Families Growing in Faith 3rd grade
elcome to the 2020/21 Families Growing in Faith! My name is Mrs. Virostek and I am excited to be joining you as your FGF teacher. I am looking forward to meeting all of you someday soon but until then, we will journey through the lessons virtually. We will be exploring the Good News and I am so happy to be doing this alongside you.
A little about me- I am a mother, a wife and an obedient servant of God. I am also a new mom to a puppy named Sawyer. It has been very exciting to have a special little friend in our house even though he is a bit nippy right now. He will learn that biting is not nice! I am also a preschool aide in North Canton. Working with children is a lot of fun! March 7: Dear 3rd grade friends, Happy Sunday! I hope you are enjoying all of this SUNSHINE, I know we are 😊 Today’s first reading is about the Ten Commandments. God does not need the Ten Commandments for His sake but we sure do. These are rules that we can live by that keep us safe and following God. Just like our parents, God loves us so much that He requires us to obey. Next time your parents ask you to set the table or clean your room, be thankful because they are just looking our for your best interest. God is pleased when we obey. Our Good News for this week is from the Gospel of John. Jesus comes into the Temple and is angered that it has turned into a market place. He wants us to remember that the Temple is to be kept sacred. He also speaks about His body being a temple which will be raised in three days. His followers were confused by His reference but we know He is talking about God raising Him from the dead. Jesus is God’s temple and we are the body of Jesus on earth. By living a HOLY life, we too can join Him in Heaven. Our Gospel video for March 7: https://youtu.be/WL0VY5FD6wA Don’t forget to do your Lenten calendar for this week. Our word for this week is PRAY. Praying for a good week for all, Mrs. Virostek February 28: My 3rd grade friends, I think my day got away from me and I am so sorry! Our puppy had some minor surgery and unfortunately, he has not been very cooperative and wants to jump and run. ☹ I have been keeping my eyes on him 24/7 so he does not pick at his stitches. I apologize for this late email but he has finally decided to rest. Today I heard a fabulous Homily and wanted to share it with you. Father Dave (He looks a lot like Jesus) shared about God giving us reassurance and love to prepare us for our endeavors. He talked about our Moms blessing us and kissing us goodbye before we go to school or for sleepover. We can take this love with us so that if we encounter a rough patch in our day, we can rely on that love to carry us through. God did the same when he sent His only son to walk with us on Earth. Jesus gives us love and strength to get through our days but also hope for the future. His Transfiguration gives us a glimpse of how glorious Heaven will be when we follow Him. James, John and Peter did not know what Jesus was talking about when” the Son of Man rises from the dead” but it gives hope that our Heavenly bodies will shine with God’s glory in Heaven once Jesus comes again. This is the Good News!! I hope you are having a wonderful Sunday and here is our video for this week. It’s a modern take on our Gospel this week. I hope you enjoy it. 😊 https://www.pflaumweeklies.com/wp-content/themes/skilled-child/youtube-api-embed.php?id=Pl-6pTDa1yU&start=0 Sincerely, Mrs. Virostek February 21: 3rd grade friends- Happy Lent!! Ash Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent and we have so much to be thankful for. This is a time that we can really grow in Faith as we reflect on God’s Love for us and how faithful He is to us always. God promises to be with us always, protect us, strengthen us, forgive us, love us and share life in heaven with us. As we begin our lesson for February 21, lets take a minute to think about all of the times He has been faithful. Noah had great faith in God and was called to build an ark and leave his home during a great flood. Noah is reminded of God’s faithfulness by sending a rainbow as a covenant or promise that God would never flood the earth again. God will never break his promises to us but unfortunately, people break their promise to God. How can we be more mindful of our promise to God that we will love Him and follow Him? Lent is a good time to grow closer to God and one another. Our Gospel reading for this week comes from the Gospel of Mark. Mark is the first person to write a Gospel. He shared stories about Jesus that he heard from Paul and from stories at Sunday gatherings. Each of his stories were encouragement for his Christian friends. He did not want them to be afraid and reminded them that God had raised Jesus from the dead and He would do the same for His followers. There are times each of us are afraid but with God, we can do all things. Even Jesus was afraid and tempted by the devil while he was in the desert, but Jesus put His faith in God. https://youtu.be/QJKhQYKUKok On page 4, there is a Lenten calendar to help put your faith into action during Lent. The Lenten practices are on page 1. What word do you think they spell? You are correct- GROW. We can grow as faithful followers of God during Lent. Loving God, We believe in you and trust in your promises. Help our faith to grow. Help us to show our faith in our actions. Amen Sincerely, Mrs. Virostek February 7: Happy February!! I hope that you are having a wonderful weekend and enjoy your Sunday. Maybe you have plans to watch the Super Bowl or play a family game but whatever your plans are- please stay warm and safe!! 😊 This week we are studying about the celebration of the Seven Sacraments. Here is short video as an overview of the sacraments. https://youtu.be/LatLsVNR0T0 Before you begin, have your family Bible ready. It will be handy for you to have a Bible that you can reference as you complete the Pflaum booklet (page 4). This week, you will be reading from the Gospel of Mark. The lessons in Good News connect the Gospel readings with the seven sacraments. January 24: I hope that you have had a great week and enjoyed your days off of school. It was busy around my house with chores and doctors appointments. I am not sure my family felt like they had time off to just lay around and do nothing. In our church, a lot has been happening as well. Did you know that we have a new Bishop of the Youngstown Diocese? His name is Bishop David Bonnar and from what I have heard about him, he is a very Christ-like man. This week, we are talking about Jesus and His call to love one another and share His Good News. Bishop Bonnar and our priests at St Michael listened to Jesus’ call and became priests. We all have a vocation, a call to live life of love and holiness, serving God and his people. Your vocation may be to love as a husband or wife, for others, it may be to become a missionary and travel to other lands to share the Good News and for some, it may be a call to become a priest or nun. We all have a calling. Pray and listen, I know God has a special plan for you. There are some very hard questions to answer this week in our lesson- one question is “What would you have to leave behind to follow Jesus?” It is a scary question for me to answer because I would miss my family and my students, the conveniences of home and comfort of my bed. But the four fishermen, they did leave their jobs and their families to be with Jesus. The lesson that I take away from this Gospel reading is that when we follow Jesus, he will take care of our needs. He loves us and knows what is right for us. These men became disciples and spread the Good News all over Galilee. What an important job and privilege they had. May we all be blessed with the gift of faith. It will guide us and nurture all of us all the days of our life. January 10: Happy New Year and a very happy Sunday!! This week our lesson is about the Baptism of our Lord. What an exciting day for his family but for him as well. Jesus was being welcomed into Gods’ family as His beloved son. By being baptized, Jesus was united with God in the Holy Trinity. When we are baptized we too are united with our Church family and united in love with God. It is a beautiful day to celebrate. Maybe you can take some time to watch a video of your baptism or look through pictures. Ask your parents about that day- it is truly special! Early this morning I was outside with our puppy thinking I was probably the only one up this early. :/ As I looked up, I was surprised by the abundant number of stars. I have not seen so many stars out in a very long time and it made me think- God loves me as big as the number of stars and that’s infinite. How amazing is that!?! God’s love for us does not end, it is bigger than we can ever imagine and surprises us when we are feeling alone. God’s love surrounds you always and forever! I hope you have a magnificent day, Mrs. Virostek December 6: Hello 3rd grade friends!! Happy Advent! Here is a little video from me this week- https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VOErNipPjee21tOpiwD1Fb2DOQoLrZnz/view?usp=sharing Hope you have a great week! Mrs Virostek November 22: Hello fabulous 3rd grade friends, Happy Sunday! I hope that you are all well and enjoying some time playing games, watching your favorite show or maybe even putting together a puzzle on this rainy day. We are going to attend church and then start a new puzzle we got in the mail. I hope it is not too hard. There is also a game you can play with your family in this week’s Good News booklet. Todays lesson is about love and showing God our love for Him and others. We are asked to be a good neighbor, a good friend and a good person to all those we encounter. Yesterday my daughter and I volunteered at a local church and helped distribute food to those in need. This is what we call Works of Mercy. Mercy is treating others the way God treats us- with respect and kindness. I hope that through our actions, those who we encountered yesterday felt God’s love. Here is a video about this weeks Gospel. https://youtu.be/2NkC4josxeU Thanksgiving is just around the corner and we have much to be thankful for. One of my favorite stories is Dinner at the Tappletons. https://youtu.be/YLtUAZn5iGg I pray that you have a Thanksgiving full of fun and family and much to be thankful for. Sincerely, Mrs. Virostek November 8: Hello 3rd grade Friends, I hope you are doing great this week!! Happy Fall 😊 Here is a little video to say hello https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BvvgSgWLs5m22JoX1oarng0QDz1TqvlV/view I have also included a video of this weeks Gospel. Enjoy! https://youtu.be/gDx6h0miYVk Sincerely, Mrs. Virostek November 1: Today is the Solemnity of All Saints- a day that we celebrate all of the saints. What is a saint? A saint is one who lived a Godly life. https://youtu.be/UcPXns6gilk Anyone can be a saint- even you! God calls all of us to be saints. n our Gospel this week, Jesus gives us the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes lead us to a life full of happiness and our ultimate reward in Heaven. Lets do our best and live a happy life. 😊 Are you named after a Saint? Ask your parents how they came up with your name. I did this over the weekend with my daughter who is preparing for her Confirmation this year. Her name means “Who is like God”. What a special name to have. There is another fun game to play this week in our lesson. This game includes many of Jesus’ teachings form the Sermon on the Mount. I hope that you enjoy it! Happy November! October 25: Dear 3rd grade friends and families, I apologize for the technical difficulties. I sent the emails thinking that you could see what I see on my screen but I guess once it gets into cyberspace it certainly gets jumbled. I don't understand why because I am not doing anything out of the ordinary. So something you probably know about me now- I am not a technical wizard. :) I cannot believe that we are at the end of October. The leaves have changed and the chill is definitely in the air. I hope that you have had some time to admire God's beautiful colors and take some time to play in the leaves, maybe even get your Jack O Lantern ready. I have been reading a lot of pumpkin books to my preschoolers but one of my favorite children's books is The Pumpkin Patch Parable. https://youtu.be/7wkrwvzZoQ4 I hope that you enjoy it as much as we do!! God loves you!! September 27: Hi 3rd grade friends! What a great week- I am hopeful that you had a wonderful week and saw God generosity. He is so generous in His mercy but also His care for us. I saw it in the beautiful weather, the abundant apples on the trees and the health of my family. What did you notice this week? This week we will be studying the Good News of Matthew 21: 28-32. God gives us choices. In our Gospel, Jesus tells the story of two sons who are given the freedom to choose but do they make the choice to obey their father or do what they want? We all have choices to make and God encourages us to make loving choices. What helps you to make loving choices? To the right is a video of our Gospel this week. I hope you enjoy it! Useful links:
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September 20:
The first lesson for September is God is Generous to His people from Matthew 20:1-16a. As you complete the activities, reflect on what the word generous means and how can you be generous to those around you. I have given an overview of the Weeklies lesson on the right. Also, you might like to watch the other video overview with your family. The third video is about the Gospel for this week. As we learn together about our Church and the Good News, please reach out to me with any questions and comments. Your parents can contact me either through email [email protected] or by calling me on my cell at 703-856-0705. I promise to do my best to answer any questions that you or your families have. |