27th 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
Ask: Does anyone remember what our symbol was last Sunday? <show the symbol of the Bible>
Explain: We learned about how important it is to listen closely and pay attention to God’s message of love to other people.
Introduce symbol
Say: Today’s symbol <hold up the symbol> is a seed.
Explain: Our theme throughout Ordinary Time this season has been FAITH. Today we will talk a little bit more about how to take care of our faith and why we should do that.
Ask: What does this seed look like? <dried up, brown, dead> What happens if you take care of it? <it grows into a beautiful plant> What do you need to do to take care of it? <plant it in dirt, water it, give it sunlight and warmth>
Say: Our faith is like this seed. We need to take care of it so that it will grow into the strong love that God wants for us. Today we are going to talk about what we need to do to make our faith stronger.
Say: Let’s look at the poster. What does it say? <If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.> 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 it mean to “harden your heart”? <to turn away, to ignore, not to listen> Listening to God is one way to help your faith grow stronger.
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 the prophet Habakkuk. (Hab 1:2-3, 2:2-4) Habakkuk believed in God. Habakkuk also asked a lot of questions. He didn’t understand all the things that happened in this world. Let’s listen while Habakkuk asks some questions of God and see what kind of answer he gets.
Have the reader read the first reading.
Ask: What was Habakkuk’s question? <why does God let bad things happen?> And God’s answer? <to trust in him, to wait and see>
Say: God asks us all to believe in him, to have patience and to wait. This is the same as having faith.
Say: Now it is time for the Responsorial Psalm. Your part is to say:
If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.
Say: Today’s Gospel reading comes from the book of St. Luke. (Luke 17:5-0) At the time of this reading, Jesus’ disciples were becoming afraid. They believed in Jesus and his message of love but they were beginning to be afraid because of the way that others treated them. They wanted Jesus to give them more faith.
Say: Let’s stand to get ready to hear the Gospel
(hold up card) Alleluia, Alleluia.
Have the reader begin: “a reading from the holy gospel.....”
Read: Read the Gospel
Ask: The servants’ job is to serve the master. What is our job as Christians? <to believe in Jesus> Is that always an easy thing to do? Why or why not? <no… because there are a lot of unhappy things going on in the world that we don’t understand – and we believe that Jesus could change all that>
Say: When the tiny mustard seed is watered and cared for, it becomes a huge tree. If your FAITH is a seed, how big can your faith grow if you take care of it? <bigger than we can imagine> FAITH is not something that someone can give you – it is something that you must build by yourself.
Ask: What are some things you can do to take care of your faith and help it grow? <pray, talk to others about it, read the bible and other holy books, go to Mass, go to religious education classes>
Ask children to add their names to the cutouts (seed) 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.
Hand out the symbols to color (The symbol is a seed).
Explain: Color this symbol of the seed and bring it to the altar (don’t forget to put your name on the back!) to show that we have learned about taking care of our Faith.
Ask the older children to write one thing that they will do this week to keep their faith strong.
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 oval for the small attendance poster symbols |
 |
| Use this graphic for the Offertory symbol and the banner symbol |
Parent Letter
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time C
Dear Parents,
Today is the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. The children listened to simplified versions of two of the same readings you did: Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4 and Luke 17:5-10
Symbol: Seed
To reinforce at home:
Habakkuk had lots of questions for God. He felt that God allowed too many bad things to happen to people. He spent a lot of time asking God why. God’s response was to encourage Habakkuk to have faith, to trust in him.
In the Gospel today, the apostles were beginning to be frightened of the way people were responding to Jesus. They asked for more faith. Jesus’ response? Keep on believing! We don’t need more faith. By taking care of the faith we have, by praying and doing good works, our faith will be strong enough for whatever comes our way in life.
Activities to do at home:
*With your child, plant a seed and take care of it as it grows into a plant. At this time of year, an avocado pit works well. Plant it flat side down, make sure the soil is moist – not wet, and wait patiently. It will take several weeks to sprout but will make a beautiful houseplant.
*Talk about what it feels like to have your faith shaken – and what you need to do to make it grow strong again.
Thank you for sharing your children!
No comments:
Post a Comment