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Occasional PapersA collection of papers exploring the theology and spirituality of children |
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Blog: Listening to the Child with CCT
La Semilla de Dios información en español |
About Occasional
Papers
Occasional Papers is a collection of papers exploring the theology and spirituality of children. These papers delve into subjects related to the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, such as moral formation, theological, Biblical and liturgical background, Montessori and Cosmic Education, and child development.
If you have read or written a paper that you think might be appropriate for this publication, read more about our call for papers. Writers are paid $100/paper, 5-10 pages in length.
Following you will find abstracts of available papers. New papers are in the works, so watch this website for upcoming papers.
Children and Theology by Catherine Maresca was our first Occasional Papers published in 2000. Since it so aptly describe our understanding of the child's theology, we are now making it available for free download. Click the PDF button below to download this paper.
Children and Theology
by Catherine Maresca, MA
Theology is "faith seeking understanding" (St. Anselm). But in the 20th Century theologians have learned to pay attention to whose faith is seeking understanding of what experience of God. These components significantly nuance theology. Theology that incorporates the insights of women, the poor, people with disabilities and from around the world, will be a fuller, richer understanding of God than one impoverished by a narrow perspective. Children also have a significant contribution. This paper argues that theology of children does exist and ought to be seriously considered. Maresca uses principles of Aquinas to support the idea that children contribute to theology. While children do not develop a formal and systematic theology they are full of faith, and seeking to understand their physical and metaphysical world. The paper goes on to explore three characteristics of children that create their unique perspective of God: essentiality, wonder and joy.
The Foundation of the Human Being
by Silvana Montanaro, MD
Dr. Silvana Montanaro Quattrocchi provides much food for thought about how a child’s first years after birth are so important for the foundation of the human being. Offering five practical and free ideas to make the most of these critical years, she reminds us of the importance of protecting and defending the child’s great inner powers.
Elements of this paper were the keynote address presented at Weaving Our Gifts: A Conference of Catechists, October 2008. The paper was originally presented at the 25th International Montessori Congress in Sydney, Australia, July 2005. The paper was orginally published by the Association Montessori Internationale in Communications 2006/I. $5
The Inherent Spirituality of the Montessori Method
by Aline D. Wolf
Maria Montessori developed numerous ingenious academic materials to teach complicated concepts to young children, but the center of her work was always cultivating the spiritual nature of the child. Her biographer E.M. Standing said of her, “...she never treated educational problems on a purely technical or utilitarian level. Her appeal was always to the spirit....spiritual values formed an ever present background to all of her lectures.” Wolf explores some of the aspects of the spiritual nature of the Montessori classroom, while offering practical advise on nurturing the spirituality of the child. The paper was adapted from a keynote address originally presented at Weaving Our Gifts: A Conference of Catechists, October 2006. $5
Reading the Resurrection Narratives with Children
by Ann M. Garrido, D.Min.
During the 6-12-year-old years of development, the child's mind looks at the world through new windows of logic, reason, and expanded personal experience. Reading the resurrection narratives with children in this age group serves well the needs of the children during this period in their lives — honoring their new capacities and questions. But, it also serves well the needs of the larger Church — allowing the Church to grasp afresh both the shocking and healing nature of these ancient stories that lie at the very center of the Christian faith. Garrido examines the resurrection narratives using the keen insights of 6-12-year-old children. Their insights lead us to what is most essential in the resurrection stories and help us to see how these stories illustrate the much larger story of the kingdom of God.
The paper was presented at Weaving Our Gifts:
A Conference of Catechists, October 2006.$5
The Child as Mystic
by Pam Moore
Sofia Cavalletti, biblical schlolar and founder of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, noticed that the child possesses a mysterious knowledge of God. This is the hallmark of the mystic as well. In fact the mystic and the child's religious experiences share many of the same attributes. This paper examines the parallels, especially in relation to Jesus' insistence that entrance into the kingdom of heaven requires becoming as children and Evelyn Underhill's observation that the mystic is a special organ which God places within the Christian community for the special purpose of making the divine desire for communion with God known. $5
Catechesis in an Age of Religious Pluralism
by Elyse Strathy
Children of today live in a political and religious world which is very different from the one in which we were raised. The world has become a global village. Many of our children have opportunities to meet and become friends with children from other faiths in their schools or neighborhoods. This paper looks at the commonalities in approach to the spiritual journey between the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and Eastern religions. It also looks at areas where catechists need to be particularly sensitive so that we might encourage our children to appreciate the presence of God in the lives of persons outside the Christian tradition. $5 When we address the spirituality of childhood, we are confronted with the tragic reality that at least one in four girls and one in five boys in America experience sexual abuse during childhood. Basic trust has been broken in childhood sexual trauma, invoking questions such as, “How can God be there? How can God be trusted? How can God love me?” Abused children will inevitably receive answers in and out of church, and some of the more popular theological ideas will not serve them well. As a survivor of sexual abuse, Hughes relates places within the Christian tradition that offered her doorways into faith and healing, including Scriptures, approaches to Scripture, and liturgical rites she has encountered along the path to wholeness. Hughes advocates for these broken souls, calling for the Church, as an instrument of justice, peace, and reconciliation, to be responsible for actively ministering to survivors of sexual abuse. Includes an in introduction by Catherine Maresca. $8 Within the covenant relationship which is foundational to the Judeo-Christian tradition, the voice that calls by name is also the voice that gives aids for remaining in joyful relationship with God and neighbor. The maxims are one such aid, and their tablet shape mirrors the sign of the covenant: the Law. Part One of this paper looks at the essential elements of the Law as background for greater appreciation of the maxims as part of the long history of covenantal life. Part Two looks at the maxims within the context of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel, for the Matthean Jesus is primarily a teacher of Law. $8 Jewish prayer
is called the Divine Service of the heart, for
our hearts are the temples to which we bring the
offering of our prayers. Prayer is a spiritual
practice of closeness-making with God--an opening
of the self allowing divine energy to fill us
so heaven and earth are brought closer. In the
Gospels, Jesus the rabbi regularly teaches Jewish
prayer. In Mark 12:29 Jesus proclaims, "Shema
Yisrael - Know with every fiber of your being
that God is All there is." What then did it mean
for Jesus to say the Lord's Prayer as a Jew? In
this adaptation of a talk originally presented
at Weaving Our Gifts: A Conference of Catechists
2002, Rabbi Prager begins her exploration
with the historical context and language
of the Lord's Prayer. $5 The parable method
of reading the Bible is a cornerstone of the Catechesis
of the Good Shepherd developed by Sofia Cavalletti.
This paper supports the use of the parable method
with the work of Louise Rosenblatt, a 20th Century
leader in the field of literary criticism. Dr.
Rosenblatt's transactional theory of reading focuses
on the interaction between the reader and the
text as a creative process that must be respected
by teachers and experts. Guidelines for
reading parables with children based on Cavalletti's
and Rosenblatt's writing are offered. The paper
encourages catechists to deepen their respect
for both the text and its readers, and recommit
themselves to the parable method. $5 Drawing
upon an impressive body of writing and published
research in the area of prenatal and perinatal
psychology, the author here presents her own thoughts
about the critical importance of the prenatal
and perinatal period as foundational for the later
moral development and behavior of the person.
She argues that any design for moral education
must take this early period into account. Mutual
connection of affectional bonding between people,
when honored during the time of prenatal life,
birth , breastfeeding and early infancy, acts
as a template influencing how later experiences
are felt, perceived and integrated. The origins
of love as well as of alienation lie in prenatal
and perinatal interactions with mother, caretaker
and culture. (Reprinted
by permission of Journal of Prenatal
and Perinatal Psychology and Health, Spring/Summer
1999) $5 The Child As Parable Dr. Cavalletti
explores the synoptic texts where Jesus presents
a child as a sign of the greatest in the kingdom
of God. He is preparing the disciples for his
death and resurrection, yet they are concerned
with who will be the greatest. Jesus identifies
himself with a child, who is simultaneously both
the least and the greatest. The child is a model
of discipleship and a sign of Christ. We are invited
to embrace the weakness of the child, the weakness
of the crucifixion, in order to allow the power
of God to reach perfection (2 Cor. 12,9). (Reprinted
by permission ofEuntes Docete XXV [Pontifical
University Urbaniana, 1972] pp.509-514). This paper
extracts principles of moral formation from the
catechetical work of Sofia Cavalletti and the
pedagogical work of Maria Montessori. Together
the work of these women yields the following elements
of moral formation: Preparation of the heart:
Children must be in relationship with God
and others to act with love. This preparation
begins with life, long before the formation
of conscience begins. Preparation of the mind:
At the age of six the facility for judgment,
the conscience, begins to be formed. Help
is offered with moral prophecies, parables,
and maxims from the Scriptures. Preparation of the body:
The body can carry out the choice of the heart
and mind only if self-discipline is present.
A strong connection between will and action
is fostered by the Montessori Method's use
of choice, freedom, and movement. (Originally
presented at a Pace Universtity conference on
the Ethics of Parenting). $5 This paper
is an account of the author's work of incorporating
the rich liturgical presentations of the Catechesis
of the Good Shepherd for 3-6 year old children
into her atrium in a non-liturgical setting. Her
tradition as a charismatic Protestant is centered
in the Bible and so her assumption as she learned
the Catechesis was that the liturgical work would
not be part of her atrium. But her experience
of the liturgical presentations was so fruitful
that she began to consider their use in her own
setting. Presentation
by presentation, the author describes how she
found a connection between her own tradition and
the liturgical sign of the lesson. A focus on
the history of liturgy helped her to find various
links between the Bible and liturgy. In some cases
an adjustment in the material or the manner of
introduction helped with the transition. A new love for
liturgy blossomed slowly during this process.
And it is with that love that the author shares
her journey. $5 This paper
flows from Genelda's studies with the Shalem Institute
in spiritual direction and her observation of
and work with young children. With anecdotes of
children from infancy through age six, Genelda
considers children's inherent relationship with
God and the gift of that relationship for the
adults in their community. $5
Where Was God?
Spiritual Questions of Sexually Abused Children
by Barbara Hughes
I Treasure Your Word in My Heart
Part One: Biblical Background of the Maxims
Part Two: The Maxims in the Sermon
on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel
by Pam Moore
The Lord's
Prayer as Jewish Prayer
by
Rabbi Marcia Prager
Poems and Parables
by
Catherine Maresca
Prenatal and
Perinatal Foundations
of Moral Development
by Millicent
Adams Dosh, MA
by
Sofia Cavalletti
Translation by Patricia Coulter. $5
Moral Formation of Children, Ages 0-12
by Catherine Maresca
Backdoor
to Liturgy
by
Pamela Mader
Sittin' in the Lap
of God
by
Genelda Woggon
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