Page 10 - Seeds - Program Preview

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Lesson Theme: Jesus invites us to his table.
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 15, 2023
Jesus says, “Come celebrate.”
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Teaching This Week’s Lesson
Share Experiences
Objective The children will identify ways they invite and welcome their friends.
Gather the children in a circle and hold hands for the gathering song, “Gather Together” (CD-2, #1). Invite a child to point to the current Sunday on a Church Year calendar.
Gathering Prayer Invite the children to stand as you pray: “Dear Jesus, help us to be like you—kind to others and ready to share with everyone.”The children respond, “Amen.”
Story l Stephanie’s Party A coloring page to accompany this story is available at gospelweeklies.com/lesson-updates. Ask: l What makes a party?
l What kinds of parties have you been to?
l What kinds of things happen at parties?
Invite the children to sit down. Then tell this story:
There was a little girl named Stephanie. She was almost four years
old. Stephanie’s birthday was coming up. She really wanted to have a party. She asked her mom, and her mom said yes.
“Since you will be four, you may invite four friends,” Stephanie’s mom said. Stephanie had lots of friends and finally decided which four to invite: Tammy, Karla, Joey, and Louann.
Stephanie was very excited because this was her first birthday party. Each day, she counted the days until her party. Two more days. One more day.
The morning of the party, Stephanie woke up early to help her mom get everything ready. As they were blowing up red and white balloons, the telephone rang. It was Tammy’s mother. “Tammy got sick last night,” she said. “She won’t be able to come to the birthday party.” Stephanie felt sad because Tammy was a good friend.
Then the doorbell rang. When Stephanie opened the door, Karla was standing there. “I can’t come to your party,” Karla said. “My dad is taking us to see my grandma who is sick.”
Just as Stephanie closed the door, the phone rang again. It was Joey’s mother saying Joey had the chicken pox. Then Louann’s parents stopped on their way to take Louann to the emergency room. She had fallen off the trampoline.
Stephanie was very sad that no one could come to her party.
Her mom sat down and explained that these things can happen. They are called emergencies. But they could still have a party. They called Mary Ann, the lady across the street, and invited her and her grandson, Joshua. Then they called the twins, Marisol and Mateo, who lived next door. They were three years old. They were all happy to come. They all had a fun time.
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PFLAUM GOSPEL WEEKLIES Faith Formation Program
Activity l How do we celebrate? (page 4) Distribute Seeds and move to the work area. Direct the children
to look at the back page. Invite them to tell you which of these things help make a party. After talking about the pictures, ask the children to color the pictures that help make a party and to draw an X on the things that don’t.
Stretching Activity Play “Follow Me” (CD-1, #10). Have the children march, hop, jump, and run as the verses say.
Discover Gospel and Doctrine
Objectives • The children will:
l Recognize that Jesus invites us to God’s celebration each Sunday at church.
l Discover that Jesus had many meals with his friends.
Invite the children to sit in a circle and put their copies of Seeds on the floor in front of them. Sing “Two Little Ears” (CD-1, #4). Add simple gestures.
Sunday Gospel l Jesus says, “Come celebrate.” (page 1) Introduce this Gospel story by telling the children that Jesus liked to tell stories to his friends. Here is a story about a party:
Jesus said, “Listen to this parable about what God’s kingdom is like. Once there was a king whose son was getting married. The king decided to throw a big wedding feast. The king said to his messengers, ‘Go out and tell the people I invited that the feast is ready.’
“The messengers went out to share the message. They said, ‘Come and celebrate! Come to the king’s feast for his son who is getting married.’ But the people the king had invited would not come.
“The messengers went back to the king and said, ‘We went to the people you invited, but no one will come.’
“Then the king said, ‘The feast is ready. Go, invite everyone you see.’ The messengers went out and rounded up all kinds of people. They came to the feast to celebrate the wedding of the king’s son and his bride.”
Lead a brief discussion by asking questions to help review the story:
l What was the story about?
l How did the king feel when no one would come?
l What did the king do then?
l How did the king feel at the party?
l Did they have fun after all?