13th Sunday Ordinary Time C

13th  Sunday in Ordinary Time   Cycle C

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

             Explain: Today is the Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time. Does anyone remember anything about the season of Ordinary Time?  <it’s the time when there is no feast>  What is the color that the church uses during Ordinary Time?  <green – to symbolize growth of the church and to symbolize hope>

Ask:  What did we talk about last week?  <show symbol of the cross with a heart on it>  What does this symbol make you think of?  <how much Jesus loves us!>

Introduce symbol

Say:   Today’s symbol is a circle with some words in the middle-JUST DO IT!

Explain:  We know that spreading God’s Word is our job – all of us – not just grown-ups.  We’ve learned that sharing Jesus’ message about love is something that we do everywhere we go.   We’ve learned that Jesus is all about love and that we must love one another.  

Ask:  Has anyone ever asked you (or told you) to do something and you had a lot of questions?  Like “How am I supposed to do that?”  Or “Why am I supposed to do that?”  Or “Who am I supposed to do that for?”  <discuss>

Say:  The people in the Scripture did the same thing in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.  Today’s Scripture readings are about doing what we are supposed to do.

Say:  Let’s look at today’s poster.  What does it say? <You are my inheritance, O Lord.>  This is our Responsorial Psalm for today.  The Responsorial Psalms also come from Scripture, from the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament. 

Ask:  Does anyone know what the word ‘inheritance’ means? <an inheritance refers to something that is owed to you after your parent dies, like a house or land or money>  How do you think that God can be an inheritance for us? 

Introduce readings

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 book of Kings. (1 Kings 19:16b,19-21)  Today’s reading tells about the time when the prophet Elijah called someone else to join him.  God told Elijah who he should ask to join him.  Let’s listen closely to hear what happened.

Have the reader read the first reading.

Ask:  So first of all, who did Elijah talk to?  <Elisha>  Then what happened?  What did Elisha do?  <discuss – he went back home to take care of business before he joined Elijah>

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

You are my inheritance, O Lord.

Say:  Today’s Gospel reading comes from the book of Luke.  (Lk 9:57-62).   St. Luke tells us that lots of people want to join Jesus.  In this reading, Jesus tells people about what it means to believe in him.  Let’s hear what Jesus had to say.

Say:  Now we will get ready to hear the Gospel.  Please stand up.

Say together: Alleluia, Alleluia.

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

Read:  Read the Gospel

Ask:  What do you think Jesus is trying to tell us?  <discuss>  Did he sound like he really wanted people to come with him?  Or did he sound like he was discouraging them?

When we decide to follow Jesus, we need to remember that following his command of love is the most important thing for us to do- more important than anything else.  He didn’t mean that we could or should neglect our responsibilities at home, but for us to remember that following his command is the most important thing for us to always put first in our lives.  In other words, JUST DO IT!

Hand out the poster & Offertory symbols to color. (The symbol is a circle with “JUST DO IT!” written on it).  Ask the children to write their names on the small poster symbols.

 

Explain: Color this symbol of the circle and bring it to the altar (don’t forget to put your name on the back!)  to show that we have learned about how putting God’s wishes first above our own.

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 circle for the small poster symbol

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

Parent Letter

Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time  C

Dear Parents,

           Today is the Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time.  The children listened to the same readings you did:  1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21 and Luke 9:57-62.

To reinforce at home:

For several weeks, we have been talking about our responsibility to spread God’s word, to be a witness to Jesus’ message of love. Today’s readings emphasize the importance of not waiting until the “perfect” time.  We are told to “JUST DO IT!” – not wait to do this or that, but just do it!

We emphasized the importance of loving behavior as a method of doing what Jesus asks us to do.  St Paul cautions us to watch our habits because it is easy to slip back into old behaviors.

Activities to do at home:

 
Together with your child, think up one thing you can do this week to share Jesus’ message of love with others…. and do it!

In your weekly shopping, choose one item to contribute to the food pantry.

Discuss together how difficult it is to love an enemy but how Jesus asks us to do it anyway.

Thank you for sharing your children!