21st Sunday Ordinary Time C

21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time   Cycle C

Welcome children to their worship space.

Introduce

             Ask:  Does anyone remember the symbol for last week?  <the lily>  Last week, we celebrated a special feast.  Can anyone tell me what it was?  <the Feast of the Assumption>  What does the word ‘assumption’ mean?  <that Mary was taken into heaven WITH her body>

Introduce symbol

Say:  This is the symbol for this week (hold up the symbol), a door.  What could a door symbolize?  <a way to enter or leave a room>  Today Jesus talks about the ways to be more like him and enter heaven. 

Say:  Let’s look at the poster.  What does it say? <O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.>  This is our Responsorial Psalm for today.  The Responsorial Psalms also come from Scripture, from the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament.

Ask:  Last week, in the Gospel, Jesus said that he did not come to bring peace to the world.  What do you think it might mean when the Responsorial Psalm says that those who love Jesus’ law have peace?  <when you do the right thing, you feel good inside yourself>  So others may not understand and may not like you but you have peace in your heart because you know doing what Jesus wants is the right thing to do.

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 New Testament letter to the Hebrews. (Heb 12:5a, 6-7, 11)  Has anyone here ever been punished?  Do you know what that means? <discuss> St Paul tells us that God sometimes has to punish us to help us grow.

Have the reader read the first reading.

Ask: Has anyone here ever been punished?  Was it fun?  But did you learn anything from it?  Did it help you become a better person? <discuss>  When you were punished, did you already know that you had done something wrong?  Usually when we are punished, we already know that it is coming.  Another word for God’s punishment is “Consequence”.

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

O Lord, great peace have they who love your law.

Say:  Today’s Gospel reading is taken from the book of Luke (Lk 13:22-30)  We have been talking about punishment and having peace in your heart.  What does that have to do with a door? <guess>  Becoming a better person, following Jesus, helps us to enter heaven.  Getting into heaven is a consequence of doing the right thing.  It’s something that all of us CAN do – but many of us WON’T do it.  We try to take the easy way when we should think every day of how we can do what Jesus would do. 

Think of the door as the entrance to heaven and listen to what St Luke tells us that Jesus said.

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 was the parable?  <have the children retell about the narrow door and the feast>  If you were going to a house and there were two doors, a big wide one and a tiny narrow one, which do you think that most people would choose?  <the large one>  Why?  <because it would be the easiest to go through>

Say:  Jesus is telling us not to do what most others do.  He is telling us to think, to pray to him and to do everything we can to become better people, more like him.  He tells us that is the way to heaven.

Hand out the poster & Offertory symbols to color. (The symbol is a door).  Ask the older children to write one thing they can do this week that will make them more like Jesus.  Ask the children to write their names on the small poster symbol (rectangle).

 

Explain: Color this symbol of the door and bring it to the altar (don’t forget to put your name on the back!)  to show that we have learned about becoming more like Jesus.

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.

 

poster

banner

Offertory

Parent Letter

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time  C

Dear Parents,

           Today is the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time.  The children listened to the same readings you did: Hebrews 12:5a, 6-7, 11 and Luke 13:22-30.

Symbol: Narrow Door

To reinforce at home:

For several weeks, we have been talking about what it is like to be a Christian.  Jesus did not do things in the easy or lazy way or the way everyone else does things.  He asks us to actively follow him.  He asks us to stand up and make the world a better place.

Activities to do at home:

*For one meal this week, eat very simply- like soup and salad.  Take the money you saved and buy food for the food pantry.

 

*As a family, clean your rooms! Find 2 or 3 things that you can each donate to those less fortunate. 

Thank you for sharing your children!