmation, Sacrament of the Sick, Marriage and Holy Orders.

BAPTISM

The First Sacrament

In this sacrament God cleans away the damage original sin made in our souls. Baptism also wipes away all our sins until the time of baptism. God's Holy Spirit comes into our soul and we begin our life of special closeness with God, and as member of the world family of Christians. Jesus - Who has no sin because He is the Holy Son of God - was baptised by John in the River Jordan. He did this to show us that it is important we get baptised. 

CONFESSION
Being sorry for our sins

God knew we would make mistakes. He understands this, because our souls were very hurt by our ancestors' original fall from grace. Our souls can't be healed unless God gives us special help. One of the seven ways God gives us help is through confession. In confession we tell God quietly in our hearts how very, very sorry we are for having done wrong things. We also promise to try to fix what happened after we did wrong, if this is at all possible. We promise to try never to make the same mistake of sin again. We can go to confession to a holy priest to help us come closer to God. Choose a true and holy priest who can really help.

Holy Communion

Receiving Jesus into our souls

At the Last Supper Jesus told the disciples to break bread and share wine while remembering Him. We still do this today. What happens while we are sharing the bread and wine is a miracle. When the priest who is leading the worship service or Mass says the words "This is My Body", and "This is My Blood", the bread and wine become Jesus. This is a mystery. When we receive Holy Communion we are excited because we receive Jesus Himself. He gives us strength and comfort to become holy and strong. We remember how much Jesus loved us, and how He gave His Life for us so we can go to Heaven. Thank you, Lord Jesus!

Confirmation

Gift of the Holy Spirit

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit of God upon Our Lady and the disciples in Jerusalem at Pentecost. It was very exciting! The Holy Spirit looked like a flame that didn't burn, and a rushing sound was heard. The gift of the Holy Spirit made the disciples strong in their faith. We, too, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation. During confirmation nowadays the bishop blesses our foreheads with holy oil called chrism. Confirmation gives us courage and strength as Christians. This sacrament helps us to witness to Jesus in the world, and to help others with love and Christian care.

Sacrament of the Sick

Holy Anointing

Sometimes we can get very sick. Then we need comfort and strength from Jesus. There is a comforting sacrament called the sacrament of the sick. During Jesus' life, He used to heal the sick. In early times after Jesus' resurrection, the disciples visited the sick and anointed them with oil. During holy anointing, Jesus brings comfort to the ill. The sick person's spirit becomes strengthened by Jesus. Sometimes God may heal the illness. The sacrament of the sick is a great mystery. Let us be thankful that we have such a great God Who cares when we are not well. Thank You, God!

Sacrament of Marriage

Promise of a mom and dad

God had a plan for us all. He wanted us to be loved, protected, and not to feel lonely. So God made a plan for a family. He made a mommy and a daddy to love each other for ever. The mom and dad promise to love and care for each other. This promise is called marriage. In marriage God sometimes blesses mom and dad with little babies. The parents promise to take care of their children. It is good for moms and dads to choose a good person to marry. A good person loves God, loves the person they marry and behaves nicely.

Sacrament of Holy Orders

Priesthood

The sacrament of Holy Orders blesses Christians to be a priest in God's service forever. A priest serves all people who need help and comfort from God. The priest explains to people how to behave in good ways, to obey God's Ten Commandments, and to read the Bible. Priests give people the holy sacraments so that they can get to heaven safely. The priest celebrates Mass in which people can receive Jesus in communion. It is a holy blessing to be a priest. Thank You God for giving us priests! It is important for us to pray for priests every day.

CATECHISM LESSON TWO: GOD THE CREATOR

God has always existed. This means that no-one made God, He was always there. This is an amazing and wonderful mystery. It is puzzling for us to understand, because of course, each of us had a beginning.

My parents say I was a sweet little baby who used to laugh a lot, very happy to be on this earth. They have photos of me laughing. So I know that once I was very small, cute, and had a beginning on this earth.

But God did not have a beginning. He just always was there. How great is our God.

God is called the Creator. To create is a long word which means to make. So God made wonderful things. He made the earth, and air for us to breathe. God made trees, and different fruit and vegetables for us to eat and grow strong and enjoy life. God made peacocks and rock dassies and zebras and elephants and rainbows and little flowers and sunshine and rain and clouds and oh, so many things.

What things can you think of that God also made? God made EVERYTHING! He is so amazingly clever, and marvellous, and good. 

God put fish in the sea, and birds to fly, and He invented plants and flowers. And then God created angels who sing and praise Him and enjoy His company. There are kind angels who have wonderful names.
One angel is Saint Michael the Archangel who defends God and who threw naughty Lucifer the devil out of heaven when this bad angel disobeyed God.
Another angel is Archangel Gabriel whom God sent to visit Our Lady Mary to ask her if she would agree to be the Mother of Jesus, the Son of God.
Archangel Gabriel told Mary that God loved her and honored her very much. All the angels were so happy when Mary kindly said of course she would be happy to be the Mother of God's Son.

Then God created Adam and Eve, our first parents. All of these things happened a very long time ago. Now the amazing thing is that God made all the world, angels and people OUT OF NOTHING! That's right, God made everything out of nothing. That is why we honor and love Him, because He is our loving and clever Father in heaven. We are so lucky to have such a clever Father God.

We say that God is the Supreme Being. This means that He is the Creator who made everything out of nothing. God is the LORD of everything He made. God is the Master of all things, because He created everything.

Who is God?
God is the Supreme Being, Who created all things

What do we mean when we say that God is the Supreme Being?
When we say that God is the Supreme Being we mean that He is above all creatures. (Creatures is a long word for angels and people and animals and fish and birds)

What do we mean when we say that God is the Creator of heaven and earth?
When we say that God is the Creator of heaven and earth, we mean that He made all things from nothing.

CATECHISM LESSON ONE: GOD AND YOU

God created everyone: and he created you.
God created each one of us with a body and a soul. The Bible explains in Genesis 1:27 that you are created in God's Image.
We can see our body, but we can't see or feel our spirit. Our spirit, or soul, is immortal.
This is a long word which means our soul will live forever. This is a wonderful thing, because it means we will be happy in Heaven with God our Father and King forever.

God made each of us. God also made our parents, our brothers and sisters, our teachers, our friends and all the people we meet every day. 
God gives us the sun, the stars, the moon, the food we eat, He organizes that we get the clothes we need. If we are in need and pray to God, He will look after us.

This is really true. Sometimes things can be very difficult. One day I had broken my foot and could not work or earn money. I was very sad and scared, because I had no food that day. I prayed to God quietly and asked Him would He help me with food.

Well, when I came home on my crutches some people I had never met before - they were from France and were visiting the town where I was living - met me at the doorstep.
They had brought me food which they had cooked, a lovely dessert, juice and water to drink, and tea if I needed.

They left enough groceries for another week. They had cooked the food with their own hands, and told me they had been waiting for me.
Then they left. I don't know their names, or how this wonderful thing came about. All I know is that I was in trouble, and when I prayed to my Father God He helped me by inspiring my brothers and sisters from France to help me.

We are so blessed to have God as our Father. We are also called to be good to each other, and to share with each other when we see other people in trouble. This is what the people from France did. I pray for God to bless them. He knows who they are, even if I do not know their names.

GOD DOES EVERYTHING FOR YOU. 
What can you do for GOD?
You can love, adore, praise and thank God. You can pray to Him. You can love, work and play for Him. We can do every little thing only to please Him.
You can often tell God how much you love Him.

We will gain the happiness of heaven. That is sure if we accept Jesus Christ the Son of God as our Lord and Saviour. But we must first do something for God in this world.
We must know Him, love Him, obey Him and serve Him.
We must do all we can for Him.
Everything must be done only to give glory to God our Father.

This is what all human beings are called to do. We must all know, love and serve God in this world, so that we may gain the happiness of heaven.

Here are some questions which can help us to remember important truths.

Who created us?
God created us.

Why did God create us?
God created us to show forth His goodness and love and to share with us His everlasting happiness in Heaven.

What must we do to gain the happiness of Heaven?
To gain the happiness of Heaven we must know, love and serve God in this world.

CATECHISM LESSONS - LEARN ABOUT GOD AND HIS HOLY SON, JESUS CHRIST

It is very important to learn about God and His Holy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Well, the easiest way to do this is to read the Holy Bible and have catechism lessons.

In catechism or Sunday School, children are taught about the way which leads directly to God and Heaven.

Jesus Christ was sent to earth by God the Father to teach us the way to Heaven, and to save us from our sins.

Jesus saved us by means of His holy Life, Death and Resurrection. He gave His whole Love and Life so that we can go to Heaven.

Heaven had been closed up to us because our forefathers had turned away from God and His loving Rule over us.

Many many years ago our ancestors lived in a beautiful place God had made, called Eden or Paradise.

However, our ancestors weren't happy to remain under the Rule of God, and decided to disobey Him.

This led to problems, and God decided to let our ancestors - known as Adam and Eve - free to leave His Rule.

This meant that Adam and Eve had to leave the Paradise God had created for them and for us, their descendants.

Instead of joy and peace within the garden God had created, our ancestors went out into the world to make their own way.

Well, they did, but there have been problems ever since human beings took over ruling their own lives.

Sad things happened and some injustice. So God in His infinite Love and Tenderness, sent the Son of God Jesus to rescue us from the sad things.

Jesus came to earth as a small baby, born to a lovely lady named Mary of Nazareth. 

God had sent His holy Archangel Gabriel to ask Mary if she would look after Jesus and raise Him up from a baby until He was fully grown. 

Mary was delighted to say yes.

When Jesus was grown, He told people the things they were doing wrong, and the right way to behave to become holy and get to Heaven.

Some people were upset when Jesus told them these things, and Jesus eventually suffered and died for our sins. 

But Jesus is so good and so loving that He even forgave the people who had killed Him.

Jesus is a great example to us of the way we should be in order to be like Him. This is known as becoming Christ-like.

We try to become Christ-like when we read the Bible, the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

We read how Jesus spoke, acted and loved everybody. We try to do the same, by following Jesus' example in the Gospels.

Catechism lessons will appear on this blog. When you read them, they will help you to learn your catechism.

Enjoy your lessons!