Double Stuff Theology
Posted by Robyn Lee in Faith on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 7:00 PM
I teach confirmation prep to ninth graders at my local parish. The confirmation requirement for the students is to meet for an hour twice a month: once in a classroom with me and the other hour in homes with their peers. I don’t love the model, but that is why I decided to become a teacher. Instead of complaining about the system and doing nothing, I joined the system so I could influence those 25 kids in my class.
There are many challenges to teaching a class only once a month. I’m pretty sure the kids don’t know my name, and I only remember the names of the trouble makers. We are instructed not to give homework assignments so they barely remember the material that was covered the month before.
I shared my confirmation woes with associate editor, Lynn Wehner, and she came back with a ton of helpful tips about incorporating music, arts, and games into the lesson. The idea that I decided to use on my kids was “how an Oreo cookie mirrors the Trinity.” Brilliant.
Next class I was armed with the Catechism and a package of double stuffed Oreos. After explaining the three persons of the Trinity, I asked: “Do we worship three Gods or one God?” (I was thankful to get the correct answer.) “So, how can there be Three Persons in one God?” I got a few blank stares and that is when I pulled out the big guns.
Opening up the package of double stuffed Oreos I pulled out a cookie. “There are three parts to this Oreo, but it is still one cookie. The two chocolate wafers are identical. Just as when the Father speaks his Word it generates a perfect Image of him, which is the Son and the love between the Father and the Son spirates another: the Holy Spirit. The sweet filling between the two chocolate wafers is just like the love between the Father and the Son.”
One of my students asked: “Can you argue that the Holy Spirit is the best part?” I smiled and hoped that every time my students ate Oreo cookies they would think of the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity.
Are there any catechists out there? What are your creative ideas to teach the faith to our youth?
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