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In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus is transfigured to show God’s glory. The three Apostles who accompany Jesus up the mountain see him in his resurrected glory. They hear God the Father claim Jesus as his beloved Son and tell them to listen to him.
Here are some notes to help you prepare for this week’s lesson:
Lesson Theme: Jesus is God’s Son.
Transfiguration is a big word for little children. What they can understand is that Jesus was so close to God in love that he showed it all over. Jesus’ body showed us the beauty of loving God, just as flowers and butterflies show us God’s beauty and love for us. Seeds emphasizes growing and changing as signs of God’s life in us. The students will appreciate how much they have changed since they were little. They will learn how a caterpillar changes into a butterfly and will make a paper butterfly.
Lesson Theme: God tells us to listen to Jesus.
To prepare the children to learn about Jesus’ change of appearance in the Gospel, catechists and teachers will invite them to recognize growth and change in nature. The children will consider how they listen to Jesus. They will be invited to recall another time that God the Father spoke from a cloud—Jesus’ baptism. On that occasion, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove. The children will name the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity. They will connect the Trinity to the words of Baptism and the Sign of the Cross. They will be introduced to the Glory Be to the Father prayer.
Lesson Theme: God tells us to listen and follow.
Good News children will identify prayer as an action of Jesus’ followers and will be introduced to Abraham and Sarah as the first followers of God. They will identify Lent as a time for prayer and be introduced to different ways to pray. As they share the Gospel, they will recognize the Transfiguration of Jesus as giving a view of God’s glory. They will be introduced to the words Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, and Pentecost and the events these words refer to. They will learn the Act of Hope.
Lesson Theme: We share our visions.
The Transfiguration of Jesus is one of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. This week’s Catholic Identity Project (see page TG3-33) is to pray the Luminous Mysteries, which are listed on page 54 of the children’s What the Church Believes and Teaches handbooks. If possible, bring rosaries for the children.
Lesson Theme: We experience God’s presence.
This week’s Visions lesson includes a map study that relates to the First Reading (Genesis 12:1–4a) in which God commands Abram to leave his homeland. Bring a current map (printed or online) of the Middle East and ask the students to compare its major features to the map on page 5 in the Visions lesson.
DON’T FORGET: Check out our Unit Overview Webinars for Unit 3. You can find them in both English and Spanish here.
Image credit: Jean Claude GADMER/CIRIC
