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Included here are lesson plans from previous years’ Respect Life Week! These grade-appropriate lessons deal with more relevant topics related to the dignity of the human person.
Scroll below and click on the images to be taken to the topic’s page, or navigate through the topics using the sidebar.
Gospel of Life Week
Gospel of Life Week
Teachers and Parents
– Adoption
– Loving Our Neighbors
– Knowing My Value
– Life is a Gift
– Learning to Forgive
– Respecting Others
– Caring for Those in Need
– The Beginning of Life
– Celebrating Special Needs
– Overcoming Differences
– Receiving Mercy
– Immigration
– Life is Precious
– Dignity at Every Age
– Marriage
– Caring for Creation
DREs and Catechists
– Grades PK-3
– Grades 4-6
– Grades 7-9
– Grades 10-12
Topics
– The Beginning of Life
– Knowing My Value
– Adoption
– Respecting Others
– Receiving Mercy
– Immigration
– Loving Our Neighbors
– Life is a Gift
– Life is Precious
– Dignity at Every Age
– Learning to Forgive
– Caring for Those in Need
– Marriage
– Caring for Creation
– Celebrating Special Needs
– Overcoming Differences
High School Resources
Youth Ministry Resources
Service Opportunities
THE BEGINNING OF LIFE/ ABORTION | It takes far more to build a culture that welcomes and respects every human life than just talking about it or creating laws. To truly create a world where every person is loved, each individual has to do his or her share to spread kindness, mercy and an authentic understanding of being part of the human family. Only then will abortion and other attacks on human life end. |
KNOWING MY VALUE/ SUICIDE & DEPRESSION | Sometimes it is easier to recognize the goodness and value of other people. It can be difficult to believe that we are good and worthy of respect. Students will learn that taking care of ourselves is part of the call to holiness. God has created us body and soul to praise him through both. |
ADOPTION | Every child deserves a home and a family. In this lesson. students will learn about the loving choice of adoption and explore stories of people who have been adopted. Students will develop a deeper understanding of what adoption and foster care are and why, as Christians, we take very seriously the responsibility for every child born into the world. |
RESPECTING OTHERS/ TRAFFICKING | Every person possesses inherent dignity. This means that persons can never be treated as objects to be used but must be respected as bearing the image of God. In this lesson, students will unpack what it means to respect others. |
RECEIVING MERCY | Life is a gift but sometimes we don’t recognize the goodness of God’s plans and we choose to turn away. God is always calling us back to Himself. He invites us to receive His mercy and to extend forgiveness to others. |
  | Pope Francis has called us to go out with the joy of the Gospel, to encounter people where they are. Like Mother Teresa, we are called to serve the poor by looking people in the eye, respecting their dignity, and engaging in works of mercy. |
 | Students will learn about the mercy of God and His invitation to us to uphold the dignity of every person, even those who have committed crimes. Bad decisions cannot destroy the reality of the love of God. Solutions to crime and punishment must take into account the dignity of every person. |
 | God makes each person special—a unique creation whom He planned from the beginning of time. In our world, it is so important that we learn to respect the dignity of every human person, no matter our differences. Unfortunately, people with disabilities experience a great amount of discrimination, including bullying. People with disabilities deserve the same love and support as everyone else. God has a special plan for every single person, no matter what our abilities. |
 | The international movement to legalize assisted suicide teaches that some lives are worth living while others have no value. As Christians, we embrace interdependence and understand that suffering is a necessary, if difficult, part of life. When we help others in need, we are practicing works of mercy. When we ask for help and allow others to care for us, we are providing the opportunity for others to offer mercy to us. |
 | By teaching the truth of marriage—a loving, permanent commitment between a man and a woman to each other and any children they may have—we allow students to realize that God did intend something special for us; that we are made for and capable of lasting, authentic love; and that even if our own human realities fall far from this ideal, they can still aspire to it as adults. |
 | Solidarity invites us to see immigrants through the lens of our common dignity as members of the human community. We are challenged to overcome the often volatile rhetoric of political parties and media frenzies to look at what our faith tells us about the situation. When we come to understand what motivates people to leave behind their homelands and their heritage to come to the United States, we learn that they are looking for the same things we are: peace, security, opportunity, education, and stability. |
 | Pope Francis issued the encyclical Laudato si, the first written specifically on the environment. Students will understand the connection between honoring the dignity of each person, serving the poor and vulnerable, and protecting our environment. |