Encourage families to take practical steps toward practicing the traditional Lenten pillars of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Print out our Lenten Actions Cards and give sets to the families you serve. Instruct parents to cut out the cards, fold them in half, and place them in a jar or small box. Place the jar or other container in a central location in the home, perhaps on the dining room table or the counter next to […]
My third graders always embrace Lent. I will include all my usual Lenten activities this year, but because this is the Year of Mercy, I will be adding some new activities that will help my students perform works of mercy. The first activity will be a visual reminder of Lent. (My young students are visual learners.) Outside my classroom is a very large wall on which we usually display artwork. I will construct a very […]
Start the season with passion and purpose by using our free lesson plans for Lent. Three complete lesson plans are available—for primary, intermediate, and junior high groups. Children will identify ways that they can act more like Jesus during Lent, explain Lenten practices, such as almsgiving, fasting, and abstinence, and describe the history and meaning behind receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday. Each lesson outlines objectives and materials and includes conversation points and printable activities. Our […]
The Triduum—the three days from the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper to the end of Easter Sunday—marks the most important time of the Church year. Unfortunately, many families don’t participate in all three days. Some go to parts of it, but few have a sense of the three days as a full experience. How can catechists teach the meaning and importance of the Triduum? As a Confirmation catechist, I always teach about the […]
After leading my students through a prayerful Lent, Palm Sunday is finally upon us. There are important days to be noted in Holy Week and I don’t want to miss an opportunity to teach them to my students. After teaching for many years, I’ve collected quite a few resources for Holy Week. I’ve grabbed them from magazines, current religion textbooks, old religion textbooks, and websites. On the Friday before Palm Sunday, our seventh graders perform […]
I’ve always been fascinated with the art of palm weaving and braiding, even though it’s something that I am terrible at! (I included it in my 40 Ideas for 40 Days). During one of the years that I was a parish DRE, I discovered that one of my catechists was an expert palm-weaver and braider. Just like that, we put together the easiest intergenerational event in history. After Mass on Palm Sunday, we invited families to […]
Children typically really enjoy Lent. It is a season of the Church when they can set practical goals to give up, give away, and pray more. But sometimes we forget to teach our kids the “why” of Lent. What is it that we are trying to achieve with our Lenten observations? What is the goal of Lent? When I explain Lent to children, I always explain that we are preparing our hearts to meet the […]
The 40 days of Lent can be a long time for any Catholic. It᾽s even longer for third graders. I’m not one to take any number at face value, so I always ask my class to count the days between Ash Wednesday and Holy Thursday. They are shocked to learn that there are actually 44 days! That seems to make Lent even longer. Working with younger students, I always include some fun activities in our […]
Cyndi from Louisville, KY, shares the following. Great job, Cyndi! Hi Joe Just wanted to share how our Sunday Religious Program has used one of your 40 ideas for Lent. We took the Declaration of Dependence you proposed for the class and expanded it to be for the entire program and all the families. At our Lenten Family Day we baked Pretzels (also one of your ideas) and while the pretzels were baking every person […]
It’s hard to believe, but Ash Wednesday is exactly one month from today (March 5, 2014)! Don’t forget the following resources I’m making available to you: My FREE Lenten PowerPoint (As promised, here is that same Lenten PowerPoint in PDF format) 40 Ideas for 40 Days of Lent Lent Resources for small faith groups In addition, here are lots more Lenten resources from Loyola Press.
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