Fourth Sunday in Advent

Year A

Fourth Sunday in Advent

Images

Trusting God

Points to note

There are two accounts of Jesus’ birth in the Gospels.  The one in Mt (this year) tells it from Joseph’s point of view while the one in Lk tells it from Mary’s point of view.  To understand Joseph’s point of view, one need to know that Jewish marriage takes place in two stages.  In the first stage, where Joseph and Mary’s marriage was at the time Jesus was conceived, the husband and wife are betrothed but do not stay together as husband and wife until the second stage a year later.  So, for the first year of the marriage, the Jewish wife remains a virgin.

Now, how do you explain this to children who may not have that birds and bees chat with their parents yet?  Maybe, better to focus on the role of Joseph in his part of the Holy Family and him taking the second place to Mary.  To me, his acquiescence to his part in our salvation in no less than Mary but his humility in deferring to Mary’s role is something to emulate.

Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia!

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son

and they will call him Emmanuel,

a name which means ‘God-is-with-us’.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Discuss with the children about the Christmas season that we are about to enter in the coming week.  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.

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 1:18-24)

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfill the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’

When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.

This is the Good News of the Lord

Dialogue

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

Who is Jesus’ mother?  Mary is the mother of Jesus.

Who is Jesus’ father?  No, not Joseph, but God.

Yet, Joseph is part of the Holy Family.  So, who is Joseph to Jesus?  Explain that Joseph was Jesus’ foster father.  Explain what a foster father is.  Explain similarities and differences with stepfathers, if children are more familiar with the latter.

Explain that while Joseph is the foster father, not stepfather of Jesus, Mary as the mother of Jesus was the more important parent.  Joseph was there in the supporting role. 

Discuss how Joseph must have felt when told by the angel in the dream that he is to become a foster father.  How did Joseph take it?  Did he accept the task that God gave him?  Why?   Like Mary, he trusted God.  Discuss what the angel told him.  And as a Jew, how he is to fulfil the scripture prophecy in the reading.  According to the reading, did he even hesitate?

Did Joseph carry out his task well? Would that be a difficult job?  To take care of a child that was not his son?

Discuss how the children would respond if they were asked to do a difficult job.  Discuss further if they were asked to take the supporting role in doing that job and someone else had the leading role.  Maybe an example would be a supporting role in a play, a team game or something more important: building something that benefits someone else or looking after someone.

Discuss how trusting God would help them as it has helped Joseph.

CUSTOMS IN CHRISTMAS

We celebrate Christmas in church with two masses.  The Christmas midnight mass is a vigil mass, similar in structure to a normal Sunday mass (unlike Easter, the other midnight mass), followed by Christmas Day mass, which is a different mass the next morning.

The traditional colours of Christmas are gold (for the gift of the Magi), red (the blood of Jesus on the cross) and green (eternal life of Jesus that the cross cannot conquer).

The first Christmas crib was credited to St Francis of Assisi, who wanted to emphasise the focus of Christ rather than the secular merry-making and gifts-giving (Even in his days!!).  He first used real people & animals and the whole scene was blessed by the Pope but now, of course, we use little statues.  The Christmas crib in church is blessed at Christmas midnight mass.  Oh, by the way, there is no three kings, or even three wise men.  The Bible mentioned some men, and the number and their crowns got added later on.  They were likely astrologers who were watching the stars when they saw the new star over Bethlehem.

Christmas hymns in Latin have been around ever since Christmas started but Christmas carols in local language, was popularised by St Francis of Assisi (again).  Carol comes from the old French word, carole, which is a dance: Carols were originally performed as a dance-song.

We use holly as a Christmas decoration.  Its prickly points symbolises Jesus' crown of thorns and the red berries the blood from that crown.  Both the holly and mistletoe are of pagan origins but I can't think of any Christian significance for the mistletoe.

Christmas trees were popularised by Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who tried to recreate the twinkling of stars through the branches of evergreen trees with Christmas tree lights (with candles!!).  The evergreens symbolise life that winter cannot kill off.

And Boxing Day, celebrated on Dec 26 in UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, do not have anything to do with boxing or fighting.  Boxes probably refer to gifts in boxes given to employees and slaves, effectively the Christmas bonus.

 

First Sunday in Advent

Year A

First Sunday in Advent

Images

We are the Sign of Jesus’ Coming

Points to note

This is the start of a new Church Year, which we will need to explain this to the children.  If the children get confused over the idea of a new year's day that isn't on Jan 1, here are a few more new year's day that are also not on Jan 1:

·  Chinese New Year is on the day of the new moon between Jan 21 and Feb 20.

·  School year in many countries in the Northern Hemisphere starts in the end of summer.

·  Tax year in UK starts on Apr 6 (interesting story, that one) and other dates elsewhere.

The Gospel reading today is a little difficult to follow but you can lead in with the explanation of Advent being the season of preparation before the reading and discuss being a sign to others of the Coming of Jesus during the dialogue.

Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia!

Let us see, O Lord, your mercy

and give us your saving help.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Discuss with the children about the new season of the Christian 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.

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 24:37-44)

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it be when the Son of Man comes. For in those days before the Flood people were eating, drinking, taking wives, taking husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and they suspected nothing till the Flood came and swept all away. It will be like this when the Son of Man comes. Then of two men in the fields one is taken, one left; of two women at the millstone grinding, one is taken, one left.

‘So stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming. You may be quite sure of this that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house. Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’

This is the Good News of the Lord

Dialogue

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

Can you come up with any event that gets a lot of alerts and warning before it happens?  A storm could have a storm warning beforehand.    The Olympics could have the torch runs.  Your school exams could have extra classes and teachers who keep giving advise.  A wedding could have the invitation cards going out.

Advent is the alert notice for which event?  Coming of Jesus at Christmas.  What do we do in Advent to show that we are alert for Jesus’ coming?  Prayers, advent wreath and advent calendar, setting up the crib.

Does Jesus only come at Christmas time?  No, other than the Second Coming, which Jesus has clearly stated will come without any warning, we encounter Jesus everyday at mass, in people we meet, in acts of kindness and mercy.

Sometimes, Jesus comes to people who never knew him, who are not yet his friends or, because of a problem they may have, is far away from him.  Sometimes, Jesus also sneds an alert notice to those people that he is coming.  What kind of alert notice do you think he will send?  It is Ok to let the children be confused and give many strange answers before you lead into your final point.

Do you think you could be the sign that Jesus wants to send out to tell people that he is coming?  Discuss the ways that children can be a sign of Jesus’ Coming to others.  Reaching out to someone who is hurt, physically or otherwise, is a precursor to Jesus’ healing.  Making friends with someone who is lonely opens up Jesus’ love.  Helping others could be Jesus’ way to helping them, using us as his hands and feet.

You should end with a resolve from the children on how they can be a sign of Jesus’ Coming.

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.

Solemnity of Christ the King

Year A

Solemnity of Christ the King

Images

Kingdom of Christ

Points to note

In every Catholic church in the world, there is that big crucifix in the middle.  A crucifix differs from a cross by having Jesus on it.  Catholic crucifixes also have that little note containing the letters “INRI” at the top.  It stands for “Iesu Nazarene Rex Idumea”, which means “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” in Latin.  This was what Pilate wrote as the crimes to Jesus, to be nailed on top of the cross.  It is ironic that Pilate in putting up what he thought is the false assertion of a condemned man, has spoken a truth that echoed through the centuries since.

In Year A, we have discussed Jesus role as a judge (one of the roles of a king) and in Year B, the nature of kingship.  So, in Year C, we reconcile our membership in both our secular country and our spiritual kingdom.

Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessings on the coming kingdom of our father David!

Alleluia!

Gospel

Explain that today is the last Sunday of the Church year and next week we start the season of Advent of a new cycle.  This reading takes place when Jesus was dying on the cross.

The Lord be with you.

All:   And also with your spirit.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Luke

All:   Glory to you O Lord

(Lk 23:35-43)

The people stayed there before the cross watching Jesus. As for the leaders, they jeered at him. ‘He saved others,’ they said ‘let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.’ The soldiers mocked him too, and when they approached to offer vinegar they said, ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.’ Above him there was an inscription: ‘This is the King of the Jews.’

One of the criminals hanging there abused him. ‘Are you not the Christ?’ he said. ‘Save yourself and us as well.’ But the other spoke up and rebuked him. ‘Have you no fear of God at all?’ he said. ‘You got the same sentence as he did, but in our case we deserved it: we are paying for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong. Jesus,’ he said ‘remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ ‘Indeed, I promise you,’ he replied ‘today you will be with me in paradise.’

This is the Good News of the Lord

Dialogue

What country do we belong to?  Discuss your country and you may want to take the opportunity to impart a bit of civil knowledge, particularly if the country and the nation are different for you.

How did you become a citizen of your country and how do you prove that you are a citizen?  Most of us were citizens when we were born in the country but some were naturalised (meaning, changed citizenship from another country). Many countries have identity cards but at minimum all countries have passports that you can use to show which country you are from.  (NB: citizenship documents are sometimes too complicated to explain to children).

What does the country do for you and what do you need to do in return?  The country protects us all & our rights and provides an environment for us to live our way of life with our family, community and church.  In return, we have to pay our taxes, follow the laws of the country and are obliged to defend it, our identity and our way of life (way of life, not necessary our government, our food or our football team).  This is known as the social contract.

Do you know we are citizens of another country?  A country whose king is not of this world.  Explain that we are citizens of God’s kingdom.  Explain that Jesus is a king and what Pilate wrote on the cross.  Show the children a crucifix with the INRI on it.

What does God’s kingdom do for us and what do we do for God’s kingdom?  Just like our country, God’s kingdom also protect us but in the afterlife.  It also provides faith for us to understand ourselves, love to live with our neighbours and hope for the peace in God’s kingdom in the afterlife.  At the same time, we have to be willing to defend God’s kingdom and our right to our way of life as Christians.

How do we join God’s kingdom and how we prove we are citizens?  You may want to spend a bit more time here.  We join God’s kingdom when we get baptised.  But our baptism has to be sincere and God may not accept our membership in his kingdom if we do not mean it.  So our conversion and our acceptance of Jesus as King has to be true.

In a way unlike out country, you can never be born into God’s kingdom but will always be naturalised.  We will always have to apply to join and our membership is always dependant on whether he thinks we have been true to the values of the kingdom or not – it is never a sure thing unlike our citizenship of our country, which can never be taken away.

Also sometimes like the Prodigal Son, we wander out of God’s kingdom and we lose God’s protection.  We get upset and are no longer calm until we return to God’s kingdom.  And until we return, we will not be under God’s protection.

We prove that we are citizens of God’s kingdom by the way we live our lives.  We show that we are Christians by loving each other and forgive anyone who offends us.  What other ways can the children come up with?

As with anything else, draw the parallels with the secular examples so that the children can identify with it.

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year C

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Images

Hope in God’s protection

Points to note

This can be a rather complex reading as it dwells on the prophecy of Jesus that the Temple will be destroyed and that his disciples will face numerous persecutions.  These are all very adult concepts and hard for children to follow.

Leaving the first two paragraphs aside, I will focus on the last paragraph but not in terms of persecutions that children will not be able to follow, but to present them in children terms.  None of us would enjoy being persecuted and while most children would never encounter it, children and adults do meet up with the fear that makes us avoid persecutions if possible.

If there is time, go through the stories of great persecutions that form the seed out of which the Church grew all over the world.

Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel

Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Stand erect, hold your heads high,

because your liberation is near at hand.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Explain that in Jesus’ time, there was a huge Temple in Jerusalem where the Jews made their sacrifices to God.  It was huge, 400m by 500m in size and the parts of the outer walls that was not decorated with metal plates, was snow-white in colour.  That Temple was destroyed 37 years after Jesus and all there is left today are parts of a stone wall.

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 21:5-19)

When some were talking about Temple, remarking how it was adorned with fine stonework and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All this things you are staring at now - the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another: everything will be destroyed.”  And they to him this question: ”Master,” they said “when will this happen, then, and what sign will there that this is about to take place?”

“Take care not to be deceived,” he said “because many will come using my name and saying, ‘I am he’ and ‘the time is near at hand.’ Refuse to join them. And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened, for this is something that must happen but the end is not so soon.” Then he said to them, ”Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes and plagues and famines here and there; there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

“But before all this happens, men will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors because of my name – and that would be your opportunity to bear witness.  Keep this carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence, because I myself will give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name, but not hair on your head would be lost. Your endurance will win you your lives.”

This is the Gospel of the Lord

Dialogue

Is there anything you are afraid of?  Lead the children from talking of being afraid of the dark to situations where they were fearful about what is going to happen – being lost somewhere big or someone getting them into trouble with the teacher.  Discuss what the worst that could have happened in that situation.  Remember though children nowadays have been well protected by their parents that some of them never had a fearful moment in their lives.  If they do not have any appropriate experience, use a hypothetical one.

Did the fear remain forever or did the fear pass eventually?  How?  Discuss whether someone helped them get over the fear.  Was it their parents, teachers, or friends?  Was God involved in helping them get over their fears?  Wasn’t it God who sent them someone to help them get over their fears?

Now, looking back at that situation, was there any point in fearing?  Was the worrying wasted?  If it were to happen again, what would you do?  Would you be fearful all over again or would you leave it to God to help you get out of the situation unharmed?  Gently bring them to an understanding that with God looking over them, there is no need to be so fearful.  This is what hope is about.

Contrast this with the great cities of the past that now lies in ruins because people did not put their trust in God but believed in their own greatness.  Starting with the Tower of Babel, there is the Temple of Jerusalem in this reading, the many Roman ruins all over Europe, the city of Pompeii buried when the volcano erupted, the city of Troy (no it was not a legend), the city of Tanis of Indiana Jones fame (there really was such a city buried under the sands but no Ark), many other ruins buried under the sea or elsewhere.

If there is time

Run through some of the stories of persecution that the Church faced and is still facing today.

Each and every one of the apostles other than John was martyred.  They all died in different ways in different countries.  John was exiled to an island away from home.

During Roman times when the Church was young, people were required to sacrifice to Roman gods and get a certificate to say that they were good citizens.  Many Christians who refused ended up being thrown to hungry lions in stadiums like the Coliseum in Rome, as a sporting spectacle with Romans cheering on the lions.

Many priests who tried to bring the Gospel to pagan people were killed, and most of these deaths were not even recorded – we only remember them as part of the multitude of countless and nameless saints on All Saints Day, which we just celebrated.

In Japan many years after St Francis Xavier baptised many Japanese, a new government decided to persecute Christians and all Catholic priests where either expelled from the country or were crucified.  Many Catholic families though continue to pray in secret. They baptised & taught their children even though they had no priests.  More than a century later, they re-joined the Church when Japan opened its doors once again to missionaries.

Today in China and Vietnam, Catholics and priests loyal to the Pope can be jailed by the government (and sometimes killed), as has happened in Eastern Europe before the fall of the Berlin Wall.  In the Middle East, some Christians were driven from their homes if they do not renounce Christianity.  The Church was and is constantly persecuted but has always trusted God and has flourished to this day.