Jan 1 Feast of Mary, Mother of God

Feast of Mary, Mother of God

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:  How was everyone’s Christmas?  <let the children tell a little about their holiday>

Ask:  Does anyone remember what we talked about the last time we met?  <show symbol of the star>  We talked about celebrating Jesus’ birth and that he will come back to us!

Introduce symbol

Say:  Today is the feast of Mary, the Mother of God.  What do we know about Mary? <she was the mother of God, she was young, she was from Nazareth>  Mary was a very young girl who said YES! to God.  We talked about that a few weeks ago.  She loved God very much and praised his goodness even when she was worried.  Do you think Mary had anything to worry about?  <let the children discuss>  She had all the same things to worry about that any mother has but also the wonder (and worry) of what it would mean knowing that her son was really God’s son!   

Say:  Our symbol today is the lily.  A lily is a symbol we use to represent Mary, the mother of God.

Ask: Mary’s son was the son of God.  Do you think she had any idea what that would mean to her own life?  Today we celebrate Mary’s faith.  She praised God and knew that he blessed her… even when she was confused and worried!

Say:  Let’s look at today’s poster.  What does it say? <May God bless us in his mercy.>  This is our Responsorial Psalm for today.  The Responsorial Psalms also come from Scripture, from the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament.

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 Numbers. (Num 6:22-27)   Today we hear something that God told Moses to tell his brother to do.  Let’s listen to what is said and see if we can think of why this reading might tell us something about Mary.

Have the reader read the first reading.

Ask: What did God say?  <let the children retell>  He talked about blessing people.  But what else did God say?  He said that if we speak his name (or tell others about him) God will bless us.  Why would this make us think of Mary?  <Mary’s YES! tells everyone about God and her faith in him>

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

May God bless us in his mercy.

Say:  Today’s Gospel reading comes from the book of Luke.  (Luke 2:16-21).  In the reading today, we hear about the shepherds coming to see the baby.  Listen to see if you can hear how Mary felt.    

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

(hold up card)  Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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

Read:  Read the Gospel

Ask:  What happened?  <let the children retell what they heard>  How do you think Mary felt?  <confused, scared, proud> 

Say:  Mary was just like us.  This is something that would be hard to understand if it happened to us.  Mary accepted.  Mary praised God.  Mary waited and did what God asked her to do.  We should try to be like Mary.

Hand out the poster cut-outs of a lily so that the children can write their names on them for the poster.

Hand out the symbols to color. (The symbol is the lily).  Ask the older children to write one thing they can do this week to praise God.

 

Explain: Color this symbol of a lily and bring it to the altar (don’t forget to put your name on the back!)  to show that we have learned about loving and praising God.                            

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 graphic in a small size - pastel flower colors - for the communal poster

Use this graphic for the mid-sized banner symbol & for the full-size coloring sheets for the Offertory symbol

 

Parent Letter

Mary, Mother of God  B

                                                                             

Dear Parents:

             Today your children heard a simplified version of the same readings that you heard: Numbers 6:22-27; Luke 2: 16-21.

Symbol: lily

To reinforce at home:

Today’s readings talk about praising God.  Mary always praised God!

In Numbers, we hear that God will bless those who praise him.  In Luke, we hear the story of the shepherds arriving to see the infant Jesus.  Mary watched and learned and kept praising God even when she was confused or worried. 

Activities to do at home:

*Talk with your child about a time when your life wasn’t going very well and you still praised God and trusted that he would take care of you.

*Read about it!  Share your favorite scripture story that includes Mary.  Tell why you like it.

Thank you for sharing your children!

Aug 15 The Feast of the Assumption of Mary

***The readings for this Mass come from the Weekday lectionary; the Gospel from the Feast of the Assumption and the first reading from the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary***

Welcome children to their worship space.

Introduce

             Ask:  Does anyone remember the symbol for last week?  <oil lamp>  Why?  What did it mean?  <it symbolized having faith in Jesus – that he will come back and that we need to be ready to do what he tells us>

Ask:  Do you think that it is easy or hard to do what Jesus tells us?  <discuss>  What kinds of things does he tell us to do?  <discuss – be nice, love others, forgive, etc>  Are these easy things to do?  <sometimes> 

Introduce symbol

Explain:  Today we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption.  Can anyone tell me what that means?  <that we believe that Mary went straight into heaven>  We believe that Mary’s body went straight into heaven with her.

Say:  Today’s symbol <hold up the symbol> is a lily.  The pure white lily is often used to represent Mary.  Mary was without sin.  Mary gave her entire faith and trust to God and said YES!  God asked her to do a difficult thing.  Does anyone remember what it was?  <accepting, carrying, giving birth to – and parenting the baby Jesus>  She had to say YES! Not once but many times over and over and over again.

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

Say:  Mary continually blessed the name of God by her words and actions.

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 the prophet Isaiah. (Isa 9:2-3a, 6-7a)  Isaiah was a prophet who told everyone about a Messiah who would come to save Israel.  We know that he told about Jesus.  Mary was an important part of the plan of salvation.  Because of Mary, Jesus came to save us.  While you listen to Isaiah’s words, think about what would have happened if Mary had said NO.

Have the reader read the first reading.

Ask: What did Isaiah say to us?  <let the children tell what they remember>  What do you think might have happened if Mary had been too afraid to do what God asked her to do?  <let the children discuss possibilities>

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

Blessed be the name of the Lord forever.

Say:  Today’s Gospel reading comes from the book of Luke.  (Lk 12:49-53)  In the Gospel today, we hear about the first people to honor Mary for being the mother of God.  We also hear how Mary feels about what has happened to her.  Listen to what St Luke tells us.  See if you can hear who honored Mary.  Try to remember some of the things that Mary said about being Jesus’ mother.

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: Did you figure out the names of the two people who honored Mary first?  <her cousin, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s unborn baby, who would grow up to be John the Baptist>  John is a prophet who spent his whole adult life preparing people for the coming of the Savior.

What did Mary say that tells us how she felt about being the mother of God?  <let the children retell what they hear…. “I praise the Lord”  “I am glad because of God”  “From now on people will say that God has blessed me”  “I am God’s servant”>

Say: Mary is very special!  It only makes sense that the human being who made it possible for Jesus to come to us be honored by having her body go straight to heaven to be with him.

Hand out the poster & Offertory symbols to color. (The Offertory symbol is a lily).  Have the older children write one thing that they can do this week that will honor Mary. 

Ask the children to write their names on the small poster symbol (flower)

Explain: Color this symbol of the lily and bring it to the altar (don’t forget to put your name on the back!)  to show that we have learned about how Mary said YES to God.

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 graphic in a small size - pastel flower colors - for the communal poster

 

 Use this graphic for the mid-sized banner symbol & for the full-size coloring sheets for the Offertory symbol

 

Parent Letter

Feast of the Assumption  C 

Dear Parents,

           Today is the Feast of the Assumption.  The children listened to two of the same readings you did: Isaiah 9:2-3a, 6-7a and Luke 1:39-56

Symbol: Lily

To reinforce at home:

What a special feast we celebrate today!!  The Mother of God was honored in the most special way!  It is fitting that the body that housed our Lord Jesus be assumed directly into heaven without going through the process that other human bodies do.

Our readings today remind us WHY our mother Mary is so very special.  She belonged to God entirely.  She put her faith and trust in God completely.  She said YES to what God asked of her!  She brought Jesus into the world and loved and cared for him.

Activities to do at home:

*Plant a “Mary garden” or make a flower arrangement to put in front of a statue of Mary.  Use roses, marigolds, forget-me-nots and lilies.  These are some of the flowers that represent her.

*Do something special for your parents.  They take care of you just like Mary took care of baby Jesus.  

*Pray the rosary together.  This would be a great week to explain and re-learn the rosary together with your child.  Ask your faith formation team for resources or look on the internet!

 

Thank you for sharing your children!