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We have come to the final Sunday of Unit 1 of the Gospel Weeklies. We hope that the adage “Time flies when you’re having fun” is true for you as well as the children in your care. Children learn best when they are engaged, and the Gospel Weeklies offer stories and activities that are designed to engage both the minds and hearts of young people.
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
• Matthew 25:1–13 – Better Get Ready – Kids’ Bible Talks
• Parable of the 10 Virgins
• The Kingdom of Heaven
• 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: We want to be ready for God all the time.
For this lesson, you will need scissors, glue, crayons or colored pencils, pictures of Mary, Joseph and Jesus, family themed pictures (one pre pair of children), and a Church Year calendar.
This week’s lesson helps the children reflect on the importance of being alert to what is happening around them, so they don´t miss out on the blessings and opportunities God places in their lives. Since this Sunday’s Gospel involves a wedding, the children will be introduced to the Sacrament of Matrimony and will learn about the Holy Family as a model of love and faith for all families.
For the activity in the “Connecting Gospel and Doctrine” section of the lesson, make sure you have enough pictures of families doing things together. You can cut pictures from magazines or print them from the internet.
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
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: God helps us make loving choices.
For this lesson, you will need scissors, tape or stapler, crayons, a children’s story of Adam and Eve, the story of The Little Red Hen (library or YouTube), craft sticks (four per child), and a Church Year calendar. We suggest that you prepare one set of puppets in advance.
You will be telling the story of The Little Red Hen. You may need to adjust the story characters to match those shown on pages 3–4 of the Promise lesson (hen, pig, cat, duck). A different approach is to give the children a chance to be creative as they share the story using their puppets. For example: If no duck is in the story you share, the children may add their own words and actions for the duck. The same would apply to other characters.
Teaching Guide
Family Companion & Weekly Parent Resources
Parent Teaching Pages
Parent/Grandparent Assistance for Home Study
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
• The Little Red Hen Fairy Tales
Good News
Lesson Theme: We prepare for God’s kingdom.
For this lesson, you will need pencils, scissors, coloring tools, a Church Year calendar, and a Bible with Wisdom 6:12–16 marked.
Note that this Good News lesson gives an overview of the Seven Sacraments with special reference to Baptism and Matrimony. Its theme of preparing for God’s kingdom and cover activity about using one’s conscience supports your parish’s preparation of children to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation—whether they will soon celebrate it for the first time or did so last year. Find an answer key for the word search on page 7 here.
Find the Good News end-of-unit assessment for Unit 1 here.
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
Video
• Catholic Seven Sacraments Lesson
Venture
Lesson Theme: We prepare for God’s kingdom.
For this lesson, you will need pencils/pens, games markers, dices (one per four children), and Bibles (one per child). You may also wish to gather items from nature (e.g., colored leaves, bird feathers, flowers, or fall vegetables) for the gathering prayer.
Sunday’s Gospel reading about the five wise and five foolish virgins waiting for the bridegroom invites reflection on our own wise and foolish choices. Its setting at a wedding allows us to look at the Sacrament of Matrimony, which if lived virtuously, prepares the spouses for God’s kingdom.
This is the final lesson in this unit. Find the Venture end-of-unit assessment for Unit 1 here.
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
• Marriage | Catholic Central
• St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
Visions
Lesson Theme: What is wise? What is foolish?
For this Visions lesson, we suggest that you prepare in advance a set of wisdom cards so you can demonstrate “The Wisdom Game” on pages 7–8. On page 6, there is a puzzle activity that you may use with the students use as a unit review, a pacing activity, or assign as homework.
Find the Visions end-of-unit assessment for Unit 1 here.
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
Video
• The Parts of the Mass: The Liturgy of the Word
Image credit: Igor Negovelov/stock.adobe.com
