Solemnity of Christ the King

LSW children

Year B

Solemnity of Christ the King

Images

A different type of king

Points to note

The Solemnity of Christ the King, which falls on the last Sunday of the liturgical year (the following Sunday starts off the season of Advent), is a rather recent feastday, having been instituted in 1925.  Pope Benedict XVI wanted to remind Italians that their allegiance was not to the dictator Benito Mussolini, who was in power at that time, but to Jesus.  He drew contrast between Mussolini and Jesus in the way they exercised their kingship: Mussolini by violence and Jesus by love.

Actually, kings are getting to be a rather rare breed. There are 42 reigning monarchs in the world today, of whom 8 are Christian kings (excluding the Pope), all in Europe.  There are two Queens, the Pope, two Africans, four Buddhists, and the rest Muslims.   So really, only eight men in the world today fit our conventional image of a king.  

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

The Lord be with you.

All:   And also with you.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St John

(Jn18: 33-37)

‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Pilate asked. Jesus replied, ‘Do you ask this of your own accord, or have others spoken to you about me?’ Pilate answered, ‘Am I a Jew? It is your own people and the chief priests who have handed you over to me: what have you done?’ Jesus replied, ‘Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this kind.’ ‘So you are a king then?’ said Pilate. ‘It is you who say it’ answered Jesus. ‘Yes, I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.’

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Discussion

Have you ever met a king before? Very few of us have ever met kings.  So, you can always extend it to queens and presidents.  But, best to keep to kings and queens because children like the pomp and ceremony.

Discuss how the kings, queens and presidents are welcomed when we meet them.  They come in a big huge limousine.  There are lots of people around them, to serve them.  They don’t have to lift a finger to do anything and I bet they do not have a wallet.  The Queen of England may go around with a lovely handbag but it probably doesn’t have any money in it.

Discuss how you are supposed to behave when you meet kings, queens and presidents.  There are certain protocols when meeting royalty. You address them as Your Highness or Mr/Mrs President or Your Excellency.  You know, you are not supposed to touch the Queen: you bow (for boys) or curtsy (if girl) instead.  You speak politely and cannot munch your food loudly.  Later, someone will come and usher you away.

They also have security guards around them because of the danger that someone could shoot them. After all four American presidents have been shot and many kings of England murdered (ok, the last one was beheaded in 1649).

Contrast it with Jesus.  How did Jesus get around?  How did he enter Jerusalem?  Ask the children to imagine, their king, queen or president arriving to visit them on a donkey.

Discuss how people treated him when he visited.  They were respectful but not overly deferential – nobody bowed or curtsied to him. In fact they expected him to do work: heal them, feed them, teach them. At times, he had to show people where to fish, he washed their feet.  Also, he had no bodyguards because he ruled by love and not in fear.  If anyone wanted to kill him, he would have let them do it willingly.  Which he did.

Explain that nobody was deferential to him and he didn’t expect anyone to be.  This is because he was a king who came to serve.  A Christian king is not supposed to be lording over everyone else. Christian kings and Christian leaders are expected to be humble and help anyone who need help in any way.

Explain that when we were baptised, we were anointed priest, prophet and king.  The role of the king that we take on is the kingship of Jesus, the kingship of service.  

Today is the feast of Christ the King.  It is the feast day of all of us as kings together with Jesus.  But it is not a day when we show our power to everyone.  It is a day to remember to serve in humility everyone who needs help.

If you have time, link it up last year’s reading of the Last Judgement and who Jesus is whom we see around us.

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year B

Thirty-third Ordinary Sunday

Images

We do not know the hour

Points to note

This reading is rather topical, coming just two weeks before the start of Advent.  However, in order not to anticipate the theme waiting of Advent too much, we focus on what it is that we are not aware of  - the time of Jesus’ coming.  In a way, this runs well into the theme of Advent.

There are many sects around who claim they know when is Jesus’ second coming.  They get their adherents to sell all they have and wait – typically at hill where Jesus will appear, conveniently nearby.  They are called millenarianists, meaning those who focuses on the thousand years that they will reign with Christ.  Not all millenarianists claim they know the timing though and many are rather moderates in their views even as they wait for Jesus.  Some are considered mainstream Christians (Seventh Day Adventists) while others are not accepted by mainstream Christians as Christians (Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons).  The rest are sects, Christian & otherwise.

Catholic teaching is that while we wait for the second coming of Jesus but we do not know the hour nor do we attempt to find out. The hour is not important in our faith – we just prepare ourselves whatever the hour.  I once asked a group of children how long the season of Advent last. One seven-year old child enthusiastically and definitively said “Forever!”  You know, she is right – it lasts forever because we do not know the hour and so, we wait forever.

Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Stay awake and stand ready,

because you do not know the hour

when the Son of Man is coming.

Alleluia!

Gospel

The Lord be with you.

All:   And also with you.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Mark

(Mk13: 24-32)

Jesus said, ‘In those days, after the time of distress, the sun will be darkened, the moon will lose its brightness, the stars will come falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory; then too he will send the angels to gather his chosen from the four winds, from the ends of the world to the ends of heaven.

‘Take the fig tree as a parable: as soon as its twigs grow supple and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. So with you when you see these things happening: know that he is near, at the very gates. I tell you solemnly, before this generation has passed away all these things will have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

‘But as for that day or hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son; no one but the Father.’

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Discussion

Have you ever waited for anyone or anything?  Discuss about waiting for Christmas to come, or a birthday or a visit of a favourite relative from overseas.  Take the example of Christmas and what they do to prepare.  Do not dwell on it as you will be discussing it in greater detail next month.  You can even talk about children being good waiting for Santa Claus to come.  Ignore those older killjoys among the children trying to tell the younger ones there is no Santa Claus.

What if you were asked to prepare for Christmas but nobody knows the date?  I love the pause as the concept sink into the children.  Some may even question the point of waiting if that something may not even happen.  Keep it warm as it is a good question.

What if you had a favourite relative who says that he/she will be coming for a visit but will not tell you the date?  He/she tells you to get everything ready because he/she will be taking you on a journey.  Discuss what the children will do.  Some will be sceptical and I think it is healthy to be sceptical like this in today’s world. Ask how do they feel if days turn into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years as they wait?

Explain the church teaching on the Second Coming.  That Jesus will come again.  It will be preceded by great suffering and persecution of the Church but we do not know the details.  Jesus will come in triumph to defeat evil and usher in a period of paradise on earth where we will reign with him in glory.  He will also raise up all who are dead (suggest you pass this part quickly if you are not prepared for awkward questions – like what age will they be, etc – for which the Church do not have definitive answers).  That Jesus will judge all the living and the dead.

Discuss that we wait for the coming of Jesus by doing good and being prepared for that judgement.  And as we do not know when that judgement will be, it means we will continue to do good until the end of our lives.  Whether the Second Coming happens in our lifetimes or not, it is not important. What is important that we are always prepared for it.  That on the day we die, we can say we have done all that we can do in our lives to get a good judgement on the day of the Second Coming – by being true to Jesus and his teachings.

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year B

Thirty-second Ordinary Sunday

Images

Giving everything

Points to note

This Sunday’s reading actually comprise two sections, but I have taken up the option in the Missal to drop the first section.  This will enable us to concentrate this Sunday’s message on something that is closer to the children.  You may, however, wish to include the first section.

The story of the widow’s mite, though short, is a very powerful one.  Very much like the two coins which contained everything the widow had, the whole of the attitude of a Christian can be conveyed in this story: whatever we do or give to God, give our all.  The point is not just to give our excess, but to give our all.  The widow could have held back one coin, and still could be praised for giving half of all she owned, but she did not.

The story examines our own attitudes.  Jesus was not just contrasting the two coins of the widow with the many gifts of the rich, but also with us.  The holding back of one coin is something we have always had to face from childhood.  It is very much a story of each of our faith journey: from sharing of toys to sharing our life with God.  There is much, therefore, we can discuss on this.

I have started the discussion for today with a joke.  It is important that if we were to start any discussion with a story, we should try to return to it at the end of the discussion.  I have provided an idea for doing just that.

Liturgy

Acclamation before the Gospel

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Happy are the poor in spirit;

theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Alleluia!

Gospel

The Lord be with you.

All:   And also with you.

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Mark

(Mk12: 41-44)

He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting in money into the treasury, and many of the rich put in a great deal.  A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “I tell you solemnly, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they had put in all the money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.”

This is the Gospel of the Lord.

Discussion

Three men won money at the races.  They all agreed that they should give some of the money to God but could not decide how much.  The first said, “I will draw a circle in the sand and throw the money up in the air. Whatever money that fall outside the circle belong to God and whatever that fall inside the circle belong to me.” He did, collected his money and gave the rest to the poor.  The second man said, I would do the same. I will draw a circle in the sand and throw the money up in the air.  Whatever money that fall outside the circle belong to me and whatever that fall inside the circle belong to God.”  He did, collected his money and gave the rest to the poor. The third man said, I would do the same. I will draw a circle in the sand and throw the money up in the air. Whatever money that go up to heaven belong to God and whatever that fall on the earth belong to me.”

Which of these three persons are you like?  This isn’t meant to be a serious question but to lead the children to talk about how much they would give to God if they have enough money.  Begin by discussing amounts: one million?  two?  You can then lead on to discuss fractions: half? quarter?

For younger children who may not yet fully appreciate the idea of money, we could discuss the idea of possessions:  toys, cookies, favourite books.  Young children are by nature sharers.  But we are talking about more than sharing here; we are talking about giving, and never seeing what they gave away again. So, will they give a cookie, or a toy no longer needed or some outgrown clothes?  But what if it is their last cookie, the teddy they had from baby, or their favourite dress?

Explain that in the story (the Gospel story, not the joke), the widow gave everything she had.  And Jesus said that she has given more than anyone else because she gave everything.  Explain that it is not the amount she gave that is important, it is that she gave everything.

When Jesus said that, did he only meant only money gifts? Explain that we can also give everything when we do things as well.  Discuss examples:  when Mom ask us to help, we do it wholeheartedly; when someone wants to talk to us when he or she is sad, we listen intently and not let our eyes wander everywhere; when a teacher teaches, we pay full attention; when we pray or say thank you, we really mean what we say.  Anyone else have any other examples?

Sometimes, we fall short.  We may be selfish and perhaps, refused to share what we have.  We may not pay attention when listening to a teacher or to someone we don’t like.  Sometimes, we bargain or we make compromises.  We tell Mom that we will help her for half an hour, which we say is better than nothing.  They are not alone: all of us are guilty of it.  But the widow gave two coins.  She did not give one and say that was good enough.  She gave two coins; she gave everything she had.

Ultimately, some people give their all: they give their lives.  There are, of course, people like Jesus and St Maximilian Kolbe.  There are also more ordinary people like the priests and sisters, who gave up their lives to serve God.  Explain that the priests took a vow of poverty and they do not own anything of themselves.  The Church owns everything.

Return to the joke at the beginning of this discussion.  Perhaps, there should be a fourth way:  I will draw a circle in the sand and throw the money up in the air.  Whatever money that goes up to heaven belong to me and whatever that fall on the earth belong to God