By Janet Miller. Copyright © 2011, TeamRCIA.com. All rights reserved.

CATECHIST’S NOTES

HOW TO USE THIS RESOURCE

Dismissal Session The Dismissal Session is for catechumens only who are dismissed from worship before the Creed (RCIA #75.3). The Dismissal Session group may gather for the Catechetical Session at another time during the week.

Catechetical Session When the Dismissal Session is immediately followed by the Catechetical Session, parents or other sponsors join the group after Eucharist. Baptized children preparing for confirmation and Eucharist may also join in the Catechetical Session (RCIA #254; Appendix III, #19).

Select the session options that fit your time frame.

NOTES FOR THIS SUNDAY

Sunday’s readings Exodus 17:3-7 Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9 Romans 5:1-2, 5-8 John 4:5-42

Doctrine correlations Thirst for God is quenched by the water of eternal life (CCC

#2557). In petition prayer, we respond to the plea of the living God

who freely offers salvation. We do not hew out cisterns for ourselves that break and do not hold water (CCC #2561).

RCIA team notes Along with godparents and baptized companions, at least one penitential rite (scrutiny) is celebrated with children in the final period of preparation for baptism (RCIA #292-294). The guidelines for the adult scrutinies (RCIA #141-146) may be followed and adapted (RCIA #291). The Presentation of the Creed takes place this week (RCIA #157).

Third Sunday of Lent

Year A

Children’s RCIA Resource

GETTING READY FOR THE SESSION

Items to prepare check-in sheet and nametag materials (violet paper, scissors,

lanyards or yarn, and stapler) Bibles, one set to John 4:5 poster paper or white board, erasers, and erasable markers Sharing Faith questions and copies of “Faith at Home” violet cloth on table or counter space for prayer crucifix candle in heat-proof container, matches clear bowl of water, ladle, cups, rock, stick, clean evergreen branch long skirt, jug water in jerry cans

Gathering Prayer Ritual Set up a prayer space with a clear bowl of water, ladle, cups, rock, stick, clean evergreen branch, and words for responses printed on a large sheet or written on a board.

Singing option Use music from your faith community resources. The suggestion is a guide. Bring songbooks and music in a player.

Building Community If your group is the elect who celebrated a scrutiny, use the option to break open that experience.

Sharing Faith groups Put the Scripture citation with the questions on cards for group leaders.

Engaging the Word option Confirm time and place with the three sponsors or youth members who will enact John 4:5-29, 39-42.

Crossing the Ages Activity option: Marginalized Women and Water Fill 5-gallon jerry cans with water, and plan space for a relay race. Gather information online at Global Water Challenge. Also go to www.crs.org, and click “Water and Sanitation” on the “How We Serve” dropdown menu. (Option: Select online video segments. Arrange for online access and a viewing screen.)

Snack option Send a reminder to the sponsor providing the snack this week.

CATECHIST’S NOTES

Friends on the Way - Third Sunday of Lent, A 2

DISMISSAL SESSION

GATHERING (15 MINUTES)

Catechumens, having heard the Sunday proclamation of the word, are dismissed from the Mass. Greet the catechumens as they arrive. Have them check in and put on nametags. If they were not present recently, have them make nametags using violet paper. (They cut the paper into a cross shape or draw a cross on the nametag and print their names. Provide recycled, sterilized lanyards or yarn and a stapler.)

GATHERING PRAYER RITUAL

All stand around the prayer focal point with the words for “All” displayed. Light the candle.

Ask a volunteer to hold up a crucifix.

All: Be with us, Jesus, as we walk the way of your cross.

Leader: Christ Crucified,

All: have mercy on us.

The crucifix is placed near the Bible on a violet cloth.

Song Suggestion: “Come and Follow Me” from Give Your Gifts, Melody Book, GIA Publications, Inc.

(†) Invite the members when you lift a hand to respond with, “If today you hear God’s voice harden not your hearts.” Prayerfully say each of the following verses based on Psalm 95, and call for the response by lifting a hand:

Come, let us sing and joyfully acclaim the Rock of our salvation. (response)

Come, let us bow down and kneel in worship before our Creator. (response)

O that today you hear God’s voice and harden not your hearts. (response)

Tap the rock with the stick. Say:

Strike the rock of anger.

Ladle a cup of water. Hold it up and say:

Drink the living water of reconciliation.

Invite everyone to think about something that causes anger, and then reflect on how to bring peace and reconciliation to the situation. As they reflect quietly, invite everyone, one by one, to come forward,

strike the rock, and then scoop and drink a cup of water.

Extinguish the candle flame.

Friends on the Way - Third Sunday of Lent, A 3

CONNECTING WITH ONE ANOTHER

Invite everyone to sit in a circle. Introduce anyone new. Invite sharing about their experiences with the “Faith at Home” page from the previous session.

BUILDING COMMUNITY

Sharing Good News: Invite each catechumen to think of good news that people share with others. If needed, suggest getting a new puppy, reading a good book, or celebrating a marriage or new baby’s arrival. Without telling the topic, each member takes a turn giving hints until the others guess. Mention that in this week’s gospel story, the woman at the well had good news that she could not resist sharing.

Option for the elect: This reflection breaks open the scrutiny. Adapt according to the penitential rite as experienced by your group of the elect.

How did it feel to have so many people praying with you to be freed from sin?

As you draw near living water, what is it like to be given freedom as children of God?

How does it feel to be strengthened with the power of Christ our Savior? (If the elect were anointed or had a laying on of hands, ask how that felt.)

RECALLING THE WORD (10 MINUTES)

Have everyone sit with Bibles in a circle. Use the following as a guide. For information, refer to “Insight for the Catechist” and the reflection on the “Faith at Home” page.

This week we heard a story from the Book of Exodus. Moses had helped the Hebrew people escape from slavery in Egypt, but they had to travel through the desert. When they had trouble finding water, the people wondered if God cared.

Help everyone find Exodus 17:3-7.

What are some feelings you have about God?

How did the people feel about God?

What happened?

Everyone turns to Romans 5:1-2, 5-8.

Why, do you suppose, God loves everyone even sinners?

How does God show divine love for us?

Friends on the Way - Third Sunday of Lent, A 4

Friends on the Way - Third Sunday of Lent, A 5

Everyone turns to John 4:5-42.

What are your thoughts about Jesus giving living water to the woman at the well?

In what ways have you been like the woman? What are some of your questions? Who have you told about your faith?

Conclude:

You come to the church like the woman at the well. You have questions. The answers lead you closer to baptism, life giving water, and eternal life. In faith let us respond to God in whom we trust by praying our petitions.

PRAYING INTERCESSIONS (5 MINUTES)

When I lift my hand please respond, “God, who gives living water, hear our prayer.”

Help everyone, O God, who cries out to you. (Lift a hand for the response.)

Thank you for grace in which we boast. (Lift a hand for the response.)

Send relief to women and children around the world who carry water for their families. (Lift a hand for the response.)

Invite the members to contribute their own intercessions. Then conclude:

God of living water, hear the prayers we have spoken and those we hold in our hearts. Help everyone who cries out, asking what they should do. We worship you in Spirit and in truth, one God of all who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

All: Amen.

Option: Break for a snack and social time.

By Janet Miller. Copyright © 2011, TeamRCIA.com. Photo copyright © 2007, Paul Sapiano. All rights reserved.

The Catechetical Session follows the Dismissal Session either immediately or at another time during the week. The Catechetical Session is designed for catechumens and parents or sponsors to grow in faith together. The status of the catechumens never is to be confused with that of baptized children preparing for confirmation or Eucharist, who may join in this catechesis as supportive companions (RCIA, Appendix III, #19).

GATHERING FOR CATECHESIS (5 MINUTES)

Welcome the catechumens, parents, sponsors, and any baptized children arriving from liturgy. If this Catechetical Session does not take place immediately following the Dismissal Session, plan an additional ten minutes and begin with the Gathering and Connecting segments in the Dismissal Session.

PRAYING

Invite everyone to stand around the prayer focal point. Use the (†) prayer from the Gathering Prayer Ritual in the Dismissal Session, another prayer, or sing a gathering song from liturgy.

ENGAGING THE WORD (15 MINUTES)

Distribute Bibles to the members. Have them find John 4:42. Explain that at the end of the presentation they will say the part of the Samaritans in verse 42. Practice the part together. Print it on the board, and show the hand gesture you will use to indicate their turn. Then have them close the Bibles.

Introduce the sponsors or youth members to enact John 4:5-29, 39-42. The roles are narrator, Jesus, and the woman wearing a long skirt and carrying a jug. At the end of the enactment give a hand signal for the members to say the end of verse 42.

In Jesus’s time it was considered very wrong for a Jewish man to talk to a Samaritan woman in public. Generally, there was great prejudice between the two types of people. Women did not speak to men unless they were introduced by family.

The woman’s old beliefs were not helping her. Jesus and she took a chance and spoke with one another. Jesus showed her the way of living water and led her to worship in Spirit and truth.

CATECHETICAL SESSION

THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT, YEAR A

Exodus 17:3-7

Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9 Romans 5:1-2, 5-8

John 4:5-42

Insight for the Catechist

The people of Israel began to lose faith as the going became difficult. When Moses struck the rock as instructed, God’s action through the sign of water reassured them of divine, loving care.

Without water, life cannot exist. Water cleanses and ritually purifies. Water, as a powerful life sign, symbolizes salvation.

The woman at the well represents the Samaritans, who had been political and religious Jewish opponents for centuries. By conversing with her, Jesus could have been treated as unclean. Taking the risk, he offered her a new way of worshipping in Spirit and truth. This act initiated a reconciliation of Samaritans and Jews with one another and with God.

During struggles, we might ask, “Is God with us or not?” The rock answers “yes.” Jesus invites us to drink of living water and spread the good news of God who promises everlasting life.

6

SHARING FAITH (15 MINUTES)

Form mixed-age groups of four to six with Bibles. (If there are only a few participants, lead the discussion as a whole group.) Print the questions on large paper or marker board or distribute questions on cards for an adult to lead. Circulate to encourage reflective listening.

CONVERSING ABOUT JOHN 4:5-42 Why, do you suppose, Jesus talked with the woman and ignored what other people would

think about him?

What did Jesus accomplish by daring to help this Samaritan woman deepen her faith?

What things do you do for God that might seem daring?

Why did the woman want to tell others her news?

What might you tell others about faith?

In the whole group, conclude:

Because Jesus took a chance, the woman was able to ask questions. The answers

led her through living water to discover Spirit and truth. She was so excited about discovering Jesus that she ran to tell others.

Friends on the Way - Third Sunday of Lent, A 7

Crossing the Ages Activity (Optional activity: 20 minutes)

Marginalized Women and Water (Ecology/Social Justice Awareness)

Depending on your schedule, do the activity with the members, parents, and sponsors.

Assign teams. One half of each team stands in line with space to race between the two lines. They run, relay style, carrying a jerry can filled with water and hand it to a teammate who races back until each member has had a turn. After the race, encourage everyone to talk about the difficulty of carrying forty pounds of water any distance. Give some facts about villages in the world that do not have a water supply such as the following:

Some children and women in the world must carry all their water for drinking and for their homes, livestock, and even farming. Some carry large containers for an hour or more each day.

When schools do not have clean and safe restrooms, girls often drop out of school.

Option: On a large screen display an internet video clip about women who struggle to obtain clean water.

CARRYING OUT THE WORD (5 MINUTES)

SUMMING UP

Invite everyone to stand around the prayer focal point. Encourage them to offer insights from this week’s session. Then conclude with the following:

The living God freely offers us salvation. Faith makes our spirits strong like containers that do not break but hold life-giving water. We are confident that God wants us, hears us, and leads us to living water. Our thirst for God is quenched by the water of eternal life. You are developing a desire for living water as you prepare for your own baptism.

CLOSING PRAYER

If meeting with a group of the elect who have received the Creed, conclude this session with a recitation of the Nicene or Apostles’ Creed.

Hold the clear bowl of water. Sprinkle each member using an evergreen branch and say:

Feel God’s living presence in our midst.

Raise your hands in blessing over the group, and say:

Go forth from this place with the spring of living water welling within.

And may the Lord bless us (make the Sign of the Cross on yourself as a model for everyone) protect us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.

All: Amen.

Distribute the “Faith at Home” page. Collect the nametags.

Friends on the Way - Third Sunday of Lent, A 8

By Janet Miller. Copyright © 2011, TeamRCIA.com. All rights reserved. Permission is given to reproduce this handout for family home use.

Remember Sunday’s Word

Exodus 17:3-7 Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9

Romans 5:1-2, 5-8 John 4:5-42 Faith at Home

Third Sunday in Lent, Year A

At a convenient time for the family, gather around the dining table or in the living room. Place a Bible opened to John 4 in the center. Silence all electronics. Begin with a moment of quiet.

REFLECTING ON EXODUS 17:3-7

Massah means “to test,” and Meribah means “to quarrel.” Even though God had freed the people from slavery in Egypt, their difficulties led them to quarrel with Moses and to question, “Is God with us?” God gave them a surprising answer.

What do you find surprising in this Bible story?

Identify some times of difficulty, either within the family or in the greater society.

Has any family member ever wondered if God cares?

When has God demonstrated loving care to one of us in a surprising way?

This Bible story reminds us that scarcity causes fear and distrust. Scan news magazines, newspapers, and the Internet. Look for situation where scarcity may be causing fear. As a family, pray about ways to help alleviate these conditions.

REFLECTING ON ROMANS 5:1-8

In spite of difficulties, hope endures. God’s love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ, in dying on the cross for all sinners, proves God’s love for all humanity.

How is having hope in God different from hoping to get something?

In what ways have we experienced God’s grace in our lives?

REFLECTING ON JOHN 4:5-42

A woman comes to the well at midday under the blazing sun. Feeling unwelcome at the community gathering place, she comes alone. She is not chatting happily with friends and is willing to speak with a strange man. Obviously, something is wrong. The woman has not been able to achieve satisfaction in her life. She thinks she knows what worship is according to what she has been taught, but her understanding of God is shallow. Jesus gives her living water and teaches her the way of the Spirit and truth.

What does the woman discover while conversing with Jesus?

What are we discovering on our faith journey?

What types of things do we get that leave us thirsty? Video games? Downloads? Candy? Party invitations? Others?

What do we do for the people of the world who are thirsty?

Pass glasses of water. Someone says, “Anyone who drinks this water will have thirst again, but Jesus offers everlasting living water.” All drink some of the water and imagine those who do not have water. Search the internet to find Catholic organizations that help solve the world’s thirst. Try www.crs.org or www.medicalmissionariesofmary.com.

Third Sunday of Lent, A TeamRCIA.com

Drop by Drop

In the water drops, draw things that you are able to do because you have running water. Pray for children in places that do not have water systems.