🔥 WHOLESOME SOUL – ENLIGHTENED AND FOCUSED
The Healing of Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46–52)
👉 Objective
The students will be able to understand that Jesus loves everyone, especially when they are sad or need help, and that we can always talk to Jesus in prayer and also help others come closer to Jesus’s love.
🟦 Introduction (2 min)
Hello, dear friends! How are you today? Today, we’re going to hear a very special story about Jesus and a man who couldn’t see. It’s a story about how Jesus helps us when we ask Him, and how much He loves us! Are you ready to listen with your listening ears?
📖 Storytelling: The Story of Bartimaeus (5 min) (Mark 10:46–52)
Watch the video of the story together. After ask the students to quickly say the story in their own words. You can also animate the story yourself using the PowerPoint slides 4-13 and following the adapted story provided.
🟦 Short Discussion
- What was Bartimaeus’s big problem?
He couldn’t see. He was blind.
- What did Bartimaeus do when he heard Jesus was coming?
He shouted, “Jesus! Please help me!” He kept shouting even when people told him to stop.
- What did Jesus do for Bartimaeus? What does this tell us about Jesus?
Jesus stopped, called Bartimaeus, and made him see again. This tells us Jesus is kind, listens to us, and wants to help us when we ask Him.
🟦 Interactive and Fun Reflective Activities
👂 Activity 1 – Follow the Voice
Materials: Soft blindfolds (scarves or cloths) and a small bell/chime for the teacher(optional).
Instructions:
Objective
Students will experience what it feels like to rely on listening instead of sight, helping them understand how Bartimaeus listened carefully for Jesus’s voice and reminding them of the importance of listening with both their ears and their hearts.
- Children sit in a circle or at their desks and close their eyes.
- The teacher whispers simple instructions (tap knees, nod, point, wiggle toes) and children follow by listening carefully.
- (Optional) The teacher rings a bell/chime and children point towards the sound.
- After a few rounds, children open their eyes again.
Reflection: Discuss: Was it easy or tricky to know where my voice was coming from when your eyes were closed? How important was it to listen carefully? Bartimaeus couldn’t see, but he listened very carefully for Jesus’s voice, and Jesus heard his voice too! Just like you listened for my voice, we can listen for Jesus in our hearts. This activity still helps them understand the challenge of not seeing and the importance of listening, but in a safer, more controlled way.
Objective: This activity shifts the focus slightly to the disciples’ role in bringing Bartimaeus to Jesus, emphasizing helping others.
👐 Activity 2: Helping Hands Chain (Focus on Discipleship and Helping Others)
Materials: None needed.
Instructions
- Children stand in a line holding hands – the first is “Jesus” (stands still) and the last is “Bartimaeus” (eyes closed or pretending blindfolded).
- “Jesus” calls Bartimaeus, and the children in the chain gently pull and guide him forward.
- Explain that everyone in the chain is helping Bartimaeus reach Jesus.
- Repeat the activity with different children as “Jesus” and “Bartimaeus.”
Reflection: Friends helped Bartimaeus get to Jesus, we can be Jesus’s ‘helping hands’ and help our friends and family when they need it, bringing them closer to Jesus’s love. This activity visually and physically demonstrates the concept of helping others and being a disciple.
🟦 Conclusion
Did you enjoy this story? Which part did you like best and why?
Let’s remember what we have learnt today. We have learnt that Jesus loves us so much, and He always listens when we talk to Him, even when we’re sad or need help. Just like Bartimaeus, we can always ask Jesus for what we need, and He will help us.
🙏 Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you for always listening to us. Please help us when we are sad or need your help. Please help us notice others when they are sad and you’re your help too. Amen.
Lent 🔥 WHOLESOME SOUL – ENLIGHTENED AND FOCUSED
The Healing of Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46–52)
👉 Objective
The students will be able to identify that Jesus cares for everyone, especially those who are hurting, and that we can always ask Jesus for help with faith and perseverance.
🟦 Introduction (2 min)
- Good morning, everyone! Let us start by making the sign of the cross and thank God for the gift of today.
- Today, we’re going to hear a wonderful story about Jesus and a man who really needed His help. It’s a story about seeing, asking, and believing. Let’s listen carefully to what happened!
📖 Storytelling: The Story of Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46–52) (5 min)
Watch the video of the story together. After ask the students to quickly say the story in their own words. You can also animate the story yourself using the PowerPoint and following the adapted story provided.
Here you can use an interactive activity so that students become more engaged with the story before briefly discussing some important points.
👂 Interactive and Reflective Activity – Blindfold Trust Walk (10 min)
Objective
The students will acknowledge the fact how hard it is to trust others, however, the more we know about the person who helps us, the more we are ready to trust them. This is the same with Jesus. The better my relationship with Him, the more I am ready to trust Him.
Materials: Soft blindfolds (scarves or cloths) for half the class.
Instructions: Pair students up. One student wears a blindfold, and the other becomes their “guide.” The guide gently leads the blindfolded student around a safe, open area (like a classroom or playground) for a few minutes, giving clear verbal instructions (“step up,” “turn left,” “three steps forward”). Emphasize safety and trust. After a few minutes, have them switch roles.
Reflection: After the activity, discuss: “How did it feel to be blindfolded? How did it feel to trust your friend? How do you think Bartimaeus felt when he couldn’t see? How did he show trust in Jesus?” This activity helps them understand Bartimaeus’s experience and the importance of trusting God.
(If there is more time, the children can first try this activity with someone they don’t know very well, and then with a friend of their choice. This way, they can notice and feel the difference — how it is easier to trust someone you already know than someone you don’t. In the same way, the more we come to know Jesus, the more willing we become to trust Him.)
🟦 Discussion about the story: (10 min)
1. Who was Bartimaeus and why did he cry out to Jesus?
Bartimaeus was a blind man who sat by the road begging for money. His problem was that he couldn’t see. His blindness is symbolic and represents us when we are in need of God’s help and guidance. Bartimaeus represents us when we realise that only God can help us.
2. What did Bartimaeus cry out and why did he cry loudly and repeatedly to Jesus to come?
He started shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Bartimaeus persistently cried out, even when many sternly ordered him to be quiet. This highlights the importance of perseverance in prayer. His repeated shouts, though seemingly impolite, demonstrates what Pope Francis described as “blessed persistence”. Prayer as a cry from the heart especially in our darkest moments.
3. What did Jesus ask Bartimaeus, and what does that tell us about Jesus?
Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” This tells us that Jesus cares about us personally and wants us to tell Him what we need, even if He already knows.
4. Jesus tells Bartimaeus “Go; your faith has made you well”. What does this teach us?
This statement shows us very clearly that faith is the decisive element in healing. Bartimaeus’s faith was not based on having clear ideas about God, but on his earnest longing to meet Jesus, to be saved. He completely trusted himself to God’s action.
5. Why did the disciples ignore Bartimaeus and even told him to be quiet? What does this tell us about us?
Sometimes we are so engrossed in our life and our own problems that we fail to understand or notice others who are around us and are suffering. We fail to think like Jesus and to lose wonder and enthusiasm in life. Jesus heard his cries and asked his disciples to bring him to him. He wants to teach us that if we want to follow him, we need to learn how to listen and empathise with each other. He wants us to save each other.
6. What three important things did Bartimaeus do?
- When Bartimaeus heard Jesus call him he threw off his cloak – a symbolic gesture of letting go of his old life to follow Jesus.
- Bartimaeus told Jesus exactly what he wished for – to be cured. With Jesus in his life Bartimaeus feels whole again, he has new meaning in is life.
- After being healed Bartimaeus decided to follow Jesus. We learn that when Jesus helps us, we should be thankful and try to follow Him and do good things.
🟦 Conclusion (5 min)
Today, we learnt that Jesus cares about everyone, especially those who are hurting or need help. Bartimaeus showed us that we should never give up asking Jesus for what we need, and that our faith can make wonderful things happen. Just like Bartimaeus, when Jesus helps us, we should follow Him and try to live as He teaches us.
🙏 Ending prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you for loving us and for always listening to our prayers…
🙏 Help us to have faith like Bartimaeus, and to always ask you for help when we need it …
🙏 Help us to notice and help others, when they too are in pain or feel lost. Amen.
🔥 WHOLESOME SOUL: ENLIGHTENED AND FOCUSED
The story of Blind Bartimaeus (Mark10:46-52)
🟦 INTRODUCTION (5 mins)
1. Engaging Opener
- The animator begins by asking:
👉 “What comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘wholesome’?”
- Invite a few responses and affirm all contributions.
2. Link to series
- Explain that wholesome means “full, complete, and well-integrated.”
- The Wholesome Storytelling Series helps us explore how to become whole in:
💓 Heart
🧠 Mind
💪🏼 Body (Strength)
🔥 Soul
3. Set the Scene
- “Today’s story is about the soul — what do you understand with soul or spirit?”
- “Through the story of Blind Bartimaeus we are going to see how the soul is related to our identity – Also about the need to fix a blurred identity that can block us from following our true purposes in life. We’re calling it: “Wholesome Soul: Enlightened and Re-oriented.”
📖 FIRST READING (Mark 10:46-52) – Optional Full Reading (5 mins).
- Animator leads the Sign of the Cross and reads the passage from the Bible or screen.
- Then asks:
- “Have you heard this story before?”
- “What stood out to you?”
- Listen openly and without correcting — this moment is about encounter.
Introduce the 3 Core Points:
- Faith begins with hearing – Acknowledging the importance of learning about God.
- From Encounter to Understanding and Trust – Making an act of personal faith in God’s Word
- Our souls are enlightened, and we are focused – Growing in our faith while uniting our purposes to God’s
🟪 PART 1 (2 mins) – Reading verses 46–48:
FAITH BEGINS WITH HEARING – ACKNOWLEDGING THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING ABOUT GOD.
Animator’s Talking Points + Questions:
- Bartimaeus was blind but he wasn’t deaf!
We do not see Jesus either, but like Bart we have heard of him and even about him. Bart refers to Jesus as Son of David.
👉 What do you know about Jesus?
- Bartimaeus was a beggar: he doesn’t even has a name – we know just his surname and his condition.
👉Who do you say you are? Do you indentify more with your struggles than with your strengths?
- “Son of David, have mercy on me” – if they tried to stop him, Bart could even shout.
👉 We know (we have heard it) that God can help us and nothing can really stop us from praying to him.
🙏 Activity – The Jesus Prayer (3 mins):
Put some soft instrumental music in the background.
- Suggest that “we can relate to Bartimaeus – we can say we are spiritually both blind (since we do not know everything) and baggers (since we not have everything).”
- Invite students to acknowledge any specific need that they may have – and to close their eyes and to open their hands.
- Remind them that “we do not see Jesus, but we have heard of and about Him, that he can help us.” – and to pray the prayer known as the Jesus’ Prayer: “Jesus have mercy on me” or “help me in my needs.”
🟨 PART 2 (2 mins) – Reading verses 49-50:
FROM ENCOUNTER TO UNDERSTANDING AND TRUST – MAKING AN ACT OF PERSONAL FAITH IN GOD’S WORD
Animator’s Talking Points + Questions:
- Jesus is not passive in front of Bart’s needs: he stops and “calls him.”
Strangely he calls him through those who were telling him to be quiet.
👉 Do you believe God can hear you and is willing to listen to your needs?
He might be “calling you” even through imperfect people or other unexpected ways….
- Bartimaeus set aside his cloak – it was everything to him, but he chose Jesus over false security.
👉 Can you identify a “cloak” in your life – anything you turn to in your needs but leaves you unfulfilled?
⛓️Activity – Setting aside the cloak (3 mins):
- Put some soft instrumental music in the background.
- A drape or throw over is put on the floor.
- Invite students to think about and then write something – their own “cloak” – that despite turning to habitually, is not fulfilling them.
- Ask them to “cheer up! on your feet”- to go out and put the paper on the bigger cloak as if they are giving it to God.
- After placing the paper, invite a moment of silence or soft music to acknowledge the symbolic release.
🟩 PART 3 (2 mins) – Reading verses 51–52:
OUR SOULS ARE ENLIGHTENED AND WE ARE FOCUSED – GROWING IN OUR FAITH WHILE UNITING OUR PURPOSES TO GOD’S
Animator’s Talking Points + Questions:
- “What do you want me to do for you?” – a very strange question from Jesus.
👉 Why would God want us to pray if he already knew already what we needed?
- “Rabbi, I want to see” – a deliberate and determinate request from him who doesn’t want to look back.
👉This is called expectant faith, which we cannot really produce – it’s a gift from God, a response to His inspiration.
- “Go … your faith has healed you — and yet Bart used his freedom to follow Jesus “along the road.”
Our faith may be fragile, but God remains God – He is still our loving Father, eager to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.
👉 What would you do if God answered your prayer?
🕯️ Activity – Expectant faith (3 mins):
- Students are given battery tea light candles* and are asked to keep them off for now.
- Suggest that God can answer our prayers but we need to pray first for expectant faith – something to be encouraged through the following song – “Build my life” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZW4_8_zCBE&list=RDQZW4_8_zCBE&start_radio=1
- During the song, invite students to ask themselves: “For what might God be drawing me to pray?” Perhaps something obvious or something I am tired to pray for.
- “What do you want me to do for you?” Ask them to make their petitions to God in their hearts and light on the candle as they do so. *Alternative is that from sitting-down they stand-up as a sign.
🙏 CLOSING (Optional)
- Heavenly Father thank you for your Word through which we are stirred to faith. We asked you to give us your Holy Spirit, so that, like Bartimaeus we may be enlightened and continue walking in our purposes – following Jesus along the road. Amen.
