Background Notes for Parents/Carers

About the theme – Lent/EasterIn this theme the children learn about the seasons of Lent and Easter and how Christians live their lives because of the beliefs held.

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting, is the first day of Lent. According to the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert, where he was tempted by Satan. Lent began as a mirroring of this, fasting 40 days as preparation for Easter. Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of blessing ashes made from palm branches blessed on the previous year’s Palm Sunday, and placing them in the sign of the cross on the heads of people to the accompaniment of the words "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" or "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return". Catholics believe that they are called to continuously ‘turn back’ to God and live a holy life. The symbol is a reminder that this life is short and our real lives will begin when we are raised to New Life in the Communion of Saints.

LentThe three traditional practices of Lent are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Prayer: Catholics believe that more time given to prayer during Lent will draw them closer to the Lord. Fasting: Fasting is not just about developing self-control. It is often an aid to prayer, as the pangs of hunger remind Catholics of their hunger for God. Fasting should be linked to concern for those who are forced to fast by their poverty, those who suffer from injustice and those who are in need for any reason. It is linked to living out baptismal promises. By Baptism, Catholics are given the responsibility of showing Christ's love to the world, especially to those in need. Abstaining from meat traditionally also linked Christians to the poor, who could seldom afford meat for their meals. Almsgiving: This is a sign of care for those in need and an expression of gratitude for all that God has given to us. Works of charity and the promotion of justice are integral elements of the Christian way of life which is begun at Baptism.

Holy WeekFor the Church, Holy Week is the ‘greatest week’ during which the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus is remembered in special celebrations. On Passion Sunday which is sometimes called Palm Sunday (because palms are blessed and Christians hear the reading of the passion of Jesus), Christians celebrate Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem to face his suffering and death.

The Paschal or Easter Triduum (pronounced Trid-oo-um) begins on Holy Thursday when Jesus washes the disciples’ feet and ends on Easter Sunday in the evening.When Lent ends, Catholics stand in the centre of the Christian year. On the night between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, Catholics keep the Easter Vigil. They gather to light a fire and a towering candle, to listen to their most treasured scriptures, to sing psalms and other songs. Then they go to the waters and baptise those who have been preparing for new life in Christ. The newly baptised are then anointed with fragrant oil and, at last, with these newly baptised, they celebrate the Eucharist.Catholics prepare for this Vigil in the washing of feet on Holy Thursday and in the veneration of the cross on Good Friday. They also prepare by fasting. The Church fasts – from food, from entertainment, from chatter, from work – so that they have time to ponder deeply the death and resurrection of the Lord, the mystery of faith that they will celebrate in the Vigil.

Easter SeasonBegins on Easter Sunday and ends 50 days later on Pentecost Sunday.Easter Sunday is the beginning of the Easter Season which lasts for 50 days ending on Pentecost Sunday. The Easter season is to the year what Sunday is to the week. It is the heart of the Christian faith. St. Paul writes that without a strong, unswerving belief in the resurrection of Christ, then, “empty too is our preaching; empty too your faith” (1 Corinthians 15:14.) Catholics are an ‘Easter People’ and make "Alleluia" their song because they delight to praise the Lord who is raised from the dead and now shares his new life. The Paschal candle, the giant candle that is lighted during this season whenever Catholics celebrate in church, shows that Jesus lives.

Overview

Key Vocabulary

givingdeathnew lifechangegrowthAsh WednesdayLentHoly WeekCrucifixionthe TriduumEaster VigilResurrectionPaschal

For Christians, it is through the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus that new life begins. He reveals the way to eternal life for us and so a new life begins here and now, a life which will culminate in future glory. The Lenten journey is one which takes us to the glory of Easter Sunday, from the death of Christ to the new life of His Resurrection.Lent is the season when Christians try to focus on giving. This helps us to identify with how Jesus gave of himself.Children know and understand:• Giving and appreciating the cost of giving• The Church’s seasons of Lent, Holy Week and Easter; the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus led to new lifeSee Background Notes for Parents and CarersWeek 1: Children learn about the demands and sacrifices some people have to make in their lives to care for others. They learn that Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, a season of preparation and an opportunity to give of themselves.Week 2: Children explore the meaning of two passages from John’s gospel. In the first Jesus calls himself the bread of life and in the second Jesus talks about how a grain of wheat must die to bring forth life.Week 3: Again from John’s gospel children learn the story of the raising of Lazarus and John’s version of the crucifixion and death of Jesus.Week 4: Children learn about the Easter Vigil held on Holy Saturday night and study John’s account of the Resurrection. Look back at all the work done and the key vocabulary to remember has learned in this topicCelebrate with a simple Act of Worship (see below).

YEAR 6New Life

LENT/EASTER THEME

Year 6

In Year 6, the children learn what Lent is and that the Lenten journey is one which takes us to the glory of Easter Sunday, from Christ’s death to his new life through the Resurrection. They will learn how Christ’s death and Resurrection is celebrated in the Church. In the first week of the Year 6 topic children are usually asked to explore personal loss. For some families this may be very difficult to address in present times. Instead the focus has been shifted to how we give of ourselves to benefit others, using the teaching from the Year 5 topic, mirroring how Jesus gave of himself.

Week 1: Lesson 1Tell the story of a young carer or there are film clips of young carers on the BBC. One such carer is Sean aged 16. He helps to look after his brother who has a severe learning disability. His brother Ben is 11 but has a mental age of three or four. He has problems with his behaviour. Sean lives at home with his Mother and has to help feed and dress Ben and look after him. It can be very demanding as Ben can be aggressive and difficult. Sean sometimes gets fed up, but he loves Ben and often sacrifices his free time to help his Mum.

Q What and how does Sean give?

Q Why do you think he cares for his brother?

Q What do you think about Sean?

Q Do you know anyone who gives generously of their time or is a carer? For whom do they do it and why?Task: Investigate words which are connected with giving – for example, sacrifice, selfless, unselfish, courageous, brave, strong, kind, generous, donation and gift. Collect as many words as you can. Discover the words which mean the opposite of your words. Choose one ‘giving’ word and write a poem which conveys the meaning to the life of a Christian.

Week 1: Lesson 2(You may have spoken to your children about Ash Wednesday when it was celebrated, during the half term holidays. If so, a recap of how Lent begins, what the season is about, a reminder of any Lenten promises or a look at the Lenten calendar is sufficient.)Introduce Lent as a time in the Church’s year when the Christian family remembers the suffering and death of Jesus. During Lent, Christians try to be like Jesus. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. The priest blesses ashes (made from the previous year’s Palm Sunday palms) and makes a cross with them on the forehead of each person who comes in procession to the altar. (*this was not possible this year because if Covid restrictions)The ashes symbolise the repentance of the person who receives them, that they are turning away from sin and are truly sorry for what they had done wrong.Lent is a time to choose a new way of life and start again. Believing in the Gospel is about having a new life. It means being generous, giving to others, hard-working and appreciating the gifts of others.

Q What do the ashes symbolise?

Q What are Christians invited to think about and do during this time of Lent?

Q Who are Christians hoping to imitate?

Q In what ways can Christians begin to live a new life?Task: If you haven’t already done so make your own Lenten calendar showing how you will spend the rest of the forty days of Lent preparing for Easter, focus on how you will give of yourself. Leave a blank square at the end of each week to fill in after reflecting on your actions giving reasons for how they have shaped your life and the lives of others. See the template below.If you have access to the internet use CAFOD and Mission Together resources for Lent for some ideas: https://missiontogether.org.uk/calendar/resources-for-lent-2021/

https://cafod.org.uk/Education/Primary-teaching-resources/Lent-resources-for-children

Week 2: Lesson 1Read Jesus the Bread of Life below, based on John 6: 35, 37, 51, 60, 67-68. Think about how bread is the major source of food for many people and how they might die without it. Jesus was not talking about that kind of bread but was saying that he is the bread for life, offering to spiritually feed us. Recall the words within the Our Father prayer: ‘give us this day our daily bread’. Discuss the questions under the reading.Task: You have been invited to write an article entitled ‘The true meaning of the Bread of Life’ for a religious magazine (template below). Refer to the scripture used and try to explain what the words of Jesus meant to his friends and to Christians today.

Week 2: Lesson 2For the Church, ‘the greatest week’ is Holy Week, when the death and resurrection of Jesus is remembered in special celebrations. Holy Week begins on Passion Sunday, also called Palm Sunday, and ends on Easter Sunday. At the beginning of the week Jesus entered Jerusalem in triumph. The crowds had welcomed him waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna!” But Jesus knew it wouldn’t last and the people would soon forget or be swept away by the feeling in the crowd. He knew that it was necessary for him to die in order to rise again to Eternal life. He describes this in John’s Gospel:Jesus said: A grain of wheat is only one grain unless it falls into the ground and dies. If it does this, the one grain will grow into many grains. It’s the same with people. If you only take great care of yourself, you will become selfish and end up on your own. But if you are kind and giving, thinking only of others, then your life will be fruitful for yourself and others. Based on John 12: 24-25.

Q What do Christians commemorate during Holy Week?

Q On what special days does Holy Week begin and end?

Q What does the ‘grain of wheat’ symbolise?

Q Why it is that ‘a grain of wheat’ has to die to produce new life?Task: Using the template of the wheat below draw/write as many ways in which your life is ‘fruitful’ for yourself and others and the reasons why, making links with the scripture studied.

Week 3: Lesson 1In John’s Gospel this story is set just before Jesus goes to Jerusalem, a journey that results in his death and resurrection. Mary, Martha and Lazarus who lived in Bethany, were good friends of Jesus. They knew they could rely on Jesus’ love and friendship. This is quite a long reading. Take some time to read it over and picture what happened: Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. So, the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?”He told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there.When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So, the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So, they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” John 11: 1-43

Q Why do you think that Martha and Mary sent for Jesus when Lazarus was ill?

Q How do you think they felt when he chose not to come immediately?

Q What did Jesus mean when he said; “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him?”

Q What is meant by the word ‘Resurrection’?

Q What did Jesus mean when he said; “everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”

Q What effect do think these events had on those who witnessed them?Task: Having spent some time with the reading, look at the image below. What are the different characters thinking or saying?

Week 3: Lesson 2Good Friday is an important day for Christians. In some towns, there is a walk of witness, where Christians from many different churches walk together and hold a public prayer to remember the crucifixion and death of Jesus. The parish family gathers at 3 o’clock to celebrate Good Friday Liturgy on this the second day of the Triduum (the three days leading up to Easter Sunday, that is Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday). There is always the reading of the Passion of Our Lord from John’s Gospel.

Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified. So, they took charge of Jesus. He went out, carrying his cross, and came to The Place of the Skull, as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called Golgotha.) There they crucified him; and they also crucified two other men, one on each side, with Jesus between them. Pilate wrote a notice and had it put on the cross. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, is what he wrote. Many people read it, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city. The notice was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.Standing close to Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there; so, he said to his mother, “He is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “She is your mother.” From that time the disciple took her to live in his home.

Jesus knew that by now everything had been completed; and in order to make the scripture come true, he said, ‘I am thirsty.’ A bowl was there, full of cheap wine; so, a sponge was soaked in the wine, put on a stalk of hyssop, and lifted up to his lips. Jesus drank the wine and said, ‘It is finished!’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.After this, Joseph, who was from the town of Arimathea, asked Pilate if he could take Jesus’ body. (Joseph was a follower of Jesus, but in secret, because he was afraid of the Jewish authorities.) Pilate told him he could have the body, so Joseph went and took it away. There was a garden in the place where Jesus had been put to death, and in it there was a new tomb where no one had ever been buried. Since it was the day before the Sabbath and because the tomb was close by, they placed Jesus’ body there. John 19: 16-21, 25-30, 38-42

Q Why do you think this day is called ‘good’?

Q How did you feel as the Gospel was read?

Q How do you think that the women at the foot of the Cross felt?

Q What act showed how caring Jesus was in spite of his suffering?

Task: Write a report of the death of Jesus for the Jerusalem Times (template below). Include interviews with eye witnesses, which describe the beliefs and ideas they had about the event, their feelings and experiences.

Week 4: Lesson 1The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night takes place on Holy Saturday night, as late as possible. This is a celebration of Jesus’ New Life, his Resurrection from the dead and it is a joyful occasion. The priest wears white vestments.

There are four parts to the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night:1. The Solemn beginning of the Vigil2. The Liturgy of the Word3. The Baptismal Liturgy4. The Liturgy of the Eucharist

For the first part, everyone gathers outside the church in the dark for the blessing of new fire and the lighting of the Paschal (Easter) Candle. As the candle is lit, the priest prays:“May the light of Christ rising in glory dispel the darkness of hearts and minds.”As the candle is carried to the altar the priest stops three times and holds it up and sings or says:“The light of Christ.” Everyone replies: “Thanks be to God.”Each person’s candle is lit until the church is filled with Easter light. The Gloria is sung after the final Old Testament Reading in the Liturgy of the Word. Many ‘alleluias’ are sung at the Vigil to mark the end of the season of Lent during which time no alleluias are sung. This night, the Liturgy of the Word has a number of readings from both the Old and New Testaments which tell the story of God’s People and how God loved and cared for them. The final reading is the Gospel story of the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This story is read on Easter Sunday morning: -

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the entrance. She went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”Then Peter and the other disciple went to the tomb. The two of them were running, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and saw the linen cloths, but he did not go in. Behind him came Simon Peter, and he went straight into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there and the cloth which had been around Jesus’ head. It was not lying with the linen cloths but was rolled up by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in; he saw and believed. John 20: 1-8

The third part is the Liturgy of the Baptism, when water is blessed and often people are baptised at this time. The priest blesses the water with a beautiful prayer which recalls events in the Old Testament and Jesus’ Baptism in the river Jordan. He concludes with the prayer:“…all who have been buried with Christ by Baptism into death may rise again to life with him.”

Everyone has the opportunity to renew their own Baptismal promises. The Liturgy of the Eucharist continues as usual.

Q Why do you think the Easter Vigil takes place at night and what do you think it symbolises?

Q What makes Easter a time of joy?

Q How do you think the readings help the people to understand what is being celebrated?

Q What do you think about Mary Magdalene and Simon Peter? What does the story tell us about their characters?

Q What do you think the words of the prayer mean: ‘That all who have been buried with Christ by Baptism into death, May rise again to life with him’?

Task: Design an Easter card for your family using images of some of the actions, symbols and stories of the Easter vigil. Review your Lenten calendar. During Lent, how have you given of yourself to others and grown into the new life of Easter?

Week 4: Lesson 2 Look back at all you have done and the key vocabulary to help you remember what you have learned in the topic Celebrate with a simple Act of Worship

ResourcesWeek 1 Lesson 2

Week 2 Lesson 1

Q Why did Jesus refer to himself as the ‘Bread of life’?

Q In which way would the friends of Jesus never be hungry or thirsty?

Q What do you think is meant by the ‘secret of life’?

Q When are we able to receive the ‘Bread of life’?

Q Why do you think some of Jesus’ disciples decided to go away?

Week 2 Lesson 1

Week 2 Lesson 2

Week 3 Lesson 1

Week 3 Lesson 2

Week 4 Lesson 2Act of Worship

Death and New LifeYear 6

‘The Church’s season of Lent, Holy Week and Easter; the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus lead to new life’

You might like to set up a Focal table with some of the following:Candle, Bible (if possible), a cross, signs of “new life” in Spring, e.g. bulbs, daffodils, pussy-willows

Let us make the Sign of the Cross with special care today as we remember that Jesus died on a Cross for us.In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

As we gather together this morning we can see signs all around us of spring returning… on the table there are signs of new life… bulbs bursting into life… yellow daffodils… shoots starting to appear on trees… catkins, pussy willows.We have been learning how death and loss bring about change for people.

Lent is a time in the Church’s year when the Christian family remembers the suffering and death of Jesus and how Jesus’ friends felt when he was no longer there with them. During Lent, Christians try to be like Jesus. They practise being more giving in order to ‘live’ a new life.

In the last week of Jesus’ life he was in Jerusalem. The crowds had welcomed him waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna.” But Jesus knew it wouldn’t last and the people would soon forget or be swept away by the feeling in the crowd. He knew that it was necessary for him to die in order to rise again to Eternal life. He describes this in John’s Gospel with these words:

A reading from the Holy Gospel According to JohnGlory to You O LordWe make the sign of the cross on our forehead, lips and heart, in preparation to hear the Good News of the Gospel. We make the sign of the cross on our foreheads to show we believe in God’s Word, on our lips to show we try to speak God’s Word to others, and on our hearts to show we love God’s Word and will try to live a good life.

Jesus said: ‘I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.’

The Gospel of the LordPraise to You Lord Jesus Christ

In order to help us remember that Jesus died because he loved us so much let us spend some time in silence.(You and your child may like to place a small cardboard cross with your Lenten promise written on it on your focal table and pray quietly. You might like to play appropriate quiet music).

We know that Jesus’ death was not the end and that Easter is a celebration of Jesus’ rising to New Life. During Lent and Easter we think about how we can ‘walk in the light’ of Christ, die to selfishness and live a life of selfless love of others.

Let us pause for a moment and think about how we can be like Christ and bring the light of love to others…..

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Gathering Together

The Word of God

Response to the Word

Going Forth