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 last week’s symbol was? <a mouth> We talked about how God uses our voices to share his love with others.
Say: Today is the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Introduce symbol
Say: Today’s symbol is a hand. Today we are going to talk about our hands. What are some things that you can do with your hands? <eat, pick up things, write, hug, hit, pull and push, etc.> Why do you think we might talk about our hands in church today? <let the children answer>
Say: God needs our hands to do his work. What kinds of work do you think God might have that would require the use of OUR hands? <helping, loving, obeying, holding others, etc.>
Say: Let’s look at today’s poster. What does it say? <Praise the Lord, who heals the broken-hearted.> This is our Responsorial Psalm for today. The Responsorial Psalms also come from Scripture, from the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament.
Ask: What does the word “broken-hearted” mean? <sad> Do you think God might ask us to use our hands to help someone sad? <with a hug, or a touch, or a handshake – or even passing a tissue to that person>
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 job. (Job 7:1-4, 6-7) Job was a good man who had a lot of bad things happen to him. At first he spent a lot of time being angry with God and then trying to understand why so many bad things happened. In the end, everything goes right with Job BUT today’s reading is about a time when he was very unhappy. Listen to Job’s prayer to God and see if you can understand how he feels.
Have the reader read the first reading.
Ask: What kind of condition is Job’s heart in? <it is broken> Can you think of something that Job might do to make himself feel better? <let the children recount activities> Do you think that God wants us to lie around and be sad all the time? <NO> We need to try to make ourselves feel better. Often we can get up and do some work for others and that helps US.
Say: Now it is time for the Responsorial Psalm. Your part is to say:
Praise the Lord, who heals the broken-hearted.
Say: Today’s Gospel reading comes from the book of Mark. (Mark 1:29-30). At the time that Job lived, and during the time Jesus lived, people believed that bad things only happened to bad people. That was one reason that Job was so upset. He was a good person who did all the right things and STILL bad things happened to him. When Jesus came along, and spent a lot of his time with people who had problems, people the world considered BAD people, no one understood. Jesus came to tell us that we all have problems, good people and bad people. Jesus performed miracles and healed many people. Jesus came to show us how to use our hands to help the people who need us no matter who they are.
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: Jesus laid his hands on people and performed miracles. Why do you think he did that? <to solve a person’s problem>. Often there was a physical problem, like with Simon’s mother-in-law, and many times, the person was also very sad. Jesus forgave sins and helped the people to live good lives.
Say: In our sacraments and at Mass, we do what Jesus did to bring God’s grace to others. We use our hands to anoint with oil, to touch a shoulder, to hold a hand, etc,
Hand out the poster cut-outs of a hand so that the children can write their names on them for the poster.
Hand out the symbols to color. (The symbol is a hand). Ask the older children to write one thing they can do this week to share God’s love with others by using their hands.
Explain: Color this symbol of a hand and bring it to the altar (don’t forget to put your name on the back!) to show that we have learned about letting God use our hands to help 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 they leave.
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| Use this graphic in a small size for the communal poster |
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| Use this graphic for the medium and large symbols |
Parent Letter
5th Sunday Ordinary Time B
Dear parents:
Today your children heard readings that are similar to the readings that you heard. Job 7:1-4, 6-7 and Mark 1:29-39
Symbol: hand
To reinforce at home:
Today we hear how sad Job is with his life. We talked about how bad things happen to everyone whether they are good or bad people. God doesn’t want us to be sad – and definitely not to STAY sad. He asks us to use our hands to help others because quite often it helps US to feel better.
In the gospel, we hear of the miracles that Jesus was performing in the beginning of his ministry. He used his hands to help others. By touching people that no one else would touch, he healed more than just physical illnesses. We follow Jesus’ example in the care we show to the people around us.
Activities to do at home:
*Make a list! Together with your child, make a list of ways that you can use your hands in Mass to worship together.
*Help others! Do you know someone who is elderly or sick and could use a hand with light housework or errand-running? (I’m sure your parish office knows someone!)
Thank you for sharing your children!
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