Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year B

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Images

Why follow Jesus

Points to note

This reading has variations among the other Synoptic Gospels.  We can highlight various lessons from this reading: Jesus wanting to heal; Jesus healing; giving thanks after the healing, etc.  I am choosing to focus on the part where Jesus asked the cured leper not to tell anyone about it.  Potentially, there could be questions arising from the children’s confusion over this instruction.

This has been an intriguing point for me since my youth: why would Jesus not want to tell anyone about himself?  Doesn’t his instruction not to tell anyone conflicts with his other instructions to spread the news?  In some way, I believe it could be a test of whether we are coming to Jesus for the right reasons or are we just attracted to the miracles he performed.

In this, care needs to be taken that the children do not understand their relationship with Jesus to be that of an examiner testing an examinee.  Sincerity is a prerequisite in any relationship.  Similarly with God: if we were to hide our motives and say or do the right things in order to impress God with the ‘right’ answers in the Great Examination of Life, we will surely fail.

There was a study performed by some scientist among students in a college.  They asked one group of students who were feeling a little depressed to do good deeds without stopping to think why they are doing it while the other group of similarly depressed students were to carry on their life as normal.  After the trial period, the first group was found to be significantly happier than the second.  There surely must be something in that for us to think about: does doing good deeds only work if there is no ‘why’ to our doing?

 

Liturgy

 

Acclamation before the Gospel

Alleluia!  Alleluia!

A great prophet has appeared among us;

God has visited his people.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Explain that Jesus was still preaching and curing people in the Galilee, his home region.  Last week, he cured Peter’s mother-in-law.

The Lord be with you.

All:   And also with you.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Mark

All:   Glory to you O Lord

(Mk 1: 40-45)

A leper came to Jesus and pleaded on his knees, “If you want to,” he said, “you can cure me.”  Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him.  “Of course I want to!” he said, “Be cured!”  And the leprosy left him at once and he was cured.  Jesus immediately sent him away and sternly ordered him, “Mind you say nothing to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest, and make the offering for your healing prescribed by Moses as evidence of your recovery.”  The man went away, but then started talking about it freely and telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but had to stay outside in places where nobody lived.  Even so, people from all around would come to him.

This is the Gospel of the Lord

Discussion

What miracle did Jesus do?  Discuss what leprosy is and how they were required to live outside the town in the olden days and had to ring a bell calling out ‘Leper! Leper!’ to warn people of their coming.  Go through the story about how Jesus cured the leper.

What did Jesus tell the leper to do after curing him?  Discuss each of the two instructions separately:

·            The cured man was to present himself to the priest and make an offering.  This was in accordance with the way that the Old Testament treat cured lepers.  The presentation to the priest allowed the priest to examine him and confirm that he is cured so that he could live in the community again.  The offering was a thanksgiving upon confirming that he is cured.

·            The cured man was to tell no one about his healing.  Discuss why Jesus would want the man to keep it secret.  In a way, Jesus wanted to know whether the people would follow him or do they only want to see the miracles.

Do you love Jesus?  Would you want to do all that is asked of us in the Bible?  Why?  This is a tricky and can be rather riotous part:  it is not easy for adults to come to a conclusion.  It is an answer that we would all come back to again and again in our lives.  The older children can start off their lifetime of questioning and can leave the session without a conclusion so that they can answer it at another time and place of God’s choosing.  Let’s not impose our conclusion on a very private matter like this.  There must, however, be a conclusion for the younger ones so that they do not leave confused.

Treatment for possible answers

·            Because Jesus can bring us to heaven – does that mean that if Jesus cannot bring us to heaven, we would not have loved him?  Doesn’t that mean that we only love being in heaven and not really love Jesus?

·            Because Jesus can help us and answer our prayer – are we trying to bargain with God:  that we do good deeds in exchange for him answering our prayers?  Does bargaining with God work?  Does God have need of anything that we may have to bargain with?  Also, does that mean that if Jesus cannot answer our prayers, we would not have loved him?  Doesn’t that mean that we only love having our prayers answered and not really love Jesus?

·            Because if we don’t, we will be punished and sent to hell – does that mean we would not do all the things Jesus asked us to if there is no punishment for failing?  Doesn’t that mean we are aiming to avoid hell and punishment and don’t really love Jesus.

·            Well, you get the gist!

Conclusion (compulsory for younger children)

We could just tell them that we should be doing all the things that Jesus asked of us because they are the right things to do.  That means that even if Jesus had not told us, we should still have done them.  This should suffice for some time and we hope they will think about it when they are older.  Do you have another answer?

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year A

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Concepts

Telling the truth

Points to note

This reading is still part of the Sermon on the Mount.  The long version of the reading for this Sunday is 5:17-37.  There are a lot of messages in the long reading, which can be rather confusing and so, I have chosen the shorter reading instead.  This will focus us onto two individual messages: (i) that the Christian lives by rules that are sometimes opposite to what the world thinks is good; and (ii) about swearing.

The first message will dealt with in more detail next week.  So, we will focus on the second one: swearing.  This is not about swearing as in using an expletive in anger, but more about promises to tell the truth.  Swearing to tell the truth is so much a part of modern living that the message from the Sermon on the Mount may be confusing for children, or even adults.  You see people swearing to tell the truth in court, and even the American President being sworn into office using a Bible.

Perhaps, we can keep away from the idea of swearing and more the idea behind swearing – we want people to swear because we do not trust them to tell the truth.  Swearing using a religious symbol only reinforces the credibility, which the Gospel tells us is unnecessary.

Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel

Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:

you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Explain that we are still with the Sermon on the Mount.

The Lord be with you.

All:   And also with your spirit.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Matthew

All:   Glory to you O Lord

(Mt 5: 20-22, 33-34, 37)

Jesus said, “For I tell you, if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.  You have learnt how it is said to our ancestors: You must not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court.  But if I say this to you: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court.

“Again, you have learnt how was said to our ancestors: You must not break your oath, but must fulfil your oaths to the Lord.  But I say this to you: do not swear at all.  All you need to say is ‘Yes’ if you mean yes, ‘No’ if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”

This is the Word of the Lord

Dialogue

What is lying?  Do you lie?  If you say no, that would be a lie in itself. Are all lies the same?   Some untruths are part of a joke, and if it is obvious it is not true, it is OK.  If the intention is to deceive, then it is not.  Let’s not talk about white lies and devious lies, as some children may not be able to differentiate between seriousness of the impact of lies. 

What if there is someone who tells lies often, would you trust anything he says?  What if he is telling the truth for once?  Would people still believe him?  What if everyone is like that?  Would you like to be in a group like that?  Discuss what kind of world that would be.

In many places, people have to use God’s name to convince people that they are truthful when they make promises.  Give examples like people swearing on the Bible in court.   How would you feel if your mom and dad do not believe you unless they use a Bible every time you speak?

Would you prefer that people believe you just because you said so, and not because you used God’s name?  Discuss how we can build a credibility that people can believe in.  Have a reputation for being truthful.  How?  Never ever tell lies is one; being faithful to God’s other teachings is another; always be doing whatever you say you would and not do whatever you say you would not do.  It really is about building up a reputation as a person, and not just a reputation for not lying.

Younger children

You may wish to talk to them about Pinocchio and what happened when he lied.  What happened in the end? He became a real boy.  Explain that he became a real boy when he told the truth and he was sincere.  Explain that truth and sincerity goes together.  If you say something without sincerity, it is as good as lying – maybe even worse if you are using the truth to mislead. If you are asked to elaborate, limit your answer to simple examples (when someone took the cookie and was asked by mommy whether he/she has eaten the cookie before he/she ate it and the person replied “no”) – you don’t want to be the one to teach this lesson to the kids.

Older children

You may want to discuss what a lie is.  Would telling jokes be lying? No, there is no intention to deceive.  What about flattery? And white lies?  That’s a tough one.  Depends on the situation I guess, which is why I limit the discussion to the older ones.  What about lying to defend something good, like the church.  I would think not (no need to explain clerical child abuse here).

Recommended watching: Invention of Lying

This is a wonderful what-if movie in which Ricky Gervaise lived in a world where everyone tells the truth all the time.  This leads to hilarious situations until someone became the only person in the world who can lie.  After watching it, think and reflect on what we are doing and saying everyday - how much our modern society rely on lying or the possibility of someone lying. 

 

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year B

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Images

Why follow Jesus

Points to note

This reading has variations among the other Synoptic Gospels.  We can highlight various lessons from this reading: Jesus wanting to heal; Jesus healing; giving thanks after the healing, etc.  I am choosing to focus on the part where Jesus asked the cured leper not to tell anyone about it.  Potentially, there could be questions arising from the children’s confusion over this instruction.

This has been an intriguing point for me since my youth: why would Jesus not want to tell anyone about himself?  Doesn’t his instruction not to tell anyone conflicts with his other instructions to spread the news?  In some way, I believe it could be a test of whether we are coming to Jesus for the right reasons or are we just attracted to the miracles he performed.

In this, care needs to be taken that the children do not understand their relationship with Jesus to be that of an examiner testing an examinee.  Sincerity is a prerequisite in any relationship.  Similarly with God: if we were to hide our motives and say or do the right things in order to impress God with the ‘right’ answers in the Great Examination of Life, we will surely fail.

There was a study performed by some scientist among students in a college.  They asked one group of students who were feeling a little depressed to do good deeds without stopping to think why they are doing it while the other group of similarly depressed students were to carry on their life as normal.  After the trial period, the first group was found to be significantly happier than the second.  There surely must be something in that for us to think about: does doing good deeds only work if there is no ‘why’ to our doing?

 

Liturgy

 

Acclamation before the Gospel

Alleluia!  Alleluia!

A great prophet has appeared among us;

God has visited his people.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Explain that Jesus was still preaching and curing people in the Galilee, his home region.  Last week, he cured Peter’s mother-in-law.

The Lord be with you.

All:   And also with you.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Mark

All:   Glory to you O Lord

(Mk 1: 40-45)

A leper came to Jesus and pleaded on his knees, “If you want to,” he said, “you can cure me.”  Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him.  “Of course I want to!” he said, “Be cured!”  And the leprosy left him at once and he was cured.  Jesus immediately sent him away and sternly ordered him, “Mind you say nothing to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest, and make the offering for your healing prescribed by Moses as evidence of your recovery.”  The man went away, but then started talking about it freely and telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but had to stay outside in places where nobody lived.  Even so, people from all around would come to him.

This is the Gospel of the Lord

Discussion

What miracle did Jesus do?  Discuss what leprosy is and how they were required to live outside the town in the olden days and had to ring a bell calling out ‘Leper! Leper!’ to warn people of their coming.  Go through the story about how Jesus cured the leper.

What did Jesus tell the leper to do after curing him?  Discuss each of the two instructions separately:

·            The cured man was to present himself to the priest and make an offering.  This was in accordance with the way that the Old Testament treat cured lepers.  The presentation to the priest allowed the priest to examine him and confirm that he is cured so that he could live in the community again.  The offering was a thanksgiving upon confirming that he is cured.

·            The cured man was to tell no one about his healing.  Discuss why Jesus would want the man to keep it secret.  In a way, Jesus wanted to know whether the people would follow him or do they only want to see the miracles.

Do you love Jesus?  Would you want to do all that is asked of us in the Bible?  Why?  This is a tricky and can be rather riotous part:  it is not easy for adults to come to a conclusion.  It is an answer that we would all come back to again and again in our lives.  The older children can start off their lifetime of questioning and can leave the session without a conclusion so that they can answer it at another time and place of God’s choosing.  Let’s not impose our conclusion on a very private matter like this.  There must, however, be a conclusion for the younger ones so that they do not leave, confused.

Treatment for possible answers

·            Because Jesus can bring us to heaven – does that mean that if Jesus cannot bring us to heaven, we would not have loved him?  Doesn’t that mean that we only love being in heaven and not really love Jesus?

·            Because Jesus can help us and answer our prayer – are we trying to bargain with God:  that we do good deeds in exchange for him answering our prayers?  Does bargaining with God work?  Does God have need of anything that we may have to bargain with?  Also, does that mean that if Jesus cannot answer our prayers, we would not have loved him?  Doesn’t that mean that we only love having our prayers answered and not really love Jesus?

·            Because if we don’t, we will be punished and sent to hell – does that mean we would not do all the things Jesus asked us to if there is no punishment for failing?  Doesn’t that mean we are aiming to avoid hell and punishment and don’t really love Jesus.

·            Well, you get the gist!

Conclusion (compulsory for younger children)

We could just tell them that we should be doing all the things that Jesus asked of us because they are the right things to do.  That means that even if Jesus had not told us, we should still have done them.  This should suffice for some time and we hope they will think about it when they are older.  Do you have another answer?