In this week’s Gospel passage, Jesus tells the parable of the tenants who killed the landowner’s son when he sent him to collect their produce. He explains that the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and that the Kingdom of Heaven will be given to those that bear fruit. In this week’s lesson, students will consider ways for their lives to bear fruit.
Interactive Faith Journal
The Parable of the Tenants – Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time | Year A
Lesson Overview
Upper Elementary Lesson Materials
Download all PDFsDirections
- Have your students read the Gospel passage, or read it aloud to your students, and then answer the focus questions.
- Review and discuss the answers when they have completed the focus questions.
- Have students complete The Parable of the Tenants worksheet and write 1-2 paragraphs on the writing prompt.
Answer Key
Focus Questions
- He leases the vineyard to tenants and goes on a journey.
- He sends his servants to the tenants to collect his produce.
- They beat one servant, kill another, and stone the third. They treated his other servants in the same way.
- Finally, the landowner sends his son to them thinking that at least they will respect his son. The servants seize the landowner’s son, throw him out of the vineyard, and kill him to acquire his inheritance.
- They say that the landowner will kill the wretched tenants and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him his produce at the proper times.
- The stone that the builders rejected will become the cornerstone.
- The kingdom of God will be given to the people that will produce its fruit.
Lower Elementary Lesson Materials
Download all PDFsDirections
- Read the Gospel passage aloud to your students as they follow along. Then discuss the focus and reflection questions with them as a class.
- Have students complete Crack the Code activity.
- When they have finished, explain to them that a cornerstone is the most important part of the foundation of a house. It is the first stone that is laid, and builders use it as a reference to mark and measure where they will place every other stone in the house.
- Finally, have your students complete the reflection question.
Answer Key
Focus Questions
- He leases the vineyard to tenants and goes on a journey.
- He sends his servants to the tenants to collect his produce.
- They beat one servant, kill another, and stone the third. They treated his other servants in the same way.
- The stone that the builders rejected will become the cornerstone.
- The kingdom of God will be given to the people that will produce its fruit.
Crack the Code
Answer: Cornerstone
