Young Stewards in Action
Stewardship Lesson Plans
The 2012 Stewardship Theme:
“Stewardship opens the door
of faith to a lifelong journey.”
The 2012 Stewardship Prayer
Father,
Stewardship opens the door of faith
ushering us into a lifelong journey with You and the Church.
Lead us out of the desert toward a place of life and
nourish us with enduring food
so we may and encounter Christ with renewed enthusiasm and joy.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
2
Index:
Page 3
The Poster and Explanation
Page 6
PK-2 Activities
Page 7
3-5 Close Reading Activity
Page 8
6-8 Close Reading/Writing/Speaking
Activity
Page 9
Scriptural Passages related to Doors,
Year of Faith, and Stewardship
Page 11
9-12 Close Reading/Writing/Speaking
Activity
Page 12
Conceptual Ideas from Pope Benedict’s
Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei
3
4
Poster Explanation by Father Ken VanHaverbeke
Stewardship opens the door of faith to a lifelong journey.
The Cardinal thought he was tired, ready to return to his
beloved books and study. He had worked hard and approached the Pope asking
for retirement. For a third time, the Pope replied the Cardinals work was not yet
finished.
Years later, white smoke from an aged chimney signified the Cardinals journey
would be a lifelong journey, for the white smoke signified he, former Cardinal and
Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was now Pope!
That pope of course is Pope Benedict XVI, formerly known as Cardinal Ratzinger.
What an act of stewardship! What an act of faith! What a lifelong journey!
Pope Benedict XVI wrote in his Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei announcing the Year of
Faith “The Door of Faith is always open for us, ushering us into the life of
communion with God and offering entry into his Church.”
Our Stewardship Theme this year, “Stewardship opens the door of faith
to a lifelong journey” unifies our understanding that “stewardship is
the grateful response of a Christian disciple who recognizes and
receives God’s gifts and shares them in love of God and neighbor” with
the perception stewardship opens this door of faith in a lifelong journey
with God and the Church.
When we fail to be stewards of our time, talent and treasure; when generous
hospitality, Christian formation, devout prayer, and loving service are
not pillars of our daily life then the door of Faith may remain open,
but we fall short of the threshold. We become self-centered and
closed to this lifelong journey.
Stewardship opens the door to a life long journey with Jesus!
5
Poster Symbols and Words:
The Location: Our picture was taken at
Saint John Nepomucene Church in Pilsen,
Kansas, home of Father Kapaun for two reasons:
1) to remind us Stewardship as a Way of Life is
lived in urban and rural parishes; 2) As Father
Kapaun demonstrated, stewardship, recognizing
and receiving God’s gifts and sharing them in love
of God and neighbor is a lifelong journey,
culminating in the total gift of self.
The Doors-Doors or gateways are places of
encounter. “The whole town gathered at the
door.” Mark 1:33; “Blessed are those who listen to
me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my
doorway.” Proverbs 8:34. They are also places of
reception, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek
and you will find; knock and the door will be
opened to you.” Matthew 7:7.
Our Faith-Faith consists of the head and
the heart, the intellect and the will. Both essential but the third faculty of the
spirit is memory, hence the source and the summit of our Faith is the Eucharist, in
which we do “in memory of Him!”
The Lifelong Journey-after the death of Blessed John Paul
II, Cardinal Ratizinger could have gone to the confines of a
library, but recognizing the gifts he had been given by God
and receiving these gifts, he continued his lifelong journey of
faith and stewardship as our Shepherd.
The Eucharist-the lifelong journey is both nourished by the
Eucharist and happily concludes in the Eucharist feast of heaven. For
this reason, the doors of faith on the poster leads to the Eucharistic.
6
PK-2 Activities
Discuss with students the picture and the meaning or the words in the theme.
Picture
Discuss the picture:
- What do you see in the picture?
- What symbolism is in the picture? (i.e. open doors, prominence of the
Eucharist)
- Why is the Eucharist the focal point of the picture?
- What does the Eucharist have to do with a lifelong journey of faith?
Theme
“Stewardship opens the door of faith to a lifelong journey.”
- Discuss our diocesan definition of stewardship with students: Stewardship
is the grateful response of a Christian disciple who recognizes and
receives God’s gifts and shares those gifts in love of God and neighbor.
- Discuss the meanings of the words faith, lifelong, and journey.
- Ensure that students understand the full meaning of the theme statement.
1. Suggested follow-up activities.
A. http://catholicicing.com/2012/06/jesus-knocking-craft-christian-songcrafts-for-kids/ - For elementary kids to make a Jesus Door hanger to put on
their bedroom door.
B. http://www.sermons4kids.com/Jesus-knocks.gif - coloring page of Jesus
knocking on a door
C. Disciples: Who Is Knocking At My Door?
Introduce game: Jesus knew his disciples very well. They were his friends.
How well do you know your friends?
Need: 1 chair.
Directions: The students sit in their own seats while the one who is “It” sits
in a chair in front of the room, with his back toward the other students.
Someone is chosen by the teacher to go up and knock on the back of the
chair or floor. When “It” hears the knocking he asks, "Who is knocking at
my door?" The knocker answers in a disguised voice "It is I.” “It” has to guess
who the knocker was. The knocker then becomes “It”.
7
3-5 Close Reading Activity
Discuss with students the picture and the meaning or the words in the theme.
Picture
Discuss the picture:
- What do you see in the picture?
- What symbolism is in the picture? (i.e. open doors, prominence of the
Eucharist)
- Why is the Eucharist the focal point of the picture?
- What does the Eucharist have to do with a lifelong journey of faith?
Theme
Discuss our diocesan definition of stewardship with students: Stewardship is
the grateful response of a Christian disciple who recognizes and receives
God’s gifts and shares those gifts in love of God and neighbor.
Suggested follow-up activities.
- Write an essay explaining how stewardship can open the door to your
lifelong journey of faith.
- Using symbols: draw a picture of you going through the door on your
lifelong journey of faith.
8
6-8 Close Reading/Writing/Speaking Activity
Discuss with students the picture and the meaning or the words in the theme.
Picture
Discuss the picture:
- What do you see in the picture?
- What symbolism is in the picture? (i.e. open doors, prominence of the
Eucharist)
- Why is the Eucharist the focal point of the picture?
- What does the Eucharist have to do with a lifelong journey of faith?
Theme
Discuss our diocesan definition of stewardship with students: Stewardship is
the grateful response of a Christian disciple who recognizes and receives
God’s gifts and shares those gifts in love of God and neighbor.
Scripture ideas from Porta Fidei and doors:
- Select one of the scripture passages below and do a close reading activity
that requires students to use text based answers and writing or speaking
from text. Students may need to read the entire chapter to gain context.
Class Reading Example: Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will
find; knock and the door will be opened to you.)
Sample discussion questions:
- What is “it”? How do you know?
- What does seek mean? What might you be seeking?
- Is Jesus talking about a real door? How do you know? (Parables)
- What is the door that will be opened?
- What might you gain by opening the door?
Paired Reading Example: Have students and a partner: select another verse from the list,
each develop his/her own text based questions, and discuss the verse together using their
questions.
Suggested follow-up activities.
- Using the scriptural passages they have studied to support their argument,
have students write an essay explaining how stewardship can open the door
to their lifelong journeys of faith.
9
- Using the scriptural passages they have studied to support their argument,
have
students write and present a speech explaining how stewardship can open
the door to their lifelong journeys of faith.
Scriptural Passages:
Genesis 4:7
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right,
sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
4
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.[a] 5 Love the LORD your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These
commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on
your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along
the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your
hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your
houses and on your gates. Deut. 6:4-8
Psalm 24:9
Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of
glory may come in.
Matthew 7:7
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be
opened to you.
Matthew 23:13
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door
of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will
you let those enter who are trying to.
John 20:19
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together,
with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among
them and said, “Peace be with you!”
10
Acts 16:26
Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison
were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came
loose.
Colossians 4:3
And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may
proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.
2 Corinthians 2:12
Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord
had opened a door for me,
Revelation 3:8
I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can
shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not
denied my name.
Rev. 3:20
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the
door, [then] I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.
Revelation 4:1
After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And
the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I
will show you what must take place after this.”
11
9-12 Close Reading/Writing/Speaking Activity
Discuss with students the picture and the meaning or the words in the theme.
Picture
Discuss the picture:
- What do you see in the picture?
- What symbolism is in the picture? (i.e. open doors, prominence of the
Eucharist)
- Why is the Eucharist the focal point of the picture?
- What does the Eucharist have to do with a lifelong journey of faith?
Theme
Discuss our diocesan definition of stewardship with students: Stewardship is
the grateful response of a Christian disciple who recognizes and receives God’s
gifts and shares those gifts in love of God and neighbor.
Scripture ideas from Porta Fidei and doors:
- Select one of the passages below from Porta Fidei and do a close reading
activity that requires students to use text based answers and writing or
speaking from text. Students may need to read the entire a larger section of
the Holy Father’s Apostolic Letter to gain contextual understanding of the
passage.
- Class Reading Example: Stewardship leads one out of the desert
The Church as a whole and all her Pastors, like Christ, must set out to lead people out
of the desert, towards the place of life, towards friendship with the Son of God, towards
the One who gives us life, and life in abundance.”
Sample discussion questions:
- What “desert” is the Holy Father referring to in this passage?
- Why would he have chosen to use the word “towards” so frequently in the passage?
- What is the difference between “life” and “life in abundance”?
- Why is “One” started with a capital letter?
- Who is included in the Church as a whole and how are they like Christ?
Paired Reading Example: Have students and a partner select another passage from the list,
each develop his/her own text based questions, and discuss the verse together using their
questions.
12
Suggested follow-up activities.
- Have students write an essay explaining how stewardship can open the
door to their lifelong journeys of faith using the passages from the Apostolic
Letter that they have studied to support their argument.
- Have students write and present a speech explaining how stewardship can
open the door to their lifelong journeys of faith using the passages from the
Apostolic Letter that they have studied to support their argument.
Conceptual Ideas from Pope Benedict’s Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/motu_proprio/documents/hf_ben-xvi_motuproprio_20111011_porta-fidei_en.html
1. Stewardship opens the Door of faith.
a. The “door of faith” (Acts 14:27) is always open for us, ushering us into
the life of communion with God and offering entry into his Church.
2. Stewardship a life time journey
a. To enter through that door is to set out on a journey that lasts a
lifetime.
3. Stewardship: an encounter with Christ
a. Ever since the start of my ministry as Successor of Peter, I have
spoken of the need to rediscover the journey of faith so as to shed ever
clearer light on the joy and renewed enthusiasm of the encounter
with Christ.
4. Stewardship leads one out of the desert
a. The Church as a whole and all her Pastors, like Christ, must set out to
lead people out of the desert, towards the place of life, towards
friendship with the Son of God, towards the One who gives us life,
and life in abundance.”
i. Friendship with the Son of God
ii. Life in abundance
13
5. Stewardship: Laboring for food that endures.
a. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which
endures to eternal life” (Jn 6:27).
6. Stewardship: Belief in Christ
a. The question posed by his listeners is the same that we ask today:
“What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” (Jn 6:28). We
know Jesus’ reply: “This is the work of God, that you believe in him
whom he has sent” (Jn 6:29). Belief in Jesus Christ, then, is the way to
arrive definitively at salvation.
7. Stewardship: Profession of faith with conviction
a. We want this Year to arouse in every believer the aspiration to profess
the faith in fullness and with renewed conviction, with confidence
and hope.
8. Stewardship: a witness to our faith
a. At the same time, we make it our prayer that believers’ witness of life
may grow in credibility.
9. Stewardship: the creed in action
a. Not without reason, Christians in the early centuries were required to
learn the creed from memory. It served them as a daily prayer not to
forget the commitment they had undertaken in baptism. With words
rich in meaning, Saint Augustine speaks of this in a homily on the
redditio symboli, the handing over of the creed:
10. Stewardship: faith in action
a. Confessing with the lips indicates in turn that faith implies public
testimony and commitment. A Christian may never think of belief as a
private act.
11. Stewardship: catechism in action
a. In this Year, then, the Catechism of the Catholic Church will serve as a tool
providing real support for the faith, especially for those concerned
with the formation of Christians, so crucial in our cultural context.
12. Mary: the model of stewardship
a. By faith, Mary accepted the Angel’s word and believed the message
that she was to become the Mother of God in the obedience of her
devotion (cf. Lk 1:38).
14
i. Annunciation
b. Visiting Elizabeth, she raised her hymn of praise to the Most High for
the marvels he worked in those who trust him (cf. Lk 1:46-55).
i. The Visitation
13. Stewardship: Following Jesus in faith
a. By faith, the Apostles left everything to follow their Master (cf. Mk
10:28). They believed the words with which he proclaimed the
Kingdom of God present and fulfilled in his person (cf. Lk 11:20).
14. Stewardship: a witness of charity
a. The Year of Faith will also be a good opportunity to intensify the
witness of charity.
b. Faith without charity bears no fruit, while charity without faith
would be a sentiment constantly at the mercy of doubt.
15. Stewardship: making Christ visible
a. Without having seen him you love him;