Sunday, June 18, 2023

12th Sunday Ordinary Time A




12th Sunday of Ordinary Time  Cycle A

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
            Say:  Today is the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time.

            Ask:  Can anyone tell me what we talked about last week?  <show the symbol of the hand>  We talked about serving God as priests.  We talked about things we can do to take care of each other.

Introduce symbol


            Say:  Today’s symbol is two circles, one light and one dark.  When we use darkness and light symbolically, what do you think it might represent?  <the children will have different answers: sin & absence of sin, dirty & clean, etc. >  In this instance, we are going to talk about good and evil.

            Ask:  Why are we afraid of the dark?  <discuss – bad things might happen to us that we can’t see>  If you wanted to do something wrong, something you know that your parents would not want you to do, would you do it in a dark quiet place or out in the open in front of everybody?  <you would want to hide what you are doing>  God tells us today not to be afraid of the dark.  God reminds us that we are never alone and that God will always take care of us.

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

            Ask:  Why do we ask God for help?  <discuss>

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 Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 20:10-12a, 13)  In this reading, Jeremiah shows that he has a lot of faith.  See if you can hear something in this reading that tells about Jeremiah’s faith in God.

Have the reader read the first reading.

Ask:  What did you hear that tells about Jeremiah’s strong faith?  <he believed that God loved him and would handle the people who were trying to trick him>  He believed that if he asked God for help, God would take care of him.

Say:  Now is the time for the Responsorial Psalm.  Your part is to say:
            Lord, in your great love, answer me.

Say:  Today’s Gospel reading is taken from the book of Matthew (Matt 10:26–31).  In the reading today, St. Matthew tells us not to be afraid.  He tells us that God loves us so much that he will always take care of us.

Say:  Now we will stand and get ready to hear the Gospel

Have the reader begin:  “a reading from the holy Gospel according to…”

Read:  Read the Gospel

Ask:  What happened?  <let the children retell what they heard>  Do you think that it is always easy to have this much faith in God?  <why or why not>

Say:  When we believe and trust in God, we are filled with the light of God’s love.  We bring that light with us in our behavior and our attitudes.

Hand out the small poster cut-outs for the children to put their names on.  Collect them to glue on a poster when they are finished.

Hand out the larger Offertory symbols (two circles).  Ask the older children to write one thing they can do this week to show how they can bring God’s love into an unhappy part of their life.

Explain:  Color this symbol of the two circles and bring it to the altar (don’t forget to put your name on the back!) to show that we have learned about bringing the light of God’s love to others.

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 the children leave to join the Offertory procession.






Parent Letter

12th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Dear Parents,

        Today is the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time.  The children listened to two of the same readings you heard:  Jeremiah 20:10-12a and Matthew 10:26-31.

Symbol:  two joined circles


To reinforce at home:
        The readings today talk about how God’s love is stronger than evil.  He will always take care of so we should not be afraid.

Activities to do at home:
        *  Show your faith in God!  Ask him for something you really want and then believe that he hears you.
       
        *  Stay in the light!  Use a flashlight one summer evening to show your child how light takes away fear of the dark  Use the light to expose some dark scary places in your yard or a nearby park.

        * Bring the light of God’s love to others!  Visit someone who is lonely or sick this week.


Thank you for sharing your children!

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