KID'S CATECHISM GOD WHO IS GOD? God is unique. There is only one God. He is always in church. He is life. God made all of us alive. The cemetery reminds me of God because Jesus died and was buried. God's Son sacrificed his life for us. God wants to communicate with us. WHERE DOES GOD COME FROM? God never began. He just was. He never ends. It is hard for us to imagine that anything just was, had no beginning and no end. COULD GOD BE SOMETHING ELSE? God could be anything he wants. God could change himself into a child. God could send a saint to take his place. However, God does not need to change because God always has a good attitude. WHAT IF GOD DOES NOT FORGIVE ME? It is probably because I have not forgiven myself first. WHY DID GOD MAKE THE WORLD? God wanted to help others and wanted to see what he could create. WHEN DID GOD MAKE THE WORLD? Centuries ago. We don't know when but it was longer than any of us can imagine. DOES GOD DIE? No. Jesus the Son of God died but he came back to life. CAN GOD STOP MY NIGHTMARES? Yes, if we talk to God about them and why we are having them. We'll feel better for having talked about them. DOES GOD GRANT WISHES? Sometimes. It depends on what we wish for. God can't gives us a world we don't already have. We can't have everything. Our wishes need to be reasonable. DOES GOD EVER DO ANYTHING BAD? Most of us believe God doesn't do anything bad. But God does get blamed for human evil. COULD GOD BE AN ANGEL? Yes. An angel is a messenger of God. God can be his own messenger. If he were not able to be an angel, God would not be able to communicate with angels. IF I PLANT A SEED IS IT GOD OR IS IT THE SEED WHICH MAKES THE PLANT GROW? The seed. If God were doing it, it would grow faster. HOW DID GOD THINK UP HIS PLAN? God was lonely and bored and needed something to do. HOW CAN GOD WATCH OVER EVERYBODY? God has a lot of angels to help him. ME WHO AM I? Hard to talk about me . It is easier when I do something good. Good is something you do out of your heart. I may not even know who I am, but I do need to know who I am. It is not easy for us to know who we are. God made us all equal. But we are not the same. We need to learn to treat others equally because God loves us all the same. ARE YOU SCARED OF GOING TO HELL? If you are scared of going to hell then the devil already has control of you. You are sacred of the devil. If you are afraid of going to hell, then avoid bad things. I TRY TO KEEP MY FAITH BUT I NEVER SEEM TO GROW IN GOD'S GRACE? Maybe it is because I have been religious instead of being spiritual. HOW DOES GOD SPEAK TO ME? God sends messages to us through special events and special people. We also get messages directly from God. We are also able to communicate directly with God. Sometimes God speaks to us in our dreams. We get little signs all the time. We get signs from our heart telling us what to do. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I SIN? We will somehow have to pay for it, but God will forgive us if we ask for forgiveness. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE WAYS WE WILL PAY FOR OUR SIN? Just going through life knowing we have sinned is a payment for sin. We can be frightened of our sin. That fear is a form of payment for sin.  We don't know what will happen to us. That insecurity can be a form of payment for sin. If we don't change, we can end up in hell. SIN WHAT IS SIN? Something between us and God and the devil. It overwhelms us. But God tries to intervene when we sin. We do have a choice. We will choose whatever is more powerful in our mind. Sin is where our choices are more powerful than God's will. When we sin we wish we could turn everything around, go back and undo it. God tries to help us. God sends angels who try to give us strength. When God gets tired he simply can't reach us then the angels take over. HOW DO WE SIN? Ways we can sin: breaking one or more of the 10 commandments not asking God's forgiveness doing something bad being scared of going to hell. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE SIN? Our relationship with God is distorted. Sometimes we regret it, other times we don't. We know we have done something wrong. We feel bad. We confess it to God and tell God we are sorry. IS IT OK TO SIN? In most cases it is not. In a few cases it may be. We may find ourselves in a situation in which we do not know what to do and a bad thing seems to be the best thing to do. But we need to confess it. HOW CAN WE MAKE UP FOR OUR SIN? We can forgive ourselves. Confess our sins. Pray. Do something good. Help other people. ANGELS WHO ARE GUARDIAN ANGELS? People who watch over us. WHERE ARE GUARDIAN ANGELS? They can be in heaven, on earth, anywhere. WHAT DO GUARDIAN ANGELS DO? They watch over us and keep us safe. They take messages back to God from us. WHO IS MY GUARDIAN ANGEL? It's my grandma. When she was alive she told me she would be my guardian angel. Or it may be someone in your family or anyone God sends to watch over us. NOTE: question was asked if guardian angel could be a living person kids were unsure so they asked second question: IS MY GUARDIAN ANGEL A DEAD PERSON OR CAN IT BE A LIVING PERSON? Can be a living person. It can be anyone God wants. CAN I HAVE MORE THAN ONE GUARDIAN ANGEL? Yes. If I need it. An angel is a messenger of God. God can send out as many messengers as he needs. Evil Knievel probably needs more than one angel to help him jump the canyon. Archbishop Romero (anyone who has to suffer for the gospel) needs more than one angel. WHERE DO GUARDIAN ANGELS COME FROM? They come from special places like heaven or earth. DO ANGELS SLEEP? Not in the way we think, but they do rest. Angels are a pool of energy. If they have so much energy they should not have to sleep. CHURCH WHAT IS THE CHURCH? It is the presence of God himself, a gathering of God's people, a gathering of believers. It is the celebration of a tragedy, the death of Jesus on the cross. But anything that is God's plan cannot be a tragedy. HOW DO WE RESOLVE THIS DILEMMA? We resolve it through faith. We can gather many people together but if we did not believe then it is isn't the church. We gather not simply to pray but to celebrate the Eucharist which recalls the last supper when Jesus said: "Do this in memory of me." WHAT IS A SACRAMENT? HOW MANY SACRAMENTS ARE THERE? Seven. NAME THE SACRAMENTS. baptism   confirmation   holy eucharist   penance (confession)  holy orders   matrimony anointing of the sick WHAT IS BAPTISM? The sacrament by which a person is brought into the church (becomes a member). The sacrament happens with the pouring of water on a person's body. The sin which passes from Adam and Eve through all generations is overcome. In the sacrament the church acts as a force or power to protect us from sin. WHAT IS THE EUCHARIST? It is a recalling of the last supper. We remember not only Jesus' death but his resurrection his ascension and the coming of the Spirit when he sent out his disciples. WHAT IS CONFESSION? Telling the priest when we have done wrong. Originally most confessions were public, done at mass. We still see this in the penitential rite at the beginning of mass. WHAT IS CONFIRMATION? In this sacrament we receive and accept responsibility. It is a commitment to serve. We need to leave something behind. WHAT IS THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK? The sacrament in which the sick are anointed with oil to help and strengthen them. WHAT IS HOLY ORDERS? God wants us to do something for the church. A person says "yes" and is ordained and designated by the church to celebrate the eucharist, preach, and teach. WHAT IS MATRIMONY? The sacrament of marriage. One person takes another into his/her life and makes a life time commitment to that person. They both make a promise to God. God needs to know we are taking another person into our lives. PRAYER WHAT IS PRAYER? Talking to God, our guardian angels or saints. Sometimes we forget and neglect our prayer. DOES ANYTHING CHANGE WHEN WE PRAY? We do. It gives us hope. If we have a really bad day prayer can give us the strength to go on. Prayer forms a habit. That habit can strengthen us. TRADITION WHAT IS TRADITION? It is something we have always done. It is something that has come to us from God's Son. It is our worship. Tradition is something you do not lightly disregard. Tradition has certain qualities. It is: something repeated over and over something we enjoy something others enjoy something we want to share something we follow HOW DO WE KEEP TRADITION WHEN SO MANY THINGS ARE CHANGING? Things change so much today that it is difficult for us to know tradition. We have a few tools to help us. We can: reflect on the past develop new traditions be conscious that tradition comes from a family (the church) be more sensitive to and active in that church WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HABIT AND TRADITION? Tradition is the handing down of statements, beliefs, actions, legends, and customs. Habit is the frequent repitition of an act, something we do again and again. HOW DOES HABIT BECOME TRADITION? When we attempt to pass it on to others. WHAT ARE SOME OF OUR CHRISTIAN TRADITIONS? praying - although this can be simply a habit statements formal made up prayers (e.g. Our Father, Hail Mary) 10 commandments creed beliefs God Jesus is Son of God Jesus was born of Mary Jesus died on the cross (plus many others) actions our worship mass/communion penance (confession) legends something we cannot really prove or disprove but has been handed down e.g. exactly where Jesus was born, where he was crucified customs collective actions e.g. going to church Lenten fast even some of our actions (sacraments) are also customs WHO IS MARY? The one God asked to be the mother of Jesus and she said yes. DEATH WHAT IS DEATH? It is something no one wants to talk about.. A time of great sadness. In death we become a guardian angel. Still it makes you want to break down and cry, go into a shell and never come out of it. WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENS AFTER WE DIE? Our body dies, our souls continues to live. We pass into a spiritual world. We continue to exist. We can be born again as another person. We can die and be brought back to life. It is important that we remember all these truths. IS DEATH A BAD THING? Yes and no. It makes you feel shock and pain. However, we need death to help us control the population. There is only so much air and water. Death is hardest when it comes to someone we know and love. It is as good or bad as we want it to be. How good it is will depend upon our belief in God and whether we believe we will go to heaven or to hell. HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN SOMEONE DIES? sad sick angry want to die with the person some other thoughts: say (s)he can't be dead (denial) think about times together feel a great weakness inside remember going to person's house if I could I would give my life for him/her HOW CAN YOU DEAL WITH DEATH? You never really can. The person was a part of you for so long you cannot get over it. You can come to realize that this person can now help you. WHAT IS HELL? A very uncomfortable place. A harsh PRESENCE. It is lava hot. Hell can be anywhere (except heaven). It is invisible but real. Hell can be reversed: the image of fire can be reversed. Fire can smbolize the Holy Spirit or it can symbolize hell. Hell is believing no one cares. Feeling completely inferior and you just don't belong, total lonelines.. In hell you become more and more paranoid. WHAT IS PURGATORY? A place where you look for God and try to show God you really love him. GENERAL QUESTIONS WHO WROTE THE BIBLE? Not just one person. Several wrote individual parts. In the New Testament God took on a human form in Jesus. He lived and taught others. They told others of Jesus' message. Eventually they had to write it down. WHO WAS THE FIRST POPE? Peter IF THE FIRST MASS WAS ON HOLY THURSDAY, WHEN WAS THE SECOND MASS? Sometime after the resurrection. Perhaps it was when Jesus appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus the first Easter Sunday. They did not recognize Jesus at first. They finally recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. IF WE CAN FIND DINOSAURS, HOW COME WE CANNOT FIND JESUS' BODY? Jesus ascended into heaven. DID DIFFERENT LANGUAGES START WITH THE TOWER OF BABEL? There were different languages before the tower of babel. The story is about man attempting to be like God. Also about man not being able to agree and to communicate. TO RETURN TO MAIN PAGE   MAIN Thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed the website and come back often. We'd like to hear from you bill crumley IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CHURCH 3041 CHITIMACHA TRAIL CHARENTON LOUISIANA 70523 USA 337-923-4281