Year B
Twelfth Ordinary Sunday
Images
Being afraid
Being protected
Points to note
While our children, by and large, grow up in safe,
stable and loving environments, the discussion on fears and being afraid may
need to be taken sensitively. Talking
from a safe position as they would be in church on Sunday, I expect the
children to be free to talk openly as the fearful situation would have been in
the past. Be alert, however, for any
child who seems to be talking as if the fearful situation is still
continuing. A bit of assurance is called
for.
While you may wish to use such a situation as
material for discussion, take care you do not push the child to talk more than
what he or she is ready to share. If you
are confident enough for this, though, it will make for a powerful testimony
and discussion.
Liturgy
Acclamation
before the Gospel
Alleluia! Alleluia!
May the father of
our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes
of our mind,
so that we can
see what hope his call holds for us.
Alleluia!
Gospel
Explain that Jesus has just
been round Galilee, preaching to the people.
A
Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Mark
(Mk 4: 35-41)
With the coming of evening, Jesus said to his
disciples, “Let us cross over to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind they took him,
just as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him. Then it began to blow a gale and the waves
were breaking into the boat so that it was almost swamped. But he was in the back of the boat, his head
on the cushion, asleep. They woke him
and said to him,”Master, do you not care?
We are going to drown!” And he
woke up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Quiet now! Be calm!” And the wind dropped, and all was calm
again. Then he said to them, “Why are
you so frightened? How is it that you
have no faith?” They were filled with
awe and said to one another, “Who can this be?
Even the wind and the sea obey him.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord
Discussion
Does any one like to be afraid? Limit
the discussion to fears that the children do not like: we are not talking about horror movies here.
What makes you afraid? Why? We normally do not like to be alone,
abandoned, scolded or in danger
How do you react when you are frightened? You can
broaden out the discussion to people in general. Some children may suck their thumbs while
others cling to their parents or older siblings.
Would you like someone to help you when you are
frightened? Who normally helps you? Our
parents, teachers, older brother, sister or friend. What do they do? They
protect us, make the frightening thing go away or sometimes, a few comforting
words or a cuddle is enough.
Would you seek help from someone strong or weak;
someone who knows what he is doing or someone daft; someone comforting or
someone threatening? Why?
Explain that, in the reading, the disciples in the
boat with Jesus were likely to be fishermen.
Fishermen are frightened of the sea and they often say special prayers
before going out to sea, whatever their religion is. In this story, the disciples were afraid when
a storm blew. The person they turned to
was Jesus, who seems pretty cool about it:
he was fast asleep while everyone else was panicking over the storm!!
Wouldn’t we too want to
turn to Jesus when we are frightened? Discuss
why: he is someone who is strong, who knows what he is doing, and who is
comforting. How do we call on Jesus
for help? Discuss the various ways of
praying and how to compose a prayer to ask Jesus for help.
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