The Gospels for this month are all about getting another chance. A fig tree gets another chance because of a patient gardener. An ungrateful son gets another chance because of his forgiving father. A woman who has sinned gets another chance because Jesus refuses to condemn her.   And then all human beings get another chance because Jesus suffers and dies to save us from our sins. Through the activities in this issue of the Pflaum Gospel Weeklies Newsletter children learn about God’s patience, forgiveness, and love.

This issue of the newsletter and the February issue are available online at pflaum.com/pgwnewsletter. Look for the April issue in your inbox on March 18.

This month’s newsletter features ideas for March 7, 2010, the 3rd Sunday of Lent, through March 28, Palm/Passion Sunday.

• March 7—Jesus tells a parable about a fig tree that doesn’t bear fruit. The landowner orders the tree cut down, but his gardener wants to tend the tree and give it one more chance to produce. (Luke 13:1-9)
• March 14—Jesus tells a parable about a father and his two sons. The younger son leaves home and squanders his inheritance, while the older son stays at home and helps his father. When the younger son returns home, sorry for what he has done, the older son is angry to see his father welcome his brother home with a party. (Luke 15:1-3, 11-32)
• March 21—When the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman caught in sin to Jesus, he refuses to condemn her. He says, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:1-11)
• March 28—When Jesus shares the Passover meal with his apostles, he institutes the Eucharist and predicts his own suffering and death. (Luke 22:14—23:56)

• Saint of the Month—Introduce your students to the legends and the facts about St. Patrick, the popular patron saint of Ireland whose feast day is celebrated around the world.
• Teacher Tips—Learn what to expect from children at different ages and stages of development. Discover how to set realistic expectations and how to avoid problem behavior.
• Student Activities—Seeds children learn that God is as patient with people as a gardener is with plants. Promise children act out the parable of the prodigal son to learn about forgiveness. Good News children create comic strips to show Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt. An art project allows Venture students to tend to trees as a gardener might. Then they tend to their own growth by choosing Lenten practices to follow. Visions students use blame words to create a poster that teaches “You Don’t Have to Go to Every Fight You’re Invited To!”
• Parent Tips—The Pflaum Gospel Weeklies Family Pages offer activities and resources that parents can use at home to help their families grow in faith. This month check out “The Stations of the Cross.” This introduction to the traditional Catholic devotion can prepare families to join their parish’s Lenten observances of the Stations.
• Catechist to Catechist—At St. Mary’s School in Owatonna, MN, junior high religion teacher Chris Smith and his students are using the class’ website to share the messages of the Gospels.

St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland but he is revered all over the world. His feast day is a celebration of his life and all things Irish. Born near Dumbarton, Scotland, Patrick was kidnapped as a teenager and taken to Ireland and sold into slavery by Irish raiders. During his time as a slave, he tended sheep. Often cold and hungry, Patrick was terrified and lonely and prayed daily. He also learned the Celtic language.

After six years, Patrick escaped. He walked almost 200 miles to the coast where he found passage on a ship, probably to France. His experiences had made him thoughtful and prayerful and prepared him to study to become a priest. He wanted eventually to return to Ireland to bring Christianity to its people.

Patrick encountered much opposition to his plan, but he was finally allowed to travel to Ireland as a missionary. Once there, he had great success. He was able to win many converts, ordain many priests, divide the country into dioceses, hold Church councils, and found several monasteries. But above all, he continually urged the people to greater holiness.

There are many legends that have sprung up around St. Patrick. One is that he used the shamrock, a kind of clover that grows in Ireland, to teach people about the Trinity. Each of the three leaves of the shamrock represented one of the three persons in God.

Another legend is that Ireland was overrun with snakes and that St. Patrick drove the snakes into the sea. Its climate makes it unlikely that Ireland would have been overrun by snakes. It is much more likely that this story was a way of expressing the fact that St. Patrick drove paganism out of Ireland.

• Ask Seeds children if they know what color we wear on St. Patrick’s Day. Provide a stack of old family magazines, and have the children look for things that are green. Have them cut or tear out the things they find. Help them use glue sticks to make a collage on a poster board with all of their green things.
  
  Ask the children to guess why green is associated with St. Patrick. Allow time for them to answer, but make sure children know that Ireland, where St. Patrick lived, is called the Emerald Isle because green plants and grasses cover the hills and countryside. One of these plants is a kind of clover known as a shamrock. Show the children a shamrock.
  
  St. Patrick used the shamrock to teach the people of Ireland that God is three persons in one God. “One shamrock” (hold it up) “with three leaves” (point and count 1…2…3). Still holding up the shamrock, say “One God.” Then read one part of this statement about God as you point to each leaf: “The Father is God; Jesus, the Son, is God; the Holy Spirit is God.”
  
  Provide shamrock-shaped cookies and let the children decorate them with green frosting, or white frosting with green sugar sprinkles. Or provide green Jell-O cubes or Jell-O shamrocks made with a shamrock cookie cutter. Allow children to enjoy their green snacks.

• Use an echo pantomime to teach Promise children a prayer that is attributed to St. Patrick.  Have the children stand far enough apart so they can extend their arms in front and to their sides without touching one another. Say each phrase slowly and demonstrate the action. Then invite the children to say and do the prayer with you. Children may want to repeat the prayer.
  
  Christ within me (Cross arms over your chest.)
  Christ beside me (Extend arms to your right and left, palms up, fingers straight.)
  Christ behind me (Swing both arms back, fingers straight.)
  Christ before me (Extend both arms in front of you, palms up, fingers straight.)
  Christ beneath me (Put your arms at your sides, fingers pointing down.)
  Christ above me (Raise both arms, pointing upward.)
  
  Christ in every eye that sees me (Point to your eyes.)
  Christ in every ear that hears me (Point to your ears.)
  
  Christ in every mouth that speaks to me (Point to your mouth.)
  Christ in every heart that loves me (Place both hands over your heart.)

• Have Good News children play a fun game to help them remember that Patrick returned to Ireland to help the Celtic people learn about Jesus. You will need a large open space, such as the gym or playground, where the children can run and make noise without disturbing others. Designate one corner of the space to represent the island of Ireland by putting down a green tarp or a border of green crepe paper. Choose one child to be an angel and ask him or her to go to Ireland. Divide the rest of the children into two groups. One group will be the Irish raiders and the other group will be Patricks. Give each raider a bandana to tie around his or her arm or head. On your cue, the raiders chase the Patricks, who are all running away as in a game of tag. When the raiders capture one Patrick, they use one raider’s bandana to tie the Patrick’s hands behind his or her back. The raiders take their captive to “Ireland” and then go out on another raid.
  
  Meanwhile, the captured Patrick kneels down and prays the Glory Be, or Prayer of Praise. Then the angel unties the bandana, places a shamrock sticker on the Patrick’s shirt, and releases the Patrick, who returns to the game.
  
  When the others see the Patrick with the shamrock on his or her shirt, they say together, “Patrick, go back. Patrick, go back.” Patrick then voluntarily returns to Ireland. Continue to play until all the Patricks have been captured and have returned voluntarily to Ireland.
  
  If the children are enjoying the game, and there is time, let the raiders and Patricks switch roles and play again.
• Challenge Venture students to solve this crossword puzzle after they have read the story of St. Patrick. To print copies of the story of St. Patrick and the crossword, go to pages 12 and 13 of the print version of this newsletter.
  
  

  ACROSS 1. Irish symbol 4. relied on God 5. Patrick was born here 8. helper, protector 9. Patrick brought this to Ireland DOWN 2. captured as a child 3. one who brings the good news 5. animals Patrick tended 6. language and culture of Ireland 7. received Holy Orders

  
  

  Answers
  Across: 1-shamrock, 4-prayed, 5-Scotland, 8-patron, 9-Christianity
  Down: 2-kidnapped, 3-missionary, 5-sheep, 6-Celtic, 7-priest

• Before Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland, many people there practiced an ancient religion known as druidism. They believed in many gods and worshiped elements of nature. Patrick used some of these practices to teach Christianity. The Druids used fire to honor their gods, so St. Patrick built a huge bonfire to celebrate Easter. Because Druids revered the sun, Patrick placed this symbol behind the Christian cross to show that Christ is more powerful than the sun.
  
  Show Visions students examples of Celtic crosses. Provide templates to trace a circle and a cross and have students draw and color their own Celtic cross designs. Display their work for all to admire.

• Seeds children will have fun eating fig cookies after they learn the lesson of the fig tree and the patient gardener. They can understand that God is like the patient gardener and will be patient with them as they grow bigger, stronger, and smarter.
  
• Promise children can understand the need to forgive and be forgiven. They will enjoy acting out the story of the prodigal son.
• Good News children will continue their Lenten exploration of Moses’ story. They love to read comics and are capable of telling the story of the Exodus in comic strip form.
• Venture students will be able to relate to the experience of being given a second chance. Choosing Lenten practices to follow will help students set personal goals for Lent and appeal to their natural desire to do things for others.
• Visions students can learn to recognize blame words and practice resolving conflicts with “I” messages.

Preschool (Seeds)
“Jesus Wants Us to Grow,” March 7, 2010

Seeds children hear the Gospel story of a man and his fig tree. Children this age should be able to:

• identify and compare fruits that grow on trees
• act out the Gospel story and pretend to pick figs
• recognize that Jesus told the story to show that God is patient
• thank God and share a snack of fig cookies

Materials: A bowl of fruit containing dried figs and other examples of fruit that grows on trees—a lemon, an orange and an apple, a banana; several small baskets; a package of Fig Newton cookies; napkins; and copies of the Seeds for March 7, 2010, one for each child

Preparation: Purchase dried figs, several kinds of fruit, and Fig Newton cookies.

Procedure

1. Tell the Gospel story in your own words or read the child-friendly version in the teaching guide for Seeds for March 7. Ask: What will the gardener do to help the tree? (The gardener will be patient and care for the tree. He will give it plant food and water.)
2. Display the bowl of fruit, and have children identify and describe each kind of fruit.
3. Tell children that they will act out the Gospel story. Have one child take the part of the man who wants to cut the tree down. Have another child pretend to be the gardener who wants to tend the tree. Have several children pretend to pick the figs and put them into the small baskets. Retell the Gospel story as the children act it out. If time permits, reassign the roles and repeat the role-play so each child has a chance to participate.
4. Serve the fig cookies. Before the children eat their cookies, ask them to say this prayer, echoing each line after you read it. 
   
   Dear Jesus,
   Thank you for trees that give us fruit.
   Thank you for being like the patient gardener and helping us to grow. Amen

Grades K-1 (Promise)
“Who Forgives Me?” March 14, 2010

Children this age should be able to:

• role-play the parable of the prodigal son and his forgiving father
• recognize the need to forgive and be forgiven

Materials: Photos of farm equipment and farm animals, a bale of hay (if available), a table with a checkered table cloth, a picnic basket with fresh vegetables and cut-up veggies and dip, paper plates, napkins, a farmer’s straw hat, bib overalls, a small garden shovel, and copies of Promise for March 14, 2010, one for each child

Preparation: Collect photos of farm equipment and farm animals and arrange them around the area where the children will sit. Cover a table with the checkered table cloth.

Procedure

1. Ask children to look at the cover of Promise and talk about what is happening in the picture. Help them to see that one person, the man driving the tractor, is not helping to welcome his brother home.
2. Tell the Gospel story in your own words or see the Promise teaching guide for March 14 for a child-friendly retelling of the story.
3. Then point out the tractor on the cover. Ask: What work can be done with a tractor? Show children the pictures of the farm equipment and farm animals. Ask: What do farmers do to care for their farm animals and crops? Why is this hard work? Do you think the older son in the Gospel story worked hard to help his father? Why do you think the older son was angry to see his father so happy to see his younger brother?
   
4. Tell children that they will act out the story of the prodigal son. Have them help you set the “stage” with the props. Arrange chairs around the table where guests can be seated for the party.
5. Have children recall the story. Choose one child to be the forgiving father, one to be the prodigal son, and another can be the loyal son. Ask other children to play the part of guests at the party by taking their places around the table. As you retell the Gospel story, have the characters speak and add appropriate actions to their words. If time permits, repeat the role-play so each child has a chance to participate.
6. Then ask: How do you think the father felt about his two sons? How do you think the younger son felt to have been forgiven? Why do you think the older son was angry? Do you think the older son listened to his father and forgave his brother?
7. Conclude with a picnic of veggies and dip. Begin with a prayer. Ask children to echo each line after you read it. 
   
   Dear God,
   Jesus teaches that you are a forgiving father.
   You want to forgive us and help us to do better.
   We are glad we can ask for forgiveness when we do wrong. Amen

Grades 2-3 (Good News)
“Moses Leads His People Home,” March 14, 2010

Your Good News students will hear the story of the Exodus and create a comic strip to illustrate it. Children should be able to:

• understand that the Exodus is the story of how the Hebrews became God’s people
• discuss the events that led up to the Exodus
• learn new vocabulary words
• share the story of Moses

Materials: Ten 6 x 9 index cards, a black marker, masking tape, white shelf paper, crayons and colored pencils, and copies of Good News for March 14, 2010, one for each child

Preparation: Write each of these words on an index card: Pharaoh, Hebrew, ancestors, Aaron, Moses, firstborn, Passover, reed sea, manna, Mount Sinai. Cut the shelf paper into five long strips, one for each of the groups formed for Step 2 of the Procedure.

Procedure

1. After reading “Moses Leads His People Home” on page 4 of Good News, pair up students. Then pass out the vocabulary cards, and have partners work out definitions for the words based on the story they have just read. Allow time for the pairs to share their definitions with the group. Be prepared to clarify and fill in as necessary. When all the words have been discussed, tape the cards in alphabetical order on the wall to create a Word Wall for future reference.
2. Divide the class into five small groups. Explain that each group will create a comic strip to illustrate a part of Moses’ life. The comic strips can have as many panels as the group needs to tell the story.

Group One will illustrate what happened in the second paragraph on page 4—God spoke to Moses from the burning bush.

Group Two will illustrate the third paragraph—God sent signs to frighten Pharaoh.

Group Three will illustrate the fourth paragraph—God sent the angel of death to kill the first-born of the Egyptians and pass over the homes of the Hebrews.

Group Four will illustrate the fifth paragraph—how the waters parted for the Hebrews and closed over Pharaoh’s soldiers.

Group Five will illustrate the last paragraph—God provided for the Hebrews as they wandered in the desert and gave them the Ten Commandments

3. When the groups have finished their work, display their comic strips in order around the room. Allow children to go around the room to read the story of how God worked through Moses to free the Hebrews and lead them out of Egypt.

Grades 4-6 (Venture)
“Jesus Says There Is Time to Change,” March 7, 2010

Venture students will:

• reflect on their experiences of getting a second chance to do right
• discuss how their Lenten practices can help them improve their relationships with God and others
• assemble an illustration of how they have grown and produced good fruit

Materials: Drawing paper, leaves and fruit cut from construction paper, glue sticks, copies of Venture for March 7, 2010, one for each student

Preparation: Use patterns to cut leaves and pieces of fruit from construction paper. Provide three leaves and one piece of fruit for each student.

Procedure

1. Give each student a sheet of drawing paper and charcoal pencils or markers. Ask them to sketch the trunk and branches of a bare tree (no leaves). The tree should fill the page. Ask students what happens to trees that show no sign of growth or life. (They are likely to be cut down or eventually to collapse on their own.)
2. Distribute the construction-paper leaves and fruit and ask students to add these to their trees. Ask: What do you know about a tree that has healthy leaves and is producing fruit? (Students will recognize that leaves and fruit are signs that a tree is alive and growing.)
3. Have students go to page 4 of Venture and ask for four volunteers to take the parts and read the Sunday Gospel aloud for the class. After the reading, point out that Jesus knows that we can grow and change, and that it takes time.
4. Ask students to describe on each leaf of their trees a time when someone gave them a second chance to do what was right. Offer the opportunity for students who wish to share their experiences. Make the point that when we learn from mistakes and improve our relationships with God and others we grow in virtue and we bear good fruit.
5. Every Lent the Church gives us another chance to grow and change. Briefly discuss Lenten practices of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer.
   
   Prayer helps us to keep in touch with God and draw upon God’s strength and grace.
   
   Almsgiving helps us to repair the damages of sin through acts of charity.
   
   Fasting helps us to root out the selfishness that causes us to ignore God and hurt others.
6. Encourage students to write at the base of their tree some ways they will pray, give alms, and fast during Lent in order to change and grow in the direction God wants.

Grades 7-8 (Visions)
“Blame: What Good Is It?” March 21, 2010

Visions students can understand that Jesus refused to condemn the woman caught in sin. They can brainstorm to find examples of the blame words used in a variety of situations. Students should be able to:

• discuss words people use to blame
• role-play situations in which blame words are used
• role-play situations in which “I” messages are used
• use the blame words they find in newspapers and magazines to create a poster

Materials: Newsprint, black marker, current newspapers, magazines, scissors, glue sticks, a large sheet of poster board, and copies of Visions for March 21, 2010, one copy for each student

Preparation: Gather all the materials, and prepare the poster board by writing at the top of the sheet in large, readable letters the title, “You Don’t Have to Go to Every Fight You’re Invited To!”

Procedure

1. Have students prepare a dramatic reading of the Gospel for March 21. Ask volunteers to take the parts designated in “Jesus Refuses to Condemn” on page 4 of Visions. Give the volunteers a few minutes to practice. After the reading, ask: Why didn’t any of the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees throw a stone at the woman? Why do you think Jesus chose not to condemn the woman for her sin? What did Jesus ask the woman to do? What do you think this story tells us about judging or blaming others?
2. Ask students to brainstorm to create a list of blame words that they hear used in their communities, schools, and families. Examples on the Visions cover can get them started, but they will probably not have trouble coming up with others. A headline in the local newspaper might announce, “County Supervisor Responsible for Overspending.” Students sometimes complain, “Athletes can get away with anything.” One member of a family might say, “I have to do everything around here!”
   
   Record, or have a student record, the blame words on newsprint. Post the newsprint where everyone can see it.
3. Have students work in pairs to choose a situation in which blame is likely to occur. Examples like these can get them started: a brother complains that his sister is allowed more freedom than he is; a student complains to a teacher about a bad grade; a parent says “No.”
   
   Ask the pairs to act out what happens when the people involved in the situation use blame words to respond to one another. Before the pairs get started, establish rules of engagement—no name-calling or shouting.
4. Then have pairs use the same situations and practice responding to one another with “I” messages. Explain that “I” messages begin with phrases such as “I think,” “I feel,” or “I need.” The speaker is explaining his or her own feelings, not blaming, accusing, or attacking others. “You” messages are statements in which we are judging how others feel. Provide an example. When a student receives a bad grade from a teacher, that student can start a conversation with the teacher with a “You” message—“You never have liked me!” Or the student can start the conversation with an “I” message—“I feel this grade is not fair, and I’d like to talk to you about it.”
5. Allow time for students to search newspapers and magazines to identify and cut out blame words. Students can paste the blame words on the poster board, under the title “You Don’t Have to Go to Every Fight You’re Invited To!”
   

The Pflaum Gospel Weeklies Family Pages offer activities and resources that parents can use throughout Lent to help their families grow in faith. Check out “The Stations of the Cross.” This introduction to the traditional Catholic devotion can prepare families to join their parish’s Lenten observances of the Stations.

Go to the Pflaum Gospel Weeklies Family Pages at pflaum.com/familypages and log in to check out the resources and activities available there. Choose pages to print and send home with students or send notes home suggesting pages for parents to download and print.

The Family Pages are a free service available to all families in schools and parishes that use the Pflaum Gospel Weeklies. On the Family Pages home page, click on “Tips for using these pages” for a sample letter you can send home.

A Great Place for Sharing the Gospel

When Chris Smith began to work to establish a website for the junior high students at St. Mary’s School in Owatonna, MN, he started at the beginning. He was, and is, the junior high religion teacher. He admits that at first he did not know much about technology and websites. But that, and the website, has changed.

Now http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/smsjuniorhigh is the place to go for homework assignments, calendars of events, grades, and guidelines for everything from writing a good research paper to planning an effective prayer service. Each junior high teacher has his or her own page, as does the band, choir, and student council. There are also pages for slideshows and videos of class trips, projects, and events.

From creating and posting these videos came the idea for “Gospel Reflections.” Chris works with students to read and discuss the Gospel for an upcoming Sunday. Then students create, act out, and videotape situations from their own lives to illustrate the message of the Gospel. For example, students picked incidents of bullying to illustrate Luke 6:17, 20-26, the Gospel for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Chris finds that creating these “Gospel Reflections” helps students to become more deeply involved in the message of the Gospels. In weekly e-mails, Chris sends the link to the week’s “Gospel Reflection” to parents, so they as well as their teens can prepare to hear the week’s Sunday Gospel at Mass.