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National Vocation Awareness Week in the United States begins on Sunday, November 5. 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 family:
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 information about our online resources and seasonal activities. Here are tips for teaching the Gospel Weeklies lessons this week:
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
Gospel Reading and Reflection for Kids
Sunday Gospel Cartoon Reading and Lesson
Seeds
Lesson Theme: The greatest person is the one who serves others.
For this lesson, you will need scissors, crayons, pencils, envelopes, a puppet, and a Church Year calendar. The use of the puppet is optional, but we recommend utilizing this tool to help get the children to talk about important people in their lives. Sometimes children that are particularly shy find it easier to speak to a puppet, instead of the catechist/teacher.
Teaching Guide
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 Church Year calendar, large paper hearts, and a Bible. You may wish to arrange for an aide or aides to assist the children with cutting and folding. We suggest that you separate pages 1–2 from 3–4 and prepare one Our Father booklet in advance. Find versions of “When the Saints Go Marching In” here, here, and here. These are just three of the many options offered here.
In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus uses the word serve. Explain to them that serve is another word for help. Even though they are young, the children should be able to identify ways that they do and can help others—at home, school, the parish, and neighborhood. Affirm, encourage, and challenge them to find new ways to be of help, to serve, others every day.
Teaching Guide
Parent Teaching Pages
Parent/Grandparent Assistance for Home Study
Extending Activities
The Gospel at Home
Weekly Review Template
Online Assessment
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
Let’s Pray the Our Father
Good News
Lesson Theme: Serving leads us to happiness.
For this lesson, you will need crayons, pencils, a crucifix, saint books (optional), and a Church Year calendar.
In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus uses the word serve. The Catholic Faith Words for this lesson are serve and servant. Make sure the children understand that serve is another word for help. Affirm, encourage, and challenge them to find new ways to be of help, to serve, others every day. You will help them identify times that serving others has brought them happiness. You will introduce them to saints who found happiness in serving God through their service to others.
Teaching Guide
Parent Teaching Pages
Parent/Grandparent Assistance for Home Study
The Gospel at Home
Weekly Review Template
Online Assessment
Seasonal Resources
Videos
Kid Catholic on All Saints’ Day
Mother Teresa (Biography for Children)
Venture
Lesson Theme: The one who serves is greatest.
Allow the children to work in pairs or small groups to complete the cover activity. They likely will not be able to name all the people on the cover. There are short identifiers listed in the Teaching Guide.
Note the QR code on page TG1-30 of the Teaching Guide, which links to a Prayer Vocations prayer card on the USCCB.org website. Share with the children that this week is National Vocation Awareness Week (see page TG1-29 in the guide). Encourage the children and families to pray for vocations and for the priests in their parish or school as part of their prayer ritual. Make sure to discuss the Saints feature on page 8, noting specifically that Miss Mary did not let her physical limitations keep her from serving people in need. Ask the children whom they know that also serves selflessly.
Teaching Guide
Parent Teaching Pages
Parent/Grandparent Assistance for Home Study
The Gospel at Home
Weekly Review Template
Online Assessment
Seasonal Resources
Videos
Kid Catholic on All Saints’ Day
All Saints’ Day
Fr. Stanley Rother
Leonardo DiCaprio Meets the Pope
Visions
Lesson Theme: The one who serves is greatest.
After the young people complete the responses to the cover activity, list the qualities of the people they have noted. Ask: What words (adjectives) best describe these people? Share that people in Jesus’ time were waiting for a very specific type of leader to be their Messiah, the one God would send to lead them. They expected him to be a strong warrior who would vanquish those who persecuted them. The Catholic Leaders feature includes two Catholic athletes who share their prayer practices. Ask the students if they include prayer as a part of their athletics. (Remind them, of course, that God does not prefer one team or competitor!)
Teaching Guide
Parent Teaching Pages
Parent/Grandparent Assistance for Home Study
The Gospel at Home
Weekly Review Template
Online Assessment
Seasonal Resources
Videos
All Saints’ Day
Leadership Lessons of Gil Hodges
Marriage
Holy Orders
Katie Ledecky – The Tonight Show
Prayer provided by USCCB.org.
Image credit: kieferpix/stock.adobe.com
