In recommending A Pocket Catechism for Kids, I also ask God’s blessings on those who use it in the catechetical effort to help achieve the new evangelization that carries with it so much hope for the future of the Church as we attempt here and now to manifest God’s kingdom.
Bishop of Pittsburgh
Introduction
Once, a long time ago, a man stumbled upon a great treasure buried in a field. No one is sure how he discovered it.
Maybe he was walking by a lake when a bottle washed ashore — and inside the bottle was a map!
Maybe he was resting under a tree when he saw something glimmer in the sunlight. He picked it up, dusted it off, and saw that it was a brilliant sapphire. Looking around, he saw that all around him were scattered hundreds of jewels, lying in the dust.
Or maybe he struck the wooden top of a treasure chest while he was digging potatoes.
It doesn’t really matter how it happened. All we need to know is that he found a great treasure. We can imagine a chest overflowing with diamonds, rubies, gold and silver coins, emerald rings, strings of pearls, and jeweled goblets. He was quite excited.
There was only one problem: The field where he found the treasure didn’t belong to him. It was someone else’s property.
So what did he do? He rushed home and gathered everything he owned — and he sold it all, everything he had. Then he ran to his relatives and friends asking them to lend him all the money they could spare. He wanted to do everything he could to buy that field where the treasure lay. He wanted to get there first with the money. He just couldn’t believe that such adventure could happen to such an ordinary man. These things, he thought, only happen in fairy tales.
He collected a huge sum of money and went off to find the owner of the field. The owner thought the man was crazy, out of his mind. It’s just a useless old field. It’s not worth the trouble it would take to trim the weeds.
But the young man knew better. The two shook hands on the deal. And our hero became the wealthiest person in the land.
These things don’t only happen in storybooks. That story, in fact, is one that Jesus told to His disciples. You’ll find it in the Bible, in a shorter form. Jesus told that story because He wanted to help us understand something very important.
Jesus wanted you and me to know that there is a great treasure waiting for us, too. The treasure is Jesus’ teaching and His love, and it can make us happier than all the money in the world.
We can gain this treasure for ourselves whenever we say yes to Jesus. Not just in big things, like being a hero and saving someone’s life. We store up great treasures for ourselves whenever we make the smallest acts of faith, whenever we hear the Word of God and hold it close to our hearts.
Every time we accept what Jesus and His Church teach us, we are plunking down a couple of coins and buying a King’s chamber full of jewels.
How hard are we willing to work, as the young man in the story did, to obtain God’s treasure?
In the pages of this book, you’ll find many short questions and answers, each explaining one of the saving truths that Jesus taught us, and all based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Each time you come to know and accept one of these little sayings; each time you make an effort to put it into practice by living as Jesus taught us; each time you love God with your whole heart; each time you love your neighbor — then you are buying a field that Jesus Himself planted with riches.
That field is the Catholic Church, and all its riches are yours for the taking: its teachings, its sacraments, and its gifts of the Holy Spirit. Jesus made His Church good and true, and He made it to last forever. He gave it all that it would need to make people happy right here on earth — by knowing God and loving Him and serving Him. Jesus also made His Church to be the one sure road to heaven for all God’s children.
Finally, Jesus gave Himself to the Church in a very special way. In the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, He comes to everyone who will welcome Him — and He becomes one with that person. Imagine: God, Who made the stars and volcanoes, dinosaurs and comets, wants to be that close in friendship with us.
This is the truth of the Catholic Faith, and it’s the treasure you will find in the pages of this book. So read on, and take each treasure as your own, one at a time.
—The Authors
NOTE: With each question and answer, and with each prayer in “A Treasury of Prayers,” there is a notation advising what grade levels are appropriate for that particular teaching. For example, (Pre-8) indicates that the material is appropriate for preschool through grade eight. These levels were determined using standard catechetical guidelines.
Part One
Believing the Faith
1. Who are you?
My name is
2. Who is God?
God is Love. Out of love, He made the world and everything in it. Out of love, He made me and watches over me constantly. (Pre-8)
3. Why did God make you?
God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him here on earth, so that I may live with Him forever in heaven. (K-8)
4. What is the Holy Trinity?
The Holy Trinity is the mystery of God. God is a Trinity because He is three Persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — yet one God. (2-8)
5. Who is God the Father?
God the Father is the first Person of the Holy Trinity. He is a true and perfect Father, Who guards us, His children, guides us, is always attentive to us, and provides for our needs. (Pre-8)
6. Who is Jesus?
Jesus is the eternal Son of God, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, Who came into the world to save us from sin and show us the way to heaven. Jesus is true God and true man. (Pre-8)
7. How was Jesus born into this world?
By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus became man and was born to the Virgin Mary. When God became man, He became our brother. (1-8)
8. How did Jesus live?
Jesus worked, studied, and prayed as we all must do. He lived with His parents, Mary and Joseph, as an obedient and loving son. (Pre-8)
9. What are miracles?
Miracles are acts of God. They show that God’s power is greater than every other power, even the power of nature. (1-8)
10. Did Jesus perform miracles?
Jesus performed many miracles. He changed water into wine, He healed the sick, He brought the dead to life, and He fed thousands of people with a few loaves of bread. (1-8)
11. How did Jesus