My catechetical adventure...

So I've got a book that's being wrapped up. And I'm working on a second book. And I'm leading a young adult Bible study starting in the Fall that will require a fair amount of advance preparatory work (for which I should really purchase the Ignatius Study Bible Gospel set). And I'm involved in another Bible study at my parish, the Great Adventure series on Matthew.

But I'm also going to be a catechist for 6th graders, introducing them to the Bible and specifically the Old Testament Scriptures. So I have a project for myself this summer. I'm going to read the General Directory for Catechesis (and maybe the National Directory for Catechesis), and I'm going to review the textbook materials for this 6th grade course, and I'm going to review the Great Adventure Timeline for the Old Testament (including watching the DVDs). This is so that I can put together a decent curriculum/syllabus for the class.

There's so much they need to learn... or at least start learning. What is the Bible? How was it written? Who wrote it? How did we get it? How and why can we trust it? How should we read it? Why should we read it? And then... what does it tell us?

I want to introduce them (gently) to my "Mind-Soul-Strength-Heart" approach to Scripture: the four ways to love God, the four pillars of the Catechism, and the four senses of Scripture.

I want to give them an overview of the "storyline" of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Maccabees. I want to bring up particularly important events: Creation, the Fall, the Flood, Babel, Abram's call, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, Joseph, Moses, the burning bush, Egypt, the plagues, the Passover, the Red Sea, Mt. Sinai... and that's just the first two books of the Bible!

(Update: While the textbook doesn't cover Genesis 1-11 — I will — the first unit, four chapters, covers Abram's call, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, and Joseph. So that's good.)

Anyway, my wife are I going on an anniversary vacation this weekend (up to Newport, RI, to look at houses we'll never own — whilst we search for our first house to buy in the Trenton area). Have a good weekend. Internet silence from noon Friday until late late late Sunday.