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October 14, 2012• 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time Teaching Guide Wisdom 7.7-11; Hebrews 4.12-13; Mark 10.17-30 Gospel Theme: Christians respond to Jesus’ call. When Jesus tells the young man in Sunday’s Gospel to sell his possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow him, the young man walks away. Visions features the experience of four Catholic eighth graders who participate in the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition at their state capitol. They use their Catholic Social Teaching as a guide to advocate for the needs of others on a macro level. Share Our Life Stories Opening Prayer Gather everyone in the prayer space. Have one of the young people light the candle and another open the Bible to Sunday’s Gospel. Invite everyone to share one word which has been occupying their thoughts today (test, illness, girlfriend). Ask God to care for these concerns so the young people can clear their minds to focus on Visions. Objective: The young people will examine the ways they spend money. Cover Activity: Where Does Your Money Go? The central image on this cover is an empty wallet with money flying out. Ask the young people to think for a moment about where they spend their money. Invite all to share the one place where they spend the most. List the responses on the board. Objective: The young people will recognize that they have the ability to act as agents of social change. Article: A Day on the Hill (pages 2-4) Introduce the article by bringing a local newspaper to class and note ways people are participating in the run-up to the November elections. Then read aloud the first four paragraphs of this article. Divide the young people into pairs of weak and strong readers. Ask them to read the rest of the article together. Lead the class in group discussion of the TALK questions on page 3. Answers: 1. Open-ended. Encourage students to be specific. 2. Open-ended. If your parish has a social justice working group, invite a member to join in class discussion. 3. The poor and voiceless have less power to speak for themselves and advocate for their needs, so Church groups work for them around values they share. Definition: Preferential Option for the Poor (page 4) Conclude discussion of the article with this definition. Listen to the Gospel Objective: The young people will recognize that material possessions are desirable but not wholly satisfying. Gospel: Jesus Calls a Rich Young Man (page 4) Have the young people take parts and proclaim the Gospel. Discuss TALK. Answers: 1. Jesus appreciates the honesty of the young man and his fidelity to the Commandments. As much as the young man wants eternal life and obeys the Commandments, he isn’t willing to give up his material wealth. 2. Because he is selffocused. Perhaps he doesn’t know any people who are poor. 3. Open-ended. 4. Open-ended. Be specific about ways your students can help—at a pantry, a meal, a parish project. WCBT, page 34 , 7th Commandment. Read the text. Ask how well the rich young man kept this Commandment. Our Catholic Faith: How Can We Follow Jesus Today? (page 5) Pope John Paul II’s encyclical letter The Splendor of Truth (June 8, 1993) used this Sunday’s Gospel as an example of our own struggles today with our possessions and the needs of the poor. In his letter on love, Pope Benedict XVI urges young people to follow their vocation as followers of Christ, to “no longer live for [themselves] but for him, and with him for others.” • Read this feature as a class; discuss how following the Commandments is the minimum Jesus asks of us; the maximum is to use our freedom to give ourselves to others as Jesus did. • Help the young people fill in the two feet. Help them articulate what giving of themselves means—something personal, a visit, a letter, a text. Identify ways they can connect with the poor of the world—CRS, Operation Rice Bowl, Heifer International, diocesan missions. Build Christian Community Objective: The young people will explore what human persons need to thrive and how they can achieve this. Living the Gospel: The Road to Dignity (pages 6-7) Read aloud the introduction to this activity at the top of page 6 and the directions at the bottom of the page. Read the eight basic necessities people need to live a life of dignity and to thrive. They are listed in the big pie at the top of page 7. The goal is to collect all eight by the time the players reach the end of the road. The young people will have to prioritize which needs are most important to them. When the game is over, ask about the difficulty of prioritizing multiple necessities. Which was most important to them? Why? WCBT, page 31, The Common Good of the Human Community. Invite the group to talk about what they learned from the game and then read this section as a summary. Christian Leaders: Kids in Service (page 8) Read this page aloud as a class. Ask the young people to identify ways they can serve in their own communities. Doctrine: Jesus Calls Us to Be Good News (page 8) Read this feature as a summary of Sunday’s Gospel concept. Closing Prayer The Our Father is the prayer of the Church in which we acknowledge we are children in the same family. Gather in a prayer circle. Ask the young people for whom or what they wish to pray. Pray the Our Father together. TG1-6
Teaching Guide October 21, 2012 • 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time Isaiah 53.10-11; Hebrews 4.14-16; Mark 10.35-45 Gospel Theme: To be great as a Christian leader is to serve. In Sunday’s Gospel the ambitious James and John imagine Jesus as a political soldier-Messiah who will lead their country to triumph. Jesus corrects their vision. Visions shows that a true leader contributes to the human community through acts of selfless service. The lesson includes a game which helps the young people identify common needs. Share Our Life Stories Opening Prayer Begin with the gathering ritual. Invite students to focus on all the ways God serves them. Ask them to share one thing God did for them that day. After each person shares, the entire group responds, “Thanks be to God.” Distribute Visions and end your ritual by reading aloud together the words to the “Servant Song” by Richard Gillard, cover, top left corner. You may want to download the entire song in advance and sing it together. Or, invite your parish music coordinator to lead your group. Cover Activity: Who Serves You? Whom Do You Serve? Invite the young people to describe the cover photos. Ask them to think about who serves them. They can read through the list and check the answers that apply. Then ask them to think about whom they serve. Check the options from the lower list on the cover. Finally, ask them to fill in the answers to the two questions on the bottom of the page. Invite volunteers to share their answers. Objective: The young people will appreciate St. Damien de Veuster and St. Marianne Cope, who ministered to people with leprosy. Article: Saints Who Loved Lepers (pages 2-4) Have the group survey the photos and cutlines to introduce the story. Have volunteers take turns reading the story aloud for the class. Discuss TALK on page 3. 1. Everyone fears the disease because it is highly contagious. The only way they see to protect the public is to isolate diseased people. 2. They treat them with dignity and kindness, wash and bandage their sores, minister to them, teach them to dress up and garden, dig graves, and bury the dead. 3. They feel it is their call. They want eternal life with God and aren’t afraid to leave material wealth and possessions behind to follow God’s will. 4. Open-ended. 5. Open-ended. They watch those around them suffer and die and have distanced themselves from society. WCBT, page 30, What Is Virtue? Have your group read and identify ways the new saints exemplify these virtues. Listen to the Gospel Gospel: To Be Great Means to Serve All (page 4) Have four young people take the parts of Narrator, James, John, and TG1-7 Jesus and proclaim the Gospel. Discuss TALK. Answers: 1. Jesus suffers and dies on the cross. James and John commit their lives to spreading the Gospel; open-ended. 2. The others get angry that James and John want to be leaders and claim the power positions in the kingdom. 3. Jesus says the greatest in his eyes are the ones who serve others. 4. Open-ended. 5. They give their lives to serving the sick. Objective: The young people will explore the concept of the common good. Our Catholic Faith: The Common Good—What Is It? (page 5) Ask the young people to examine the photos. Read aloud the first two paragraphs. Invite them to talk about the injustices in the Hunger Games. The government of Panem sets districts and individuals against each other, the opposite of the common good. • Read aloud the third and fourth paragraphs. Have the young people read the rest of the page in their pairs and work together to complete the questions. Invite volunteers to share their answers with the larger group. Build Christian Community Objective: The young people explore the rights and duties the common good involves. Living the Gospel: What Are Our Rights and Duties Toward One Another? (pages 6-8) Have two strong readers read the first two paragraphs aloud to the class. Then lead the class step by step through the directions. In Step 2 small groups can doodle in the right hand column to help think of symbols. Walk around from group to group to make sure all groups understand and play fairly. • Allow your young people to use the cards to play other games such as Slapjack or Hot Potato. • Conclude by reading aloud the definition of the common good, page 6, bottom left. Ask students what they learned. Give them time to write their own responses. WCBT, page 31, The Common Good of the Human Community. Invite the group to talk about what they learned from the game; then read this section as summary. Doctrine: Christians Serve Others (page 8) Read aloud this summary of Sunday’s Gospel concept—Jesus calls us to serve. Closing Prayer Gather back in the prayer space. If you have a recorded version of the “Servant Song,” play it in the background. Ask the young people to think about what they can do to serve someone at home, at school, and in their community. End with the following prayer. Servant God, help us live by your example. Give us wisdom to recognize our talents, compassion to identify the needs of others, and humility to do your work with grace. Amen.
Page 1 and 2: Guide available in Spanish at pflau
Page 3 and 4: Teaching Guide September 23, 2012
Page 5: Teaching Guide October 7, 2012 •
Page 9 and 10: Teaching Guide November 4, 2012 •
Page 11 and 12: Continuity Projects Disciples Displ
Page 13 and 14: Saint Shield Choose a patron saint
Page 15 and 16: How Am I Doing? Name ______________

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