Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Review: Making Things Right - The Sacrament of Reconciliation


In teaching the Sacrament of Reconciliation (whether as a homeschooler or as a catechist), it always useful to have lots of supplementary resources to catch the students and teach from a different angle.

This workbook from Our Sunday Visitor is a great addition to preparing students for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Through diverse word puzzles and activities, the student will gain a better understanding of the simple truths of why the Catholic Church includes Reconciliation as one of its seven sacraments.

We feel badly when we sin. Sin breaks our relationship with God. We must rebuild this relationship through the confession of our sins to a priest, through our opportunity to make reparation through penance, and through the promise to not sin in the future. Further, we obtain grace in the participation in this Sacrament -- grace that helps us fight against doing evil the next time.

This workbook covers all these aspects of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The deep catechetics, of course, are not included; although there is a well-written parent/teacher guide (15 pages long) in the back of the workbook to help elucidate some of the mysteries of this wonderful sacrament. This workbook is meant as a supplementary resource to reinforce the primary teachings for this sacrament. Making Things Right is well-written for a 7- or 8-year old audience; the puzzles are not meant to be challenging and the pages "beg" to be colored.

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