Forgiveness This is for Portrait study #5 Joseph There's no way you're going to want to stand before God with even a little blemish. Heaven is so beautiful you don't want to dirty it in any way with anything on your soul. -Unknown Open with prayer Briefly go over story of Joseph and his brothers, can use Leader s guide to help with discussion questions. Lesson: Forgiveness and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, Jesus died so that our sins MAY be forgiven. But there is a requirement and that is that the second part of this is connected to the first part by an AS. That means that if we do not forgive others we can not be open to the forgiveness of God. So how we forgive others is how we will be forgiven. How forgiving are you? How forgiving do you want God to be to you? Confession Why do we go to a priest? When we go to the priest and repent of our sins, he has the ability as a successor of Peter, to absolve us of our sins. This is why it is important to go to confession rather then just praying to Jesus. o We hear the words that we are forgiven. When we participate in the sacraments we are given special graces. If we are not going to confession and only telling God through are prayers that we are sorry then we are missing out on those special graces. It would be like eating fast food vs. your Mom s homemade cooking. Even though fast food gets you fed, and satisfies a hunger, it doesn t strengthen your body with vitamins and minerals. If you eat the homemade food from your mom, you are going to someone that loves you, and that cares for you and wants to give you the best. So that when you go out into the world you have the strength you need to handle anything that comes your way. This is how Confession works. You go to a priest, he cares for you, he represents Jesus, who loves and died for you. You are forgiven and absolved of your sins. Then you receive nourishment through grace to go out into the world stronger. It is recommended to go to confession at least once per month. Bible references to support confession: John 20:23, Matt 16:19, Matt 18:18, 2Cor 5:18, James 5:14-15, Luke 22:29-30, James 5:16
Purgatory Even though our sins have been forgiven through confession. We still need to repair the damage done. So if that is not accomplished on earth, then we need to do that after we die. How can we repair the damage done while we are still here on Earth? Prayer, good works, penance. It is a state or place where we go to be purified from our temporal punishment. Example of confession/forgiveness vs. purgatory/punishment: If you are outside playing baseball and you hit the ball into the neighbor s window and break it. What do you do? You would go over to your neighbor and apologize for breaking the window. Let s say you have a merciful neighbor and they forgive you. Is that it? Is it all done? No, because their window is still broken. You need to repair the damage done. You need to fix the window. This is what purgatory is. It s fixing or purifying the damage done against God and others. A lot of people think of purgatory as a bad place. Although it isn t Heaven, and we are still separated from God. There is hope that our soul will be purified and we will be in Heaven with God someday. So what do we do in purgatory that will cleanse our soul? We pray for others. Just like we should be praying for our loved ones that have died while we are still here on earth. Have you ever wondered who these people are that are mentioned in the beginning of Mass? Or are mentioned during the prayers of the faithful? These are people that need our prayers. There is a prayer by St Gertrude for souls in purgatory and for living sinners. It is believed that Our Lord told St. Gertrude that the following prayer would release 1000 souls from purgatory each time it is said. The prayer was extended to include living sinners as well. Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen St Gertrude the Great
Indulgences Plenary ( or Full removal of punishment) or partial indulgence How do you gain an indulgence? There are many ways to gain a plenary indulgence. A Catholic that is (in a state of Grace) not in mortal sin can gain an indulgence by different prayers and works of piety. Here are four examples worthy of special mention: Making a visit to the Blessed Sacrament to adore it for at least one half hour. Spending at least one half hour reading Sacred Scripture, as spiritual reading, with veneration, profound respect or reverence due to the Word of God. Making the Way of the Cross. This includes walking from station to station. At public held Stations, if this can not be done in an orderly way, at least the leader must move from station to station. No specific prayers are required, but devout meditation on the Passion and Death of Our Lord is required. Recitation of the Rosary of at least five decades, with devout meditation on the mysteries, in addition to the vocal recitation. It must be said in a church, family group or religious community. Additional requirements: You must go to confession to be performed within a few days before or after the work Holy Communion Taken on the same day as the work Prayer for the Holy Father s intentions. Done on the same day as the work Examples: One Our Father and One Hail Mary, or The Apostles Creed and the Our Father. Your mind and heart must be free from all attachment to sin, even venial sin. You must also state your intention that you wish to earn an indulgence. If one tries to gain a Plenary Indulgence, but fails to fulfill all the requirements, the indulgence will only be a partial. Only one Plenary indulgence may be gained per day, except that, at the moment of death, a person may gain a second Plenary Indulgence for that day. We can offer Indulgences for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, by doing this we may hope to release many of them from purgatory, if it is within God s will. In gratitude, they may obtain for us many great favors.
Divine Mercy Catechists - We are teaching this now in the year because it fits with the theme of forgiveness, plus there isn t time in the spring with the end of year class lessons. Divine Mercy Sunday = On the 1 st Sunday after Easter, Catholics celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. Make a note on your schedule to remind them of this in the spring. Mercy: Giving something good to someone that doesn t deserve it. History: During the Mass of canonization of St. Faustina on April 30, 2000, the year of the Great Jubilee, Pope John Paul II proclaimed: "It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church, will be called Divine Mercy Sunday." The readings on that Sunday are always about mercy, trust and the forgiveness of sins. Isn t the Divine Mercy chaplet just another private devotion? What we are doing in the Chaplet is uniting our intercessions and petitions with the sacrificial offering of Jesus Christ in the Mass. It was our Lord Himself who taught St. Faustina the Chaplet and asked her to encourage everyone to say it. The Divine Mercy devotion is different from other devotions because it is not primarily about our devotion to God; rather, it is about His devotion to us. It centers our hearts and minds on the merciful love of God for weak, sinful, and stumbling creatures like us, and it continually reminds us that His mercy is always there for us, and will never stop seeking us out. Our "devotions" are always limited, imperfect, and inconstant. His merciful devotion to us, however, is constant, perfect, and infinite even beyond our imagining. That is what makes the Divine Mercy devotion such a bearer of the "gospel," the "good news," to so many people in our time. Robert Stackpole, STD Director John Paul II Institute of Divine Mercy
*Note: when doing the chaplet with the students don t just say it with them. Pray it with them. At each decade say the sorrowful mysteries. Show them how they can meditate on each one and bring it into their life. If you are unsure of the best way to do this ask and I can help you with ideas. Chaplet of Divine Mercy (for private recitation on ordinary rosary beads) You can devote this chaplet to a specific intention, for yourself or others. Try and meditate on the sorrowful mysteries while saying the chaplet. Begin with: Our Father Hail Mary The Apostles Creed Then, on the OUR FATHER BEADS you will say the following words: Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. On the HAIL MARY BEADS you will say the following words: For the sake of His sorrowful Passion have mercy on us and on the whole world. In conclusion THREE TIMES you will recite these words: Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal one, have mercy on us and on the whole world Apostle s Creed I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
Portrait #5 Worksheet Joseph Name Read Genesis 37 and answer the questions below. 1. What land did Jacob settle in? 2. Why did Jacob love Joseph more than his other sons? 3. Explain Joseph s first dream. 4. Why did his brothers hate him? 5. Explain Joseph s second dream. See back~
6. What was his father s reaction? 7. Which brother convinced the others not to kill Joseph? 8. What was he planning to do later? 9. What was Judah s plan instead of killing Joseph? 10. What did their father believe happened?