February 1, 2022; class #17 (Luke 4:21-30)
Textbook lesson # 6: How does God share his life with us? (page 61)
CLICK for audio recording of this lesson

Let’s begin with the Sign of the Cross:

Remember that we are in Ordinary Time now. So what color was the priest's chasuble on Sunday? Green!


GOSPEL: At Mass this weekend, the Gospel reading was from the Gospel of Luke. We'll read the story that the priest read from the Gospel on Sunday. It is in the children's bulletin. But before we can read it, you’ll have some puzzles to solve.

Remember the Gospel reading from last week: Jesus had gone to his hometown, Nazareth. He went to the synagogue. He read the scroll. He read something that had been written by a prophet over 700 years before the day when He was reading it. After he read it, he told the people that the words were about him, that HE was the Messiah. Jesus told the people that by saying, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

Now, we're going to solve the puzzles in the children’s bulletin so that we’ll find the words, and then we’ll read the words to hear the Gospel story that the priest read on Sunday. (CLICK HERE to see the children's bulletin and solve the puzzles.)

Jesus Rejected in His Hometown. Jesus read Scripture at the synagogue in Nazareth. What did He say afterward? "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." The people questioned Jesus because He had grown up in the area. How did He reply? "Truly I tell you," He continued, "No prophet is accepted in his hometown." What did the people do when they heard this? All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove Him out of the town, and took Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. What happened next? Jesus walked right through the crowd and went on His way.

ASK: What do you think about what happened?

SNACK: Remember our prayer before meals? Join in if you can.
Bless us, O Lord, and these gifts that we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
[cookies & juice]

ART: The Gospel reading we just read tells about something brutal, really awful: People from Jesus' hometown of Nazareth tried to throw Jesus off a cliff. They tried to kill him. [Show images on computer. Give kids chop sticks to point.]

Anton Wierix

Brow of the Hill

James Tissot

TEXTBOOK: This week we’ll do Lesson # 6. It begins on page 61. The lesson is called, "How does God share his life with us?" So, let's turn to page 61. [Read all. Do activities on pages 64, 66, 67.]

For one of these activities, you need to know the “Hail Mary” prayer. Here are the words. The “Hail Mary” is one of the prayers that you will need to learn in 1st grade. [Give rosaries.]

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

SAINT FEATURED IN CHAPTER: Your textbook has a little paragraph about Saint Agnes of Rome at the bottom of page 67. Saint Agnes is mentioned in this lesson because her faith in Jesus was the most important part of her life.

Agnes was born about 250 years after Jesus was preaching on earth. Agnes’ parents were rich people. They also were among the early Christian families. Agnes was barely old enough to be considered for marriage. Many men wanted to marry her. She told all the men "no." She said that she would never marry, that she would devote her life to Jesus. Men whom she refused to marry reported Agnes to the government authorities because she was a Christian. In that time and place, it was illegal to be a Christian. Agnes was sentenced to death for being a Christian.

There is a coloring page for St. Agnes included in the stack of saints pages that you got for Christmas:

CLOSING PRAYERS: Time to say good bye. :-) [Distribute Our Father pages.] We'll begin with the Our Father. You know the words. And you can read them as we all say them:

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