One of the brilliant things about being on parish placement is that you pick up tips on how to respond to perennial pastoral challenges. Like "How do I introduce young kids in the parish to the Bible, in a way that is easy to understand and at the same time faithful to what the Bible actually says?". Well it so happens that at the weekend this particular question was answered for me. I was at a Maryvale catechists' training day in the parish, and someone gave me a copy of "God Speaks to His Children: Texts from the Bible". Published by Aid to the Church in Need in various languages - including the one in the picture above, though I don't know what it is! - this book gives an abridged account of the Biblical History of Salvation. The language is simplified, but pretty faithful to the content of Scripture, and it gives Scripture references at the end of each section. It also has beautiful illustrations. What strikes me is that although the book is quite short, it includes texts that other catechetical materials would omit as being too difficult for children. There is an account of the sacrifice of Elijah and the priests of Baal (leaving out the slaughter of the priests!), the sharp condemnation by the prophet Amos of Jerusalem's wrongdoings, the vision of the Son of Man and the Ancient of Days in Daniel, the Babylonian exile and the return of the people to Israel under Cyrus, and the new heavens and new earth of Revelation.
You can order the book for £3 from this site, and that enables ACN to give three copies to children in places where the Church is suffering.
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