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1Vocation Lessons | TEACHER – 4th Grade: Religious Life

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4th Grade: Religios Life

OVERVIEW

OBJECTIVE:• To appreciate ways religious men

and women share in the mission of Christ.

MAIN CONCEPTS:• A person in the religious life lives

in a monastery or convent in a community of all women or all men.

• They are dedicated to prayer and service.

• Brothers and sisters are either “ac-tive” or “contemplative.”

PLANNING DIRECTIONS:• Complete the core components.

Select and complete other compo-nents given the time you have and the needs of your children.

INTRODUCTION2 min

Summarize today’s theme as it relates to vocation.

Through these units we hope to become familiar with the vocations to which God calls people so that you will be able to follow his call always. Right now, you are in the single state of life, but some-day God may call you to a particular vocation: married life, priesthood, or religious life. Today we will talk about people who live the religious life.

SIMPLE PRAYER2 min

Let’s draw near to God during today’s lesson. The Bible says…1. Read aloud Jeremiah 29:11.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” - Jeremiah 29:11

2. Pray this or another prayer from the heart: “Thank you, Lord, for this day and for our lives. We place in your hands all the concerns of our minds and love you in the midst of all our actions. Please guide us now as we seek a glimpse of your plan for your people and the powerful ways you call us.”

Religious Life“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” - Jeremiah 29:11

Vocation Lessons | 4th Grade: Religious Life 1

GUESS THE TRUTH

Read the following statements and identify which ones are false.

Bees have 5 eyes.

A mosquito can fly to outer space in 3 days.

Some butterflies migrate every year to the same place in Mexico to avoid the cold winters.

Consecrated brothers and sisters are poor.

Most consecrated people live long happy lives.

Consecrated people all work in schools.

Those in the religious life never come from rich families.

Those in the religious life often wear special clothes called a habit.

Those in the religious life range from brilliant to average intelligence.

Some religious sleep on straw instead of a bed.

You need to be able to grow a big beard if you want to be a religious brother.

There are about 50,000 religious sisters in the United States.

A young Norbertine at his Solemn Professionhttp://www.stmichaelsabbey.com/abbey/

OPENING ACTIVITY



OPENING ACTIVITY5 min

FIND THE TRUTH

Use this game to introduce some truths about consecrated life.

1. Read aloud each set of three state-ments.

2. Students guess which two state-ments are true and which one is false.

Underlined statements are false.

You may want to start the game with a set of statements about yourself with two truths and one falsehood.

—

Bees have 5 eyes.

A mosquito can fly to outer space in 3 days.

Butterflies migrate every year to the same place in Mexico to avoid the cold winters.

—

Consecrated brothers and sisters are poor.

Most consecrated people live long happy lives.

Consecrated people all work in schools.

—

Those in the religious life never come from rich families.

Those in the religious life often wear special clothes called a habit.

Those in the religious life range from brilliant to average intelligence.

—

Some religious sleep on straw instead of a bed.

You need to be able to grow a big beard if you want to be a religious brother.

There are about 50,000 religious sisters in the United States.

Religious Life


INTRODUCTION

Did you know that RIGHT NOW there is probably a monk or a nun on his or her knees praying for YOU?! Some people in the religious life spend hours each day praying for people throughout the world.

There are lots of different kinds of ways to live out the religious life. Sisters and brothers may work in a hospital, teach, run a homeless shelter, or offer counseling. Religious people who do these kinds of things are called “active.” They pray a lot, but they also do active work for God out in the world.

Other nuns and monks are secluded from the world. Some religious men are hermits; some religious sisters are “cloistered.” The work they do for God and for others is prayer. Instead of leaving the convent or monastery to work in a school or with the homeless, they pray for people throughout the world. Believe it or not, it is very hard work with lots of sacrifice, and religious can help us a lot by their prayers. Often a sister who is cloistered is called a nun, and a brother who is cloistered is called a monk.

Here is a story about a cloistered nun who came from a surprising place. This nun used to be a player in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). She “took a shot” at being a nun and found her true profession.

READING

EXCERPTS FROM “WHAT’S IMPORTANT? ASK SISTER ROSE MARIE.” By James Warren, Tribune Staff Writer, September 19, 1997

One day in 1988, in a gym halfway around the world, Mary Michelle Pennefather brought her hands together for one shot that transformed her life, altered the lives of her friends and family, and may be touching untold others in ways we can’t fully fathom. From her fingers it came: the shot that put her in God’s debt.”

For sure, that Pennefather would become Sister Rose Marie was not a total surprise to some. Indeed, she had gone to mass every day at Villanova and was clearly a selfless, yet fun-loving soul who provided critical emotional support to her coach when his marriage went down the tubes. When in Las Vegas to receive one sports award, the hosts gave her $100 to spend at the Circus, prompting her to “clean out every basketball arcade game in the place and spend hours on the Strip giving stuffed animals to kids.”

But nobody for a moment thought she’d become a cloistered nun with the Colettine Poor Clares, one of the Catholic Church’s most austere orders. Members take vows of poverty and don’t sleep more than four hours at a time, eat more than one full meal a day, or use phones, TVs, radios, books, magazines or newspapers, except for religious periodicals.

TEACH5 min

Teach the main concepts of today’s lesson and elaborate as needed.• Brothers and sisters, or monks and nuns, live the evangelical counsels of poverty, chas-

tity, and obedience.• They live together in communities of all women or all men.• Religious men and women are dedicated to prayer and service.• Religious brothers and sisters are either active or contemplative. “Active” means they

work out in the world serving people. “Contemplative” means primarily focused on prayer.



READING10 min

1. Read the introduction to “What’s Important? Ask Sister Rose Ma-rie” with the students.

2. Have students read the story individually, in small groups, or together as a class.

3. Use the questions to spark class discussion, or assign students to write answers to the questions.

EXPLORATION10 min

COLORFUL INTERNAL GIFTS1. As a class, brain storm about a

few of the internal gifts a person may need to be a sister or brother. Imagine that you would spend 6 hours in prayer a day. What skills and strengths might you need to do that? Peace, endurance, wisdom, patience, self control? Imagine that you spend 6 hours a day working with poor, elderly people. What skills and strengths might you need to do that? Kind-ness, gentleness, humility, knowl-edge?

2. Using paint, markers, or crayons, have the students draw either a monk or nun in prayer, or a sister or brother serving others. Around the drawing, write words describ-ing the internal gifts a person in the religious life may need.

Religious Life


Further, they usually only see friends and family one time a year, and then only through a screen. They sleep on a bed of straw and, except if there’s a medical emergency, will not leave the monastery (in Sister Rose Marie’s case, one in Alexandria, VA.) until they die.

Before entering, Pennefather went on a generous spree. She gave her friends all her clothes, and her brother and coach money to make down payments on homes. According to Wolff, she underwrote horseback riding, clothes shopping, and meals at fancy restaurants in Washington’s Georgetown area for both family and friends.

Then, on June 8, 1991, she crossed the threshold.

So as you read the tales of ambition and success elsewhere in these pages, or the next time you watch a sneaker commercial with one of the new female pro basketball stars, just remember one standout who took an enriching, but different, path.

STEP IN HER SHOES

• How may Sister Rose Marie’s athletic training have helped prepare her for the life of a Poor Clare?

• What would lead a person to want to lead such a simple, quiet, and austere life?

• What do you think was the most exciting thing for this athlete as she prepared to enter the convent?

READING continued

GLOSSARY:

active – a sister or a brother in the religious life who serves God and people actively out in the world

cloistered – and adjective that describes a sister (often called a nun) who serves God and the world through prayer and stays in the monastery

monastery- a house for people in the religious life, usually monks or nuns.

convent – a house for people in the religious life, usually sisters or monks.

Poor Clare sisters enjoying a snowy day

DRAW A RELIGIOUS BROTHER OR SISTER

Using paint, markers, or crayons, draw either a monk or nun in prayer, or a sister or brother serving others.

Around the drawing, write words describing the internal gifts a person in the religious life may need.

EXPLORATION

Sr. Agatha teaching in the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio.Photos courtesy of the Catholic Exponent

VISUAL ART5 min

1. Display the photograph “Franciscan Monastery Cloister.”2. Direct students to study and analyze the image in light of today’s theme through discus-

sion or writing.

•Thisisahallwayareainamonasteryforwalkingandpraying.Howdoesthearchitec-ture of the ceiling help the monks or nuns to think about heaven?

•Howwouldbeinginthathallwaymakeyoufeel?

•Whatdoyouseealongtheedgesofthehallwaythatmighthelpthemonksornunspray?

•Noticehowmuchlightshinesintothehallway.Howmightthelightencourageonetothink of God?



REINFORCE5 min

1. Display the main concepts on the board.

2. Have the students verbally repeat them, write them down, or ask questions about them.

3. Define unknown words or phrases.

4. Quiz the students a bit to see if they grasp the concepts. If it is helpful, refer to the Vocation Glossary found at www.vocation-lessons.com/glossary.

MEDITATIVE PRAYER5 min

1. Set a calm atmosphere. Now is the time for peaceful listen-ing and talking with God in your heart. Get a little bit comfortable, and listen to with your heart. Be still. You can close your eyes if you wish.

2. Read the Bible passage slowly, pausing for a few moments of silence between each phrase.

A reading from the Acts of the

Apostles: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellow-ship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” - Acts 2:24-47

3. Help the children meditate on the Bible passage and how it relates to their own lives. You can think about these words deep in your own heart. Who do you share your things with? When you eat with others, how can you have a glad and sincere heart? What would it look like in your life to be devoted to the breaking of bread and to prayer? The early Christians lived life in common. Could God someday be calling you to the religious life, where you live in common with other brothers or sisters?

CLOSING PRAYER3 min

1. Direct the students to look over the Prayer for Generosity by St. Ignatius of Loyola.2. Lead the students in praying this prayer aloud together.

Religious Life


VISUAL ARTPRAY TOGETHER

Prayer for Generosity – St. Ignatius of Loyola

Lord, teach me to be generous.

Teach me to serve you as you deserve,

to give and not to count the cost,

to fight and not to heed the wounds,

to toil and not to seek for rest,

to labor and not to ask for any reward,

save that of knowing that I am doing your will.

Amen.

Beautiful colonnade leads to franciscan cloister

religios life religious life overview - vocation lessons · “thank you, lord, for this day and...

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