Lesson 24: Joseph and God’s Message of Love
Joseph and God’s Message of Love Background for the Catechist Please take 10 minutes to reflect on the following introduc on to this lesson.
Reflection/Doctrinal Reference Chris ans venerate the Old Testament as the true word of God. All of the books of the Old Testament are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value. They bear witness to the divine pedagogy of God’s saving love. They are wri en, above all, to prepare for the coming of Christ the Saviour of the universe (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2006, n. 21).
Reading the stories of the great biblical figures is the way we begin to understand both the way God works in the world and also our own role in the world. The stories of Joseph from the Old Testament are a perfect example. Joseph, the favoured son, provokes jealousy in his brothers, and only just escapes his brothers’ anger. He travels afar, establishes himself anew and is eventually able to reconcile with those brothers and his beloved father. God writes straight in the crooked lines of Joseph’s fortunes and Joseph himself learns wisdom and to trust in God.
Student Focus Students of this age love story. They relate easily to the characters and situa ons in stories. They enter into stories and wonder about the characters and draw meaning from their musings.
Purpose of Lesson Special people in the Bible tell us about God’s message of love.
Remembering Point The story of Joseph tells us about the love of God.
The Good News of Jesus F / 1 / 2 Year A
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Catechist Sheets
Lesson 24 Joseph and God’s Message of Love
Preparation
Beginning
1. Prayer focus: A mul ‐ coloured cloth or mul ‐ coloured ribbons, wheat Welcome the students as usual. grains, a candle or an Tell the students: We had the story of David a few weeks ago. Today electric tea light, the we will be looking at another important figure, Joseph. He is also from Bible. (3 minutes)
the Old Testament. Joseph was born a long me before David and his story comes before the story of David. It shows us, just like David’s 2. A world map from Appendix 24a enlarged story did, how God chose special people to show us God’s love. to A3 size.
Let’s have a look at the land where Joseph’s family, his father, Jacob, 3. Student sheets. and his eleven brothers lived. Show the students the map of the world and locate the area of their student sheets map (the Holy Land, with Canaan and Egypt marked) on the world map.
Middle (22 minutes)
Gather the students around you for storytelling. Tell the students the story of Joseph (Appendix 24b). Distribute the student sheets and invite them to look at the outline of Joseph. Help the students to fill in the various parts of the ac vity in the following way: Ask the students one ques on at a me. Prompt the students in their discussion and be prepared to have some noise when they are talking about the story with others. · In this story what are the things that Joseph does? (Students can record their answers beside the fingers of the outline, using some of the words found around the page.) · Where does Joseph go? (Students can record their answers beside the feet of the outline using some of the words found around the page.) · What does Joseph see and say in this story? (Students can record their answers beside the eyes and the mouth of the outline using some of the words found around the page.) · What do you think Joseph might have thought while the different things happened to him? (Students can record their answers beside the head of the outline, using some of the words found around the page.) · What did Joseph feel about: a) at the beginning when he got his coat, b) when his brothers tore it from him, c) when they threw him down the pit, d) when he was rescued and sold as a slave, e) when he became Governor of Egypt, f) when he saw his brothers, g) when they passed the test?
The Good News of Jesus F / 1 / 2 Year A
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Catechist Sheets
Lesson 24: Joseph and God’s Message of Love
Ask the students to reflect on the following:
Preparation
· I wonder how Joseph would have felt when he saw his father again a er so long. (Students can record their answers beside the outline using some of the words found around the page.)
Give the students some me to complete this ac vity and colour in the coat of many colours (if me allows).
End (3 minutes)
Gather the students around the prayer focus. Catechist: Let us make the Sign of the Cross together. All:
In the name of the Father, …
Catechist: God, you were faithful to Joseph and his family, always caring for them.
Thank you, God, for the story of Joseph that reminds us of your care for us and our families, too.
Our response is Thank you, God. Students:
Thank you, God.
Catechist: Help us to forgive, like Joseph. Students:
Thank you, God.
Catechist: Help us to help our family and friends, like Joseph Students:
Thank you, God.
Catechist: Help us to use our gi s to help others, like Joseph. Students:
Thank you, God.
Catechist: We ask this, God, in your name. All:
Amen.
Dismiss the students as usual.
The Good News of Jesus F / 1 / 2 Year A
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Catechist Sheets
Lesson 24 Joseph and God’s Message of Love
World Map
Egypt Israel, Canaan
Art Explosion Nova Development 2004
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Catechist Sheets
Lesson 24: Joseph and God’s Message of Love
Appendix 24b – Joseph’s Story This is the story about the family of Jacob. Jacob was one of God’s chosen people and he lived in the land of Canaan (point to the loca on on the map). Jacob had twelve sons. He loved all his sons, but one of his sons was special – he was a dreamer. One day Jacob gave Joseph a wonderful new coat. This coat was made of many coloured pieces of cloth and sparkled in the sun. When Joseph’s brothers saw him wearing this wonderful coat, they became very jealous They thought this meant that Jacob loved Joseph the most. Now Joseph was a dreamer and he had a dream that he would be a great man and more successful than his brothers. Hearing this, the brothers became even more annoyed and jealous and plo ed against him. One day when they were all out in the fields they a acked Joseph and tore the coat from him, bullied him and threw him into a pit. They went off and le him, intending to come back later and take him out of the pit. However, a group of people who were travelling through the area hauled him out of the pit and sold him to another caravan. So now Joseph was a slave. Joseph’s brothers were very upset when they discovered the pit was empty. They didn’t know what to do, but decided to go home and tell their father that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. Jacob was very sad. Joseph worked very hard as a slave and was soon put in charge of a household. The wife of the owner of the house told lies about Joseph, which meant that Joseph ended up in prison. While he was in prison Joseph explained the meaning of the dreams of some of the other prisoners. One of these prisoners was a servant for the Pharaoh. Pharaoh was having trouble understanding his dreams and his servant suggested Joseph might explain them to him. Pharaoh sent for Joseph to explain the unusual dreams he was having. In one dream, seven fat cows came out of the River Nile, followed by seven thin cows. The thin cows ate the fat cows. In a second dream seven fat stalks of corn were eaten by seven thin ones. Joseph was able to explain all of this to Pharaoh. He said, there would be seven years of good harvests in Egypt when there would be lots of food to eat. Then there would be seven years of drought when nothing would grow. Joseph told Pharaoh to get ready by storing the extra corn in the barns so people wouldn’t starve. Pharaoh was so impressed that he made Joseph the Governor of Egypt. Meanwhile, back in Canaan, the drought was very hard. Jacob and his sons were starving. Jacob decided to send his sons to Egypt to buy corn from the Governor because he was the only one who had prepared for the drought and famine. When the sons saw the Governor, they did not recognise their brother Joseph. Joseph, however knew immediately who they were. He gave them plenty of food but wanted to know if they had changed their ways. So he decided to test them. Joseph placed his precious silver cup in the sack of Benjamin, his youngest brother. When the brothers tried to leave, Joseph stopped them and checked their bags to see who had stolen his cup. It was discovered to be in Benjamin’s sack. The other brothers would not let Benjamin take the blame; they took the blame instead. They passed the test! Joseph knew, now, that they had changed. He hugged them and said, ‘I am your brother Joseph’. He sent them to bring his father, Jacob, and all the family to live in Egypt to be with him. The family was now together again (Gen 37: 2–36; 39: 1–46: 34).
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