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This week, we join the National Catholic Educational Association’s efforts to celebrate Catholic education in the United States. Discover Catholic Schools Week is celebrated from November 15–21 to showcase what makes Catholic schools a great option when families are looking for the right school for their children. We pray that God may continue to bless our schools, teachers, catechists, and families as we strive to transmit the faith to the children under our care.
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: God gives and sustains life.
This Sunday Gospel is about the Parable of the Talents. For the Cover Activity, we recommend that you prepare in advance slips of paper that list talents the children in your group may have. Make sure you have at least one slip of paper for each child. We also suggest that you use a puppet for this activity. Using a puppet may encourage the children’s participation. For some preschoolers, it is less intimidating to talk to a puppet than talking to a catechist or teacher.
Promise
Lesson Theme: God gives us talents.
With Sunday’s Gospel focus on talents, the Promise children will be discussing their own talents and how they can use them for good. This is a lesson in which you can help the children build their own positive sense of self and growing understanding of their responsibility to make a difference for good. Some children have more obvious talents than others. Be prepared with ideas of the children’s talents that might be less apparent but no less important. This will be especially valuable for drawing out the talents of some of the less confident children.
Good News
Lesson Theme: We use our talents to serve God.
The story in this lesson introduces the topic of cheating on schoolwork. The child in the story (Marci) didn’t want to study for the spelling test and looked at another’s paper. The children will at least recognize the temptation to cheat—whether it is on schoolwork, playing a game, or in sports. This is a good time to impress upon them that even if spelling isn’t one of Marci’s talents, she should still have studied and done her best. After the children proclaim the Gospel, you might refer back to Marci’s choice and invite the children to find connections between Marci and the servant (Joshua) who buried his talent.
Venture
Lesson Theme: God is generous.
In this lesson, Venture children are introduced to the Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching. You will invite them to consider how they might use their own talents to support each of the seven themes. Be prepared with some examples of people acting on Catholic social teaching principles in your parish, school, and local community. You may wish to bring recent parish bulletins, newsletters, and diocesan newspapers to help the young people identify individuals and groups.
Visions
Lesson Theme: Our talents reflect God’s image.
Young people are sometimes fearful about standing out. They may need to be reminded that the gifts God gives each of us are intended to be used for the good of all. On the section “World Church” on page 8, the young people will learn about the World Day of the Poor. Click here to find Pope Francis’ message regarding this important day.
DON’T FORGET to check out our Unit 2 Overview Webinars. You can find them in English and in Spanish here. If they are not yet posted, they will be soon. Please check again later.
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