Aug 6 Feast of the Transfiguration

Feast of the Transfiguration 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

              Ask:  Does anyone remember what our symbol was for last Sunday?  <show the treasure chest>

Explain:  We learned the difference between what we  think of as treasure—money, jewels—and the true treasure of God’s love

Introduce symbol

Say:  Today’s symbol <hold up the symbol> is a white cloud with bright sun rays behind it. It represents the wonderful new life that God has promised to us.

Say:  Let’s look at today’s poster.  What does it say? <The Lord is king, the most high over all the earth.>  This is our Responsorial Psalm for today.  The Responsorial Psalms also come from Scripture, from the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament.

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 New Testament book of 2nd Peter. (2 Peter 1:16-19)  2nd Peter means the second letter of St Peter.  In this letter, St Peter is telling people—US! - about the time he went to mountain with Jesus and what he experienced.

Have the reader read the first reading.

Ask:  What happened on the mountain? <He heard a voice form heaven telling them that Jesus was his son>  In his letter, St Peter is telling us that this is real… that he was there and heard it himself.

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

The Lord is king, the most high over all the earth.

Say:  Today’s Gospel reading comes from the book of Matthew.  (Matt 17:1-9)  This reading tells us more about the experience Peter had.  Jesus wants them (and Us) to have total faith (or trust) in him.  Pretend that you are one of these men, Peter, James or John, and followed Jesus to the mountaintop.  Try to imagine what you would feel.

Say:  Let’s stand and get ready to hear the Gospel

(hold up card)  Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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

Read:  Read the Gospel

Ask: What did the Apostles see?  <let the children discuss>  Do you think they understood what they saw?  <no>  What did Jesus ask them to do?  <not to tell anyone until after he had been raised from the dead>

Say:  At this time, they didn’t know anything about Jesus dying and being raised from the dead.  To obey Jesus meant that they had to keep silent for a long time, maybe forever.  They were asked to trust in Jesus and depend on him.

Hand out the cut-outs (clouds or circles) and ask the children to put their names on them for the poster. Collect them as the children finish. 

Hand out the symbols to color  (The symbol is a cloud with sun rays).

 

Explain: Color this symbol of the tent and bring it to the altar (don’t forget to put your name on the back!)  to show what we have learned about trusting in Jesus.

Ask the older children to write one thing that they will do this week to show that they trust in Jesus.

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

Poster symbol either this cloud or the circle (yellow sun) below

Use this graphic for the mid-sized banner symbol and the full sized Offertory gift.

Parent Letter

Feast of the Transfiguration A

Dear Parents,

            Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration.  The children listened to two of the same readings you did: 2 Peter 1:16-19; Matthew 17:1-9.

Symbol: Cloud with sun rays

To reinforce at home:

Today we heard about St Peter telling his congregation about his experience and asking them to believe him.  In the Gospel, we see Jesus’ closest friends, Peter, James and John, faced with the same problem.  On the mountaintop, they witnessed undeniable (and unbelievable) proof that Jesus is God and they were asked to believe in him and obey him.

Today we are also asked by God to make choices that may be uncomfortable for us.  We need to depend on him to guide and care for us.

Activities to do at home:

*Read to your child!  Share a child’s version of the Transfiguration reading.  Talk about what it must have been like to be one of the Apostles who witnessed it.

*Dream together.  Together with your child, brainstorm a list of what heaven must be like.  If heaven is better than the best thing we can imagine, what must it be like?

*Spend the next nice afternoon together watching clouds.  Look together for the sunshine that shines out from behind them.

Thank you for sharing your children!