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This Sunday is called Laetare Sunday. Laetare (like Gaudete in Advent) means “rejoice” in Latin. It is a day of joy during a penitential season. Priests may wear rose-colored vestments. We rejoice that Easter is drawing near!
Here are some notes to help you prepare for this week’s lesson:
Seeds
Lesson Theme: Jesus heals a blind man.
This issue of Seeds helps children appreciate the gift of sight. It helps them understand the joy of the blind man when Jesus gives him sight. We suggest having a puppet for the Gospel Warm-Up activity. If you don’t have a puppet, you could use a stuffed animal for this purpose. Don’t forget to send home the “Special blessing drawing” the children will create during class, so they can share it with their families.
Find a story coloring page for “How Grandma Saw” here.
An Extending Activity for this lesson is “Nature Walk.” Find it here.
Promise
Lesson Theme: Jesus invites us to see and believe.
For the “I can’t see” activity, every child will need a blindfold. While inexpensive ones are available for purchase, simple blindfolds can be made from bandanas, fabric, or paper. Find some helpful ideas here.
Find a story coloring page for “Do You See My Mother” here.
Extending Activities for this lesson are “Finding the Gospel” and “The Five Senses Song.” Find them here.
Good News
Lesson Theme: We believe in Jesus.
You may want to enlist the help of an aide for the assembly of the Gospel Puppets. This activity involves cutting out the Gospel characters and gluing or taping them on craft sticks.
Throughout this Good News year, you’ve been teaching the children portions of the Apostles’ Creed. In the What the Church Believes and Teaches doctrinal section (gold box) of the lesson, you will help the children link these portions into one credal statement. In advance of your class session, prepare index cards that each contain a statement from the Apostles’ Creed. Another item to prepare in advance is a handout that contains the Apostles’ Creed with blank lines for some of the key words. You might include a word bank of the missing words on the paper or write these words on the board.
Venture
Lesson Theme: We believe in Jesus.
This week, the story is a comic/graphic presentation of the Gospel of the Man Born Blind. Make sure to spend some time with this as it is both the story and the Gospel for this lesson. In Jesus’ time, some would have blamed the man’s blindness on inherited sins. In the What the Church Believes and Teaches section, the students will define sin, understand the difference between mortal and venial sins, and determine what constitutes a sinful act. This week’s lesson presents an opportunity for the children to learn more about the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds.
Visions
Lesson Theme: Conversion means seeing in a new way.
Visions students are invited to consider how we use the word “see” to refer to more than physical sight with our eyes. Seeing can also refer to understanding and believing. Through proclaiming and reflecting on the Gospel, they learn that some people who have sight can remain blind to the truth. The man born blind is a model of someone whose faith grew. God calls all of us to grow in faith throughout our lives.
DON’T FORGET: The Unit 4 Overview Webinars can be found in English and Spanish here.
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