A Year With Sofia Cavalletti

Co-founder of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and scholar of Hebrew Scriptures, Cavalletti offers her insight into the spiritual life of children.

A Year with Sofia Cavalletti: Daily Reflections on the Spiritual and Theological Influences of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd provides a short excerpt for each day from significant theologians and scholars who informed Cavalletti’s understanding of Scripture, liturgy, and the spiritual life, as well as a question for further meditation. A brief biography of the writer introduces each chapter.

Here at last is the long-awaited continuation of The Religious Potential of the Child (from 3 to 6 years old). The author, Sofia Cavaletti, founder of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, describes an approach to the religious education of children according to the methods of Maria Montessori, which has gained worldwide attention. In this book she draws on her long experience with children from diverse cultures and environments to describe the vital religious needs of the older child (6 to 12 years old). The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for the older child builds on the foundation in scripture and liturgy offered to the younger child (3 to 6 years old). The theme of the covenant between God and humankind, first revealed to the people of Israel, is expanded to include the dimension of time: all of history, from creation to the parousia. For the older child, awareness of participation in this covenant relationship leads spontaneously to a sense of moral responsibility, and of engagement with the cosmos in all its manifestations. This book will be a great help to educators and catechists who seek to understand the characteristics of the older child, particularly the child’s relationship with the mystery of God.

The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is an approach to the religious formation of children that is grounded in an understanding and appreciation of the child’s relationship with God through their engagement with Scripture and liturgy. In this companion to The Religious Potential of the Child 6-12 years old, author Rebekah Rojcewicz documents the decades of work and the journeys that catechists and older children, six to twelve years old, have made with Jesus the True Vine. For parents, catechists, and those who seek to take seriously Jesus’ challenge “to change and become like children” (Matthew 18:3), this book serves as an invitation to the same joyful journey.

This book describes the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, a Montessori-based style of catechesis that focuses on the child’s independent journey to God by working with materials in a specially prepared place called an atrium. Written by Sofia Cavaletti, the Italian scripture scholar who developed the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, this classic work demonstrates the profound spiritual capabilities of children as brought forth through their engagement in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. This book is important for anyone desiring to learn about the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd or the spiritual life of children ages 3-6. Sofia Cavaletti is an internationally known biblical scholar and was a member of the committee that prepared the Directory for Masses with Children. Together with her collaborator, Gianna Gobbi, a Montessori educator, she has traveled throughout the world forming catechists in this essentially oral method and helping to establish catechetical centers modeled on their Centro di Catechesi in Rome.

What happens when a parish community chooses the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for its youngest members? What questions should be asked before that decision is made, and after? What does an atrium look like? What do you need? How do you start? And how did this type of Catechesis ever get started in the first place? This newly revised edition of Tina Lillig’s practical and enduring resource offers step-by-step information to address the questions of pastors, directors of religious education, parish staff members, parents, catechists, and anyone else interested in the great blessing that young children are to the parish community.

This work is the product of several decades of practical experience with children -- blended with prayerful reflection on the way children hear God speak to them personally and with profound simplicity. So is this work guided by the Spirit. It is the fruit of entering gently and respectfully into the child's joyful encounter with the mystery of God's silent self-revelation made tangible through ancient biblical images, liturgical signs and celebrations. Book jacket.