Faith Lesson Plan and Faith Activity

Chapter 1 – God’s Providence

Grades 3 & 4

Doctrinal Content: The first creation account teaches the goodness of all of

God’s creation. (CCC, 299) Providence is God’s loving care for all things, his

will and plan for creation. (CCC, 302-303) Divine Revelation is the way God

tells humans about himself and makes his plan known. (CCC, 50) God reveals

himself through Sacred Scripture and the Sacred Tradition of the Church. (CCC,

81-82)

Invite – Let Us Pray

Invite the young people to gather in their prayer space and make the sign of the Cross. Read aloud the leader's prayer. Proclaim the verse from Psalm 32:8 together. Have the children move out of their prayer space and back to their seats.

Say: When someone creates something new, they start with a plan or a design. God had a plan as he created the world and everything in it. Let us listen to what the Bible tells us about God’s plan. Guide the young people through the process of Scripture reflection below. Invite them to close their eyes, be still, and open their minds and hearts to what God is saying to them in this passage.

Display and Proclaim the Scripture.

Maintain several moments of silence. Ask: What did you hear God say to you today in this Scripture? Engage the children to respond.

What Do You Wonder? Say: It is hard to imagine how God could have designed everything in creation from an acorn to our human bodies. How powerful and awesome God is! Ask: What else might you wonder about God’s Word? Ask the questions below.

Discover (1) Objective:

• Recognize that the first creation account teaches the goodness of all God’s

creation.

• Children understand and are able to find the referenced Scripture passages. Display and Proclaim the Scripture. (Genesis 1:1-31, 2:1-3)

Say: Raise your hand if you have heard this Scripture story before.

Ask: What is one thing you heard in this story today that was new to you?

Invite: the children to name what God created on each day. Have the children tell

what they learned about God from the story. Emphasize that we learn about God's

loving care and generosity from what we see in creation. Remind them that

everything that God created is good, especially themselves.

Say: As Catholics we believe that God created the world and saw that it was very good. We believe that God continues to lovingly care for us and all living things. No matter what we do, God's care continues, and God provides what all of creation needs. We call this providence.

Say: How do we know this?

When detectives follow a mystery, they must think about the evidence. Finding

evidence is like going into your sister's room because you think she has your iPod® and

finding it in her desk. It is the thing you can look at and say, "I knew it." What

evidence do you see here? Why is evidence important? (It helps to solve mysteries.)

What is the difference between a clue and evidence? (Allow time for children to

respond with ideas.) With a clue you can say, "I think I know." Like maybe you saw

your iPod® case in your sister's backpack. So that clue might lead you to think she has

your missing iPod®. With evidence you can say, "I know." When you find your iPod® in

your sister's desk, that evidence shows you that you were right. With God's providence

we have both clues and evidence of it in two different places. Which stories in

Scripture gives clues or evidence about God's loving care? (Accept all reasonable

responses; be sure to include creation, saving of the Jewish people, Jesus, words

about his Father.)

Discover (2)

Objective:

• Define providence as God’s loving care for all things, his will and plan for creation.

• Describe Divine Revelation as the way God tells humans about himself and makes his plan known.

• Recall that God reveals himself through Sacred Scripture and the Sacred Scripture Tradition of the Church.

Display and read the following

Ask: What is God’s loving plan for us called?

Ask: What did God’s call to Jerimiah want him to do?

Ask: Can you name others in the Bible who followed God’s plan?

Ask: When have you felt that God wanted you to do something or to make a choice? How did you know?

Ask: What is another name for God’s Word besides the Bible?

Display and read the following:

Ask: How did God throughout history reveal himself?

Ask: The way God shares the truth about himself is called ___________?

Ask: What is Sacred Tradition?

LIVE

Ask: Where do you pray? Engage the children to respond.

Read: Our Catholic Life – Where do you Pray. Then complete the “Make Your Own

Prayer Space” activity.

Quick Review

Say: God's creation is good. His love, care, and generosity can be seen in all that he

made. God's loving plan for everyone is called providence. God reveals himself

through Sacred Scripture and the Sacred Tradition of the Church. Let us review our

Catholic faith words.

• Providence: as God's loving care for all things; his will and plan for creation. It refers to the way God shaped and continues to direct the universe and all life.

• Divine Revelation as the way God tells humans about himself and makes his

plan known.

• Recall that God reveals himself through Sacred Scripture and the Sacred

Tradition of the Church.

• Sacred Tradition is God’s word to the Church, safeguarded by the Apostles and

their successors, the bishops, and handed down verbally, in her creeds,

Sacraments and other teachings – to the future generations.

The Church teaches that God created all things with care, and that God continues to care for all things according to a plan that we call "divine providence."

Saint of the Day:

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha’s father was a Mohawk warrior. Her mother was an

Algonquian woman who was Christian. Kateri is the first Native American to be

considered for sainthood. She learned about Jesus from Jesuit missionaries. Because

she lived so close to nature and found God in the natural world, she is the patron of

ecology, nature, and the environment. Kateri often spent time praying in the woods.

She would talk to God. She would hear him in her heart and through the wonders of

creation. One of her titles is the “Lily of the Mohawks.”

Kateri is the patron Saint of Native Americans, ecology, nature, and the environment,

and for those who have lost their parents. After her Baptism, she was given the name

Kateri for Saint Catherine of Siena, by a Jesuit priest. Her family died in a smallpox

epidemic and she was left with scars and poor eyesight. She often wore a blanket over

her head to protect her eyes from the sun.

Fun Fact of the Day

Did you know that time is part of creation? What would it be like if God had not

created time?

Faith Activity

Make a Creation holy card with prayer on the back. Prayer could be Our Father, Hail Mary, or a prayer the children like.

Materials: Construction paper, markers, prayer, scissors, glue stick, pictures, packing tape

Optional Faith Activity

Creation Walk

Take the children outside. Give them a twelve-inch circle of yarn or string.

Have them place their circles of yarn or string on the ground. Have them look

carefully at all the things within the circle. They may see leaves, grass, bugs, dirt,

rocks, etc.

Have the children name all the things inside the circles that God created.

Ask the children to step inside their circles. Then ask, what else inside the circle did

God make?

What the Children Should Know

• The first creation account teaches the goodness of all God’s creation.

• Providence is God’s loving care for all things, his will and plan for creation.

• Divine Revelation is the way God tells humans about himself and makes his plan

known.

• God reveals himself through Sacred Scripture and the Sacred Tradition of the

Church

What did the Children Learn?