April 24, 2024 – Vines, Commandments & Ice Cream

And just like that, it’s a wrap. This will be out last posting for this PREP year. Last week’s class was the last until things resume in the fall.

We hadn’t really planned on teaching a regular lesson on the last night, but we, sort of, ended up doing so anyway. We started with the coming Sunday’s Gospel, with volunteers reading the various parts and discussed it. The Gospel was the story of Jesus comparing God and his people to a vine and its branches. The essential message is the branches/people cannot live unless they are connected to the vine/God.

We then jumped back to an exercise on the Ten Commandments that we hadn’t covered when we taught that week’s class back in February. From the Venture pamphlet, the exercise listed the Commandments with key words highlighted. The students were to search for the key words in a letter-grid. Some words were left to right, some down to up, some on the diagonal, and so on. The students were better at this than I was, and they all did quite well.

We pointed out that nearly all the Commandments are negatives. Eg: Though shall NOT kill. For the most part, they list things you shouldn’t do, but don’t give a lot of guidance about what you should do. That is where Jesus comes in with the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. I wish we had had the chance to discuss the Beatitudes more, but we’ll make sure we include a lesson on them next year for those who will be with us again.

Then we retired to the gym for ice cream sundaes. Can’t do better than that. Don’t scrimp on the sprinkles.

It has been a joy (for the most part) and an honor to teach your children this year. Mrs. Baran and I hope you and your family will have a great summer. We’ll see you around.

Read Full Post »

April 17, 2024 – Feed the hungry

We had an unusual class this week, so this will be short. Rather than a typical lesson based on the upcoming Sunday readings, Paula Hubert had a service project for us. It seems one of the local homeless shelters needed some sandwiches for their clientele. First, we watched a video on the corporal acts of mercy, one of which is “Feed the hungry.”

We then passed out 60 brown paper lunch bags and used crayons to decorate them and to give a message to the recipient (eg: Have a nice day.) We went to the kitchen in the parish center and teamed up to make 60 turkey sandwiches and to stuff the lunch bags with chips, fruit, etc. Somewhat surprisingly, it went very well. The students really got into the project and worked together with a minimum of fuss.

We finished up with a tic-tac-do game organized by Mrs. Hubert. We divided the group into two teams and Mrs. Hubert alternated asking them questions. A correct answer got the team the opportunity to place an X or O on the white board.

Next Wednesday will be the last class of the season. We will do something special, but we’re not sure just what that will be yet.

Read Full Post »

April 10, 2024 – Jesus post-resurrection

We had a light turnout this week, only 7 out of a possible 14 students. For our opening prayer, we asked the students to think and tell the class of some piece of good news from their life over the past two weeks. Then we thanked God for the blessing.

We started with a lengthy role-play from the Bible. It was the story of the two men from Emmaus who returned to Jerusalem after meeting Jesus after his resurrection and recounting the story to other disciples. We discussed that after the resurrection, Jesus appeared in many places, but he sort-of popped in and popped out. When he appeared, he was not just a spirit or ghost, but was there in the flesh. The stories of him eating bread and fish showed that he was physically there.

We moved on to the Gospel reading for this coming Sunday, which picks up where the previous story left off. We had the students compare three verses from Luke from the breaking of bread at Emmaus, using bread to feed the thousands in the story of loaves and fishes and the Last Supper. We noted that all three verses used the symbolism of breaking bread and noted that continues to this day in the Mass.

We finished up with a discussion on missionaries. In the Venture pamphlet, there were two pages filled with short descriptions of particular missionaries and arrows pointing to a map showing where they worked. We had volunteers read each profile, and then had the students work on a crossword puzzle that used factoids from the profiles as the clues. We asked the students to take the pamphlet home, complete crossword at home and return it next week.

Read Full Post »

March 20, 2024 — Holy Week

The focus of our lesson last week was Holy Week. We started off by explaining the importance of the holidays (holy days) of Holy Week. We pointed out that while most people their age get all worked up over Christmas, it’s actually Easter and the events leading up to Easter that are the most important, by a long shot. Jesus’s resurrection proved his divinity, and without the resurrection, Jesus would probably be remembered just as another prophet and not the Messiah.

We had volunteers read the front cover descriptions of four Holy Week events, Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil. We provided the class the times of the various Masses and ceremonies on each day and asked the class to write the times on their pamphlet.

We pointed out that there are so many events in Holy Week, that Palm Sunday actually has to Gospels. The first is at the start of the Mass and describes Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. We had volunteers read the Gospel from Mark and discuss the Think Questions. We asked if they knew how Jesus went from receiving a “Super Bowl Champion Parade” to being killed only five days later. We described how the people who rejoiced on Palm Sunday were not the same people who plotted his death later in the week. We pointed out that Jesus was a troublemaker for the Jewish elite and power brokers. He was trying to shake things up and that made the Jewish leaders uncomfortable and threatened, which is why they plotted his death.

One of the Think Questions” was “How would you welcome Jesus to your school or parish?” We had a number of expected answers. I asked them, “How would you recognize him?” The students responded again with some expected answers. But then I asked them, “But suppose Jesus came to your church disguised as a homeless person who hadn’t bathed in a week and had dirty and tattered clothes?” Jesus may be there, and you might never know it.

We moved on to page 4 and the second Gospel of Jesus’s passion. We divided the class into three groups. Each group selected a reader to read a particular part of John’s Gospel, and the rest of the group were to act out or mime the action. They looked up the assigned passage for their group and spent a few minutes preparing what they were going to do. We were only able to get to three of the five scenes, Jesus’s arrest, the high priest’s interrogation of Jesus, and his trial before Pilate. As always, exercises like this are a little chaotic (Not everyone is as cooperative as we would like.), but it worked. Hopefully, the students may remember some of it after they walked out the door.

As always, we asked each student to cite something they learned that evening, and were rewarded with a cookie.

Read Full Post »

March 13, 2024 — Seeds and The Lord’s Prayer

For the most part, our lesson last week wasn’t the liveliest we have seen. If I didn’t have to teach it again, it wouldn’t break my heart. The Gospel reading for the week had Jesus describing his life/mission as being like a seed that has to first break and die before bringing new life. Not an easy concept to convey to 4-5-6th graders.

Mrs Baran opened with the front cover exercise that asked the students to identify various photos (puppies, babies, etc.) and to list what they needed to grow. She then asked the students to list what they needed in order to grow closer to God.

I took over with volunteers reading a lengthy story about a man who works in a hospital and uses the media department there to help pediatric patients cope with their hospital stay.

Mrs. Baran had volunteers read/role play the Gospel reading and discussed it.

Finally, we came to, what I think was, the best part of the evening (and not because I taught it.) We examined the Lord’s Prayer. The students all agreed that when they usually pray, they are just reciting words from memory, and don’t really think about what they are actually saying. So we took the prayer and broke it down, line by line, and examined exactly what we are saying or asking of God in each line. We also discussed the differences between the Catholic version and the slightly longer Protestant version. I think they got it, but you never know.

Read Full Post »

Feb. 28, 2024 — Mt Sinai & the Ten Commandments

Our lesson last week focused mostly on the Ten Commandments and the story of the Israelites receiving the Commandments from God at Mt Sinai.

The Venture pamphlet had a rather lengthy (3-pages) summary of the story from Exodus with multiple roles to be played. We assigned the roles and moved to the state in the parish center to act out the story. In retrospect, that might not have been the smartest move, but no one fell off and no damage done. Our play-acting was somewhat chaotic, but I think the students learned and understood the story.

We next move on to the Gospel reading for Sunday (except for 5:30 Saturday Mass when Fr. K switched to the A cycle readings due to the RCIA scrutiny.) We assigned roles again and acted out the story of the cleansing of the temple. We discussed Jesus’s motivation and what he meant by saying he was the real temple.

We returned to a discussion of the commandments, this time focusing on their content rather than the story of Mt. Sinai. Questions and discussion.

We asked the students to leave their pamphlets behind because there was a section we didn’t get to regarding the You Shall Not Kill commandment. We may revisit that at a later at.

A reminder, this week is the parish Penance service during our regular class time. We hope you will participate as a family.

Read Full Post »

Feb. 21, 2024 — Improving and the transfiguration

We asked the students to leave their Venture pamphlet in the classroom rather than bringing them home. We didn’t get to section on the fourth commandment, so we will cover that this week.

Mrs. Baran started things off with the front cover exercise. It asked the students “If I could make myself into a someone brand new, I would have…”, and gave them a number of options like, the feet of….; the ears of….; the sense of humor of…; and so on. We discussed their answers.

We next had volunteers read aloud a story of a girl who takes Aikido martial arts classes. We talked bout mistakes and how we improve by learning from our mistakes.

The Gospel story for the upcoming Sunday was the story of Jesus’s transfiguration. We had volunteers read the parts of the narrator, Peter, Jesus, et. We discussed how this event revealed Jesus’s divinity.

As always, we asked each student to name something they learned that evening. All were able to do so and were rewarded with a cookie.

Read Full Post »

Jan. 31, 2024 — Healing & Compassion

Our “theme,” such as it was, was healing. For the second week in a row, Father Kavenaugh came by. He presented a lesson on the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. I really appreciated that, since this is a sacrament I always have had trouble getting my arms around. He brought his sacramental kit, with olive oil and lamb’s wool and showed the students how and why the sacrament is administered.

From there, we went to the exercise on the front cover of the Venture pamphlet. It posted several situations, like “There s all kinds of trash in the bushes along your street.” We asked the students to circle several of the situations where they thought they might make a difference. We had a good discussion.

Mrs. Baran took over and had volunteers read the story on pages 2 & 3. It was basically about a bully who shut out the new kid in school, and how the main character and his friends responded to it. We discussed the “think questions” on page 3. This included a discussion of how the “good guys” reaction to the bully was not a lot better than the bully’s actions itself. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Was there a better way to respond?

We had volunteers read/role play the gospel passage on page 4 and discussed the “think questions.” We discussed the importance of compassion for others.

And, as always, we asked the students to cite one thing they learned that evening, and all were able to do so and were rewarded with a Giradelli chocolate.

Read Full Post »

Jan. 17, 2024 – Interview with Mark and Holy Land Geography

We had a good turnout Wednesday night, especially for a cold night in January. We thought we actually picked up a new student, but it turned out she was just in the wrong place.

We started with the exercise on the front of the Venture pamphlet. It was a map of the Holy Land with notable Biblical locations marked. We asked the students to pair up with a partner and examine the map and see what they already know about some of the locations. Most were able to recall something about Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the Jordan River. The rest was unknown. We discussed the significance of several locations including….

Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead.
Nazareth and the distance from there to Bethlehem.
The Sea of Galilee and Galilee in general as the place where Jesus started his ministry.

We also pointed out the location of Gaza and ongoing war there.

We assigned readers to read the “interview” with the Gospel author, Mark, on pages 2-3. It provided some interesting insight into the history of the first century AD. We discussed the think questions on page 4 and then discussed the timeline at the bottom of the page. We noted that the Gospels were not written until several decades after Jesus’s lifetime. Mark may have encountered Jesus when Mark was a child, but certainly did not know him. We discussed the epistles, the martyrdom of Peter and Paul and the destruction of the temple.

Mrs. Baran took over to cover the Gospel reading for the coming Sunday. She had the students locate the section in the Bible and one student read the passage. It dealt with Jesus inviting Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow him. We discussed the think questions. Mrs. Baran also lead a discussion on how the students could others to join them at school, in church or in the neighborhood. She asked the class to come up with adjectives to describe their parish. All responses were very positive, with an emphasis on welcoming.

As always, we finished up by asking the students to cite something they leaned that evening and rewarded them with a cookie.

Read Full Post »

Jan. 10, 2024 — Who is God?

Students asked a couple of interesting questions about 40 minutes into the class, and that caused us to throw our planned lesson out the window and address a large elephant in the room. More on that in a minute, but first… (Back when I was producing TV newscasts, we would call that a “tease.”)

This was our first class back after almost two months. It was great to see all be one of our students were there, and we picked up a new one.

After an opening prayer, we had the students complete a “bingo” exercise on the front page of the Venture pamphlet. It was a series of questions about the Church, the parish and other Catholic “trivia.” We provided them with last week’s Sunday bulletin, that had lots of information about the parish staff on the front cover. Not surprisingly, there was not a great depth of knowledge about subjects like our current pope and current bishop. Some of the other questions were easier, but it was funny to watch them struggle with “Name a couple who has celebrated the Sacrament of Matrimony?” or “Name two volunteers in your parish.” (Are there any here in the room with you?) Almost none of the students could name their godparents. Parents might want to follow up on that.

We then had volunteers read a rather lengthy story about Pope Paul XXIII (after we explained the Roman numerals.) The students had questions about what is a pope, a bishop and a diocese, which we explained and discussed. We talked about the Second Vatican Council and the major changes it created in the Church, and especially the way we, the faithful, interact with the Church.

At one point, one of the students asked, “Is Joseph God?” After explaining that Joseph was Jesus’s human father, but Jesus is God, another student blurted out, “What? Jesus is God?” It quickly became very clear that most of the class lacked a basic understanding of the nature of God and the Holy Trinity. And that is where our original lesson plan went off the tracks.

We discussed that God is the supreme being, but who comes to us in three persons or forms; the father, who created the world; Jesus, who redeemed us from our sins; and the Holy Spirit, who continues to guide us today. They are all equally God and one being. We told the class that it is difficult to resolve the apparent conflict of one God, but three persons. We told them that, as mere humans, we are not able to totally understand this mystery. We gave them two concepts to consider that, while not a complete explanation, might help them to have a better understanding.

In the first, we asked the students to name one or more roles or identities they “play” in their life. For example, they are students, athletes, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, dancers, artists, etc. They all have multiple roles or identities, but they are still one person.

We also asked them to think about themselves. They have a physical presence in their body. They have an intellect in their thoughts, their dreams, their worries, their loves and their fears. This is separate from their physical body. And they have their soul or spirit, which will live on after their body and minds are gone. All are part of them, but they are still one person.

We asked for questions, and it appears that the class “got it.”

At that point, we had only a few minutes left in the class. Mrs. Baran got short-changed by my poor clock management. She jumped to page 5 in the Venture pamphlet and discussed vocations for a little while. She asked the students to take their pamphlets home with them and to read the Gospel and discussion on page 4, which we had skipped over. We finished up, as always, by asking the students to cite one thing they learned that evening. All were able to do so and were rewarded with a couple of Hershey Kisses.

Read Full Post »