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Mark’s Gospel portrays Jesus as a man of action and a man on the move. After Jesus teaches and drives out an unclean spirit in the Capernaum synagogue (last Sunday’s Gospel), he goes to the home of Simon Peter and Andrew. Here he finds Peter’s mother-in-law sick with a fever. Jesus heals her and many other people who come to her door. After praying in quiet the next morning, Jesus leads his followers to other towns and villages throughout Galilee, where he will preach and heal those who are sick or troubled by unclean spirits.
The Church observes the World Day of the Sick on 2/11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The week ahead includes the International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking on 2/8, the feast day of Saint Josephine Bakhita. See our post about that here. Also observed this week are the feast of Saint Scholastica on 2/10 and National Marriage Week (2/7–2/14). Whew! It seems as if we’re trying to keep pace with Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. May our actions give God glory!
Every week in the GROW newsletter, you will find a helpful tip for teaching your Gospel Weeklies lesson, a reflection on the Sunday Gospel, and information about our online resources and seasonal activities. Here are tips for teaching the Gospel Weeklies lessons this week:
Seeds
Lesson Theme: Jesus heals and makes us disciples.
In this lesson, Seeds will help the children understand the importance of loving and caring for old/sick people and praying to God for healing. Make sure you reserve enough time for the “What do you like to do with older family and friends?” activity on page 4, so each child can share his or her experience of loving and being loved by older relatives and friends.
Find a coloring page to accompany “A Party for Grandma” here.
Promise
Lesson Theme: Jesus helps and heals.
This lesson includes acting out the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. You may wish to bring some oil—olive oil or other cooking oil—to help bring out the meaning of anointing. You might want to cover the meaning of anoint (Word of the Week) before the enactment of the sacrament. We suggest that you only use the oil on the hands and forehead of the “sick” child. You may bring hand lotion so that all of the children get an experience of the healing and soothing properties of oil.
Good News
Lesson Theme: Sacraments celebrate God’s love.
Note that we use word celebrate instead of receive to convey that sacraments are celebrations of God’s love and action in our lives and that each sacrament invites a response from us. While using the word receive is also correct, we encourage you to start using the word celebrate when you refer to the sacraments.
For the Gospel of Mark Booklet (page 4), we suggest that you direct the children to make their booklets first and then do the activities together as a group. Plan to provide Bibles with the Gospel of Mark bookmarked.
Venture
Lesson Theme: Jesus raises up, heals, and frees.
There is an activity in this lesson that continues into next week’s lesson. Assemble the first part of the Mark booklet that continues in next week’s lesson. You will complete the project next week. There are small assembly directions/picture on page and more extensive instructions on our Lesson Updates page, which can be reached here or by using the QR code on the page. Note that your students will need scissors for this activity.
Visions
Lesson Theme: Jesus teaches and heals.
In this lesson, the story on pages 2–3 is a “choose your own ending” story. Give the students time to discern the most likely resolution. As an alternative, they could write an ending that suits them better.
For the guided Gospel meditation on page 8 (Imagine a Gospel Scene), you could play soft music that invites the young people to relax and meditate.
DON’T FORGET to check out our Unit 3 Overview Webinars. You can find them in English and in Spanish here.
Image credit: Drawlab19/Shutterstock.com
