As I mentioned last month, I will be working with two fifth-grade catechists at St. Cajetan Parish this year to provide a Year of Mercy focus for their students and their parents and families. The catechists are hoping to engage the young people in a work of mercy during every lesson throughout the year.
To that end, I have created the following chart which draws from the main theme of each chapter of the fifth grade Finding God textbook to suggest a mercy opportunity for that lesson: Finding God Grade 5 Mercy Opportunities.
Most of these activities will be “bite-size” things that the children can accomplish during the last 20 minutes of class, while others will be more major undertakings in which parents will be invited to participate. The goal is to “marry” the doctrine being taught in each lesson to works of mercy that enable the students to put their faith into action. Let me know your thoughts.
Please note the following:
- These are only my suggestions. The catechists will decide what activities they feel that they can successfully/realistically integrate into the lessons.
- You will notice several references to Loyola Press’s “People for Others” campaign, which is something we do here at LP to invite employees to participate in works of mercy and be people for others, an important Ignatian concept. I will blog more about this concept next week.
- We’ll see how this goes for the fifth graders and, if it goes well, I will consider creating such charts for the other grades of Finding God, but for now, let’s start small!
For more on exploring the works of mercy during the Year of Mercy, download the Works of Mercy Prayers and Activities Packet.
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