MISSION EDUCATION CURRICULUM GUIDE

Transcription

1 MISSION EDUCATION CURRICULUM GUIDE How beautiful it is to see that young people are street preachers, joyfully bringing Jesus to every street, every town square and every corner of the earth! ~Pope Francis Joy of the Gospel Office of Faith Formation Catholic Diocese of Wichita 424 North Broadway Wichita, Kansas WEB SITE PHONE

2 Table of Contents Overview...3 Purpose Young Missionaries Implementation Pillars Role of Educators and Catechists Lesson Plans: Kindergarten through 2nd Grade...4 Pray: The World Mission Rosary Learn: Yuvi s Story Live: I am a Missionary Sacrifice: Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl Lesson Ideas: Kindergarten through 2nd Grade...10 Pray for Missions and Missionaries Learn about Missionaries Live as Missionaries Sacrifice for Others Lesson Plans: 3rd Grade through 5th Grade...14 Pray: The World Mission Rosary Learn: Around the World Live: Living as a Missionary Sacrifice: Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl Lesson Ideas: 3rd Grade through 5th Grade...20 Pray for Missions and Missionaries Learn about Missionaries Live as Missionaries Sacrifice for Others Lesson Plans: 6th Grade through 8th Grade...25 Pray: The World Mission Rosary Learn: What is a Missionary? Live: Our Daily Call to be a Missionary Sacrifice: Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl Lesson Ideas: 6th Grade through 8th Grade...31 Pray for Missions and Missionaries Learn about Missionaries Live as Missionaries Sacrifice for Others Mission Education Curriculm Guide 1

3 Lesson Plans: 9th Grade through 12th Grade...37 Pray: The Missionary Power of Intercessory Prayer Learn: The Call to be a Foreign Missionary Live: Living the Corporal Works of Mercy Sacrifice: Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl All School Mission Awareness...43 Kindergarten through 6th Grade 7th Grade through 12th Grade Resources...49 Videos Catechism of the Catholic Church Additional Lesson Plan Ideas YouCat Opportunities to Donate Holy Scripture Mission Trip Opportunities Social Media Missionary Documents Sources...54 Feedback Mission Education Curriculm Guide

4 Overview Purpose Students attending PSR and Catholic School in grades Kindergarten through 12th grade will be instructed in the Mission of the Church through four pillars: prayer, learning about missionaries, living as missionaries, and sacrifice. Implementation All catechists and teachers, over the course of one school year, will teach one 15 minute lesson that pertains to each of the Mission pillars (Prayer, Learning, Living, and Sacrifice), which will result in a total of four lessons. These lessons can be taught during one class period or over the course of the school year. Provided are step by step lesson plans (K-2 p. 4; 3-5 p. 13; 6-8 p. 22; 9-12 p. 31) that you may choose to use. If you prefer to teach one or more of the pillars using your own lesson plan(s), you may refer to the Lesson Plan Ideas (K-2 p. 9; 3-5 p. 18; 6-8 p. 27) Role of Educators and Catechists At Baptism, God places into the hearts of all a special missionary calling, asking a generous response. Children have received this calling, as has each religious educator and catechist. In a special way, religious educators and catechists have been called not only to be disciples of Christ, but also to make disciples for Him. The task of ministering to children is vital indeed. Through their love, their witness, their prayers and sacrifices, young Catholics open new pathways to evangelization among those who have yet to encounter the love and hope of Jesus Christ and His Good News. 1 Young Missionaries Young people are generous and enthusiastic, eager to use their talents to bring the Good News to the ends of the earth. Recognizing that youth are a vital part of the life of the church today, they must be engaged and challenged to live out their baptismal call to the principle mission of the church as expressed by Pope Paul VI. The Church exists in order to evangelize (Evangelii Nuntiandi 14). 1 Mission Pillars The four mission pillars that students will be experiencing during the four mission lessons are: 1) Praying for those who do not know Jesus and those who are poor, homeless, sick, and hungry. 2) Learning about missionaries, and what it looks like to live out our task as missionaries. 3) Living as missionaries, and our Baptisimal call to teach others about Jesus. 4) Sacrificing for others, through means of monetary donations and fasting. Mission Education Curriculm Guide 3

5 Kindergarten through 2nd Grade Lesson Plans 1 4 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

6 PRAY for missions and missionaries: The World Mission Rosary Objective: Students will pray for the poor, sick, hungry, homeless, and those who do not know Jesus by using the World Mission Rosary. Materials: 1. World Mission Rosary (Digital rosary can be found at 2. World Mission Rosary poster (Can be ordered through 3. Index card for each student 4. Pencil for each student 5. Optional: Laptop and projector to show World Mission Rosary and the rosary prayers Procedure: 1. Show World Mission Rosary poster to your students. 2. Explain that different places on the map have different colors. In the United States, where we live, it is red. Point to the United States and have each child come up and point to the United States. Point to the other continents and tell the students what continent it is and ask them to tell you the color that represents that continent. Hang up the poster where students can still see it and keep this visual up throughout the school year. 3. Show the World Mission Rosary. Tell the students that each decade of the Rosary matches one of the colors on our map. When we pray that color on the Rosary, we are praying for those people in that place. If you have the physical World Mission Rosary, pass it around so each child can hold it. 4. Each student will select a continent on the World Mission Rosary poster to pray for its people who are poor, sick, hungry, homeless, and those who do not know Jesus. Pray one decade of the Rosary as a whole class. Application and Closing: 1. Each child will write a prayer of petition for the people in the country they selected. These petitions can be used within the classroom as a reminder to pray for these people and/or can be used as petitions during Mass. For the younger students, you may want to create one whole class petition. 2. If students are comfortable, end class by having each student share their petition. If not, pray together as a class for all people around the world. From Pope Francis: Spirit-filled evangelizers are evangelizers who pray and work. Without prolonged moments of adoration, of prayerful encounter with the word, of sincere conversation with the Lord, our work easily becomes meaningless; we lose energy as a result of weariness and difficulties, and our fervour dies out. The Church urgently needs the deep breath of prayer. Joy of the Gospel Mission Education Curriculm Guide 5

7 Learn about missionaries: Yuvi s Story Objective: Students will recognize that there are children around the world who are suffering and will pray for them using the World Mission Rosary. Materials: 1. Globe or World Mission Rosary poster 2. Small band aids 3. Yuvi s Story 4. Optional: Laptop and projector to show a picture of Yuvi, the World Mission Rosary, and the rosary prayers Procedure: 1. Read Yuvi s Story and show her picture on the projector. 2. On the World Mission Rosary map, point to South America and tell students that is where Yuvi lives. Have each student put a small band aid on South America, as a reminder that children there are hurting because they do not get to go to school. 3. Ask students what color South America is in. Show them the red decade on the World Mission Rosary. 4. If time, pray the red decade of the rosary for Yuvi, her family and all the children in the Americas that do not have enough to eat and have to work instead of go to school. Application and Closing: 1. Ask each student for a reason why they are thankful that they get to go to school. Have students write their responses on a poster. If students are unable to do so, you may choose to write them. 2. Post this in the classroom for the remainder of the school year Catechism of the Catholic Church Thus the Church s mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity. All of us who have received one and the same Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, are in a sense blended together with one another and with God. For if Christ, together with the Father s and his own Spirit, comes to dwell in each of us, though we are many, still the Spirit is one and undivided. He binds together the spirits of each and every one of us and makes all appear as one in him. For just as the power of Christ s sacred flesh unites those in whom it dwells into one body, I think that in the same way the one and undivided Spirit of God, who dwells in all, leads all into spiritual unity. Paragraph Mission Education Curriculm Guide

8 Live as missionaries: I am a Missionary Objective: Students will be introduced to the Church s teaching that by being baptized, we are missionaries. Materials: 1. Bible 2. Camera 3. Tape 4. Computer and printer 5. Construction paper 6. Art supplies (crayons, markers, paint, etc.) Procedure: 1. Read Matthew 28:19 from the Bible. This is the Great Commissioning from Jesus and this is what it means to be a missionary: to teach others about Jesus. 2. Tell students that just by being baptized we are missionaries and as missionaries we need to tell others about Jesus. 3. Ask students what are ways that we can teach others about Jesus? 4. Create a poster with their ideas and leave hanging in the classroom all year. Application and Closing: 1. Have students create a visual (poster, door hanger, etc.) with their photo that says I am a missionary of Jesus. 2. Review the teaching that because we are baptized, we are missionaries. Catechism of the Catholic Church So that this call should resound throughout the world, Christ sent forth the apostles he had chosen, commissioning them to proclaim the gospel: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. Strengthened by this mission, the apostles went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Paragraph 2 Mission Education Curriculm Guide 7

9 Sacrifice for others: CRS Rice Bowl Objective: Students will raise money that will help the poor through Catholic Relief Services Lenten Rice Bowl. Materials: 1. Rice Bowls for each student (Order, free of charge, at 2. Lenten calendars Procedure: 1. Distribute Rice Bowls at the beginning of Lent. Make sure each student receives a Rice Bowl and is prepared to use it at home. 2. Use the Blessing of the Rice Bowls: A 10-minute Prayer Service to start your Lenten journey 3. Download the Letter to Families from to send home with the Rice Bowls. Closing: 1. Collect Rice Bowls at the end of Lent. CRS suggests Holy Week as Rice Bowl Collection Week for Catholic schools and parish religious education programs. 2. Close your CRS Rice Bowl experience with prayer using the End of Lent Prayer Service. 3. Enlist students or volunteers to help count coins, cash and checks. Mail your check to Catholic Relief Services at: Catholic Relief Services, Attn: CRS Rice Bowl P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD Be sure to write CRS Rice Bowl on the memo line of the check. 4. Celebrate your community s results! Publish the number of Rice Bowls returned and total amount collected in your school newsletter or parish bulletin. Be sure to thank participants for their generosity! Your students are enriching their faith and making a difference in the lives of the world s poor! Educator Notes: Join the CRS Rice Bowl Educator s Community! Get ideas and timely resources ed to you during, after and in the weeks leading up to Lent. Visit to join. Optional: If you would rather use this lesson outside of Lent, please collect money and send to Office of Faith Formation, 424 N. Broadway, Wichita, Kansas These funds will then be sent to support diocesan missionaries. 8 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

10 Catechism of the Catholic Church On her pilgrimage, the Church has also experienced the discrepancy existing between the message she proclaims and the human weakness of those to whom the Gospel has been entrusted. Only by taking the way of penance and renewal, the narrow way of the cross, can the People of God extend Christ s reign. For just as Christ carried out the work of redemption in poverty and oppression, so the Church is called to follow the same path if she is to communicate the fruits of salvation to men. Paragraph 853 Mission Education Curriculm Guide 9

11 Kindergarten through 2nd Grade Lesson Ideas 1 The following lesson plan ideas are teaching options if you choose to forgo any of the pre-made lesson plans beginning on page Mission Education Curriculm Guide

12 Pray Ask students to write letters to missionaries from the diocese who are serving the global Church. Let the missionaries know that the children are praying for their work, and all the Missions. Listening, feeling and talking to God are all part of praying. Close your eyes and listen to a variety of music from different cultures. How does each type of music help you think about God? feel His presence? talk to Him in prayer? Draw images to explain your answers. People pray in many languages. Research the Our Father prayer in different languages. Learn to say the words Our Father in the language of a mission country. Use the Our Father in the language you learned to start your prayers. Think of the hardships of refugees in mission countries. Pray that they can forgive those who bring fighting and division to their countries, causing others to flee. Participate in prayer using words, rote prayers, spontaneous prayers, prayers with gestures, songs, sign language, and dance. Have children create prayers for children in mission countries, adding gesture, music or dance to their prayers. Use these prayers in your classroom. Create a litany of missionary saints St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Francis Xavier, St. Martin de Porres, St. Paul, St. Thomas, etc. and use it in prayer. Put the names of world leaders on popsicle sticks. Choose a name daily, and pray for that leader to help find peaceful solutions to issues in his/her country or community. Make a list of wants and needs. Help students distinguish the difference, using a prayer of petition. Connect mission with praying for the needs of others. Pray daily for all who continue Jesus mission in our world today. Ask the Holy Spirit to open the hearts of all to believe in Jesus and His Good News. Pray for strength for missionaries. Collage ~ Have students create a mission collage with drawings, words, and pictures from magazines or newspapers. Use the collage as the cover of a prayer journal. Create a class or school bulletin board dedicated to the Missions. Focus on prayer, solidarity, sacrifice, and our common discipleship in Christ. Mission Education Curriculm Guide 11

13 Learn Research how the Sacraments of Initiation are celebrated in different parts of the world. How are the Sacraments of Initiation celebrated in your home parish? Draw a picture to share your discoveries. Plan a lesson around the theme of water (and water issues throughout the world); make the connection with the Sacrament of Baptism. Ask students to design a poster about what they think it means to continue the mission of Jesus. Ask missionaries about the customs and rituals related to the Sacraments in the countries in which they work. Select a song about mission the mission of Jesus or of the Church today and illustrate it. Make a collage representing the Body of Christ around the globe. Use pictures from mission magazines or other multi-cultural resources. Children learning their alphabet can be introduced to some of the cultures and customs of their sisters and brothers of the universal Church, as in A is for Africa, B is for Brazil, etc. Bring inexpensive band aids and copies of the local newspaper or mission magazines to class. Help students sort through stories and name a place where the healing presence of Jesus is needed. Then during a time of prayer, take a flat map or globe and place an adhesive over the country that is hurting. Or, write words like God, food, peace, love, bread or other Gospel values on the band aids. Invite the children to place the strips on the map where people are hurting and in need of those gifts/qualities. Decorate paper bookmarks with pictures from mission magazines. Write a short prayer or Scripture passage on the back. Laminate and punch a hole in the top and attach a ribbon. Have students write thank-you cards to their parents or family members, expressing gratitude for the things they have that young people in the Missions may not. This is a most appropriate activity for the month of November. 12 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

14 Live Brainstorm with your class ways you all, regardless of your age or grade in school, can witness to and proclaim the Good News of Jesus. Make a commitment to perform at least one of those actions regularly (every day or every week). Consider keeping a class chart to record your efforts. Engage in a class discussion to find suggestions of how children can be missionaries through their words and actions every day. List the ideas and cut them into single pieces one idea on each piece of paper and then place them in a large bowl. Each day, draw a suggestion from the bowl and have children be on mission in that way. Ask children for their ideas of how to actively engage children in mission work locally and throughout the world. Create a classroom project from their ideas to raise awareness of and financial support for missions and missionaries. Place a mirror in the classroom. Label it: I am a missionary. When youngsters sneak a peek at themselves from time to time, they will be reminded of their responsibility to continue the mission of Jesus. Sacrifice Set up a giving tree with paper ornaments to buy. List basic needs on each ornament that children in the Missions are lacking and assign a price. For example, cup of milk, a quarter; school book, a dollar. Collect and contribute the money for the Missions. Collect an assortment of fast food containers: cups, bags, meal boxes, small boxes for hamburgers or chicken nuggets, etc. Put these empty containers on display in your classroom or in the school cafeteria, along with the actual price of the food item they contained. Have other students purchase the cartons. Post a sign detailing what the $1 or $2 might be able to provide for children in mission countries. Mission Education Curriculm Guide 13

15 3rd Grade through 5th Grade Lesson Plans 1 14 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

16 PRAY for missions and missionaries: The World Mission Rosary Objective: Students will pray for the poor, sick, hungry, homeless, and those who do not know Jesus. Materials: 1. World Mission Rosary (Digital rosary can be found at 2. World Mission Rosary poster (Can be ordered through 3. List of bible verses 4. Paper bookmark for each student 5. Art supplies (markers, crayons, glitter, etc.) to decorate book mark 6. Optional: Laptop and projector to show World Mission Rosary and the rosary prayers Procedure: 1. Show World Mission Rosary poster to your students. 2. Explain that different places on the map have different colors. In the United States, where we live, it is red. Point to the United States and have each child come up and point to the United States. Point to the other continents and tell the students what continent it is and ask them to tell you the color that represents that continent. Hang up the poster where students can still see it and keep up throughout the school year. 3. Show the World Mission Rosary. Tell the students that each decade of the Rosary matches one of the colors on our map. When we pray that color on the Rosary, we are praying for those people in that place. If you have the physical World Mission Rosary, pass it around so each child can hold it. 4. Each student will select a continent on the World Mission Rosary poster to pray for its people who are poor, sick, hungry, homeless, and those who do not know Jesus. Application and Closing: 1. Each child will create a bookmark that reminds them to pray for the people one the continent they chose from the World Mission Rosary poster. 2. On the bookmark, have each child either write a prayer or include a passage from the Bible that reminds us to pray for and take care of others. 3. If time, allow students to decorate their bookmark. If possible, have these laminated. 4. Remind students that every time they look at their bookmark, they are to pray for the poor, sick, hungry, homeless, and those who do not know Jesus. From Pope Francis: The missionary power of intercessory prayer One form of prayer moves us particularly to take up the task of evangelization and to seek the good of others: it is the prayer of intercession. Let us peer for a moment into the heart of Saint Paul, to see what his prayer was like. It was full of people: I constantly pray with you in every one of my prayers for all of you because I hold you in my heart (Phil 1:4, 7). Joy of the Gospel, Paragraph 281 Mission Education Curriculm Guide 15

17 Learn about missionaries: Around the World Objective: Students will develop an awareness that there are poor, sick, hungry, and homeless people in the world and they are called to pray for them. Materials: 1. Mission magazine(s) 2. Large map 3. World Mission Rosary poster(s) 4. World Mission Rosary 5. Optional: Laptop and project to show people who are poor, hungry, homeless, and sick. Procedure: 1. Tell students that there are many people in our community, diocese, state, country and world who do not have enough money to buy food, who do not have a home, or do not know who Jesus is. Tell students how important it is that we help them as much as we can and that we pray for them. 2. Show a picture of a person who is poor, a person who is hungry, a person who is homeless, and a person who is sick. Point to the country on the map where each of these people are. 3. Ask students to show you what color on the World Mission Rosary that country is. Application and Closing: 1. Have students look through the mission magazine for people who are poor, hungry, sick, or homeless. 2. Have students identify on the map what country each of these people are from and identify the color of that country on the World Mission Rosary poster. 3. Pray one Hail Mary on each color of the World Mission Rosary for people who suffer in each of the continents. Catechism of the Catholic Church: Secondly, the Church is catholic because she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race: All men are called to belong to the new People of God. This People, therefore, while remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout the whole world and to all ages in order that the design of God s will may be fulfilled: he made human nature one in the beginning and has decreed that all his children who were scattered should be finally gathered together as one... The character of universality which adorns the People of God is a gift from the Lord himself whereby the Catholic Church ceaselessly and efficaciously seeks for the return of all humanity and all its goods, under Christ the Head in the unity of his Spirit. Paragraph Mission Education Curriculm Guide

18 Live as missionaries: The Great Commissioning Objective: Students will understand that through their Baptism, they are called to be missionaries. Materials: 1. Bible One for each child is preferred 2. Poster paper 3. Markers Procedure: 1. Ask students to name the very first sacrament that they received. (Baptism) 2. It is very important for students to understand that by being baptized, we are all missionaries. As missionaries it is our job to tell others about Jesus. This is called Evangelizing. 3. Have students look up Matthew 28:19 in the Bible. Read this verse aloud. This is the Great Commissioning from Jesus and this is what it means to be a missionary: to teach others about Jesus. 4. Ask students to list ways that we can teach others about Jesus? Application and Closing 1. In small groups, have students create a poster with their ideas of how to be missionaries. Leave these hanging in the classroom all year. Optional: create a whole class poster. 2. Challenge the students to complete a task during the week that shows they are living as missionaries. From St. John Paul II All who believe in Christ should feel, as an integral part of their faith, an apostolic concern to pass on to others its light and joy. Every person has the right to hear the Good News. Mission Education Curriculm Guide 17

19 Sacrifice for others: CRS Rice Bowl Objective: Students will raise money that will help the poor through Catholic Relief Services Lenten Rice Bowl. Materials: 1. Rice Bowls for each student (Order, free of charge, at 2. Lenten calendars Procedure: 1. Distribute Rice Bowls at the beginning of Lent. Make sure each student receives a Rice Bowl and is prepared to use it at home. 2. Use the Blessing of the Rice Bowls: A 10-minute Prayer Service to start your Lenten journey 3. Download the Letter to Families from to send home with the Rice Bowls. Closing: 1. Collect Rice Bowls at the end of Lent. CRS suggests Holy Week as Rice Bowl Collection Week for Catholic schools and parish religious education programs. 2. Close your CRS Rice Bowl experience with prayer using the End of Lent Prayer Service. 3. Enlist students or volunteers to help count coins, cash and checks. Mail your check to Catholic Relief Services at: Catholic Relief Services, Attn: CRS Rice Bowl P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD Be sure to write CRS Rice Bowl on the memo line of the check. 4. Celebrate your community s results! Publish the number of Rice Bowls returned and total amount collected in your school newsletter or parish bulletin. Be sure to thank participants for their generosity! Your students are enriching their faith and making a difference in the lives of the world s poor! Educator Notes: Join the CRS Rice Bowl Educator s Community! Get ideas and timely resources ed to you during, after and in the weeks leading up to Lent. Visit to join. Be sure to like CRS Rice Bowl on Facebook! Share your classroom experiences, see what other educators are doing, and maybe win a prize for your class! Optional: If you would rather use this lesson outside of Lent, please collect money and send to Office of Faith Formation, 424 N. Broadway, Wichita, Kansas These funds will then be sent to support diocesan missionaries. 18 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

20 Catechism of the Catholic Church On her pilgrimage, the Church has also experienced the discrepancy existing between the message she proclaims and the human weakness of those to whom the Gospel has been entrusted. Only by taking the way of penance and renewal, the narrow way of the cross, can the People of God extend Christ s reign. For just as Christ carried out the work of redemption in poverty and oppression, so the Church is called to follow the same path if she is to communicate the fruits of salvation to men. Paragraph 853 Mission Education Curriculm Guide 19

21 3rd Grade through 5th Grade Lesson Ideas 1 The following lesson plan ideas are teaching options if you choose to forgo any of the pre-made lesson plans beginning on page Mission Education Curriculm Guide

22 Pray People pray in many languages. Research the Our Father prayer in different languages. Learn to say the words Our Father in the language of a mission country. Use the Our Father in the language you learned to start your prayers. Find pictures from mission magazines of people praying. Create a bulletin board in your classroom of these people. Add to the board during the year to remind you of the importance of your own daily prayers for the Missions. Write your own prayer for children in mission countries. Talk about the importance of communicating with your family and friends. What do you discuss? Why is it important to communicate with God? Set a certain time aside each day to pray. Create a world time chart; use it to find what others are doing at the time you are praying. Discuss what children in mission countries may be doing at that time; for example, if it s bedtime, they may be sleeping or looking for a place to sleep; if it s dinner time, they may be eating or going hungry; etc. Say a special prayer for these children during your prayer time your communication with God your Father. When do Christians gather together to pray? Why is it important? Why is it important to pray with others? At each celebration of the Eucharist, we join Catholics around the world, united in one faith, one Church. Use mission magazines to find pictures of people in different countries praying together at Mass. Read John 14: If we are called to the mission of Jesus, why is this passage important to us? What do we learn about the power of prayer in this passage? Make prayers to create a mission prayer chain for the number of days in the school year. Break a link each day, and pray that prayer. Show how we are inspired to pray through Mary and the saints. Choose a prayer of a saint to pray for those working in mission countries to say each week. Put the names of world leaders on popsicle sticks. Choose a name daily, and pray for that leader to help find peaceful solutions to issues in his/her country or community. Decorate paper bookmarks with pictures from mission magazines. Write a short prayer or Scripture passage on the back. Laminate and punch a hole in the top and attach a ribbon. Pray daily for all who continue Jesus mission in our world today. Ask the Holy Spirit to open the hearts of all to believe in Jesus and His Good News. Pray for strength for missionaries. Mission Education Curriculm Guide 21

23 Learn Have students work out an acrostic using the word MISSION. Each letter might stand for a particular prayer intention of a missionary (M: for motorcycles so missionaries can travel to bring the Good News of Jesus to others) or for a country that a child might like to visit and why (S: I would like to visit Senegal to serve the poor and help them come to know Jesus). At the end of class, allow students to present their acrostics; then post them as mission reminders. Bring inexpensive band aids and copies of the local newspaper or mission magazines to class. Help students sort through stories and name a place where the healing presence of Jesus is needed. Then during a time of prayer, take a flat map or globe and place an adhesive over the country that is hurting. Or, write words like God, food, peace, love, bread or other Gospel values on the band aids. Invite the children to place the strips on the map where people are hurting and in need of those gifts/qualities. Ask Catholic school or religious education students to print out the Great Commission from St.Matthew s Gospel (28:19-20). Use a dictionary to find the definition of the word, commission. Discuss who Jesus was commissioning and how each person is commissioned today to help people know Jesus. Have the students make a construction-paper frame, and bring the passage home to put on their bedroom mirrors or family refrigerator. During Lent, invite children to bring in an article from a newspaper or a mission magazine that illustrates how Jesus continues to suffer in the world today. Staple articles to a large cross made of wood or paper. Allow students time to write in their prayer journal their feelings and thoughts. Think about a time you prayed for strength to do something hard. What difficulties might a child in a mission country have? Say a prayer for strength to help that child. Think of the hardships of refugees in mission countries. Pray that they can forgive those who bring fighting and division to their countries, causing people to flee. Holy people of very strong faith are named saints by the Church. Many countries have patron saints. Learn about the patron saints of several mission countries. Tell or act out for younger students the stories of the lives of these saints; be sure to include examples of the way the saints witnessed to their faith in their words and actions. Research the life of St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Francis Xavier, co-patrons of the Church s worldwide missionary work and of missionaries. How were their lives, lives of prayer? Have children choose a lesson from their life to guide their own missionary life. Raise the level of consciousness in children through research on the environment and all God s creatures, including the human race. Those living in mission countries are often hardest hit by the destruction and over us of land and water. Stress the 3 R s Reduce, Reuse, Recycle in class and at home. Research a missionary saint to learn how he/she related with God, in prayer. Share what you learned about this saint s spirituality with a classmate. Are there similarities and differences? What does this tell us? 22 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

24 Live Brainstorm with your class ways you all, regardless of your age or grade in school, can witness to and proclaim the Good News of Jesus. Make a commitment to perform at least one of those actions regularly (every day or every week). Consider keeping a class chart to record your efforts. How can we help people living in poverty? Why should we help them? Make a list of ways you can help. Write your own explanation of the words, Go now, to love and serve the Lord. Discuss this as a sending of all on mission to spread the Good News of Jesus. Create a poster to illustrate the phrase. Put it on display in school or at home. Engage in a class discussion to find suggestions of how children can be missionaries through their words and actions every day. List the ideas and cut them into single pieces one idea on each piece of paper and then place them in a large bowl. Each day, draw a suggestion from the bowl and have children be on mission in that way. Ask children for their ideas of how to actively engage children in mission work locally and throughout the world. Create a classroom project from their ideas to raise awareness of and financial support for Missions and missionaries. Create a class or school bulletin board dedicated to the Missions. Focus on prayer, solidarity, sacrifice, and our common discipleship in Christ. Have students write thank-you cards to their parents or family members, expressing gratitude for the things they have that young people in the Missions may not. This is a most appropriate activity for the month of November. Create paper mobiles. You may do a mission country mobile with each piece representing a different aspect of that country s culture flag, food, clothing, cultural items, etc. or the needs of the children in that country clean water, the love of Jesus, school books, etc. Place a mirror in the classroom. Label it: I am a missionary. When youngsters sneak a peek at themselves from time to time, they will be reminded of their responsibility to continue the mission of Jesus. Mission Education Curriculm Guide 23

25 Sacrifice Collect an assortment of fast food containers: cups, bags, meal boxes, small boxes for hamburgers or chicken nuggets, etc. Put these empty containers on display in your classroom or in the school cafeteria, along with the actual price of the food item they contained. Have other students purchase the cartons. Post a sign detailing what the $1 or $2 might be able to provide for children in mission countries. Set up a giving tree with paper ornaments to buy. List basic needs on each ornament that children in the Missions are lacking and assign a price. For example, cup of milk, a quarter; school book, a dollar. Collect and contribute the money for the Missions. 24 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

26 6th Grade through 8th Grade Lesson Plans 1 Mission Education Curriculm Guide 25

27 PRAY for missions and missionaries: The World Mission Rosary Objective: Students will pray for those around the world who experience conflict using the World Mission Rosary. Materials: 1. World Mission Rosary (Digital rosary can be found at 2. World Mission Rosary poster (Can be ordered through 3. Computer 4. Mission magazine(s) 5. Prayer journal 6. Glue or tape 7. Optional: Laptop and projector to show World Mission Rosary and the rosary prayers Procedure: 1. Ask students what happens when we stop talking to our family and friends because we re angry or upset? How does this relate to conflicts throughout the world? Have students discuss these questions with a partner and ask for volunteers to share what they discussed. 2. Tell students that, as Christians, we are called to pray for children and adults who are constantly in the middle of conflicts. In many countries, people have lost their homes and do not have enough to eat because of fighting between groups and countries. 3. Show the World Mission Rosary. Tell the students that we are going to pray one Hail Mary from each of the colored decades for the people who are suffering from conflict on those continents. Application and Closing: 1. If time, have students research various prayers from around the world and have them choose one to add to their prayer journal. 2. Encourage students to pray this prayer often for those who are suffering due to conflict. From Pope Francis: The missionary power of intercessory prayer One form of prayer moves us particularly to take up the task of evangelization and to seek the good of others: it is the prayer of intercession. Let us peer for a moment into the heart of Saint Paul, to see what his prayer was like. It was full of people: I constantly pray with you in every one of my prayers for all of you because I hold you in my heart (Phil 1:4, 7). Joy of the Gospel, Paragraph Mission Education Curriculm Guide

28 Learn about missionaries: What is a Missionary Objective: Students will correspond with missionaries from our diocese to understand the call to missionary life and what it entails. Materials: 1. Notebook paper 2. Envelopes 3. Computer 4. Optional: Projector to show pictures from missionary s blog ( Procedure: 1. Tell students that by our Baptism we are all called to be missionaries and tell those around us about Jesus. Some people have a call to sell all they have and serve the poor and teach others about Jesus through their words and actions. 2. Explain to students that we have people from our own diocese who have answered that call and now live in a different country living with the poor that they serve. 3. One family from our diocese that has served as missionaries are Donovan and Blair Bailey and their children. They are currently serving the poor in Malaybalay in the Philippines. 4. Project the Bailey s blog for the students to see or you can print pictures from their blog to pass around to the students. 5. Read aloud from a pre-chosen blog post (such as this one from the Baileys) and discuss with the class some of the rewards and struggles missionaries face. Application and Closing: 1. Students will write letters to the Bailey family, introducing themselves and ask any questions they have about missionary life. This is a correspondence that can last the entire school year. 2. Optional: Put together a care package for the children that the Baileys are serving in the Phillipines. 3. Optional: Raise money to support the Baileys mission. Catechism of the Catholic Church The missionary mandate. Having been divinely sent to the nations that she might be the universal sacrament of salvation, the Church, in obedience to the command of her founder and because it is demanded by her own essential universality, strives to preach the Gospel to all men : Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and Lo, I am with you always, until the close of the age. Paragraph 849 Mission Education Curriculm Guide 27

29 Live as missionaries: Daily Living as a Missionary Objective: Students demonstrate how they can live out their missionary call in their daily lives. Materials: 1. Bible One for each child is preferred 2. Paper of any sort 3. Pencil 4. Jar or container 5. Scissors Procedure: 1. Ask students what is the very first sacrament is that they received. (Baptism) 2. It is very important for students to understand that by being baptized, we are all missionaries. As missionaries it is our job to tell others about Jesus. This is called Evangelizing. 3. Have students look up Matthew 28:19 in the Bible. Read this verse aloud. This is the Great Commissioning from Jesus and this is what it means to be a missionary: to teach others about Jesus. Application and Closing 1. Engage in a class discussion to find suggestions of how children can be missionaries through their words and actions every day. 2. Have students make a list of their own ideas and cut them into strips. 3. Place all the ideas in a container and each day or class, draw a suggestion from the container and have the students be a missionary in that way. 28 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

30 Sacrifice for others: CRS Rice Bowl Objective: Students will raise money that will help the poor through Catholic Relief Services Lenten Rice Bowl. Materials: 1. Rice Bowls for each student (Order, free of charge, at 2. Lenten calendars Procedure: 1. Distribute Rice Bowls at the beginning of Lent. Make sure each student receives a Rice Bowl and is prepared to use it at home. 2. Use the Blessing of the Rice Bowls: A 10-minute Prayer Service to start your Lenten journey 3. Download the Letter to Families from to send home with the Rice Bowls. Closing: 1. Collect Rice Bowls at the end of Lent. CRS suggests Holy Week as Rice Bowl Collection Week for Catholic schools and parish religious education programs. 2. Close your CRS Rice Bowl experience with prayer using the End of Lent Prayer Service. 3. Enlist students or volunteers to help count coins, cash and checks. Mail your check to Catholic Relief Services at: Catholic Relief Services, Attn: CRS Rice Bowl P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD Be sure to write CRS Rice Bowl on the memo line of the check. 4. Celebrate your community s results! Publish the number of Rice Bowls returned and total amount collected in your school newsletter or parish bulletin. Be sure to thank participants for their generosity! Your students are enriching their faith and making a difference in the lives of the world s poor! Educator Notes: Join the CRS Rice Bowl Educator s Community! Get ideas and timely resources ed to you during, after and in the weeks leading up to Lent. Visit to join. Be sure to like CRS Rice Bowl on Facebook! Share your classroom experiences, see what other educators are doing, and maybe win a prize for your class! Optional: If you would rather use this lesson outside of Lent, please collect money and send to Office of Faith Formation, 424 N. Broadway, Wichita, Kansas These funds will then be sent to support diocesan missionaries. Mission Education Curriculm Guide 29

31 Catechism of the Catholic Church On her pilgrimage, the Church has also experienced the discrepancy existing between the message she proclaims and the human weakness of those to whom the Gospel has been entrusted. Only by taking the way of penance and renewal, the narrow way of the cross, can the People of God extend Christ s reign. For just as Christ carried out the work of redemption in poverty and oppression, so the Church is called to follow the same path if she is to communicate the fruits of salvation to men. Paragraph Mission Education Curriculm Guide

32 6th Grade through 8th Grade Lesson IDEAS 1 The following lesson plan ideas are teaching options if you choose to forgo any of the pre-made lesson plans beginning on page 22. Mission Education Curriculm Guide 31

33 Pray People pray in many languages. Research the Our Father prayer in different languages. Learn to say the words Our Father in the language of a mission country. Use the Our Father in the language you learned to start your prayers. What happens when we stop talking to our family and friends because we re angry or upset? How does this relate to conflicts throughout the world? How does this relate to our talking to God? Create a prayer portfolio. Find prayers from places around the world that have special meaning to you and put them in the portfolio. Pray one of these special prayers for our brothers and sisters living in countries that are in conflict. Think of the hardships of refugees in mission countries. Pray that they can forgive those who bring fighting and division to their countries, causing people to flee. Learn the Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. How does this prayer relate to the mission? Create a visual representation of each line of the prayer. Write prayers of praise, thanksgiving, forgiveness, petition, each relating to the Missions and missionaries. Keep these prayers, as well as a picture of a child in a mission country for each prayer, in a prayer journal. Pray for mission children daily. Provide time for students to pray a novena (nine consecutive days using the same prayer) for people living in poverty. Put the names of world leaders on popsicle sticks. Choose a name daily, and pray for that leader to help find peaceful solutions to issues in his/her country or community. Pray daily for all who continue Jesus mission in our world today. Ask the Holy Spirit to open the hearts of all to believe in Jesus and His Good News. Pray for strength for missionaries. 32 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

34 Learn Compare and contrast the mission of the prophet Isaiah and that of Jesus. What changes are called for? Ask students to write letters to missionaries from the diocese who are serving the global Church. Let the missionaries know that the children are praying for their work, and all the Missions. Ask missionaries about the customs and rituals related to the Sacraments in the countries in which they work. Ask students to read about missionaries today in a print publication or online. Ask them to answer the following through a brief essay, rap, poem or short video: What do you admire about these disciples? What do you find challenging about their life and ministry? Have you ever considered a missionary vocation? Using your computer skills compare and contrast the mission of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 61) with that of Jesus (Luke 4:16-22). What action is called for in both? Read John 20:24-29 (Jesus appears to Thomas) with a friend. Explain what Jesus said about those who believe in Jesus, but have not seen Him. What carries you through moments of doubt, when you feel separated from the love of Jesus? Research the missionary life of St. Thomas. Make a map showing where he went to spread the Good News of Jesus. On our journeys today, just here at home, how can we help others come to know Jesus better, and experience His great love? Say the Our Father with your classmates. Listen to each line and think about what it means. On a map, use pins or stickers to locate the predominantly Christian nations where God is called Father. CIA World Fact Book ( publications/the-world-factbook/) for information about religious populations. Celebrate the day associated with missionary saints. How did they spread the Good News of Jesus? Research one important fact about each saint. Create a collage or bulletin board with images of those saints and those facts. Explain or research the meanings of the various prayer traditions in our faith. Have the students research prayer traditions in faiths found in mission countries. Compare these prayer traditions. Read John 16:5-15. Jesus speaks of sending the Spirit to help the Apostles live the mission of Jesus by spreading the Good News. Choose one Apostle; learn about his travels and how he fulfilled his call to be a missionary. Create a journal of his life on mission. Invite a missionary into the class to talk about his/her work in helping others come to know God s love. Ask how prayer helps their work. Pray for vocations to missionary work. Create a class or school bulletin board dedicated to the Missions. Focus on prayer, solidarity, sacrifice, and our common discipleship in Christ. Have students write thank-you cards to their parents or family members, expressing gratitude for the things they have that young people in the Missions may not. This is a most appropriate activity for the month of November. Mission Education Curriculm Guide 33

35 Research current patterns of people migration. Talk about the causes of those patterns, and what may need to change so people may remain in their homelands. Create paper cranes which represent peace! Have students fold cranes and string them together like they do in Peace Park in Nagasaki, Japan, site of the atomic bomb drop. Prayers for peace can be written on the papers before they are folded. Ask students to write a brief essay reflecting on who are the poor, captive, blind and oppressed in today s world. Help children learn more about God s love for all people by using international flags. Order or make a flag that combines parts of flags from various mission countries. Hang flags throughout your classroom as a reminder to pray for the missionary work of the Church and the people in those countries. Global Village ~ Use the classroom or the gymnasium to set up different stations, each representing a mission country. Have students research and display clothing, music, dance, prayer and other cultural elements of that country. Native foods or dishes could be served. 34 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

36 Live Brainstorm with your class ways you all, regardless of your age or grade in school, can witness to and proclaim the Good News of Jesus. Make a commitment to perform at least one of those actions regularly (every day or every week). Consider keeping a class chart to record your efforts. How is the Holy Spirit being active in your life? What does that mean? How does the Spirit make you aware of the needs of others? Say a special prayer for children in mission countries every day. Discuss the meaning of God s Kingdom. How can it be on earth as it is in heaven? Make a list of ways students on mission can make the Kingdom present here on earth. Engage in a class discussion to find suggestions of how children can be missionaries through their words and actions every day. List the ideas and cut them into single pieces one idea on each piece of paper and then place them in a large bowl. Each day, draw a suggestion from the bowl and have children be on mission in that way. Ask children for their ideas of how to actively engage children in mission work locally and throughout the world. Create a classroom project from their ideas to raise awareness of and financial support for Missions and missionaries. Mission Education Curriculm Guide 35

37 Sacrifice Sacrifice characterized Jesus death on the Cross. We have to learn to make sacrifices. Live with less, that others might simply live, said Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. One way to make a financial sacrifice is to set a goal for a mission offering from the class. One fun example: Add together the combined height (or weight) of a class. Encourage the class to give-up or sacrifice a nickel for every inch. Keep a chart to mark progress. This could also be an ideal time to discuss nutrition/health issues affecting children in the Missions. What does sacrificing for others mean? How can we help others in our world those living in poverty, those who are treated unjustly, and those who feel unloved? Find a news item about an unjust situation in our world. Talk to your classmates about what you found, and what they might do to make a difference in this situation. Pray for the people (by name) in the article you find. Research environmental issues, peace and justice issues, poverty, water use, etc. around the world. How can we help and support our brothers and sisters in need? How can we support and care for the earth and its creatures? Provide time for presentations and discussions in class. Have students create a play to raise awareness of these issues. Perform the play for younger children. Rice in a Bag. Measure ¼ cup dry rice into a small zip lock bag and seal. Hand out the bags of rice to your students to take home and have them ask someone to cook the rice for them. This activity shows how much rice children in the Missions receive each day for the whole day. Challenge the students to eat just that for supper while their family eats a regular meal. Spend time the next day reflecting on the experience. Make a different kind of basket for Easter or Thanksgiving to raise consciousness about the plight of refugees and immigrants in the United States. Contact the Office of Respect Life and Social Justice at Find out what kind of items students could collect in a basket to assist these people in need, connecting that to acting out of love for Jesus. 36 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

38 9th Grade through 12th Grade Lesson Plans 1 Mission Education Curriculm Guide 37

39 PRAY for missions and missionaries: The Missionary Power of Intercessory Prayer Objective: Students will pray for those who have not heard the Gospel message. Materials: 1. Picture of 10/40 Window 2. Copies of paragraph 281 from The Joy of the Gospel by Pope Francis 3. Prayer journal or notecards 4. Optional: Projector to show paragraph 281 from The Joy of the Gospel and the 10/40 window. Procedure: 1. Remind students that through our Baptism we are called to be missionaries. One of the ways that we can live out this mission is to pray for others, especially those who have never heard the Gospel message. 2. Read aloud (or have a student read aloud) paragraph 281 from Pope Francis document, The Joy of the Gospel. 3. Make it clear that intercessory prayer is praying for others, asking God for goods on their behalf. 4. Show students the 10/40 Window, explaining that it represents the area where the least number of people have been evangelized. It is called the 10/40 Window, because it begins at 10 degrees latitude and ends at 40 degrees latitude. 5. Within these countries, 90% of people have NEVER heard the Gospel message. This means that nearly 6 billion people have never heard of Jesus Christ! 6. Tell students that we can t hop the next plane to evangelize these people, but we can do our part to evangelize by praying for them. Application and Closing: 1. Assign partners and have them write intercessory prayers for those in the 10/40 Window. If computers are available, allow them to look up the facts from the 10/40 Window website. 2. Use these intercessory prayers at Mass, post in the bulletin and/or on your website. From Pope Francis: The missionary power of intercessory prayer One form of prayer moves us particularly to take up the task of evangelization and to seek the good of others: it is the prayer of intercession. Let us peer for a moment into the heart of Saint Paul, to see what his prayer was like. It was full of people: I constantly pray with you in every one of my prayers for all of you because I hold you in my heart (Phil 1:4, 7). Joy of the Gospel, Paragraph 281) 38 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

40 Learn about missionaries: The Call to be a Foreign Missionary Objective: Students will correspond with missionaries from our diocese to understand the call to missionary life and what it entails. Materials: 1. Bible 2. Computer and projector 3. Optional: Projector to show pictures from missionary s blog ( Procedure: 1. Review with students that by our Baptism we are all called to be missionaries and tell those around us about Jesus. Some people have a call to sell all they have and serve the poor and teach others about Jesus through their words and actions. 2. Explain to students that we has people from our own diocese who have answered that call and now live in a different country living with the poor that they serve. 3. One family from our diocese that have served as missionaries are Donovan and Blair Bailey and their children. They are currently serving the poor in Malaybalay in the Philippines. 4. Project the Baileys blog for the students to see or you can print pictures from their blog to pass around to the students. 5. Read aloud from a pre-chosen blog post (such as this one from the Baileys). Application and Closing: 1. In small groups, have students discuss the challenges that are encountered by missionaries. How might these be overcome? What questions do you have about missionary life? 2. Compile the questions and send to the Baileys. To obtain their address, contact the Office of Faith Formation at Optional: Put together a care package for the children that the Baileys are serving in the Philippines. 4. Optional: Raise money to support the Baileys missionary efforts. Catechism of the Catholic Church: Missionary motivation. It is from God s love for all men that the Church in every age receives both the obligation and the vigor of her missionary dynamism, for the love of Christ urges us on. Indeed, God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth ; that is, God wills the salvation of everyone through the knowledge of the truth. Salvation is found in the truth. Those who obey the prompting of the Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation. But the Church, to whom this truth has been entrusted, must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them the truth. Because she believes in God s universal plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary. Paragraph 851 Mission Education Curriculm Guide 39

41 Live as missionaries: Living as a Missionary Objective: Students will demonstrate how they can live out their missionary call in accord with the Corporal Works of Mercy. Materials: 1. Bible One for each student is preferred 2. Family Missions Company Video 3. Paper of any sort 4. Pencil, pen, markers 5. Poster paper Procedure: 1. Ask students if they can list the seven Corporal Works of Mercy. They may or may not. 2. Have students open up their Bibles and read Matthew 25: If students were unable to list the Corporal Works of Mercy at the beginning of class, ask them again. 4. Tell students that just as we have a mission to pray for others and teach others about Jesus, we can also be missionaries through our witness to Jesus teaching and engaging in the Corporal Works of Mercy. 5. Show students the video from Family Missions Company that shows young people being missionaries through their service to others. 6. Family Missions Company is an organization that specializes in lay missionaries. For more information visit their site, Application and Closing: 1. In small groups or with partners, have students brainstorm how they can serve others in their own parish and community, keeping in mind the Corporal Works of Mercy. 2. Have students create posters of their ideas and leave hanging in the classroom all year. 3. Optional: Choose one of these activities and do it as a class. Catechism of the Catholic Church: Missionary paths. The Holy Spirit is the protagonist, the principal agent of the whole of the Church s mission. It is he who leads the Church on her missionary paths. This mission continues and, in the course of history, unfolds the mission of Christ, who was sent to evangelize the poor; so the Church, urged on by the Spirit of Christ, must walk the road Christ himself walked, a way of poverty and obedience, of service and selfsacrifice even to death, a death from which he emerged victorious by his resurrection. So it is that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians. Paragraph Mission Education Curriculm Guide

42 Sacrifice for others: CRS Rice Bowl Objective: Students will raise money that will help the poor through Catholic Relief Services Lenten Rice Bowl. Materials: 1. Rice Bowls for each student (Order, free of charge, at 2. Lenten calendars Procedure: 1. Distribute Rice Bowls at the beginning of Lent. Make sure each student receives a Rice Bowl and is prepared to use it at home. 2. Use the Blessing of the Rice Bowls: A 10-minute Prayer Service to start your Lenten journey 3. Download the Letter to Families from to send home with the Rice Bowls. Closing: 1. Collect Rice Bowls at the end of Lent. CRS suggests Holy Week as Rice Bowl Collection Week for Catholic schools and parish religious education programs. 2. Close your CRS Rice Bowl experience with prayer using the End of Lent Prayer Service. 3. Enlist students or volunteers to help count coins, cash and checks. Mail your check to Catholic Relief Services at: Catholic Relief Services, Attn: CRS Rice Bowl P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD Be sure to write CRS Rice Bowl on the memo line of the check. 4. Celebrate your community s results! Publish the number of Rice Bowls returned and total amount collected in your school newsletter or parish bulletin. Be sure to thank participants for their generosity! Your students are enriching their faith and making a difference in the lives of the world s poor! Educator Notes: Join the CRS Rice Bowl Educator s Community! Get ideas and timely resources ed to you during, after and in the weeks leading up to Lent. Visit to join. Be sure to like CRS Rice Bowl on Facebook! Share your classroom experiences, see what other educators are doing, and maybe win a prize for your class! Optional: If you would rather use this lesson outside of Lent, please collect money and send to Office of Faith Formation, 424 N. Broadway, Wichita, Kansas These funds will then be sent to support diocesan missionaries. Mission Education Curriculm Guide 41

43 Catechism of the Catholic Church On her pilgrimage, the Church has also experienced the discrepancy existing between the message she proclaims and the human weakness of those to whom the Gospel has been entrusted. Only by taking the way of penance and renewal, the narrow way of the cross, can the People of God extend Christ s reign. For just as Christ carried out the work of redemption in poverty and oppression, so the Church is called to follow the same path if she is to communicate the fruits of salvation to men. Paragraph Mission Education Curriculm Guide

44 All School Mission Awareness Lesson Ideas 1 Ideal for October, Advent, and Lent Mission Education Curriculm Guide 43

45 Kindergarten through 6th Grade Get the students involved in making a love chain for October, Mission Month. In the vestibule of the church, have strips of paper where people can write their names before Mass. Staple the strip of paper in a closed circle and then connect it to others to make a chain. Add in the name of missionary saints, or people from the diocese working in Missions. Print a sign that says something like: Each link in this chain has the name of a missionary who spreads the love of Christ here at home or in another country. You can help our foreign missionaries by your prayers and generous monetary gifts. As a reminder, drape the chain around the vestibule or in the sanctuary, as permitted. What a great way to get your whole parish involved. Ask the pastor to mention this effort at the homily and include a General Intercession for missionaries. Ask students to write letters to missionaries from the area who are serving the global Church. Contact the Office of Faith Formation at for a list of those from our diocese serving as missionaries. Let the missionaries know that the children are praying for their work, and all the Missions. Ask missionaries about the customs and rituals related to the Sacraments in the countries in which they work. Host a Mission Week in the Catholic school. Each day focus on the awareness of a different continent. Tie in the use of the World Mission Rosary (initiated by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen). Ask various classes to research food, music, religion and customs of a continent, and prepare a display. Brainstorm with your class ways you all, regardless of your age or grade in school, can witness to and proclaim the Good News of Jesus. Make a commitment to perform at least one of those actions regularly (every day or every week). Consider keeping a class chart to record your efforts. Invite students to create a personal mission statement incorporating their five senses and their belongings, for example I use my mouth to pray to God (to say nice things to my classmates); I use my eyes to see the good in others (to read and learn more about children in mission countries); I use my hands to offer help to Missionary Childhood Association (to carry groceries or packages for an elderly person in my neighborhood); etc. Reinforce that every child is a missionary, continuing the good works of Jesus and sharing the Good News of Jesus. Place a mirror in the classroom. Label it: I am a missionary. When youngsters sneak a peek at themselves from time to time, they will be reminded of their responsibility to continue the mission of Jesus. Once a month at a school Mass, pray for a specific country of the world and include that country s needs in your General Intercessions. Sacrifice characterized Jesus death on the Cross. We have to learn to make sacrifices. Live with less, that others might simply live, said Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. One way to make a financial sacrifice is to set a goal for a mission offering from the class. One fun example: Add together the combined height (or weight) of a class. Encourage the class to give-up or sacrifice a nickel for every inch. Keep a chart to mark progress. This could also be an ideal time to discuss nutrition/health issues affecting children in the Missions. Explain that the decades of a World Mission Rosary represent missions and missionaries throughout the continents of the world. (Each color represents a different part of the world where the Church continues the mission of Jesus.) Use materials from the Missionary Childhood Association as part of the explanation and as a meditation guide while praying the World Mission Rosary. Celebrate a living World Mission Rosary with children wearing the color of the area their decade represents. 44 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

46 Focus on one mission area or mission country each week, and pray the decade of the World Mission Rosary associated with that area / country. Prior to beginning the Rosary, have students locate the continent / country on a globe or map. Mark that area with a paper cross. Pray specifically for people living in poverty or in need of the Lord s love and healing in one of those countries. Create a mission prayer service as a class during the Advent and Lent seasons using prayers of missionaries, petitions for issues of peace and justice, and Scripture readings cited in these activities about prayer. Invite families to join in the prayer service. Prepare a list of petitions relating to the Missions for Liturgy. In your daily prayers, offer your intentions for people in need. Be sure to use the person s name, if you know it. Invite a missionary into the class to talk about his/her work in helping others come to know God s love. Ask how prayer helps their work. Pray for vocations to missionary work. Engage in a class discussion to find suggestions of how children can be missionaries through their words and actions every day. List the ideas and cut them into single pieces one idea on each piece of paper and then place them in a large bowl. Each day, draw a suggestion from the bowl and have children be on mission in that way. Ask children for their ideas of how to actively engage children in mission work locally and throughout the world. Create a classroom project from their ideas to raise awareness of and financial support for Missions and missionaries. Create a class or school bulletin board dedicated to the Missions. Focus on prayer, solidarity, sacrifice, and our common discipleship in Christ. Have students write thank-you cards to their parents or family members, expressing gratitude for the things they have that young people in the Missions may not. This is a most appropriate activity for the month of November. Set up a giving tree with paper ornaments to buy. List basic needs on each ornament that children in the Missions are lacking and assign a price. For example, cup of milk, a quarter; school book, a dollar. Collect and contribute the money for the Missions. Mission Yearbook ~ Does your school have a yearbook? Are the mission activities of the school as prominent as other activities and events? Work with those preparing your yearbook to include them, or create a Mission Yearbook that can include a new page for each year s graduating class. What a beautiful school legacy! T-Shirts ~ Create mission T-shirts for your class with a scene or message of global solidarity or about the Universal Church. This could be a school-wide contest. Students could purchase shirts, and contribute moneys collected to the Missionary Childhood Association. Mission Farms ~ Photocopy small templates of animals. Children can buy animals to add to their class Mission Farm. For example, a chicken may cost a dime, and a goat, a quarter; a cow may cost a dollar. Display your farm of animals on a class bulletin board. Donate the money raised to the Missions. Mission Education Curriculm Guide 45

47 7th Grade through 12th grade Get the students involved in making a love chain for October, Mission Month. In the vestibule of the church, have strips of paper where people can write their names before Mass. Staple the strip of paper in a closed circle and then connect it to others to make a chain. Add in the name of missionary saints, or people from the diocese working in Missions. Print a sign that says something like: Each link in this chain has the name of a missionary who spreads the love of Christ here at home or in another country. You can help our foreign missionaries by your prayers and generous monetary gifts. As a reminder, drape the chain around the vestibule or in the sanctuary, as permitted. What a great way to get your whole parish involved. Ask the pastor to mention this effort at the homily and include a General Intercession for missionaries. Ask students to write letters to missionaries from the area who are serving the global Church. Contact the Office of Faith Formation at for a list of those from our diocese serving as missionaries. Let the missionaries know that the students are praying for their work, and all the Missions. Ask missionaries about the customs and rituals related to the Sacraments in the countries in which they work. Host a Mission Week in the Catholic school. Each day focus on the awareness of a different continent. Tie in the use of the World Mission Rosary (initiated by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen). Ask various classes to research food, music, religion and customs of a continent, and prepare a display. Brainstorm with your class ways you all, regardless of your age or grade in school, can witness to and proclaim the Good News of Jesus. Make a commitment to perform at least one of those actions regularly (every day or every week). Consider keeping a class chart to record your efforts. Place a mirror in the classroom. Label it: I am a missionary. When children sneak a peek at themselves from time to time, they will be reminded of their responsibility to continue the mission of Jesus. Once a month at a school Mass, pray for a specific country of the world and include that country s needs in your General Intercessions. Sacrifice characterized Jesus death on the Cross. We have to learn to make sacrifices. Live with less, that others might simply live, said Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. One way to make a financial sacrifice is to set a goal for a mission offering from the class. One fun example: Add together the combined height (or weight) of a class. Encourage the class to give-up or sacrifice a nickel for every inch. Keep a chart to mark progress. This could also be an ideal time to discuss nutrition/health issues affecting children in the Missions. Explain that the decades of a World Mission Rosary represent missions and missionaries throughout the continents of the world. (Each color represents a different part of the world where the Church continues the mission of Jesus.) Use materials from the Missionary Childhood Association as part of the explanation and as a meditation guide while praying the World Mission Rosary. Celebrate a living World Mission Rosary with students wearing the color of the area their decade represents. Focus on one mission area or mission country each week, and pray the decade of the World Mission Rosary associated with that area / country. Prior to beginning the Rosary, have students locate the continent / country on a globe or map. Mark that area with a paper cross. Pray specifically for people living in poverty or in need of the Lord s love and healing in one of those countries. 46 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

48 Create a mission prayer service as a class during the Advent and Lent seasons using prayers of missionaries, petitions for issues of peace and justice, and Scripture readings cited in these activities about prayer. Invite families to join in the prayer service. Prepare a list of petitions relating to the Missions for Liturgy. In your daily prayers, offer your intentions for people in need. Be sure to use the person s name, if you know it. Invite a missionary into the class to talk about his/her work in helping others come to know God s love. Ask how prayer helps their work. Pray for vocations to missionary work. Engage in a class discussion to find suggestions of how students can be missionaries through their words and actions every day. List the ideas and cut them into single pieces one idea on each piece of paper and then place them in a large bowl. Each day, draw a suggestion from the bowl and have students be on mission in that way. Ask students for their ideas of how to actively engage their peers in mission work locally and throughout the world. Create a classroom project from their ideas to raise awareness of and financial support for Missions and missionaries. Create a class or school bulletin board dedicated to the Missions. Focus on prayer, solidarity, sacrifice, and our common discipleship in Christ. Have students write thank-you cards to their parents or family members, expressing gratitude for the things they have that young people in the Missions may not. This is a most appropriate activity for the month of November. Set up a giving tree with paper ornaments to buy. List basic needs on each ornament that children in the Missions are lacking and assign a price. For example, cup of milk, a quarter; school book, a dollar. Collect and contribute the money for the Missions. Mission Yearbook ~ Does your school have a yearbook? Are the mission activities of the school as prominent as other activities and events? Work with those preparing your yearbook to include them, or create a Mission Yearbook that can include a new page for each year s graduating class. What a beautiful school legacy! T-Shirts ~ Create mission T-shirts for your class with a scene or message of global solidarity or about the Universal Church. This could be a school-wide contest. Students could purchase shirts, and contribute moneys collected to the Missionary Childhood Association. Mission Farms ~ Photocopy small templates of animals. Students can buy animals to add to their class Mission Farm. For example, a chicken may cost a dime, and a goat, a quarter; a cow may cost a dollar. Display your farm of animals on a class bulletin board. Donate the money raised to the Missions. Mission Education Curriculm Guide 47

49 Resources Pontifical Mission Society of the United States Under the jurisdiction of the Pope, PMS includes these missionary organizations: Society for the Propagation of the Faith: The Society for the Propagation of the Faith seeks prayer and sacrifice for the world s Missions, now some 1,150 dioceses in Asia, Africa, the Pacific Islands and remote regions of Latin America. Help is offered for pastoral and evangelizing programs, for catechists and catechetical work, to build churches and chapels, for the work of Religious communities in health care and education, and for communication and transportation needs. The Society of St. Peter Apostle: The Society of St. Peter then and now has been to invite individuals to support the education of candidates for the Catholic priesthood in the Developing World and to support the formation of men and women candidates for the Religious life in the Missions. Missionary Childhood Association: Today, MCA continues to follow the vision of Bishop Forbin-Janson children helping children. After learning about the great needs of the world s poorest children, young people are invited to pray and to offer financial help so that children in the Missions today may know Christ and experience His love and care. Missionary Union of Priests & Religious: Its goal is to increase awareness of the Church s worldwide mission among people engaged in pastoral ministry. Videos Catholic Relief Services YouTube Channel Family Missions Company YouTube Channel Pontifical Missions Society YouTube Channel Additional Lesson Plan Ideas Catholic Relief Services Missionary Childhood Association Rice Bowl Catholic Relief Services Opportunities to Donate: Catholic Relief Services Missionaries from the Wichita Diocese Mission Trip Opportunities Catholic Mission Trips Catholic Heart Workcamp Prayer and Action Shine Catholic Work Camp Church Documents Concerning the Mission of the Church Ad Gentes Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church during Vatican II Eucharist and Mission Message of his Holiness John Paul II for World Mission Sunday 2004 Evagnelii Nutiandi Evangelization in the Modern World. Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Paul VI 48 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

50 Redeptoris Missio Mission of the Redeemer. Encyclical of John Paul II Evangelii Gaudium Joy of the Gospel. Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis Catechism of the Catholic Church Regarding Mission of the Church Paragraph 2: So that this call should resound throughout the world, Christ sent forth the apostles he had chosen, commissioning them to proclaim the gospel: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. Strengthened by this mission, the apostles went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Paragraph 730: At last Jesus hour arrives: he commends his spirit into the Father s hands at the very moment when by his death he conquers death, so that, raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, he might immediately give the Holy Spirit by breathing on his disciples. From this hour onward, the mission of Christ and the Spirit becomes the mission of the Church: As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. Paragraph 738: Thus the Church s mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity. All of us who have received one and the same Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, are in a sense blended together with one another and with God. For if Christ, together with the Father s and his own Spirit, comes to dwell in each of us, though we are many, still the Spirit is one and undivided. He binds together the spirits of each and every one of us and makes all appear as one in him. For just as the power of Christ s sacred flesh unites those in whom it dwells into one body, I think that in the same way the one and undivided Spirit of God, who dwells in all, leads all into spiritual unity. Paragraph 768: So that she can fulfill her mission, the Holy Spirit bestows upon [the Church] varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her. Henceforward the Church, endowed with the gifts of her founder and faithfully observing his precepts of charity, humility and self denial, receives the mission of proclaiming and establishing among all peoples the Kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is on earth the seed and the beginning of that kingdom. Paragraph 831: Secondly, the Church is catholic because she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race: All men are called to belong to the new People of God. This People, therefore, while remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout the whole world and to all ages in order that the design of God s will may be fulfilled: he made human nature one in the beginning and has decreed that all his children who were scattered should be finally gathered together as one... The character of universality which adorns the People of God is a gift from the Lord himself whereby the Catholic Church ceaselessly and efficaciously seeks for the return of all humanity and all its goods, under Christ the Head in the unity of his Spirit. Paragraph 849: The missionary mandate. Having been divinely sent to the nations that she might be the universal sacrament of salvation, the Church, in obedience to the command of her founder and because it is demanded by her own essential universality, strives to preach the Gospel to all men : Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and Lo, I am with you always, until the close of the age. Paragraph 850: The origin and purpose of mission. The Lord s missionary mandate is ultimately grounded in the eternal love of the Most Holy Trinity: The Church on earth is by her nature missionary since, according to the plan of the Father, she has Mission Education Curriculm Guide 49

51 as her origin the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit. The ultimate purpose of mission is none other than to make men share in the communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of love. Paragraph 851: Missionary motivation. It is from God s love for all men that the Church in every age receives both the obligation and the vigor of her missionary dynamism, for the love of Christ urges us on. Indeed, God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth ; that is, God wills the salvation of everyone through the knowledge of the truth. Salvation is found in the truth. Those who obey the prompting of the Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation. But the Church, to whom this truth has been entrusted, must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them the truth. Because she believes in God s universal plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary. Paragraph 852: Missionary paths. The Holy Spirit is the protagonist, the principal agent of the whole of the Church s mission. It is he who leads the Church on her missionary paths. This mission continues and, in the course of history, unfolds the mission of Christ, who was sent to evangelize the poor; so the Church, urged on by the Spirit of Christ, must walk the road Christ himself walked, a way of poverty and obedience, of service and self-sacrifice even to death, a death from which he emerged victorious by his resurrection. So it is that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians. Paragraph 853: On her pilgrimage, the Church has also experienced the discrepancy existing between the message she proclaims and the human weakness of those to whom the Gospel has been entrusted. Only by taking the way of penance and renewal, the narrow way of the cross, can the People of God extend Christ s reign. For just as Christ carried out the work of redemption in poverty and oppression, so the Church is called to follow the same path if she is to communicate the fruits of salvation to men. Paragraph 854: By her very mission, the Church... travels the same journey as all humanity and shares the same earthly lot with the world: she is to be a leaven and, as it were, the soul of human society in its renewal by Christ and transformation into the family of God. Missionary endeavor requires patience. It begins with the proclamation of the Gospel to peoples and groups who do not yet believe in Christ, continues with the establishment of Christian communities that are a sign of God s presence in the world, and leads to the foundation of local churches. It must involve a process of inculturation if the Gospel is to take flesh in each people s culture. There will be times of defeat. With regard to individuals, groups, and peoples it is only by degrees that [the Church] touches and penetrates them, and so receives them into a fullness which is Catholic. Paragraph 855: The Church s mission stimulates efforts towards Christian unity. Indeed, divisions among Christians prevent the Church from realizing in practice the fullness of catholicity proper to her in those of her sons who, though joined to her by Baptism, are yet separated from full communion with her. Furthermore, the Church herself finds it more difficult to express in actual life her full catholicity in all its aspects. Paragraph 856: The missionary task implies a respectful dialogue with those who do not yet accept the Gospel. Believers can profit from this dialogue by learning to appreciate better those elements of truth and grace which are found among peoples, and which are, as it were, a secret presence of God. They proclaim the Good News to those who do not know it, in order to consolidate, complete, and raise up the truth and the goodness that God has distributed among men and nations, and to purify them from error and evil for the glory of God, the confusion of the demon, and the happiness of man. YouCat Paragraph 11: Why do we hand on the faith? We hand on the faith because Jesus commands us: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (Mt 28:19). [91] No genuine Christian leaves the transmission of the faith exclusively to specialists (teachers, pastors, missionaries). We are Christ for others. This means that every genuine Christian would like God to come to other people, too. He says to himself, 50 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

52 The Lord needs me! I have been baptized and confirmed and am responsible for helping the people around me to learn about God and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4b). Mother Teresa used a good comparison: Often you can see power lines running alongside the street. Unless current is flowing through them, there is no light. The power line is you and I! The current is God! We have the power to allow the current to flow through us and thus to generate the light of the world: JESUS or to refuse to be used and, thus, allow the darkness to spread. Paragraph 123: What is the task of the Church? The CHURCH s task is to make the kingdom of God, which has already begun with Jesus, germinate and grow in all nations. [ , , 780] Wherever Jesus went, heaven touched earth: the kingdom of God was inaugurated, a kingdom of peace and justice. The CHURCH serves this kingdom of God. She is not an end in herself. She must carry on what Jesus started. She should act as Jesus would act. She continues the sacred signs of Jesus (the SACRAMENTS). She hands on Jesus words. That is why the Church, for all her weakness, is a formidable bit of heaven on earth. We must be saved together. We must come to God together. Together, we must present ourselves before him.... What would God say to us if some of us were to return without the others? Paragraph 138: How is the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church structured? In the Church there are the LAITY and clerics (CLERGY). As children of God, they are of equal dignity. They have equally important but different tasks. The mission of the laity is to direct the whole world toward the kingdom of God. In addition, there are the ordained ministers (clerics), who have the duties of ecclesiastical governance, teaching, and sanctification. In both states of life, there are Christians who place themselves at God s disposal in a special way through celibacy, poverty, and obedience (for example, consecrated religious). [ , 934, 935] Every Christian has the duty to bear witness to the Gospel by his own life. But God walks a special path with each person. Some he sends as laymen, so that they might build up the kingdom of God by their family and occupation in the midst of the world. For this purpose, he bestows on them in Baptism and CONFIRMATION all the necessary gifts of the Holy Spirit. Others he entrusts with the pastoral ministry; they are to govern, teach, and sanctify his people. No one can take this duty upon himself; the Lord himself must send him on his way with his divine power through Holy Orders, so that he can act in the place of Christ and administer the SACRAMENTS. 259 Holy Scripture Regarding Mission of the Church Matthew 28:19-20: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. 1 Cor 9: For if I do not preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! Mark 16:15: And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. Acts 6:4: But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. 1 Timothy 4:11-12: Command and teach these things. Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers and example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Mission Education Curriculm Guide 51

53 Acts 1:8: But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Romans 10:18: But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have; for their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 96:3: Declare his glory among the nations; his marvelous works among all the peoples! 1 Peter 3:15: Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence. 1 Peter 4:10: As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God s varied grace. 2 Timothy 2:2: What you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Isaiah 6:8: And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I! Send me. Colossians 1:25-27: I became a minister according to the divine office which was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known. Matthew 25:35-36: For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Twitter and The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers follow Jesus in serving the poor and others in need in 27 countries including the Catholic religious women making God s love visible in cross-cultural Serving the people of the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, Kansas through training opportunities, resources, ministry and youth Welcome to the official Twitter page of His Holiness Pope The Pontifical Mission Societies have, as their primary purpose, the promotion of a universal missionary Catholic Diocese Of Wichita Apps: Catholic Relief Services 52 Mission Education Curriculm Guide

54 Sources 1 Content is used with permission from The Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States document, Mission Education Guidelines for Religious Educators and Catechists. Guidelines were prepared by a Task Force on Mission Education, under the direction of the National Office of the Pontifical Mission Societies; that Task Force consulted with diocesan directors of Religious Education / Catechesis. 2 Content is used with permission from Catholic Relief Services. 3 Scripture passages from Revised Standard Version of the Bible. The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition. Ignatius Press Let us know what you think! Any constructive input regarding this curriculum is welcome. For any comments, questions, ideas, or content you would like to see added to the curriculum guide, please click here or you can the Office of Faith Formation at OFF@ CatholicDioceseOfWichita.org Mission Education Curriculm Guide 53

55 Appendix Yuvi s Story For many children in Guatemala, working to earn money is considered more important than homework, sports and time with friends. Many parents are forced to choose between sending their children to school and giving them enough food to eat. Some children must even work dangerous jobs to help their families earn enough money. Thirteen-year-old Yuvilis Yuvi Pu found herself working in a clothingmaking business to help her parents feed their family of seven. Each day after school, she came home to a long list of chores and often spent hours delivering t-shirts throughout her village. So many chores meant Yuvi had no time or energy to study or do homework, activities she knew she needed to do to reach her dream of one day becoming a doctor. Catholic Relief Service Rice BowL Blessing of the Rice Bowls: A 10-minute Prayer Service Objectives Students will learn about the liturgical season of Lent and how Catholics are called to deepen their relationship with God through the three Lenten pillars of prayer, fasting and giving to those in need. Students will be prepared to use CRS Rice Bowl with their families during Lent as a way to put their faith into action. Materials: a CRS Rice Bowl (with enclosed Lenten Calendar) for each student, one Letter to Families for each student (available at Activity (10 minutes) 1. You may use this prayer service in the classroom or for a school-wide assembly. 2. (Visit for resources to integrate a Blessing of the Rice Bowls into the Mass setting.) 3. Invite students to stand in a circle or gather together in the prayer space. 4. Give each student a Rice Bowl with its enclosed Lenten Calendar. 5. Invite students to fold their Rice Bowls into the shape of a bowl, and keep their Lenten Calendars handy for use during the prayer service. 6. Invite students to calm their minds and enter together into prayer. 7. Guide students through the Prayer Service. 54 Mission Education Curriculm Guide