Children’s Liturgy Instructions
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle B
Welcome children to their worship space.
Ask them to get their carpet squares and sit down in a circle.
Introduce yourself and your helpers.
Ask children to add their names to the cutouts (coins) provided. Remind the children that we are making a poster for each Sunday and that they will sign a cutout and glue it on when they are here .
Introduce
Explain: Today is the Thirty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time.
Ask: Does anyone remember what our symbol was for last Sunday? ( heart ) And why did we have a heart? < to represent love> Does anyone remember the two important things Jesus had to say about love? <that the most important commandment is LOVE - to love God with everything you have and to love others as much as we love ourselves>
Introduce symbol
Say: Today’s readings are about being generous. Can anyone tell me what the word generous means? <to share well, not to keep everything to ourselves> Our symbol <hold up symbol - a coin> represents giving.
Explain: Today’s poster says <God wants us to be generous with the gifts He gave us>
Ask: So we know what the word generous means - what kinds of gifts would God want us to be generous with? <money, love, talents, time, toys, food, etc.>
Introduce readings
We have two readings today.
Say: Let’s light the candle to show that we are ready to listen to the Words of God.
Say: Today’s first reading is from the Old Testament, the first book of Kings. (1 Kings 17:10-16)
Explain: This is a story about one of the prophets. You may remember hearing about the prophet Elijah. We have had a reading within the last month or so about ravens bringing food to Elijah. Today’s reading tells about something that happened when Elijah asked a poor woman to share her bread with him. Listen closely so you can hear what she did.
Have the reader read the first reading.
Ask: So what happened here? What did the woman do? <she shared everything she had with Elijah> And then what happened? <she always had enough food after that> Was this woman generous? <yes> Do you think it was easy for her to share this bread with Elijah? Why ore why not?
Explain: This woman had to have something very important in order to share as much as she did. She had to have FAITH. She had to trust that God would take care of her. Believing in God makes it easier to be generous.
Say: Now it is time for the Responsorial Psalm. Your part is to say:
Praise the Lord, my soul!
Say: Next we’ll have the Gospel reading. The Gospel selection today is from the book of Mark. (Mark 12:41-44). In the Gospel today, Mark tells us about something another widow did and what Jesus said about it.
Ask: Does anyone know what a widow is?
Explain: In many times in history, particularly biblical times, women needed men to take care of them. Women cared for the home and family and men took care of finding the money and the food for them to live on. So a widow was usually very poor. Usually a widow did not own very much at all. Let’s listen to the words Mark wrote and hear about what happened to this particular widow.
Say: Now we will get ready to hear the Gospel
(hold up card) Alleluia! Alleluia!
Have the reader begin: “a reading from the holy gospel.....”
All respond: Lord, let your Word be in my mind <make cross on forehead>, on my lips <make cross on lips>, and in my heart <make cross on heart>
Read: Read the Gospel
Ask: What happened here? <there were many rich people giving a lot of money to the church and a widow who only put in a little money > What did Jesus say have to say about this woman’s gift? <that her gift was bigger because she had much less to give> What did that mean? <it means that it was harder for her, she was more generous, she gave up money that she needed>
Explain: She had to trust that God would provide what she needed to live on. She was much more generous than the rich people because she had nothing left over. She gave all she had. God wants us to be able to give a lot, too. He wants SHARING to be more important than KEEPING.
Hand out the symbols to color and cut out. (The symbol is a coin )
Explain: Color this symbol of the coin and bring it to the altar (don’t forget to put your name on the back!) to show that we have learned about what the Scripture tells us about being generous
Ask: What can you do this week to share with others. If you can, write that on the back of your symbol.
If there is time, ask questions and go over the lessons one more time to help the children remember.
While they are coloring, explain how we will go back into the church, up to the front with our gifts and rejoin our families.
Count out the parent letters and hand-outs to go home.
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| Use this graphic for all 3 symbols |
Parent Letter
32nd Ordinary Time Cycle B
Today your children heard a simplified version of the same readings that you heard.
Kings 17:10-16
Mark 12:41-44
To reinforce at home:
Today’s readings told us about generosity and faith. The women that we heard about today shared everything they had to give. Both women possessed a tremendous amount of faith in order to give so much. The Gospels call us to trust in God and to be generous in donating our time, talents and other gifts that God so generously gave to us.
Activities to do at home:
*Help your child choose one or two toys that they can give to someone who has less than he or she does.
*Together with your child, think of a way to save some money this week and choose a place to share it. Maybe you could give up some soft drink or snack money for the week and donate it to a cause your child is interested in.
Thank you for sharing your children!
Give out stickers and hand-outs as they leave.
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