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National Vocation Awareness Week in the United States begins on Sunday, November 1. The first vocation of all Christians is to love. We are each also called to a specific vocation of service and commitment. Promote vocation awareness using resources provided by the USCCB for Educators and Youth Leaders and by the Serra Club. You may wish to share these resources with parents to assist them in fostering their children’s vocations.
November is also Black Catholic History Month. View a powerful video of Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA, speaking to the Bishops of the United States in 1989 about what it means to be black and Catholic here. At that time, she was battling breast cancer and would die the next year at age 52. Find a full post about Black Catholic History Month later in this newsletter.
Share the following prayer with your class and families:
Prayer to Know One’s Vocation
Lord, my God and my loving Father,
you have made me to know you,
to love you, to serve you,
and thereby to find and to fulfill
my deepest longings.
I know that you are in all things,
and that every path can lead me to you.
But of them all, there is one especially
by which you want me to come to you.
Since I will do what you want of me,
I pray you, send your Holy Spirit to me:
into my mind, to show me
what you want of me;
into my heart, to give me
the determination to do it,
and to do it with all my love,
with all my mind,
and with all of my strength
right to the end.
Jesus, I trust in you.
Amen.
Every week in the GROW newsletter, you will find helpful tips for teaching your Gospel Weeklies lesson, a reflection on the Sunday Gospel, and links to online resources.
Videos of Sunday’s Gospel
Use these videos as you discuss today’s Gospel. Please preview all videos you plan to share with your class:
• Holy Heroes
• Sunday Setup—Weekly Video and Post (courtesy of the Diocese of Bridgeport)
• Bishop Frank Teaches the Faith—Videos and Activities for Children (courtesy of the Diocese of Bridgeport)
Other Resources
• Pope Leo XIV and the Papacy
• Special Message from Pope Leo to Young People (NCYC | November 21, 2025)
For Catholic Schools
• Albert’s Expeditions Join Albert, a fierce yet friendly Peregrine Falcon, named after Saint Albert the Great (who even gave the Peregrine Falcon its name 800 years ago!) on scientific expeditions all around the globe.
Seeds
Lesson Theme: Jesus’ love is for everyone.
For this lesson you will need crayons, markers, statues or pictures of saints, a recording of “When the Saints Go Marching In”, and a Church Year calendar. Find versions of “When the Saints Go Marching In” here, here, and here. These are just three of the many options offered here.
There is a bonus All Saints’ Day activity in your Teaching Guide on page TG1-36. You may use this in class or send it home with the children.
Here is an option for the activity “A journey of kindness and love” on pages 2–3 of the children’s lesson:
If space allows, recreate the road from pages 2–3 on the floor using masking tape, painter’s tape, or chalk. Follow the general shape of the road in the children’s lesson and create eight stations along the route. Prepare large signs that match the numbered road signs shown on the page. Place the corresponding action prompts at each station.
Gather the children at the START sign. Explain that they will travel on Jesus’ road to happiness. Invite them to pretend they are driving cars. Have them buckle their seat belts, start their engines, and make car noises as they travel along the road.
Stop at each station and read the yellow station sign aloud. Then invite the children to complete the action in the white box together.
After the final station, lead the children to a large HAPPINESS sign at the end of the road. Say: “We found true happiness by following Jesus!” Invite everyone to honk their horns together three times: “Beep, beep, beep!”
Preparation: Before class, prepare the road, station signs, and start/finish signs. Consider adding simple decorations such as hearts, footprints, stars, doves, or arrows to help children follow the route and connect the life-size road to the one shown in their lesson. This activity works best in a parish hall, gymnasium, or other large open space where children can move safely from station to station.
Teaching Guide
Family Companion & Weekly Parent Resources
Parent Teaching Pages
Parent/Grandparent Assistance for Home Study
The Gospel at Home
Weekly Review Template
Word of the Week
Seasonal Resources
Videos
• Gospel Reflection and Saint of the Week with Miss Heidi
• Bible Bag: Kid-Sized Lessons on the Sunday Gospel with Mrs. Cole
Promise
Lesson Theme: Jesus teaches us to serve.
For this lesson, you will need scissors, crayons, a statue or picture of Mary, flowers, a recording of “When the Saints Go Marching In”, and a Church Year calendar. Find versions of “When the Saints Go Marching In” here, here, and here. These are just three of the many options offered here.
There is a bonus All Saints’ Day activity in your Teaching Guide on page TG1-36. You may use this in class or send it home with the children.
In this lesson, a couple of activities require cutting. We suggest having at least one aide to help the children. This is an excellent opportunity to invite parents to volunteer, allowing them to become more involved in their child’s faith formation.
Teaching Guide
Family Companion & Weekly Parent Resources
Parent Teaching Pages
Parent/Grandparent Assistance for Home Study
Extending Activities
The Gospel at Home
Weekly Review Template
Assessments
Word of the Week
Seasonal Resources
Videos
• Gospel Reflection and Saint of the Week with Miss Heidi
• Bible Bag: Kid-Sized Lessons on the Sunday Gospel with Mrs. Cole
Good News
Lesson Theme: Following God leads us to happiness.
For this lesson, gather coloring tools, pencils, saint books (optional), Church Year calendar, and your classroom Bible.
The Gospel reading about the Beatitudes and this Sunday being All Saints’ Day offer opportunity to explore what it means to be holy and how living the Beatitudes will lead us to the happiness God desires for us. Note that the Beatitudes can seem like contradictory statements even for adults. The Teaching Guide offers explanations of the Beatitudes that should help the children begin to grasp their meaning. We look to the saints as models of those who lived the Beatitudes.
Find an answer key for the word search (page 3) here.
There is a bonus All Saints’ Day activity in your Teaching Guide on page TG1-36. You may use this in class or send it home with the children.
Teaching Guide
Family Companion & Weekly Parent Resources
Parent Teaching Pages
Parent/Grandparent Assistance for Home Study
The Gospel at Home
Weekly Review Template
Assessments
Seasonal Resources
Videos
• Kid Catholic on All Saints’ Day
• God’s Story: Sermon on the Mount
• Mother Teresa (Biography for Children)
Venture
Lesson Theme: Following God leads us to happiness.
For this lesson, you will need pencils or pens and articles from diocesan newspapers or websites about people who serve.
As we celebrate the great feast of All Saints’ Day, the children will reflect on how the lives of the Church’s saints throughout history have shown the Beatitudes lived to perfection. The saints’ lives show us that we can trust Jesus to lead us where we will find true joy and fulfillment.
There is a bonus All Saints’ Day activity in your Teaching Guide on page TG1-36. You may use this in class or send it home with the children.
Teaching Guide
Family Companion & Weekly Parent Resources
Parent Teaching Pages
Parent/Grandparent Assistance for Home Study
The Gospel at Home
Weekly Review Template
Assessments
Seasonal Resources
Videos
• Kid Catholic on All Saints’ Day
• All Saints’ Day
• Saints | Catholic Central
• What Is the Communion of Saints?
• Carlo Acutis: The First Millennial Saint
• The Incredible Life of Carlo Acutis
Visions
Lesson Theme: The one who serves is greatest.
As we celebrate the great feast of All Saints’ Day, the children will reflect on how the lives of the Church’s saints throughout history have shown the Beatitudes lived to perfection. These holy men and women found the way to true happiness in living the Beatitudes while rejecting worldly means to pleasure and self-satisfaction. The saints’ lives show us that we can trust Jesus to lead us to where we will find true joy and fulfillment.
There is a bonus All Saints’ Day activity in your Teaching Guide on page TG1-36. You may use this in class or send it home with the children.
Teaching Guide
Family Companion & Weekly Parent Resources
Parent Teaching Pages
Parent/Grandparent Assistance for Home Study
The Gospel at Home
Weekly Review Template
Assessments
Seasonal Resources
Videos
• All Saints’ Day
• Saints | Catholic Central
• What Is the Communion of Saints?
Image credit: kieferpix/stock.adobe.com
Prayer credit: USCCB.org
