Saturday, June 24, 2017

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year A

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time



Images

Welcoming


Points to note

There are various imageries in this reading, some of which could leave negative impressions if not explained carefully.  It is best therefore to concentrate on a single imagery and convey that positively.  The idea of Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me is an appropriate one for this session. 

Avoid belabouring the point of the rewards of the welcoming.  Christians should learn to welcome for the sake of welcoming and not for the lure of rewards that Jesus promised.  Welcoming could also be placed in the context of our culture of hospitality in Asia.

It may also be a good idea to skim over the first paragraph unless you are prepared to explain it well.  It may be necessary to do this for the older children.


Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel
Alleluia!  Alleluia!
Open our hearts, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!



Gospel
Explain to the children that Jesus has been warning his disciples about the difficulties of being disciples.

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

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Matthew
All:   Glory to you O Lord
(Mt 10: 37-42)
Jesus taught the Twelve like this: “Anyone who prefers his family to me cannot be my disciple.  Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow what I did cannot be my disciple.  Anyone who try to save his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for me will save it.

“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and those who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.

“Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have a prophet’s reward; and anyone who welcomes a holy man because he is a holy man will have a holy man’s reward.

“If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward.”

This is the Word of the Lord


Dialogue

Have any of you ever had a friend or a relative who came from far away to stay with you for a while?  Did you have to prepare for them?  Discuss how the preparations were made and who made the preparations. 

When they do arrive, do you make them welcome?  How?  Discuss the welcoming that takes place.  Extend it slowly to discuss welcoming visitors into the house and other types of welcoming.  In the church, we sometimes also welcome visitors, priests or our friends who have been away for a long time.

Do you welcome Jesus?  Have you welcomed Jesus?  How would you welcome Jesus?  Allow them to talk of welcoming Jesus the person of 2000 years ago.  Then, explain that welcoming Jesus means welcoming those whom he sent to us.  Discuss the types of people Jesus sends to us: disciples, priests, people in need. 

You may wish to refer to Mt 25, the scene of the last judgement where Jesus said, “if you did this to the least of my brothers, you did it to me”.  This will lead on to the point that hospitality is not limited to the times we have visitors in our house or in our church.  It means being kind and caring.  This will involve people we know, for instance visitors that we have been talking about, and people we don’t.  You may wish to discuss how we care for them and how when we care for them, we are welcoming them and Jesus into our hearts.


At one point, you may wish to bring out the meaning of the word apostle.  The word is of Greek origin and means ambassador.  This will have a bearing in our discussion in that an ambassador is a representative of another country.  If we welcome the ambassador, we welcome the people of the country.  If we insult the ambassador, we insult the country he represents.  Therefore, if we welcome an apostle of Jesus, we are welcoming Jesus.  Discuss who, among the people we meet, can be apostles of Jesus, and how we welcome them.

Twellth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year A

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time



Images

A caring God


Points to note

This reading may be a little difficult for the children to follow in its entirety.  It is best to concentrate on a specific focus of the discourse.  It is recommended that the dominating imagery used be that of the sparrows and the hair that the Father has counted.  Relate it to the fact that people who loves us knows us very well.  So does the Father.


Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel
Alleluia!  Alleluia!
The Word was made flesh and lived among us;
So all who did accept him
he gave us the power to become children of God.
Alleluia!

Gospel
Explain to the children that Jesus has been talking to his disciples about the mission of the Apostles and that they will follow the same fate as him.

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



A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Matthew
All:   Glory to you O Lord
(Mt 10: 26-33)
Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows:  ”Do not be afraid.  Anything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear.  What I say to you in the dark, tell publicly in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim aloud from the housetops.

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both the body and soul in hell.  Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny?  And yet not one lands on the ground without your Father knowing.  Why, every hair on your head has been counted.  So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more to the Father than hundreds of sparrows.

“So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven.  But anyone who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.”

This is the Word of the Lord


Dialogue

Who are the people who you think love you a lot?  What would they know about you?  Likes and dislikes; when we are angry or sad or upset; birthdays and other important dates; many other things.  Try and drag out as long a list as possible.  Emphasise that God loves us more than any other person and he knows us more than anyone else.  God loves the whole of his creation.  So, he knows them all.  Imagine, he knows when every sparrow lands on the ground.  He has counted every single hair on our head.  (Be ready for some smart remarks on this one.)  Dwell on both these imageries.

Sometimes, there are people who do not like us.  Sometimes, even people who loves us a lot get upset with us, even if it is only for a little while. 

Do you think God has stopped loving us if these people are upset with us?  It is important to emphasise that God is all loving, both in the sense of loving everything and loving at all times.

So, even if there are people who do nasty things to us, Jesus promised that God will continue to care for us.  We are worth more to him than a whole flock of sparrows.  That is why Jesus told his disciples not to despair even if they are being persecuted.  God still loves them and remembers them and Jesus promises them that there will be a place in heaven for them.  Similarly, there will be a place for all of us who endured hardships and nasty things done to us because we are followers of Christ.  You may wish to bring out examples: the apostles, the saints, the missionaries, etc.


Monday, June 5, 2017

Trinity Sunday

Year A

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Sunday after Pentecost


Image

Mystery


Points to note

Learning is a continuous process and we never stop learning.  It is important to stress the fact that we continue to learn about Jesus through our parents and our catechists.  Even grown-ups continue to learn about Jesus through the Church.  Actually, even the Pope.

As it is Trinity Sunday, the stress is also that whatever that is taught by the Spirit about the Father is the same as what Jesus taught.

Try to say “Holy Spirit” instead of just “Spirit” as the latter has connotations for some children that can be a little distracting, while the former is a proper name to many children.


Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel
Alleluia!  Alleluia!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
the God who is, who was, and who is to come.
Alleluia!



Explain that Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus, one of the Jewish leaders.  Some of the things that Jesus said are a little difficult for non-Christians, like the Jews, to understand.

Gospel

A simple Sign of the Cross is made to start the mass, but you should explain its significance.  The early Christians used the sign of the cross to bless themselves during the liturgy, and to show that they are Christians at other times.  We don’t really know if they use it as a secret sign known only to themselves during the persecution, but it is an intriguing thought.

Children also like the idea that as our hands move to the different parts of our body when signing ourselves, we are also making a silent prayer with our hands: God, grant us wisdom (head), love (heart), and strength (shoulders).

Again, it may help explaining about the other Sign of the Cross that we use before hearing the Gospel.  This one is a little more primitive and being more discreet, was more likely to have been used as a secret sign if there was one.  It survives a lot more in the liturgies than the more conventional one.  For instance, the priest traces the cross on the forehead of the baby or catechumen during the Liturgy of Baptism.

Again, children like the idea of a prayer using their hands.  So: As we hear your word, let us think good thought (head), say good words (lips), and feel love (heart).

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

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

(Jn 3:16-18)
Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“God loved the world so much
that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost
but may have eternal life.
For God sent his Son into the world
not to condemn the world,
but so that through him the world might be saved.
No one who believes in him will be condemned;
but whoever refuses to believe is condemned already,
because he has refused to believe
in the name of God’s only Son.”

This is the Gospel of the Lord


Dialogue

Does anybody like adventure games on the computer?  (for the uninitiated, adventure games are where you have to navigate a course, which could be like a house, by answering questions or going through locked doors, etc, in order to arrive at a destination where a prize will be waiting)  Get the children to talk about those games, but not too long.  Dwell on the aspects of the game where they have to figure out something that will take them to the next level.  In the game, a little bit will be made known to you – bit by bit.

What is a mystery?


In the early Church, a mystery is a hidden truth that is revealed only to the elect, i.e., baptised Christians.  A catechumen is initiated into the mystery in a rite of initiation lasting years, during which the faith is gradually revealed to him.  At the end of his formation, he will be baptised and is said to have entered into the mystery.  Even after that, though the newly baptised continue to be further initiated into the faith and will finally enter fully into the faith on meeting his Creator face to face.

Explain to the children that God is like a mystery to us and we learn about him gradually through the people around us and through talking to him in prayers.  In a way, our knowledge of God is a bit like the computer game – you cannot know about God all at once.  You can only know about God bit by bit.

Is Jesus still around to teach us?  Be careful!  Jesus isn’t dead on the Cross.  He stayed with the disciples for forty days after his resurrection, after which he went to heaven to prepare a house for us.  Forty days isn’t a long time to teach anyone about God, I guess!  But he has asked the Holy Spirit to continue to teach us about himself.  Stress that whatever the Holy Spirit teaches is the same as what Jesus taught.  So, therefore, the Holy Spirit will continue to teach us from where Jesus left off.

Ask the children how the Holy Spirit continues the teaching of Jesus.  Discuss how the Holy Spirit teaches us through things that happen around us; through people close to us, etc, etc