Feast of the Holy Family B

Feast of the Holy Family  Cycle B 

[Note to facilitators:  Today’s focus is the family.  Each child’s family is a gift from God.  Affirm the family experiences that the children share]

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:  How was everyone’s Christmas?  Does anyone have extra visitors this week? <lead the children to talk about FAMILY>

Ask:  Does anyone remember what we talked about the last time we met?  <show symbol of the word YES!>  We talked about saying YES! to God even when it is a little hard.

Introduce symbol

Say:  Today is the feast of the Holy Family.  We celebrate the Holy Family every year on the Sunday after Christmas. <show the symbol of the Holy Family>  Who are the members of the Holy Family?  <Jesus, Mary & Joseph>

Ask: Do all families have 3 people in them?  <discuss differences in families – always affirming the child’s experience>  How are all families the same?  <they are full of people who love each other, discuss similarities the children offer>

Say:  Today we are going to read Scripture and see what God wants to tell us about families.

Say:  Let’s look at today’s poster.  What does it say? <Happy are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.>  This is our Responsorial Psalm for today.  The Responsorial Psalms also come from Scripture, from the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament.

Ask:  Do you think God really wants us to be afraid of him?  <no>  God does not want us to be afraid of him but God DOES want us to listen and do what he asks.

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 Sirach. (Sir 3:2-6)  In this reading, Sirach tells us how to behave toward our families.  Listen closely and see if you can hear some specific instructions about how to act.

Have the reader read the first reading.

Ask: What specific instructions did you hear? <honor your father, praise your mother, listen to the Lord>  How do you think you might honor your father?  Or praise your mother?

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

Happy are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

Say:  Today’s Gospel reading comes from the book of Matthew.  (Matt 2:13-15, 19-23).  In the reading today, St. Matthew tells about a time that Joseph listened to God’s message and took especially good care of his family.  Listen to the story and think of a time when the grown-ups in your life took especially good care of you.

Say:  Now we will 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 happened?  <let the children retell what they heard>  Do you think that God talks to families about taking care of each other?

Hand out the poster cut-outs of a person so that the children can write their names on them for the poster.

Hand out the symbols to color. (The symbol is the Holy Family).  Ask the older children to write one thing they can do this week to show how much they appreciate the family God gave them.

 

Explain: Color this symbol of the Holy Family and bring it to the altar (don’t forget to put your name on the back!)  to show that we have learned about how families take care of each other.                             .

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 graphic for the participation poster

The mid-size banner symbol can be made of several colors and decorated as desired.  This graphic is also used for the coloring page used in the Offertory

                                  Parent Letter

                        Feast of the Holy Family  Cycle B

                                                                 

Dear Parents:

           Today is the Feast of the Holy Family.  The children listened to a simplified version of two of the same readings that you heard: Sirach 3:2-6; Matthew 2: 13-15, 19-23

Symbol:  Holy Family

To reinforce at home:

Today’s focus is on the family.  We heard about Jesus, Mary and Joseph and talked about our own families.  We talked about how God wants families to be filled with love and has asked us to take care of each other.

Activities to do at home:

*Celebrate your family!  Have a special meal this week to show your family how much you appreciate them.

*Together with your child, write a letter or make a phone call to a relative that you haven’t seen for a while.

Thank you for sharing your children!