12th
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
Say:
Today is the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time.
Ask: Can anyone tell me what we talked about last
week? <show the symbol of the
hand> We talked about serving God as
priests. We talked about things we can
do to take care of each other.
Introduce symbol
Say: Today’s symbol is two circles, one light and
one dark. When we use darkness and light
symbolically, what do you think it might represent? <the children will have different answers:
sin & absence of sin, dirty & clean, etc. > In this instance, we are going to talk about
good and evil.
Ask: Why are we afraid of the dark? <discuss – bad things might happen to us
that we can’t see> If you wanted to
do something wrong, something you know that your parents would not want you to
do, would you do it in a dark quiet place or out in the open in front of everybody? <you would want to hide what you are
doing> God tells us today not to be
afraid of the dark. God reminds us that
we are never alone and that God will always take care of us.
Say:
Let’s look at the poster. What
does it say? <Lord, in your great love, answer me.> This is our Responsorial Psalm for
today. The Responsorial Psalms also come
from Scripture, from the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament.
Ask: Why do we ask God for help? <discuss>
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 the prophet Jeremiah. (Jeremiah
20:10-12a, 13) In this reading, Jeremiah
shows that he has a lot of faith. See if
you can hear something in this reading that tells about Jeremiah’s faith in
God.
Have
the reader read the first reading.
Ask: What did you hear
that tells about Jeremiah’s strong faith?
<he believed that God loved him and would handle the people who were
trying to trick him> He believed that
if he asked God for help, God would take care of him.
Say: Now is the time for
the Responsorial Psalm. Your part is to
say:
Lord,
in your great love, answer me.
Say: Today’s Gospel
reading is taken from the book of Matthew (Matt 10:26–31). In the reading today, St. Matthew tells us
not to be afraid. He tells us that God
loves us so much that he will always take care of us.
Say: Now we will stand
and get ready to hear the Gospel
Have
the reader begin: “a reading from the
holy Gospel according to…”
Read: Read the Gospel
Ask: What happened? <let the children retell what they
heard> Do you think that it is always
easy to have this much faith in God?
<why or why not>
Say: When we believe and
trust in God, we are filled with the light of God’s love. We bring that light with us in our behavior
and our attitudes.
Hand
out the small poster cut-outs for the children to put their names on. Collect them to glue on a poster when they
are finished.
Hand
out the larger Offertory symbols (two
circles). Ask the older children to
write one thing they can do this week to show how they can bring God’s love
into an unhappy part of their life.
Explain:
Color this symbol of the two
circles and bring it to the altar (don’t forget to put your name on the
back!) to show that we have learned about bringing the light of God’s love to
others.
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 the children leave to join the Offertory
procession.
Parent Letter
12th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Dear
Parents,
Today is the 12th Sunday of
Ordinary Time. The children listened to
two of the same readings you heard: Jeremiah 20:10-12a and Matthew 10:26-31.
Symbol: two joined circles
To reinforce at home:
The readings today talk about how God’s
love is stronger than evil. He will
always take care of so we should not be afraid.
Activities to do at home:
*
Show your faith in God! Ask him
for something you really want and then believe that he hears you.
*
Stay in the light! Use a
flashlight one summer evening to show your child how light takes away fear of
the dark Use the light to expose some
dark scary places in your yard or a nearby park.
* Bring the light of God’s love to
others! Visit someone who is lonely or
sick this week.
Thank you for sharing your children!
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