Sunday, Sept. 18th Group Gathering Lesson

Ok! Here we go!

As promised, this blog is going to primarily chronicle what I do as a group gathering mini-lesson for students to help kick-off weekly PSR classes in a fun way. If you are new to the idea and/or the blog, please take a look at the side-bar on this page and read the introduction to the book I am working on. That will bring you up to speed on what I am doing and why I am doing it.

In my parish, we have classes on Tuesdays and Sundays. We use the Pflaum Gospel Weeklies curriculum, which prepares children for Mass by centering the lesson around the Gospel. Therefore, when we have class on Tuesday, we are preparing for the upcoming Sunday. When we have our gathering on Sunday, we are addressing the Gospel for that very day.

So... this first post addresses the Gospel for Sunday, September 18th. (Note: The group gathering mini-lessons will not always focus on the Gospel, even though class always will).

This week is our first class. The gathering time will be as follows:

Opening Song: Ha La La La (A Welcoming Song). Find this song on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ba94WT7Uxk This is a great song for the intro, because the children get to shake hands, pat backs, and slap high-fives to each other during the song. It's also super catchy and fun to sing!

Of course I will be welcoming the children back after a long summer with no PSR classes, and will take a few moments to see what fun things they did over the summer.

We will then move into a mini-lesson on the upcoming Gospel, which is the parable of the workers in the vineyard. You can find a child-friendly copy of this Gospel at http://www.pflaum.com/readings/sept_2011/sept_18.pdf .

I am going to start by seeking a volunteer, saying, "I would like three volunteers to come up to the stage and do a task for me. If you do the task, I have a prize for you. Who would like to come up?" When the volunteer is selected, I will ask him/her to please do 25 jumping jacks. When he is starting, I am going to ask a second volunteer to do 10 jumping jacks, and while that one is starting I will ask the last volunteer to do one single jumping jack. When they are all done, I am going to announce that they have each earned a prize, and I will give each of them the same prize: a kid-sized bag of M&Ms and thank them for what they have done.

I will then turn to the audience and re-cap what has just happened, then ask if it is fair that each of the children got the same prize. I will solicit responses from the audience, finding out why they think it is or isn't fair.

I will then continue, "In the Gospel this coming Sunday, Jesus has a story to tell about what is and isn't fair, and I would like for you to listen to the story." The Gospel will then be read to the children.

When the Gospel has been read, I will continue with the lesson based on the suggestion from a wonderful web site called www.sermons4kids.com . The basic script is as follows: "What is the point of the story that Jesus told? The point is that there are some people who trust in Jesus and serve him all the days of their life. What is their reward? Their reward is eternal life in Heaven. There are other people who live most of their life in sin. They don't serve the Lord at all. Then, just before their life comes to an end, they put their trust in Jesus and accept him as their Savior. What is their reward? Their reward is the same as one who as served the Lord all their life -- eternal life in Heaven. We all think of Saints as people who were just perfect and behaved exactly the way God would want them to behave every single day of their lives. Some Saints did really live close to that good, but did you know that some of the great Saints were actually pretty bad sinners before they turned their lives around and became Saints? We might not think it's fair to those who were good all the time, but if we got what was fair, none of us would go to Heaven. The Bible says, 'All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.' That means that every single one of us in here today has sinned, and if God was only being super fair and taking people who never sinned to Heaven, lots of people would never get there! I don't know about you, but I am glad that God doesn't give me what is fair, but gives me His love and forgiveness, even if that might not be what I deserve! You know what this means... this means that GOD IS GOOD! (And the children at my parish know to call back: ALL THE TIME!)"

Normally I include a closing song, but I know that we will be running late today since it is our first class and it takes children a while to find their spots, so I will simply conclude the lesson by dismissing each grade level.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments on this lesson! jtruitt@stolivers.com

Peace!!!