Lent is an ideal time for reflecting on the meaning of our Baptism and how well we are following Christ with our lives. In many of our parishes, we have adults (and often children of catechetical age) who are preparing to be initiated into the Catholic Church through the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist and others preparing to be received into full communion with the Church through a profession of faith and the Sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist. Lent is an exciting time for them as they prepare for the Easter sacraments. It is also a time of prayer, personal reflection, and repentance for them—and for us. We show our support for them and their faith journeys and are challenged by them to reflect on our own faith journeys.
The Gospel Weeklies are a great resource for use with children who are preparing for initiation into the Church at Easter. The catechumenal model, the model for all catechesis, draws from the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist and the Word of God proclaimed there. The Gospel Weeklies help to provide a seamless integration of a child’s experience at Mass with their faith formation sessions.
When using the Gospel Weeklies within a catechumenal process for children preparing for Easter Baptism, the Year A lessons are needed for the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent to coincide with Gospels proclaimed for the Scrutinies. Pflaum provides these three Year A lessons for Promise, Good News, Venture, and Visions online to be substituted as needed for Year C lessons. Visit gospelweeklies.com/ocia for these Year A lessons.
We also offer O/RCIA reflections and questions—for adults and children—for all Sundays of the Gospel Weeklies program year. This includes the three Year A Scrutiny Sundays (3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays of Lent) and the Year C readings for those same Sundays. The Year C reflections and questions are provided for those parishes that either don’t have Elect preparing for Easter Baptism or in which the priest prefers to use the Year C readings. Find these reflections and questions here.
While you’re visiting our O/RCIA resources page, make sure to check out My Path to Easter / Mi camino hacia la Pascua / Đường tới PHỤC SINH, our initiation journal for young people. Written by Kathy Coffey, it’s available in English, Bilingual (English/Spanish) and Vietnamese versions. A free Adult Companion Guide is also available for download.
Image credit: Corinne SIMON/CIRIC
