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This Sunday is the final day of Christmas Time. While we have fast-forwarded about thirty years in Jesus’ life, this feast confirms that the babe born at Christmas is indeed God’s “beloved Son.” Jesus’ baptism marks the beginning of his public ministry. Our Baptisms mark the beginning of our own identification as God’s beloved sons and daughters. May we be faithful in supporting and sharing in Christ’s mission to share the Father’s love!
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: Baptism makes us children of God.
For the doctrine section of the lesson, we are suggesting that you bring a doll and a water basin so the children can “baptize” the doll. We recommend that you have at least one aide to help you and plenty of towels in case the children get wet. The aides will be very helpful for the cutting activity at the end of the lesson as well.
Promise
Lesson Theme: Baptism welcomes us into God’s family.
When playing the game “That’s My Family!” be sensitive if any children have been removed from their families or have recently lost a loved one. Make sure to emphasize that the most important thing a family shares is love.
Prepare photocopies of page 14 from the Catechism handbook to send home with the children for the parents to help their child complete. Instruct the children (and parents) that these pages should be returned at the next lesson for you to use in a display.
Good News
Lesson Theme: Baptism welcomes us into God’s family.
Encourage the children to ask their parents to tell them about their Baptisms. Suggest that the children ask why their godparents were chosen, where their name came from, who was the priest or deacon, and who else was there. The children will enjoy looking at photos, hearing memories, and seeing their white garment and baptismal candle.
Venture
Lesson Theme: Baptism gives us new life.
If you communicate with your families by email, send a reminder that the children should come to class knowing the details of their Baptism—date, church, godparents. Prepare the cover activity for yourself.
For this lesson, you will want to prepare a bowl of holy water or make plans to visit your church to gather around the baptismal font.
Visions
Lesson Theme: God shines forth in Jesus.
Encourage the young people to discuss their Baptisms with their families. For the crossword puzzle on page 8, urge the young people to complete the puzzle from memory, but they may use their Catechism handbooks as a backup. The answers are always in the Teaching Guide and on the Parent Teaching Pages for the week.
DON’T FORGET to check out our Unit 2 Overview Webinars. You can find them in English and in Spanish here. We’ll be recording and posting the Unit 3 Overviews soon.
Image credit: Patrice THEBAULT/CIRIC
