Years 1-2. Scripture story. God s love comes through people who bring aroha, healing and reconciliation. The courage to forgive

Transcription

1 The courage to forgive Years 1-2 Catholic social teaching Human dignity Common good Key competencies Relating to others Participating and contributing Thinking Learning outcomes Children will: Retell the scripture story of Jesus showing forgiveness to Zacchaeus. Recognise how as followers of Jesus we can bring forgiveness to people. God s love comes through people who bring aroha, healing and reconciliation Religious Education Programme for Catholic Primary Schools in Aotearoa New Zealand, NCRS, 1998 Scripture story The watcher from the tree Luke 19: 1-10 Jesus and his disciples were on their way to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. Jesus knew that it would be his last journey there. Other pilgrims joined them as they came near to the beautiful city of Jericho. All around was barren desert and the waste land by the Dead Sea, where no green thing grew. But because of its fresh water springs, Jericho was green with sweet smelling balsam trees and fruitful date palms. Tax collectors made a good living in that city and none more than Zacchaeus, their chief. But he was not happy, although he was rich. Everyone despised and insulted him. They knew that he lined his pockets with their hard-earned money, as well as passing it on to the hated Roman rulers. Zacchaeus had heard about Jesus, the wonderful teacher who changed people s lives. How he wished that he could see him! But the crowds had already lined the city street and if he tried to squeeze through he would get nothing but kicks and sharp elbows. If he stayed where he was, at the back, he would see nothing. He was too short. Zacchaeus glanced up at the fig tree that grew beside the street, and decided what to do. A few minutes later, as the little procession was arriving, he was surveying the scene below from the vantage point of a strong branch. Jesus and his followers came level with the tree, and Zacchaeus held his breath. Then Jesus stopped and, looking straight up at his hiding place, called out, Come down, Zacchaeus! I m having dinner with you today. Zacchaeus came down a good deal faster than he had gone up. Brushing leaves and twigs from his stained robe he went hesitantly forward. The unkind mutters of the crowd reached his ears: Why should Jesus go to dinner with him? Everyone knows he s a crook! But Jesus put his hand on Zacchaeus shoulder, and together they went towards his fine home. No one knows what Jesus said over dinner, but when they both came out again, the waiting crowd could see that Zacchaeus was a changed man. He stepped boldly forward and said, Lord, I m going to give half of all I have to help the poor. If there s anyone I ve robbed (and his eyes went from one to another in the crowd), well, I ll pay him back four times as much as I took. Jesus turned to the amazed crowd. It s people like Zacchaeus I came to find, he said. I came to look for those who have strayed away from God and bring them back to him. From The Childhood Bible in 365 stories, Lion Publishing, England, 1985, p 355

2 Talk about the following: What happened in this story? What did Zaccheus do to people before he met Jesus? How did Zacchaeus change in this story? Do you think people who do bad things can change into people who do good things? Activities Before and After Draw two pictures: one of Zacchaeus before he met Jesus and then one of Zacchaeus after having Jesus visit his house. Write a caption for your picture such as Jesus helped the man to change to become fair to others or God s love comes through people who bring aroha BEFORE AFTER Caption:

3 Today I must stay at your house Jesus said to Zacchaeus: Come down, Zacchaeus! I m having dinner with you today at your house. Draw a house. Draw someone you could make welcome inside your house. Prayer The Sign of Peace Leader The peace of the Lord be with you always. Children: And also with you. Leader Let us offer each other a sign of peace. Children: Give signs and greetings of peace to others around them.

4 I did it, I m sorry! Learning outcome Children will: Explain ways people show forgiveness today. Activities Look at the pictures on the Worksheet and talk about the images. They show: Supermarket shopper scraping grandpa s car in carpark Boy breaking neighbour s window with a cricket ball Girl taking away the toddler s doll Skateboarder damaging a pot by the steps of a house Ask: If you were the person who had damaged or hurt the other and were sorry, what would you do? Invite responses from the children. Talk about ways of saying sorry and ways to fix the damage or hurt done or ways to make up. Discuss what could happen next after the people in the pictures (shopper, boy, girl, skateboarder) said they were sorry. For example: Grandpa reading the apology note left on the car windscreen Boy doing a job for Dad or Mum to earn money to pay for the window Toddler enjoying being pushed on the swing by the girl Skateboarder helping the old lady by mowing her lawn In the blank space next to the picture, invite children to draw what happens next that shows the four different people being forgiving. Ask: How might grandpa show forgiveness? How might the next-door neighbour show forgiveness? How might the toddler show forgiveness? How might the old lady show forgiveness?

5 WORKSHEET

6 S O R R Y Learning outcomes Children will: Recall five ways in how to forgive yourself. Colour and decorate the word SORRY for the prayer focus. Activity Explain that this session is about saying sorry and being forgiving, and helping people to get on with each other. Invite examples from the children about times they made a mistake and then said they were sorry. Discuss What happened after that? How did you feel? How did the person who you said sorry to feel? Is it easy to say sorry? Why or why not? Why is it better to always say sorry when you have caused some harm to someone else? Link to the stories of Jesus such as the ten lepers, Peter s denial, or any other stories from Scripture the children have encountered this year. Introduce the five steps in forgiving yourself. Display them on a large chart. Five ways to forgive yourself S O R R Y Say you are sorry Offer your friendship Repair what you did if you can Resist doing it again which can be really hard Yank out your bad feelings like weeds, so there s room in your heart to forgive yourself Adapted from Barbara A Lewis, What do you stand for? For kids, Free Spirit Publishing Inc, 2005, p 72 Talk about these five ways. On large cut-out cardboard letters, colour and decorate each letter in the word SORRY. This could be done in groups of five, with each child having one letter to colour in. Display around the class. Sorry

7 Prayer Dear God Jesus brought healing and forgiveness to people. Help us do the same. When people do things that upset others Help us to help make things right again. Amen Build a class litany When we hurt one another When we argue When we fight When we think only of ourselves When we are pushy When we have broken something When we hurt people with our words