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Religion program lets kids set pace in learning faith

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd taught in 4 parishes

Published: June 20, 2024      

By Katie Zakrzewski
Associate Editor

Children at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock make crafts as part of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program in May (Courtesy Sister Mary Rose Tin Vu, FMSR)

Children at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock make crafts as part of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program in May (Courtesy Sister Mary Rose Tin Vu, FMSR)

A Montessori-style religious education program is growing in popularity across the state and letting children set the pace in learning about their Catholic faith. The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program is currently taught to students ages 3-12 at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock, St. Peter the Fisherman in Mountain Home, St. Andrew Church in Danville and St. Augustine in Dardanelle. 

Danville and Dardanelle

Father Mauricio Carrasco, director of spiritual formation at the House of Formation in Little Rock, was previously the pastor of St. Andrew Church in Danville and St. Augustine Church in Dardanelle for 10 years. While he was there, retired Archbishop Bishop Peter J. Sartain recommended he research a program for children called the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. 

“He told me as well that he knew the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd had been really successful as far as child catechesis and evangelization was concerned,” he said.

Father Carrasco learned that Father Joseph de Orbegozo, rector at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock, and Sister Mary Rose Tin Vu, FMSR, director of religious education, were hosting trainings to prepare directors of religious education for the first level of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, called an atrium. He was able to implement the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at his parishes in 2023. 

The first level, or atrium, is for children ages 3 to 6. The second atrium is for children ages 6 to 9. The third atrium is for children ages 9 to 12. At each level, instructors must receive special training before they can lead a group.

“If you want to teach in any of those levels, you have to learn everything about the atrium and all about the method that is deployed,” Father Carrasco said. “They’re very intentional on not calling it a classroom, not calling it a program, not calling people a teacher. It’s a community. Instead of classrooms, you have atriums … so basically, one atrium serves as a space for a child to learn and grow in his relationship with Christ.” 

The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is based on the educational teachings of Maria Montessori, who, in the early 20th century, developed an educational philosophy that emphasizes self-paced activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. Friends of Montessori developed a similar method for the Catholic Church, designed to help prepare children to receive the sacraments by learning more about their faith.  

“The first two levels are named after the parable that most appealed to the children according to their developmental stage,” Father Carrasco said. “... The parable of the Good Sheperd is the parable that most appealed to kids 3 to 6 years old. They just ate it up, they loved it,” Father Carrasco said with a laugh. “And so appropriately, the first level of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is all about the Good Shepherd.”

For atrium two, the parable of the vine and the branches is the central image. For atrium three, both of the parables are explored more deeply.

“I’m fascinated because the whole thing depends upon small presentations,” Father Carrasco said. “And then basically, the formator or leader in the atrium allows the children to do their own work. Everyone works at their own speed. Everyone is invited to be childlike, to be in wonder. … The children will engage in something that is spiritual, but that also involves the whole person working with your hands, applying yourself and entering into this relationship with the Lord as you work, as you build something, as you work with the materials.”

The first atrium is designed like a Montessori-style classroom, except it’s filled with religious objects, including a small altar, lectern and chalices. 

Children are taught practical life exercises, incorporating everything that the liturgy is into lessons, while also learning how to behave during Mass. 

“In my opinion, it was even very powerful for me as a priest to engage in building the materials and planning the presentation because it was like I was that child,” he said “So it really kind of brings home this whole idea of becoming a child in order to form a relationship with God.”

Mountain Home

St. Peter the Fisherman Church in Mountain Home and the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock were the first two parishes to bring the Catechesis of the Good Sheperd to the state. Brandi Noval has been the director of religious education with St. Peter the Fisherman for seven years. She began teaching Catechesis of the Good Shepherd shortly after her arrival, and the program has grown ever since. 

“The thing that makes it the most unique is it’s hands-on,” Noval said. “We aren’t just giving them a Bible story like Jonah and the Whale for them to learn. They have experiences with Christ through all of the materials that the teachers have to make. Everything in there is handmade, and it goes with a presentation.”

Noval said she recently used the parable of the vine and the branches to teach children about the importance of Communion and spiritual wellness. When the children attended Mass and heard the parable of the vine and the branches mentioned, they all excitedly told Noval that they knew and understood the parable from the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

“I’ve never had that experience before at Mass with kids really relating what they learned,” Noval said. 

Noval said in the first atrium, children are taught how to behave at Mass. 

“They learn what we do at Mass and why we do it. We don’t just tell them to do it because you follow your parents. We are explaining epiclesis, and we’re telling them to look for it at Mass. Father’s hands will start up high and then they’ll come down onto Jesus, and that’s when the Holy Spirit is coming in,” Noval said. 

When pastor Father Norbert Rappold raised his hands during the consecration, the children approached Noval after Mass and exclaimed, “We saw it, we saw it!”

“I’ve worked with kids 20 years before I came here, and never were those connections being made,” Noval said. “You grow on everything. In that very first atrium, you’re planting the seeds, and then when they move up to the second atrium, you revisit those seeds, but you go deeper. And then by the third atrium, they know why they learned what they learned, and now they’re looking it up in the Bible and telling us the geography of the place that it happened, the time that it happened. They really invest in that.”

Noval said that each atrium has three years of presentations, totaling 40 to 60 presentations in each atrium. Most atriums in each parish in the state are held on Wednesday evenings. 

Little Rock

Father Joseph de Orbegozo, rector of the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock, had his first encounter with the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd in Rochester, N.Y., while staying with a friend and fellow priest in 2019. 

“He introduced me to their atrium and walked me through it, and I was blown away, because it is a way in which you help a child who is saturated with technology, with noise, with stuff in their life,” he said. “And you invite that child from early on to not just have fun … but rather to encounter, which I think is something more complicated than learning or having fun.”

Father de Orbegozo said the activities are intentional, teaching children to be attentive through repetition and self-paced learning.

“Through all of these activities (such as cleaning, drawing, coloring and creating), each child is invited to encounter Christ,” Father de Orbegozo said. “... The child is respected and encouraged to have agency in forming their own faith, which is beautiful. It’s not something I see done well in other programs, not because people don’t try to do so, but because it’s just not as possible within the structure or vision of the program.

The Cathedral developed its second atrium last year and is finalizing its third.

Arkansas Catholic visited the last Catechesis of the Good Shepherd session before the summer holidays May 15. During the lesson, around 20 children sat in their seats, watching as Sister Mary Rose arranged red taper candles, each marked with a gift of the Holy Spirit for Pentecost. As children used their own candles to light the candle of the gift they wished to receive most, they sang and gently chanted “Venti Spiritus,” or “Come Holy Spirit.” Children recounted their favorite activities throughout the year and drew pictures before breaking for dinner. 

Sister Mary Rose taught the Catechesis while she was stationed in Thailand and is qualified to teach each atrium. The Cathedral has been teaching the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for three years. 

“When I got here, I wanted to start it at the Cathedral, and I brought materials with me,” Sister Mary Rose said. 

Soon, the Cathedral began hosting trainings so other parishes could start as well. 

“I really like this style of teaching — it captivates the children, and it’s the Holy Spirit leading them,” she said. “You know they want to be here. The two hours that we have with them just fly by.”

Sister Mary Rose said even parents and teachers find themselves learning things. She said sometimes parents will cry as they watch their children learn, and as they learn new things too. 

“It really helps you grow and fall in love with the Lord as a young child,” she said. “But for us adults too, once you take your time and do the presentations and meditation on it. Through opening up many times, I learned from preparing the materials and presenting to the children.”

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