This well-illustrated book is a course of fifteen lessons for children preparing for First Confession and First Holy Communion. It will be an invaluable resource in any home, parish and school which wants to hand on the faith to their children.
66 pp. Gracewing Publications. To purchase this book online, go to www.gracwewing.co.uk
CONTENTS
Foreword by the Very Reverend Ignatius Harrison, Cong Orat, Provost of the London Oratory of St Philip Neri
For parents and teachers
Prayers
Glossary of key words
CHAPTER ONE
GOD THE CREATOR OF ALL
In the beginning God created Heaven and earth.
These are the very first words in the Holy Bible: In the beginning God created Heaven and earth. The first pages of the Bible tell us how God our loving Father made everything; as we say at Mass in the prayer called the Creed, God is the maker of all things visible and invisible. This means that God made everything that we can see, even those things that are so small or so far away that we need a microscope or telescope to see them. He also made the things we cannot see even with a telescope or a microscope: for example, the angels who serve and praise Him in Heaven, or the guardian angels who watch over each one of us.
God made everything: He is the Creator, and all things are His creatures. To create means to make things out of nothing. When we make something, we use other things to make it. An artist uses paints to make a picture, a cook uses food to make a meal. God alone can make things out of nothing; He creates with a word, with a command. Ask your parents or your teacher to read the first pages of the Bible with you. There, in the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Holy Bible, you will find the story of creation. Firstly God said: ‘Let there be light!’ and there was light. Then He created the Heavens, the earth, the sun and the moon and all the stars; then He filled this earth with all the wonderful plants and flowers, trees, animals, fish and birds. He made these things for us: for us to use and care for, and we should always thank Him for all that He has given us. The Bible tells us that God saw that all these things were good: of course they were, since they were made by God who is goodness itself! Nothing that God makes is bad, although people sometimes use His good things badly. The picture for this lesson shows God creating and filling the earth. But no human being saw this, since God created man last of all.
He kept the best until last. Adam and Eve, the first people, lived in the Garden of Eden. They were the last and most important things God made on earth: the Bible tells us that God saw that they were very good. They were not only very good but very happy as well: God loved them, and they loved God. He spoke to them, and they always listened to His voice, and did what He commanded them. Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden as God’s friends; the life and love of God, which we call His holy grace, was with them always. It is God’s grace that makes us truly happy, and Adam and Eve lived in His grace with the whole world before them to care for and enjoy.
KEY WORDS FOR CHAPTER 1
(NOTE for parents and teachers: the meanings of these words, and those found at the end of subsequent chapters, will be found on page 64 – Glossary)
Genesis – Angel – Creator – Creature – Adam and Eve – Grace
Fill in the blanks
The first three words of the Holy Bible are I _ _ t – – b – – – – – – – –
The first book of the Holy Bible is called the Book of G_ _ _ _ _ _
The first people God created were called A _ _ _ and E _ _.
In the space below write down the names of three things God created.
