Title Category Level Pre-requisites Sources Liturgical time Doctrinal points Direct aims Indirect aim Materials Needed Presentation Bowing Creed Liturgy L6 Gestures, Structure of the Mass CCC, The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, Scripture Any time CCC 461 The Son of God assumed a human nature in order to accomplish our salvation in it. CCC 464 Through the Incarnation, Jesus Christ is True God and True Man To understand the meaning of the bow in the Creed To reflect on the Incarnation of Christ A3 card with Nicene Creed, another card with larger text in red: Today we re going to think about a particular gesture we make during Mass. What are gestures? (movements we make with our hands, bodies which have a meaning behind it) What are some of the gestures of the Mass that we ve looked at before? (epiclesis, offering, kneeling, genuflection, prostration etc do quick revision on what these are) The purpose of gestures is to show with our bodies what ought to happen in our hearts. We re going to look at a gesture that takes place during a part of the Mass where we profess what we believe. Can you think of which part of the mass that might be where we proclaim what we believe as Catholics? (the Creed. *They could also say the Mystery of Faith which is correct, in which case, prompt them with how else do we profess what we believe during the mass that is more detailed than the Mystery of faith? During Mass, we profess what we believe by saying the Nicene Creed. Let s say that together Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed is a summary of the Christian faith. It dates back to the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D, about 300 years after Jesus. That s where it gets the word Nicene from the place Nicaea where this council took place. The word creed means a statement of belief so the Nicene Creed is a statement of what Christians believe that came out of this meeting in Nicaea. At that time, there were people who went around spreading false Page 1
teachings about Christianity. So the church leaders came together at the Council of Nicaea and came up with this summary called the Nicene Creed to give a correct version of what Christians believed. So the Nicene Creed has been a part of our Mass from the time of the early Christians. During Mass, when do we say the Nicene Creed? (after the readings) It comes after the Liturgy of the Word. The purpose of professing the creed is to allow us an opportunity to respond to the Word of God that was proclaimed in the readings. It also calls to mind the great mysteries of our faith that we will be celebrating in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Let s look at the Creed (indicate A3 card): We begin by professing our belief in God (indicate paragraph), it begins with I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth. Then we profess our belief in Jesus (indicate paragraph) when we say I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God. Then, we profess our belief in the Holy Spirit (indicate paragraph) when we say I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life Finally, we profess our belief in the Church and express our hope when we say I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Looking at this, if the Nicene Creed is a summary of what we believe, what then are we professing our belief in? (the Trinity, the Church and Sacraments, Eternal Life and Parousia) When you look at the Creed, what is at the centre of the Creed? (Jesus Christ) The profession of Christ is at the centre of what we believe. I wonder why Christ is at the centre? (without Christ s death and resurrection, that would be no Christianity, no hope of resurrection and eternal life) During the creed, we make a gesture that expresses the centre, the core, of our belief in Christ. What gesture is that? (Bowing) We make a profound or deep bow during the creed. What happens to our bodies when we bow like this? Page 2
(catechist demonstrates by bowing to young people) (response) We become lower than whoever we are bowing to. When do you bow to other people? (response) Bowing is a sign of deep respect. When we bow to someone we are showing great reverence and honour to the person or to the signs that represent them. If you were to meet a very important person, you might bow to them as well. Let s look at the words that are said when this gesture is made (indicate other card): What does the word incarnate mean? (response) It means to be given a bodily form. Who was made incarnate? (Jesus) Jesus the Son of God was given a human body through the motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Son of God took flesh in His mother s womb. Jesus taking a bodily form is called the Incarnation. Let s say that together: The Incarnation. I wonder why God became a man? (response) What would have happened if Jesus was not made incarnate? (Jesus would not have died and conquered death, man would still be under the power of sin) Imagine you are the creator of the universe and everything in it, would you want to become one of your creations? (response) God must love us very much to become a man in order to save us. I wonder why then we bow when we speak about the Incarnation in the Creed? (response) We make a deep or profound bow in order to honour the most important moment in all of human history - God becoming man. The Incarnation is the point from which all salvation hails. This is why it is at the heart or centre of the Creed. The Incarnation tells us how much God loves us. God humbled himself to become a man to save us. By becoming one of us, God gives us the chance to share in His divinity. We discover in Jesus what, with God s grace, we can become. That is why we bow in respect at these words. In the Mass, our gestures and postures should always reflect what we believe at each moment in the Mass. Since the Incarnation is so Page 3
central to what we believe as Christians, the profound bow becomes an important way of outwardly expressing that belief. So when we profess the Creed, we make this deep bow when we hear these words (catechist demonstrates it s a DEEP bow, not a bow of the head but a bow of the body) What would you like to say in response to this great love of God s, that he loved us so much He became a man to die on the cross and 3 days later, rise from the dead so that we could have everlasting life? (response) Let us now profess our faith together and make that gesture of a deep bow, a bow of our whole bodies, as we remember God s love for us. (stand and say the Creed together and make the bow at the incarnation) How did you feel when you made this bow? (response) In our daily life, how can we respond to what Jesus has done for us? (response) The next time, you are at Mass, remember that we bow at that point in the Creed to express our belief in the most fundamental mystery of Christianity: That in Jesus Christ, God actually became man, born of a woman by the power of the Holy Spirit. There s a song we can sing that reminds us of the Incarnation and God s great love for us. Sing: He is the Reason or any song about the Incarnation Wonder Questions I wonder why Christ is at the centre? I wonder why God became a man? I wonder why then we bow when we speak about the Incarnation in the Creed? Song We are the Reason As little children we would dream of Christmas morn Of all the gifts and toys we knew we d find But we never realized a baby born one blessed night Gave us the greatest gift of our lives Chorus: We are the reason that He gave His life We were the reason that He suffered and died Page 4
To a world that was lost He gave all He could give To show us the reason to live As the years went by we learned more about gifts The giving of ourselves and what that means On a dark and cloudy day a man hung crying in the rain All because of love All because of love (Chorus) Activity Additional notes for Catechists Observations/Reflections I finally found the reason for living It s in giving every part of my heart to Him In all that I do every word that I say I'll be giving my all just for Him, for Him And we are the reason that He gave His life We are the reason that He suffered and died To a world that was lost He gave all He could give To show us the reason to live Journal on the meaning of the Incarnation, Make a copy of the creed Page 5