The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a ministry for children, which offers:

• The opportunity to fall in love with Jesus and grow in their relationship with God
• A sacred space called an atrium where work and reflection becomes prayer
• Formation in the essential truths and basic tenets of our Christian faith
• The time to stop, look and listen to the presence of God in our lives
• Materials (sometimes referred to as manipulatives) that aid children's work in meditating on scripture and understanding the mysteries of our faith
• Scripture presented in a way that meets the child’s spiritual needs and respects their religious capacities and potential
• Inquiry into the language and gestures of the church’s liturgical celebrations

Formation of children in an atrium:

The young child, age 3-6 years of age, has 2 essential spiritual questions: Who is God? (who is Jesus and what did He do?)
Who am I in relationship to God?
In the Atrium the children discover ‘God is love’ ‘Jesus is Risen’ ‘We are His sheep’, through meditation on scripture and the gestures and words of the church’s liturgical prayers. For the 3-6 year old child, in Level I of the atrium, the mystery of the incarnation is explored through the prophecies and accounts of Christ’s birth; through the account of the Last Supper and the gestures of the Eucharistic prayer the children delve into the mystery of the resurrection and the Eucharistic presence of Christ; in the parables of the Kingdom they encounter the mystery of God; and in the Parable of the Good Shepherd they enter into the mystery of our covenant relationship with God.

As children move into level II (ages 6-9) their questions centre more on spiritual ‘whats’ than ‘who’s’:
What is God’s plan?
What is my role in God’s plan?
In response, we study God’s Plan of Salvation as shown to us in the bible through prophecies and narratives along with a study of the ongoing stream of gifts that God has showered on us over time. The children are developing their moral intelligence, so we listen and reflect together on the parables of mercy and the parable of the True vine, in relationship with Christ’s teachings (the maxims). The children age 6-9 strive for greater spiritual autonomy and their own place in the community of believers -the church - so they are given the tools to enable them to access the Word of God and the prayers of the church in the rites of Eucharist, Baptism and Reconciliation as well as the celebrations of the Liturgy of Light, Advent, Lent, Christmas and Pentecost.

Formation in Level III – ages 9-12
These children too want to know more about God’s Plan of Salvation – but their perspective has widened so they ask:
What is God calling me to do as His co-worker in the Kingdom?
What gifts have I been given that I should use in this work? 
To help the children find answers to these questions 3 more timelines of God’s Plan of Salvation are studied, along with typological studies of the great figures and events in the Hebrew scriptures: creation, the fall and the flood; Abraham, Moses, the prophets; and the Miracles. To further explore the gifts that we are given to help us on our spiritual journey, we explore again the sacramental liturgies of Eucharist, Baptism, Reconciliation and healing. In addition we reflect on the teachings of Jesus in parables and maxims to help us understand the meaning of life and our call to live as co-workers of Christ in the Kingdom.

The ideal time span for atrium is a 2 hour block each week when a child is neither tired nor hungry. Many atriums find that they can only offer 1 1/2 hour sessions each week to each group of children due to constraints of space and time.

Atrium generally starts mid-fall after the children have settled into their schools, and the children meet weekly, except for school holidays, until the end of May.

In addition the Level II children who are preparing for the celebration of their 1st Communion will have extra sessions as well as a daytime retreat 3-4 days in length.