Accompany Week-by-Week
Help your people to integrate the Gospel into their lives each week and discuss it with others.
The Sunday lectionary readings can serve as a pulse for the Body of Christ, a regular infusion that gives us life as disciples. Make the readings an opportunity for reflection and faith sharing.
Many of the lectionary-based tools we provide are downloadable and reproducible, making them flexible and very affordable. Share these reflections with your parishioners in weekly bulletins, emails, social media posts, or printed handouts.
Sharing Faith through the Readings
How to Lead Faith Sharing
Using the Questions of the Week & Breaking Open the Word
How can we best lead faith sharing in all the various groups and meetings going on in the parish? How can we build on the insights of Breaking Open the Word as it is used in the RCIA to enhance the faith life of the whole community? This guide introduces this and provides a reproducible template which you can fill in for each week which will help your people lead themselves in this form of prayer. FREE!
Questions of the Week
Based on the Lectionary Readings
In addition to an outline of each week's Sunday Readings, this free resource includes one thought-provoking question for adults and one for children. Use the questions for faith sharing, print them in your bulletin, send them in a weekly email, or post them on your parish's social media page. FREE!
Breaking Open the Word
A Simple Yet Powerful Two-Page Per Week Process
Finally, here is a simple yet powerful process for leading small group reflection on the Sunday Lectionary readings. Other processes can be overwhelming and simply too much content for a small group session. These sessions focus on a single reading each week, with insightful daily life commentary and related discussion questions. Ann Naffziger brings her decades of experience in small group facilitation, spiritual direction, and leading RCIA into this resource centered on conversion and discipleship.
Weekly Tools for Families
Mass Transit Cards / Tarjetas de Estudio sobre la Misa
Lectionary-based Conversation Starters for Families
Help your families reflect on each week’s Mass readings and see how they relate to their own family life. Coach families to keep the simple cards in their glove compartment so they can discuss them on their way to and from Mass. This is a grass-roots resource—perfected in a parish setting—that really works! Just as sports and academic challenges require preparation, so does Mass. Children (and parents!) need to ready their hearts and minds to be active participants in the Eucharist.
Bringing Home the Gospel for Parents
Reflections for Parents on the Gospel Readings
This downloadable, reproducible resource is designed for busy parents who want to share the faith with their family and reflect on their spiritual journey. Each handout includes a thoughtful, relevant reflections on the Sunday Gospel that will resonate with parents, a "Family Response" question for reflection by the whole family, and a "Personal Response" question for parents.
Children's Liturgy of the Word
What, Why, and How?
Start or strengthen this pivotal ministry in your parish using this free resource! We have seen this ministry—when done well—make a big difference. Those who embrace a mission-based approach know that the Sunday experience should be our central focus. While a vibrant Children's Liturgy of the Word can attract and retain families, what is most important is how we can help children worship better, learn the value of liturgy, and apply the weekly readings to their daily lives. FREE!
More Weekly Tools for Adults
Word of the Week
One-Page Bulletin Inserts with Cartoons, Reflections, and Questions of the Week
This simple resource includes a reflection on one of the Sunday Readings and two questions of the week by Ann Naffziger. Her practical, relevant, daily life insights are a great starting point for faith sharing and deeper reflection into the week. It also has a cartoon from The Sunday Flock by Jean Denton, along with a short Bible quotation, and a "Sheepish question" for pondering. It will get your people's attention!
Living God's Word
Two-Page Handouts on the Weekly Gospels
Share the down-to-earth insights of Fr. David M. Knight with participants in your ministry or your whole parish. Each week, they include an in-depth reflection on the Sunday Gospel, short insights on the daily Gospels, and engaging prompts for living out the week.
We also have short weekly Justice Challenges and Creation Care Tips based on the Sunday readings and many other tools for exploring the readings each week.
Explore all Weekly Tools