1. Love God - This first pillar has its own 3 components: first, love God with all your heart. This means we don't let things like money or popularity become more important to us than God. Second, we love God with all our minds. This means we take the time to learn about God by reading the Bible and attending Mass and Faith Formation classes. Third, we love God with all our souls. The soul is the deepest part of ourselves, the breath of God that is within each of us. To love God with all our soul means to accept that we belong not to ourselves, but to God. When we try to remember this, God will work from within to help us make loving choices.
2. Love Others - We must also remember that God made and loves everyone else, too - even if they are making some unloving choices.
3. Love Yourself - This is implied in the Commandment; if you don't love and respect yourself as a child of God, it won't be very effective to "love your neighbor as yourself."
After covering these 3 parts of the Great Commandment, the kids had a chance to practice using it as a "compass" for making choices. Each table had a "Loving Compass:"
Starting with the closest birthday, each child takes a turn spinning the arrow on the compass as the leader reads the following scenarios. As you're reading, pause to remind kids to be moving the arrow as you go, toward loving or unloving as they hear it played out in the story:
- You’re
at Mass. When your mom said you
were coming, you said, “OK, Mom” because that’s what Dez (leader insert own name or change wording - we had just had a lesson on going to Mass) told you to
say. (How are we doing so
far?) But now that you’re here, and
they’re singing the Opening Song, your mind is starting to wander. Sure, you could try to follow along on
the screens, but you don’t feel like it.
So you fold your arms, put on your best mad face, and start
swinging your feet just hard enough to kick the pew in front of you.
(pause) Oh, oh – you’re getting
“the look” from your parents. You
stand up and stop kicking, but you’re NOT going to sing. (pause)
Now, it’s later in the Mass, and Fr. Tom is giving his homily. It’s very adult stuff that you don’t
really understand. You decide to use
the time to say a silent prayer thanking God for all the people who love
you, trying to think of as many people as you can.
- A new
student comes to your school, and you invite him to sit with you and your
friends at lunch. He really
appreciates being included, and you discover that he’s a pretty cool
kid. You play together at recess,
and you help him find his place in his book during math. The next day, you sort of ignore your
other friends during lunch and recess, because you’re having plenty of fun
with your new friend. By the end of
the week, you’ve declared him your new best friend, and you tell him he’s
not allowed to play with anyone else at recess, or you won’t be his best
friend anymore.
- You’re
at the dinner table. You’ve almost
cleaned your plate, except for that last thing. You don’t like that thing. But your parents say you need to eat
it. You wait, you talk about your
day, and you sort of push the thing around on your plate, so it looks like
you’re going to eat it. Then, as
soon as your parents start cleaning their plates from the table and walk
away, you quietly feed the thing to the dog. You get excused from the table and go to
watch some cartoons. But you’re not
feeling very well. There’s an icky
feeling in your gut. It can’t be
from the thing, cuz you didn’t eat it.
Nope – what you’re feeling is guilty. You know you shouldn’t have lied to your
parents. You turn off the TV, take
a deep breath, and go to tell your parents. You’ll probably get a consequence, but
you know they’ll be proud that you told the truth.
- Your school is having student council elections, and you decide to run. You work hard to make a poster with photos of you and the things you like to do. The next day, they hang all of the posters up in the hall. Right away, you notice a really fancy poster made with shiny papers, glitter markers, and puffy stickers. You tell your friend, “That’s not fair! I bet that kid’s parents did all of the work on that poster!” For the rest of the day, you think about that poster. That kid always has the nicest, most expensive stuff. That kid is better than you at sports. And math. And breathing. It’s just not fair! Later, you’re walking down the hall, and nobody is around. You grab the top corner of that kid’s poster, and Rriip!
We completed this lesson by giving each child a small compass - I ordered mine from Guildcraft. Order extras because some don't work so well - they're just plastic toys. Kids used the compass to find North, and then we prayed:
Directions Prayer
Leader: Face East, where the sun rises. (pause) And we pray…
All: Lord, thank you for the gift of life. Help me to rise every morning with you in my heart, in my soul, and on my mind.
Leader: Face North, where a compass always points. (pause) And we pray…
All: God, thank you for sending Jesus to point us in the right direction and teach us how to live with love. I pray that my actions will always point to you.
Leader: Face South, and think of geese flying away for the winter. (pause) And we pray…
All: God our Creator, help me to remember that no matter where I go, I am never alone, because you are always with me.
Leader: Face West, where the sun sets. (pause) And we pray…
All: Thank you, Lord, for another day to learn to love you more. Amen.
Link to the Loving Compass here: Print & copy onto card stock. Cut out 1 arrow per compass. Punch a hole in the center of the compass and in the bottom of the arrow. Use a brad to hold it together.
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