10th Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle B
Welcome the children to their worship space.
Ask them to get their carpet squares and sit down in a circle.
Introduce yourself and your helpers.
Introduce Ordinary Time
Ask: Does anyone know what season of the church this is?
Explain: When we started getting ready for Easter, it was the season called Lent. And then we celebrated Easter and began the Easter season. And then we had another couple of special Sundays. Does anyone remember the names of any of the last 3 special Sundays? <Feast of Pentecost, Feast of the Trinity and Feast of Christ’s Body and Blood>
Ask: Who was here for the Feast of Pentecost? Can you tell me why that Feast was important? <it is when the Holy Spirit came to the church, when the church began, the birthday of our church>
Who was here for the feast of the Trinity? Who remembers what the word Trinity means? <three-in-one> And then we had the feast of Christ’s Body and Blood. And what sacrament did we celebrate then? <Eucharist>
Say: We are beginning another season today, the season of Ordinary Time. We aren’t preparing for any special feast right now. We are simply learning about God’s word and trying to figure out how it applies to our lives—ordinary time
Introduce symbol
Say: Today is the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The first Sundays of Ordinary Time this year happened before Lent. Our symbol today is TWO HEARTS JOINED TOGETHER. Hearts mean love. God’s love joins us together.
Say: Now we are going to practice the Responsorial Psalm, that part between the readings where you get to help. The Responsorial Psalm comes from the Bible just like our readings do. Today’s psalm is: With the Lord there is mercy. Can you say this with me? <Have the children repeat it.>
Ask: Can anyone tell me what mercy is? <let the children respond…. Forgiveness, understanding, love… as the children can understand>
Introduce readings
Say: The first reading today is from the Old Testament book of Genesis. (Gen 3:9-15). Does anyone remember the story of Adam and Eve? What happened in the Garden of Eden? <let the children retell what they remember> Let’s listen and try to learn something you haven’t heard before.
Say: Now we will have the first reading (light the candle)
Have the reader read the reading.
Ask: Was this reading what you remember? <let the children respond> What was the sin? <doing what God said NOT to do> When God talked to Adam, what did Adam say? <It was Eve’s fault> What did Eve say? <It was the snake’s fault> Who was the sinner? <Adam, Eve, snake/ Satan> Does blaming someone else mean that you are not guilty of a sin? <no>
Say: Now is the time for the Responsorial Psalm that we practiced. <have a volunteer hold up the poster> Repeat after me: With the Lord there is mercy.
Have reader read the psalm
Say: Now it’s time to read the Gospel. Today’s Gospel reading comes from the New Testament book of St. Mark. (Mark 3: 20-26, 31-35) Saint Mark is telling us about a time that Jesus traveled back to his home town of Nazareth and spoke to the people there. Remember that these people in his town knew him when he was a little boy. They remembered watching him grow up. Jesus was—to these people—simply the son of the local carpenter, Joseph. Jesus was one of them– nothing special. Listen to the story and hear what happens.
Say: Now we will get ready to read the Gospel. Please stand and say: Alleluia, Alleluia.
Read the Gospel.
Ask: What is the story about? <let the children retell> The people had always listened to the teachers… and now they were listening to Jesus. The leaders did not like that. Why do you think that is? <because they liked being in charge. The leaders were afraid of having the people follow Jesus>
Ask: What is a family? <people who love one another and belong together> What does Jesus say about family? <that we are all family and we need to work on loving each other and everyone.>
Ask: Does anyone remember the sign that we give one another to show that there is God’s peace between us?
Say: Let’s give each other the sign of peace.
Hand out the large Offertory symbols (hearts) for the children to color and the smaller symbols (hearts) for the children to put their names on for the poster.
Explain: We will color the hearts (don’t forget to put your name on the back!) to show that we have learned about God's love! If you have time and can write something on the back, think of ONE thing you can do to show love for a member of God’s family
!
While they are coloring, go over the procedure for entering the church at the Offertory, how they approach the altar and put their symbols in the basket that the lead child will place at the altar.
Remind the children that the large symbol is to be offered in the Offertory procession to show the congregation what they have learned about using our hands to bring Jesus’ love to others. Remind them to put their names on the back and that they can retrieve the symbols after Mass.
Collect the smaller symbols to glue to the communal poster. Remind the children to bring their parents back after Mass to see it.
Give out parent letters, coloring hand-outs and stickers as the children leave their worship space.
Parent Letter
10th Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle B
Today is the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Your children have heard a simplified version of two of the same readings you heard: Gen 3:9-15 and Mark 3: 20-26, 31-35.
Symbol: Three Hearts
To Reinforce at Home:
The symbol for this week is Three Hearts Joined Together. Hearts mean love. In Genesis, we hear about Adam and Eve doing something God asked them not to do. And then they blamed others for their actions. God always loves us anyway—but he wants us to be honest.
In Mark’s gospel selection for today, we hear about the time that Jesus went back to his hometown to teach. Everyone knew him there and did not treat him as anyone special. He told us then—that love of God made us all family. Love would join us together with each other and with God.
Activities to do at Home:
*With your child, talk about a time you did something wrong and were not honest about it. Help your child find examples of people blaming others for their own actions.
* Make a list of family members you don’t see often and write them love notes.
* Think up some faith friends who are NOT related family. Choose one and do something nice for them.
* We are all God’s children. This makes us family. Find something you and your child can do for a child in another country.
Thank you for sharing your children!
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