Year One - Gathering After Mass

 Today for our Religious Education lesson, students learned how spending time with the parish family can be an act of love and service. To begin the lesson, students discussed their own experiences attending Mass, either at a church, or here at school. We discussed how at the end of Mass, the priest gives everyone God's blessing and tells them to "Go in Peace" and we all say "Thanks be to God". 

"I go to Sunday School after Mass with Catherine and Hannah. They teach us stories from the bible and how we can be kind like God." - Benjamin

"I go to Sunday School after Mass. We do crafts and talk about stories from the Bible. Then, my parents come to get me and we all go for refreshments in a room. My parents talk to people there from the parish family" - Leona

Then, students looked at a picture of people gathering after Mass and labeled it using speech bubbles, predicting what the people might be talking about. We spoke about how the people would be feeling in this picture.

"They are feeling happy because they are with their friends and family. They feel loved." - Qmari

What special jobs are they doing?

"There are children handing out tea and juice" - Ikemba

"Volunteers are working in the kitchen making the food and the tea" - Gianni

"People from the parish family are there. Maybe they are talking about lessons from the bible" - Jorel

What do you think they are talking about?

"The man and the woman are probably talking about the service and what they learned" - Hannah

"They could be asking about each other's families" - Nancy

How do you think they are loving and serving Jesus?

"They are being kind to each other." - Cairo

"They are becoming friends. Jesus wants us all to get along" - Eva

"The volunteers are being kind like Jesus. The girl is handing out napkins to the people" - Logan 

Then, we acted out our own gathering after Mass! Some students worked as volunteers, helping Miss. Flanagan as she handed out the snacks and refreshments! We connected this lesson to our school values service and kindness. Students were excited to serve others in their community!

"Volunteering and asking someone if they need help is kind." - Ivy