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Every Sunday is “of the Word of God,” and the Gospel Weeklies help catechists, teachers, parents, and young people recognize this. In September 2019, Pope Francis instituted the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time as the Sunday of the Word of God, a special Sunday “devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the word of God” (Instituting the Sunday of the Word of God [Aperuit Illis], 3). He closed his apostolic letter with the prayer: “May the Sunday of the Word of God help [God’s] people to grow in religious and intimate familiarity with the sacred Scriptures” (15). We say, “Amen!”
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 gathers followers.
For this lesson, we suggest that you cut in advance the fish on pages 3–4 and to bring pictures of the children small enough to paste on each of the fish. For the “I follow Jesus at home” activity on pages 3–4, it is a good idea to send home a note with instructions reminding parents to fill in each line after the children have done a loving action at home.
Find a coloring page to accompany “The New Teacher” here.
Promise
Lesson Theme: Jesus invites us to listen to him.
Note: This Gospel (Matthew) about Jesus calling his first followers differs in detail from last Sunday’s Gospel (John). Both Gospels convey the truth that Jesus called these men to follow him.
For the What the Church Believes and Teaches doctrine section of the lesson plan, we suggest that you play reflective but joyful music as the children complete their drawings. If time allows, you may invite them to share their pictures and dramatize the Gospel of Jesus blessing the children.
For the “Thank you, God! Megaphone” (page 4) activity, no cutting, taping, or gluing is needed. The children will fold the bottom corner of the page and roll it into a megaphone. Plan for an aide to assist if needed.
Good News
Lesson Theme: Jesus calls us to share the Good News.
Note: This Gospel (Matthew) about Jesus calling his first followers differs in detail from last Sunday’s Gospel (John). Both Gospels convey the truth that Jesus called these men to follow him.
For the What the Church Believes and Teaches doctrine section of the lesson plan, we suggest that you invite the children to each choose one of the Good News bulleted statements and illustrate it. This will help them to find a way to express an aspect of the Good News, which will help them in sharing the Good News with others.
Venture
Lesson Theme: Jesus calls us to follow him.
The story “The Gospel According to Mark” (pages 2–3) is presented in interview form. We suggest that you read it aloud with different pairs of readers reading the interviewer’s questions and Mark’s responses.
An important concept in this lesson is that the message of Jesus to his disciples more than 2,000 years ago still applies to us today in 2021. The Holy Spirit speaks to us through both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Tradition is covered in the Catholic Faith Word and also in What the Church Believes and Teaches doctrine section of the lesson plan.
Visions
Lesson Theme: Jesus calls us to serve.
If you have enough time after reading the Catholic Leaders section about Father Patrick Desbois on page 8, you could show the video about the “Holocaust by bullets” to the whole class or give them time to watch it in pairs using their cellphones.
DON’T FORGET to check out our Unit 3 Overview Webinars. You can find them in English and in Spanish here.
Image credit: Corinne SIMON/CIRIC
