Jesus’ Law of Love

I’ve had a few ideas for my next class kind of percolating for a while but haven’t had a chance to sit down and create an actual lesson plan until now. Here’s what I have planned for this Monday (Oct. 18), Session 5:

Theme: Jesus’ Law of Love

Big Idea: We imitate Jesus’ love

  • Review last session
    • Show can of Play-Doh and ask what we learned last session (God can shape us into holy people; God can shape our conscience)
    • Show tape recorder and ask what we learned last session (We need to listen to good voices and erase bad voices when it comes to our conscience)
    • Ask if anyone visited any of the kid-friendly Web sites
  • Engage
    • Opening prayer
    • Distribute Halloween costume ads (pick up from party store)  and invite children to select their favorite.
    • Talk about how we dress up on Halloween and then imitate the character we’ve dressed as.
    • Show a baptismal garment and explain how each of us has worn this outfit – at our baptism – and how we are called to imitate Jesus throughout our lives.
  • Explore
    • Read Finding God text pgs 44-47 (Jesus’ Law of Love, how we imitate Jesus, example of  St. Vincent De Paul)
    • Scripture search – distribute “How Did Jesus Love?” worksheet and have each student look up one of the Bible passages and describe how Jesus loved
    • have each student report their passage to the class, describing how Jesus loved
    • Talk about how we can imitate Jesus’ love
  • Reflect
    • Introduce St. Francis of Assisi as someone who tried to imitate Jesus
    • Send students to their “sacred space” with lyrics from Make Me a Channel of Your Peace/Prayer of St. Francis
    • Play recording of song as students reflect on the lyrics quietly.
    • after the song, lead a brief guided reflection on the lyrics, inviting the kids to think of where/how they can bring light, hope, joy, etc. where there is darkness, despair, sadness, etc.
  • Respond
    • Tell students about the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Society and give them a handout to take home inviting their parents to work with them to bring  a donation of clothing to the St.  Vincent de Paul collection receptacle in the parking lot as a way of imitating Jesus.
About Joe Paprocki 2742 Articles
Joe Paprocki, DMin, is National Consultant for Faith Formation at Loyola Press, where, in addition to his traveling/speaking responsibilities, he works on the development team for faith formation curriculum resources including Finding God: Our Response to God’s Gifts and God’s Gift: Reconciliation and Eucharist. Joe has more than 35 years of experience in ministry and has presented keynotes, presentations, and workshops in more than 100 dioceses in North America. Joe is a frequent presenter at national conferences including the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, the Mid-Atlantic Congress, and the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership. He is the author of numerous books, including the best seller The Catechist’s Toolbox, A Church on the Move, Under the Influence of Jesus, and Called to Be Catholic—a bilingual, foundational supplemental program that helps young people know their faith and grow in their relationship with God. Joe is also the series editor for the Effective Catechetical Leader and blogs about his experiences in faith formation at www.catechistsjourney.com.

2 Comments

  1. I really like your ideas. Your plan for the kids to pick out what they will wear for Halloween sounds like a real engaging activity. One thing we discussed in lesson 6 was how we can show our love to , friends, family, neighbors and people around the world. For people around the world we talked about donating a shoe box to Operation Christmas Child…this fit right in because during the last 15 min. of our session all Faith Formation classes watched a short film on Operation Christmas Child. We talked about how the kids can help by donating a shoe box. It was a short class and I never did get around to talking about current events and the Chilean miners 🙁

    • Josie, thanks for the summary of your class…sounds like you had some very substantive conversation. Don’t feel bad about not getting to the Chilean miners…you might get anothe chance next week!

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