A Seven Sacraments Lesson - New Evangelizers

Every few months we have all our families involved in religious education classes come together for Family Faith and Fun.  This is an activity for that group which can be modified for your group, class or family; the group I work with includes parents and children ranging from toddlers to seventh grade.  The families are not used to participating in activities of a religious nature except for Mass, so I try to keep things very nonthreatening. 

Lesson Outline:

Materials :

• large pictures of each sacrament
• each sacrament written on a large piece of paper (I used 11×17 and printed these out using Publisher and clip art.)
• 2 identical large chalice/host drawings, about 3’ high
• crayons
• pencils
• markers
• glue

To do ahead of time: 

• Cut up one of the large chalice/host drawing into pieces.
• Mark the back host pieces with a 1.
• Be sure to use large, easy to put back together cuts and to leave visible pencil lines on the front of the pieces.

Gather everyone and begin with the following points:

• Sacraments are signs we can see, hear, feel, taste and smell.
• God gave them to us, through Jesus, so that we could remember him and all the gifts he gives us.
• All sacraments give us grace to help us live our lives.
• Grace is another gift from God.

Activity:

Call up 14 children to help while their parents write down the names of each of the sacraments.

How many sacraments are there?  (7.) Have those left at tables write down the names of the sacraments, one person per family writing.

Part 1: 

Distribute the names of the sacraments and the pictures and have the children match them up, with their backs to the group.

Once they are all matched up, ask for the names of the 7 sacraments.

As each is named, have the 2 children step forward holding the sacrament name and picture.

Part 2: 

Have each table group choose one person to be a runner.

The group listens to the statement/question and the runner will go to the sacrament described after conferring with the group on an answer.

Possible Questions:

(Add more depending on size, attention span of the group)

• Takes away original sin
• We say we are sorry for our sins
• One man and one woman become a family
• We receive Jesus’ body and blood
• The Bishops seals you with the Holy Spirit
• This sacrament helps you when you are sick
• A man who is ordained receives this sacrament
• What is the most important sacrament?

Points to make:

• The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Catholic life.  It is our food for our journey.  Its purpose is to make us one with Jesus Christ, to help us to live like him and to form us into a community.  That is why we come to Mass, to celebrate together while thanking God for all he has given us, including and most especially his Son.
• As St. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians, all members of the body are necessary and valuable.  When one part of the body is hurting because of sin or sickness, it hurts all of us.  If a part of the body is missing, we all suffer.  That is yet another reason why we need to come together at Mass each week.

Activity:  One in Christ: 

Pass out puzzle pieces and markers, crayons, pencils; one piece to each family. 

Have each family think about an appropriate symbol to put on the puzzle piece.  It can be a symbol of a sacrament, something special to the family, or abstract.  It should not include words.  Very little white space should be seen. All need to participate in the coloring in some way. Make sure the coloring is done on the side with visible lines.

Once everyone is done, have one person from each group come forward and to put the puzzle together.

Note:  We did this with a small group and the chalice puzzle did not work out well. The pieces did not fit back together, so we wound up making it a collage and then coloring in the empty spots.  A person with better spatial/drawing skills might be able to do the puzzle. The basic point remained; we are all needed in the Church. 

Copyright © 2013, Deanna Bartalini

Deanna Bartalini

Deanna G. Bartalini, is a Catholic writer, speaker, and educator. She serves on the retreat team at Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center. Deanna loves teaching about Catholicism and how it fits into our daily lives. She writes at DeannaBartalini.com, serves as the editor of the NewEvangelizers.com blog, and is a contributor there as well as at AmazingCatechists.com. Deanna contributed to A Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion published by Ave Maris Press. She is the author of “Invite the Holy Spirit into Your Life: Growing in Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control” published by Our Sunday Visitor. Deanna is available to lead retreats and speak at catechist and ministry events.