Monday, December 28, 2015

Epiphany of the Lord

Please check the liturgical calendar in your country.  Some countries celebrate Epiphany on the Sunday after 1 Jan, which is what I have done here.  Many other countries celebrate Epiphany on 6 Jan, which is the 12th day after Christmas.  If yours is the former, you can use the guidance below.

If yours is the latter, the coming Sunday will be the Second Sunday of Christmas, for which the reading is John's Prologue.  Which is very difficult to do with children.  So, you may still want to use the guidance below.  You will need to read the Gospel of the Sunday and then explain that 6 Jan is Epiphany and then do the reading for Epiphany.  This means the Gospel is read twice and, to avoid confusing the children, you may do the dialogue before the reading only once (maybe for the Gospel of the Sunday only).





Year A, B, C
The Epiphany of the Lord


Images

Going home a different way


Points to note

This is a very rich reading and the chosen theme is broad enough to accommodate sub-themes you could use.  Select one that you are comfortable with and in keeping with the age group of the children. 

The younger ones may be asked to present gifts to Jesus, with the discussion leading on from the Christmas presents that they have received.  Older children could be asked to look at the reactions of the different people to the coming of Jesus in the story: Herod reacting with fear for his position; the priests reacting with indifference; the wise men reacting with worship.

Ultimately, the session must end with a realisation that, having met Jesus, the wise men went home by a different way.  Likewise, our routes and actions must lead us down different paths after meeting Jesus.  Otherwise the epiphany has been in vain.


Liturgy

Christmas is not a single day but a season that lasts for twelve days.  It is the second season of the Christian year, following on from Advent and ends on Epiphany.  Epiphany is a Greek word that means the appearance of a god.  Where the initial is capitalised, it refers to the appearance of Jesus to the wise men.


Acclamation before the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia!
We saw his star as it rose
And has come to do the Lord homage
Alleluia!

Gospel
Explain to the children who the wise men were.  They were people who study the stars.  No, the Gospel accounts did not report them as kings or that there were three in number.  These and their names were later additions.

Explain that Herod was a cruel king who was always afraid that somebody would take his throne away.  This Herod, called the Great because he rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem, was a different Herod from the one who ruled when Jesus was crucified.

The Lord be with you.
All:   And also with you.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Matthew
(Mt 2: 1-12)

After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in Judaea when Herod was king, some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east. “Where is the infant king of the Jews?” they asked.  “We saw his star as it rose and have come to worship him.”  When Herod heard this, he was worried, and so was the whole of Jerusalem.  He called together the chief priests, and asked them where the Christ was to be born.  “At Bethlehem in Judaea,” they told him, “for this was what the prophet wrote in the Scriptures:

And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah
you are by no means least among the leaders of Judah,
for out of you will come a leader
who will be a shepherd of my people Israel.”

Then Herod called the wise men to see him privately.  He asked them the exact date on which the star had appeared, and sent them on to Bethlehem.  “Go and find out all about the child,” he said, “and when you have found him, let me know, so that I too may go and do him homage.”  Having listened to what the king had to say, they set out.  And there in front of them was the star they had seen rising; it went forward and halted over the place where the child was.  The sight of the star filled them with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they paid him their respect.  Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.  But they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, and returned to their own country by a different way.

This is the Word of the Lord


Dialogue

There being a wealth of discussion points, I have outlined some that can be linked and organised along a unifying sub-theme. All discussions should be personalised within the context of each person's contribution according to each person's experience and age.  Ultimately, the children must identify how their lives can change after having met Jesus, in big ways as in small.  Just as the wise men did not take the same route to return home after meeting Jesus, neither should we return to our more questionable sides after meeting Jesus, in spirit, in prayer, in the mass, or in works of charity.

For older children
How did Herod react when he heard about the king just been born?  Herod was always afraid that someone would be king instead of him.  In fact, he killed his wife, her mother and three of his sons because he thought they were threats to his throne.  The emperor Augustus commented that it was safer to be Herod’s pig than to be Herod’s sons.

How did the priests react when they were asked?  They couldn’t care less.  With all their wisdom that told them where to find the infant king, they did not bother to search him out to worship him.  They seem to be too contented where they were.


How did the wise men react?  They were worshipful.

How would you react?   Get them to examine themselves.  How can they be sure?  Would they follow anybody who claims to be the Christ?  What are their criteria? 

For all children
They wise men brought gifts for the infant Jesus: 
©           Gold, usually given for a king, for Jesus was the infant King;
©           Frankincense, a kind of incense used during worship, for Jesus is the highest of all priests; 
©           Myrrh, used to embalm dead bodies, for Jesus will one day die on the cross.

What gifts will you bring for the infant king?  Gifts could be simple (eg, milk for a baby), or personal (eg, my favourite teddy bear), or symbolic (like those gifts the wise men brought), or intangible (eg, acts of worship or charity).

When the wise men saw Jesus they were filled with delight and approached him with great respect.  How would you approach Jesus to show that you truly respect, worship and love him?  Extend the discussion to include how we are to approach Jesus in the liturgy.  There is a lovely insight told by a Christian about his approach to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.  Beneath the altar of the church is a cave, which is said to be the cave where Jesus was born.  He noticed that the doorway to the church was low, so low that anybody approaching has to stoop to enter.  Isn’t it fitting that any pilgrim wishing to see his king has to approach on bended knees?

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Fourth Sunday in Advent

Year C

Fourth Sunday in Advent



Images

Praising Mother and Son


Points to note

This is the final Sunday of Advent. And after all the exciting anticipation from John the Baptist, we take time out to praise the Lord and His Mother as we draw closer to his coming on Christmas Day.

The session then can end on a bit of a devotional note if you can get the children to calmly and solemnly recite the Hail Mary.  If you do, draw attention to the words said by Elizabeth in the prayer.

If you are able to, prepare the Magnificat on a board so that the children can also say the prayer together.  It is the song of praise that follows on from this reading.  The Magnificat is also said in the Evening Prayer, recited by every priest and religious as well as many devout lay Catholics every evening throughout the world.  Although the Magnificat is part of the evening prayer. If you think about it, somewhere in the world it would be evening at any one time.  So, somewhere in the world there would be Catholics saying the Evening Prayer.  So, remind the children before they say the Magnificat that they are accompanying someone somewhere in the world in their Evening Prayer when they say the Magnificat.


Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel
Alleluia!  Alleluia!
I am the handmaid of the Lord:
let what you have said be done to me
Alleluia!

Gospel

The Lord be with you.
All:   And also with you.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Luke
All:   Glory to you O Lord
(Lk 1:39-44)
Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’

This is the Gospel of the Lord


Discussion

Go through the story again but this time, explain who each person is.  I would expect everyone to know how Mary is but explain that this story is when she is already pregnant with the Baby Jesus for two months.  (Well, we don’t really know how many months pregnant is really was but we celebrate the Annunciation (when Jesus was conceived) 25 March and the Visitation (this story) 31 May.

Elizabeth is a cousin of Mary but she was very old when she became pregnant with a baby, by the blessing of God.  The baby is actually John the Baptist, the same one we read about in the previous two Sundays.  So, Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins because their mothers were cousins.

Discuss the point of the reading when Mary met Elizabeth.  The angel Gabriel told Mary that Elizabeth in her old age is pregnant with child and so Mary went over to visit her even though she was pregnant herself. 

When Elizabeth saw Mary, she greeted Mary.  Note the words that she used.  It is the second line of the Hail Mary prayer.  (The first line is the words that the angel Gabriel used to greet Mary during the Annunciation).  So, her way of greeting Mary is deemed to be as good as the angel Gabriel’s until generations of Catholics since then hves been echoing them when we wish to praise the Mother of God.

Also, note that at the same time the baby leapt in the womb.  Ask the children what do they think the baby was doing jumping about in the womb.  Likely it was in happiness.  Do you think it was happiness on meeting Mother Mary or Baby Jesus?  I think it was the latter.  So, even before he was born, John the Baptist has been heralding the coming of Jesus.

So, paint the scene well: Mother-to-be greets and praises Mother-to-be.  Baby-in-the-womb meets and praises Baby-in-the–womb.  Quite a scene, isn’t it?

Discuss with the children, how they would greet Jesus if they meet him coming.  After all, Advent is the time we all think about how we wish to greet Jesus as we await his coming.  How we greet Jesus is not just what and how we say but also how we prepare our hearts to receive him when he comes into our hearts.   

Prayer
Pray the Hail Mary but for today, ask the children to emphasise the words of Elizabeth in the second line.

If you have time and you have prepared the words, pray the Magnificat.   Explain to the children that the Mgnificat is the song that Mary sang to praise God after she was praised by Elizabeth.

Friday, December 4, 2015

Third Sunday in Advent


LSW
children

Year C

Third Sunday in Advent



Images

Cleaning our hearts


Points to note

This story follows on from last week’s reading.  We take the theme of waiting just that one step further.

The concept of repentance that forms the basis of this reading is not easy to explain.  As adults, we too may end up grappling with the idea and it really is part of a very personalised life-long journey.  Mine started as a child and I believe if done right, the children is then started off on their own life long journey starting with the first steps that we help them along today.

Again, we focus on drawing parallels with the aspects of life for the children.  From ideas that they are familiar with, we move to concepts that they would understand but may not appreciate the depth of meaning.  In years to come, we hope they will return in their mind to what we discuss today and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit for the treasures of Jesus’ teachings to be opened to the,


Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel
Alleluia!  Alleluia!
The spirit of the Lord has been given to me.
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor.
Alleluia!

Gospel

The Lord be with you.
All:   And also with you.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Luke
All:   Glory to you O Lord
(Lk 3:10-18)
When all the people asked John, ‘What must we do?’ he answered, ‘If anyone has two tunics he must share with the man who has none, and the one with something to eat must do the same.’ There were tax collectors too who came for baptism, and these said to him, ‘Master, what must we do?’ He said to them, ‘Exact no more than your rate.’ Some soldiers asked him in their turn, ‘What about us? What must we do?’ He said to them, ‘No intimidation! No extortion! Be content with your pay!’

A feeling of expectancy had grown among the people, who were beginning to think that John might be the Christ, so John declared before them all, ‘I baptise you with water, but someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fan is in his hand to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out.’ As well as this, there were many other things he said to exhort the people and to announce the Good News to them.

This is the Gospel of the Lord


Discussion

Have you ever have someone from far away coming over to your house to stay?  What preparation did you do? Discuss the coming of a favourite aunt or grandparents.  Focus the discussion on the preparation of the guest bedroom and the cleaning of the house.  I am sure Mom and Dad wouldn’t want grandpa and grandma to see how messy the house is.
 
Discuss the anticipation the children feel when preparing the house.  Isn’t it fun to do all that cleaning when someone is going to be coming?  Somehow, cleaning the house without anyone coming doesn’t seem to be so fun, does it?
 
Explain someone is coming soon and we in the Church is preparing for that someone to come.  Discuss the preparation we do for Christmas but do not spend too much time on it.  You can discuss instead what the children will do if Jesus would be coming to stay in their house – what preparation would they make to clean out the house.
 
Explain that when we invite Jesus to come on Christmas Day, we are really inviting Jesus to come into our hearts.  Discuss how we make our hearts ready to meet Jesus.  Discuss how we clean out our hearts if we were to invite Jesus in there just as we clean the house if we were to invite Jesus to our house. 
 
If Jesus were to come into our hearts, our hearts must be made pure.  Discuss how to purify our hearts.  Be sorry for the wrongs we have done and for those old enough they can go for confessions.  More importantly, we do not repeat our wrongdoings if we were to keep our hearts clean.
 
If you have time, discuss how we prepare for Jesus coming in light of John the Baptist’s answer to the first question in the reading.  What is the children’s equivalent of giving up one of two tunics?  Discuss how they can welcome the Jesus who is in those who are less fortunate than we are?



Sunday, November 29, 2015

Second Sunday in Advent


LSW
children


Year C

Second Sunday in Advent



Images

Emerging from the dessert with a message of hope


Points to note

This is the season of Advent, which is technically a penitential season.  In times past, as it still is among Eastern Christians (including Eastern Catholics), Advent is treated as a 40-day long Nativity Fast.  In the Western Catholic church, this penitential nature present in the other preparatory season in the liturgical calendar, Lent, is now replaced for Advent, by the crass commercialisation of shopping for Christmas revelry and binge of gift-anticipation.

While it is likely asking too much for this session to expect the children to associate Advent with penitence as readily as they would for Lent, perhaps we can make a start for them (and for us) to start to think about it.  What does it mean to say we are preparing for the coming of Jesus and who is this Jesus we are inviting to our homes and into our hearts?


Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel
Alleluia!  Alleluia!
Prepare a way for the Lord,
make his paths straight,
and all mankind shall see the salvation of God.
Alleluia!

Gospel

The Lord be with you.
All:   And also with you.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Luke
All:   Glory to you O Lord

(Lk 3:1-6)
In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar’s reign, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judaea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the lands of Ituraea and Trachonitis, Lysanias tetrach of Abilene, during the pontificate of Annas and Caiaphas the word of God came to John son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. He went through the whole Jordan district proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah:

A voice cries in the wilderness:
Prepare a way for the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley will be filled in,
every mountain and hill be laid low,
winding ways will be straightened
and rough roads made smooth.
And all mankind shall see the salvation of God.

This is the Gospel of the Lord


Discussion

Who is this person in this reading?  John the Baptist.  Where did he lived?  In the desert.  Discuss what the desert is and whether it is a place anyone would like to live.  Discuss how John the Baptist lived in the desert – he was dressed in clothes made from camel hair and ate locusts & raw honey (Mt 3:4).

What other stories in the Bible is there about a desert?  There are two stories: the people of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years and Jesus withdrawing into the desert after his baptism for 40 days to be tempted by the devil
 
Explain that the people of Israel wandered about the desert for 40 years because they were not faithful to God.  So, John the Baptist came out of the desert to offer the people God’s forgiveness for their sins.  Isn’t that great that John’s baptism can help people clear out the sins for which their ancestors wandered about in the desert for 40 years.   So, John the Baptist’s message was one of hope because people thirst for forgiveness
 
Explain also the Jesus went into the desert to pray, the same desert that John the Baptist emerged.  Jesus went in there to pray.  In very much the same way many people go into a kind of desert when they are troubled.  It is not a real desert but a kind of retreat where they withdraw from the world for a short time to think about what troubles them.  It could be just a simple locking themselves away for an hour in their room or some people may go away somewhere for a few days.
 
Link it up with what we discuss last week about Advent being a time of waiting and preparation.
 
Explain that Advent is a time for us for us to wait for Jesus.  Waiting for Jesus means to wait in hope – without hope why would you wait?  So, Advent is a time we repent and wait for our forgiveness, which Jesus will give us when he comes.  In the meantime, we may need to think a little bit about what troubles us so that we can lift up our being sorry to Jesus.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

First Sunday in Advent


Year C

First Sunday in Advent



Images

Jesus is coming


Points to note

For this reading, I have chosen the first reading of Jeremiah instead of the Gospel reading for two reasons.  First, the Gospel reading for the First Sunday in Advent last year in Year B is a parallel to this one and is therefore very similar.  Secondly, the reading this year from Luke is more difficult than the reading from Mark last year.  As it is, this passage is considered rather difficult, but this year’s reading is even darker and even more troubling.

The reading from Jeremiah is simpler and return to a simpler theme that Jesus is from the house of King David, and how the children to prepare to greet the coming of the king.  Also, don’t forget that as you will be taking some time out before the reading to explain about Advent and the start of the liturgical calendar, there may be rather less time for the discussions itself after the reading.


Liturgy

As the Gospel is not read, the Acclamation is not sung.

Reading

Discuss with the children about the new season of the liturgical calendar that we are entering.  This is available in the end panel of this leaflet & for a more complete explanation, at http://childrenlivingthesundayword.blogspot.com/2013/09/soundbites-about-advent-christmas.html.

A Reading from the book of Jeremiah
(Jer 33:14-16)
See, the days are coming – it is the Lord who speaks – when I am going to fulfil the promise I made to the House of Israel and the House of Judah:
‘In those days and at that time,
I will make a virtuous Branch grow for David,
who shall practise honesty and integrity in the land.
In those days Judah shall be saved
and Israel shall dwell in confidence.
And this is the name the city will be called:
The-Lord-our-integrity.’

This is the Gospel of the Lord


Discussion

This discussion should be kept short as the bulk of the discussion takes place before the reading.

Have anyone ever met a king or a prince?  It is unlikely they have but get them to imagine it.  If they were to be invited to the birthday party of a young prince of their age, what would they do.  Discuss the preparations.  How would they dress up and what gifts would they bring.  If they were to meet the parents of the birthday boy (the king and queen), what would they say – would they be practising what they say?  And their table manners – would they be going through all their lessons on table manners again?

In the reading, it refers to someone from the family of King David whom God will send to save his people.  Who do you think that will be?  Explain that Jesus is a descendent of King David and is therefore a king himself.  God sent him to save us and his birthday will be soon.  Help the children to count the days.
 

How would you prepare for this birthday party?  Do not confuse this birthday party with Christmas itself.  We are not discussing about preparing for Christmas but preparing to greet Jesus.  Focus on how they will put on their best for Jesus. 
 
When you go to a party you put on clothes and behaviour that your host would like.  For instance, a suit would be nice but not appropriate for a birthday party would it?  So, what kind of clothes and behaviour that the children think Jesus would like to see the children put on?  This would be clothes that are decent but not showy – Jesus doesn’t like people to show off their wealth.  Behaviour should be polite but do not deferential – Jesus is a king who comes to serve but not to be served (see last week’s reading).
 
Most of all, Jesus wants us to do good to everyone – he likes honest people and he doesn’t like us to be nice in front of us but be nasty to our friends & family when he is not around.
 
Discuss how the children could do all these things between now and Christmas and whether they can keep this up after Christmas? 
 
 
BEING IN ADVENT
This is the period of preparation for the arrival of Jesus at Christmas.  The word Advent comes from the Latin for coming.  It means a period of prayer and penitence before we are allowed to celebrate the birth of Christ.   Advent is also the new year for the church calendar and the First Sunday in Advent is our New Year's Day. 

Being a preparation season, the liturgical colour is purple, meaning the priest wears purple vestments at mass - only the stole (piece of cloth around his neck and down his chest), chasuble (the robe on the outside) or any other decor; the basic vestments underneath remain white.  The church may also be decorated with purple flowers, purple buntings and the like.  Purple is deemed the colour of penitence (It is also the colour of mourning - which is why the priest wears purple at funerals). 

There is an exception, though: the colour for the third Sunday of Advent is pink (or rose).  That Sunday is called Gaudate Sunday (Latin for Rejoice): to give us a little break after we pass the mid-point of a penitential season.

It runs for the four Sundays before Christmas day and so the last day is always Christmas eve.  It can be as long as a full four weeks starting from Nov 27 (if Christmas Day is a Sunday) or as short as three weeks and one day starting from Dec 3 (if Christmas Day is a Monday).

The Advent Wreath, with its four candles fixed on a circle of evergreens, has its roots in pagan northern Europe, which the Lutherans first adopted as a Christian symbol.  The circle represents the never-ending cycle of seasons while the evergreens symbolise the persistence of life even during winter.  Christian symbolism differ slightly: the circle represents the the eternity of God while the evergreens tells of Jesus, who death could not conquer.  The four candles are lit one every Sunday, causing all candles to be of different heights by the end of the season.  There are three purple candles and a pink/rose one for the Third Sunday of Advent.  Sometimes, there is a fifth white candle in the middle to symbolise Christ, and is lit on Christmas Day or Christmas eve.

The Advent Calendar that we have today seems to be a combination of two separate customs.  The original advent calendar notes the goals for personal prayer and penitence for the different days in this period of penitence.  This calendar is now merged with the Jesse Tree, named after King David's father and unfortunately a dying custom.  Symbols of saints and Old Testament prophets & patriarchs are hung on the Jesse Tree, one on each day of Advent.