The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is an approach to the religious formation of children.
Rooted on scripture, liturgy and the educational principals of Maria Montessori, at its heart it helps both children and the adults who serve them – also referred to the Catechist – to enter more deeply into the mystery of love.
Children gather in a dedicated space specifically prepared for them called the Atrium.
The Atrium has simple but beautiful materials for participants to use to help them explore who God is and how they can come to know Him.
The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) came to Western Australia in the year 2001.
A group of people gathered to receive this Good News from a catechist from the US. Together with catechists from Brisbane, who had begun their formation in 1995, we continued each summer until 2006, receiving the formation for children, aged three to 12 years of age.
The approach was life changing for the catechists and revolutionary for the children offering this beautiful approach to growing in relationship with the Good Shepherd.
The Atrium is a place of prayer and meditation, not a classroom where the adult provides instruction to be learnt or memorised.
This sacred space allows the children to encounter the Good Shepherd through word and action, worship and community.
The approach in the Atrium is unique in that the children can work with the materials offered, around the themes of scripture and liturgy , for as long as they wish and can use them week after week until they are satisfied.
Every work in the atrium is either a passage to prayer, or prayer itself, with the central theme for children 0-6 years of age is the parable of the Good Shepherd (relationship, covenant) and the children aged six to 12 years is the parable of the True Vine (connection to Father Son and Spirit, bearing fruit that will last, moral development, building the Kingdom)
Themes taught in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program work to meet the vital needs and capacities of the children in each age group, with the content and environment also being sensorially designed to accommodate the size and age of the children.
The CGS has also had a few residences over the years since 200O.
In 2021, the formation movement were able to lease and renovate the former Dominican convent in Scarborough.
In May 2023, Bishop Sproxton blessed the building for its new purpose and the doors were opened for the children and families in term two.
Apart from the Level 1, 2 and 3 atria already operating, a space for children aged 0 to 3 has also been created which commenced in late 2024.
There is also an Atrium operating with all three levels in Fremantle, led by the Ursuline Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Sisters (OMSC).
One of the original founders of the Catechetical program, Montessorian Gianna Gobbi, commented in her book Listening to God with Children.
“Like the environment of the Church, the Atrium is a place where the child can listen to the proclamation of the Good News, meditate on it and begin to live it according to the child’s own rhythm,” Ms Gobbi said.
“Different from the environment of the Church, the atrium is not only a place for announcement and celebration. It is also a place for work,” she continued.
“It is a particular environment in which work easily becomes meditation and prayer,” she said.
For more information on session times and events, visit www.cgswa.org.au or email marie@cgswa.org.au.