7th Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle A

7th Sunday of Ordinary Time Cycle A

Welcome children to their worship space.

Ask them to get their carpet squares and sit down in a circle.

Introduce yourself and your helpers.

Introduce

            Explain: Today is the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. 

Ask:  Can anyone tell me what we talked about last week?  <hold up the symbol of the gift> We talked about how following God’s laws is our gift to God

Introduce symbol

            Say:  Today’s symbol <hold up the symbol> is a heart.  Our readings today focus on how God tells us to treat each other.

             

            Ask:  What do you think that means? <discuss—how do you think God wants us to treat each other?>.  Why is a heart a good symbol for this?  <let the children respond (LOVE)>

            Say:  Let’s look at today’s poster.   What does it say? <The Lord is kind and merciful.> This is our Responsorial Psalm for today.  Psalms were originally songs, so make sure you pray the response clearly and loudly.  You can sing it if you like.

Introduce readings

            We have two readings today.

Say:  Let’s light the candle to show that we are ready to listen to the Word of God.

Say: Today’s first reading is from the Old Testament book of Leviticus. (Leviticus 19:1-2,17-18)  Listen closely so that you can hear some of the ways God tells us to treat each other.

Have the reader read the first reading.

Ask:  What did you hear in the book of Leviticus?  <keep yourselves holy, don’t hate anyone, don’t try to get even, don’t hold grudges, love each other>

Say: Now it is time for the Responsorial Psalm.  Your part is to say:

            The Lord is kind and merciful.

Say:  Today’s Gospel reading comes from the book of St. Matthew.  (Matt 5:38-48).  In the New Testament, we often hear how Jesus teaches us some of the same things that are written in the Old Testament.  St. Matthew uses this reading to share with us some of the things that Jesus said for us to do.  Listen closely and try to remember at least one thing Jesus said.

Say:  Now we will stand and get ready to hear the Gospel

              Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Have the reader begin:   “a reading from the holy gospel.....”

Read:  Read the Gospel

Ask:  What happened?  <let the children retell what they heard>  What does he tell us to do?  <share our goodness because it will help others to love God>

Hand out the poster cut-outs and Offertory symbols.

Ask the children to add their names to the cutouts (hearts) so that they can be glued onto the poster.

 

Explain: Color this symbol of a heart and bring it to the altar (don’t forget to put your name on the back!)  to show what we have learned about sharing the light of God (his love!) with others..

If there is time, ask the older children to write one thing that they can do this week to show they understand what Jesus said.

If there is time, ask questions and go over the lessons one more time to help the children remember.

Give out stickers and hand-outs as they leave.   

Use this heart for all 3 symbols this week:  small light-colored ones for the communal poster, a mid-sized bright one for the banner.. and a large black-lined copy for the Offertory coloring page.  (Please excuse the extra wording on the graphic!  I am still learning how to work with this venue and wanted to get this up ASAP!)

Parent Letter

7th Sunday Ordinary Time A

Dear Parents,

            Today we celebrate the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time.  The children listened to two of the same readings you did: Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18 and Matthew 5:38-48.

Symbol: heart

To reinforce at home:

           

            The readings today talk about how God asks us to treat each other..

           

Activities to do at home:

           

            *Pray for others!  Matthew reminds us to love our enemies.  This is a difficult concept for anyone to grasp.  Work with your child to write a prayer asking God to bless someone that your family considers an enemy.

            * Jesus asks us not to seek revenge when someone hurts us.  Talk with your child about things he or she can do when they are angry or hurt that will help follow Jesus.

Thank you for sharing your children!